KAM NING. THE ARTISTRY OF STRINGS / THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS. CHIYAN WONG IN RECITAL / Review

KAM NING – THE ARTISTRY OF STRINGS

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Wednesday (27 October 2021)

 

THE GOLDBERG VARIATIONS

Chiyan Wong, Piano Recital

Esplanade Concert Hall

Sunday (31 October 2021)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 3 November 2021 with the title "Violinist excites, pianist tricks and treats".

The opening of travel lanes for overseas artists to perform here has invigorated the musