CD Review (The Straits Times, March 2018)

PIANO MASTERS IN BERLIN

GREAT CONCERTOS

Deutsche Grammophon 4835057 (8 CDs) 

****1/2

This edition of eight discs follows in the series of box-sets highlighting great recordings and symphonies by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra through the decades. Instead of obviously popular piano concerto recordings, it opts for variety and several surprises. 

The earliest recording dates from 1953 and 1954, with almost-forgotten Hungarian pianist Andor Foldes performing both of Liszt’s concertos and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto (Leopold Ludwig conducting). Despite monaural sound, these are commanding and memorable readings.

Also unexpected but enjoyable are Mozart’s Concertos for Two and Three Pianos with the Labeque sisters and conductor Semyon Bychkov, who doubles as the third pianist. Great pianist-conductor Daniel Barenboim appears in both Chopin concertos with Staatskapelle Berlin (directed by Andris Nelsons) in somewhat stolid live performances from the 2010 Ruhr Piano Festival, which does not exactly qualify as being “in Berlin”.

The truly great classic disc here is Emil Gilels’ towering and majestic take on Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto (with Eugen Jochum), with Brahms’ Seven Fantasias Op.116 as a generous bonus. Geza Anda and Herbert von Karajan contribute the popular tandem of Schumann and Grieg, while Maurizio Pollini and Claudio Abbado account for Beethoven’s Third and Fourth Piano Concertos (the latter with Beethoven’s rarely-heard alternative cadenza).

Li Yundi’s finest DG recording is also here, coupling Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto and Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major, led by Seiji Ozawa in 2007. Not to be left out, Martha Argerich is imperious in Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, her 1994 account with favourite partner Abbado. The filler is Tchaikovky’s Nutcracker Suite in a slick two-piano arrangement by the late Cypriot pianist Nicolas Economou, also the second pianist. For piano-fanciers, this classy compilation is manna from heaven.

POTPOURRI: VIOLA IN DIFFERENT LIGHTS / Jeremy Chiew et al / Review

POTPOURRI: VIOLA 
IN DIFFERENT LIGHTS

Jeremy Chiew (Viola) et al

Esplanade Recital Studio

Saturday (23 March 2019)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 25 March 2019 with the title "Viola takes centre stage with agility".

If there is one person in Singapore who has championed the cause of the viola more than any other, that would be Jeremy Chiew. His sheer single-mindedness has resulted in an unprecedented series of concerts edging the seemingly unglamourous instrument, often the butt of musicians’ jokes, firmly into the limelight.

His latest viola showcase, lasting an hour without intermission, was filled with rarities. Under dim lighting, he opened with an Etude by Italian composer Bartolomeo Campagnoli, cast in the form of theme and variations. Exhibiting a wide and sonorous tone with much agility to match, he later explained that this was his encore for the concert.

A soft-spoken person with an understated and droll sense of humour, it was not altogether clear whether he was playing a joke on the audience or not. Nonetheless the hall lighting came on for two sets of songs with obliggato viola parts. First was English composer Benjamin Dale’s lovely setting of Come Away, Death from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.

Pondering on the melancolic course of true love was tenor Adrian Poon, of Sing Song Club fame, who emoted longingly above Muse Ye’s piano accompaniment. Poon and Chiew alternated their parts and never the twain did their plaints meet.

More integrated were voice and viola in Adolf Busch’s Three Songs Op.3a, about more love, sadness and solitude, sung in German. Viola filled in the parts where the voice fell silent besides providing counterpoint and counter-melodies in these retiring and probing numbers.

The Busch songs were sandwiched by two solo Fantasias by Georg Philipp Telemann, originally for violin, performed on baroque viola by Taiwanese violist Amy Hsu. She gave a short spiel on her period instrument, which was smaller than its modern counterpoint, had neither chin nor shoulder rests, and utilised gut instead of metallic strings. The latter, she explained, was the reason why such instruments were so difficult to tune.

The two contrasted Fantasias, in B flat minor and G major, provided ample display on the techniques used for these early pieces. The sound was mellower and more intimate, but equally expressive in slow dirge-like slow movements and faster dance pieces. And she was right, maintaining pitch and intonation was a challenge.

The longest work on the programme fell to Chiew, who returned in Johann Hummel’s Potpourri Op.94, which was a showy fantasia on popular operatic tunes by Mozart and Rossini. Predating similar potboilers by violin phenomenon Nicolo Paganini, Hummel’s was no less virtuosic but none of its hair-raising diablerie seemed to faze Chiew, who was commandingly secure throughout.

Having already expended his encore piece, Chiew departed the stage but lent his modern viola for Hsu’s own solo encore. That was a moving arrangement by Toshio Hosokawa of Handel’s popular aria Lascia Ch’io Pianga from Rinaldo, proving that whatever the human voice can do, the viola could do even better.   

CD Review (The Straits Times, March 2019)

SALVADOR BROTONS

Complete Works for Flute Vols.2 & 3

ROBERTO ALVAREZ, Flute et al

Vol.2  Centaur 3555 / ****1/2

Vol.3  Centaur 3556 / *****

The concluding two volumes of flute music by Catalan composer-conductor Salvador Brotons (born 1959) feature all his wind music which include the flute. His music is tonal but dissonant in parts, technically challenging and creatively varied in style and feel. 

These performances by local professional musicians led by Singapore Symphony Orchestra flautist Roberto Alvarez are very accomplished and well recorded in the studio of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory.

Volume 2 delights in the ensemble work of mostly woodwind quintets (Emphasis Op.9, Sax-Wind Quintet Op.15, Theme, Variations & Coda Op.29 and Essentiae Vitae Op.80), which reveal a vibrant and gritty tonal palette. Unusually scored is Virtus Op.53, for flute, string trio and piano which delights in piquant timbres and harmonies. And there is a debt to late Debussy in Ad Infinitum Op.13 for flute, viola and harp, although the wistful and haunting music has a totally different feel.

The flute comes to its own in Volume 3, opening with Giravolts (or Swirling Op.123, for solo flute), with its sinuous opening partly influenced by Debussy’s iconic solo Syrinx. More flautists join Alvarez, for Daulos (Op.11, for duet), Miniatures (Op.16, for flute trio), until one finally reaches the Flute Suite Op.41 for a grand choir of 10 flutes. This progression in ensemble is both fascinating and exhilarating. 

The major work is Prada 1950 for flute, clarinet and string quintet, a tribute to Catalan cello legend Pablo Casals who had exiled himself to Prades (France) during years of fascist rule in Spain by General Franco. The music is fraught with angst and nostalgia, but ultimately resolves in an air of triumph and hope.   

THREE BY THREE / re:Sound / Review

THREE BY THREE

re:Sound

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (10 March 2019)

The classical music scene in Singapore was transformed some three years ago when the re:Sound Collective (or simply re:Sound), the nation’s first professional chamber orchestra, gave its first concert. Prior to that, professional orchestral music-making was the reserve of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and that of visiting orchestras.

re:Sound, performing exclusively in the 673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, has offered local concert-goers new vistas in the appreciation of baroque and classical repertoire. It is a dedicated chamber orchestra rather than a full-sized symphony orchestra pared down to perform baroque and classical music. Its roster of guest conductors/leaders has included Pavlo Besnoziuk, Enrico Onofri, Ning Kam, Ike See and Melvyn Tan, names associated with small or period instrument ensembles.

Its latest concert, led by Finnish pianist-conductor Ralf Gothoni, was a primer to the periods of classical music history. Beginning with Baroque, it then proceeded to Classical before closing with Romantic music, with the ensemble size progressing incrementally. 

Ralf’s violinist son Mark Gothoni led the opening work, J.S.Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.3 in G major. Scored for three violins, three violas, three cellos (each player helming a different part) with bass and harpsichord, the music was as transparent as it could get. 

From the outset, the group impressed with a rich and full sonority (despite the small size) boosted by tautness in ensemble. The busy counterpoint in the fast outer movements did little to faze the players who kept a tight rein to their playing. The second movement comprised merely two chords accompanied by brief filigree from harpsichordist Gerald Lim. One wondered if they had thought of utilising this ad libitum opportunity by contributing improvisational minutes of their own.

Even better was the performance of Mozart’s youthful Symphony No.29, conducted by Ralf Gothoni himself. He used neither baton, score nor podium for this endeavour, and the result was refreshing to say the least. Despite an expanded body of strings, boosted by pairs of oboes and French horns, the playing was still intimate and light in spirit. 

The opening of the first movement was distinguished with a sense of calm before bursting into life. The changes in dynamics, ebb and flow in this and the ensuing slow movement were well realised. Even when winds came into the picture, the balance was maintained at an even keel. The contrasts in the third movement’s Minuet and Trio could have been more marked, but the daintiness achieved was key to its narrative. The finale was a joyous affair, and the ascending scales for the strings – a distinguishing feature of the movement – could not have been better handled.

The longest work came in the second half, with the Gothoni Trio – Ralf (piano), Mark (violin) and Yuko Miyagawa (cello, also Mark’s wife) – accompanied by an even larger ensemble in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto. Often referred to as a piano trio concerto (the first ever conceived, and not widely repeated as a form), it has sometimes been likened to the cello concerto Beethoven never wrote. Critics have also unkindly called it Beethoven’s weakest concerto, but audiences love its spectacle and enjoyable tunes. 

About that cello concerto bit, it was Miyagawa who led in the entry of the soloists for all three movements, and she also got to play the big tunes first. Other than that, it was Ralf and his piano that was de facto leader (as to be expected in the piano trios genre). The opening tutti was led standing from the keyboard, and he stamped his authority the moment the music began. 

The sense of intimacy forged between the three soloists was apparent, and it withstood the orchestra’s vigorous accompaniment with a very confident Michael Tan on timpani. While the opening movement was about flexing of muscles, the slow movement’s Largo was songlike – and so beautifully crafted - but it all seemed too brief before the finale’s Alla Polacca onslaught. The polonaise rhythm was infectious, and here it appeared the soloists also enjoyed it the most. 

The furious coda was however touch-and-go, with both string soloists almost fraying at the edges to keep up with the pace. Nevertheless it all closed with hearty C major chords, big bangs that ensured equally hearty applause. Happy concerts are supposed to end that way.  

Photographs by the kind courtesy of re:Sound.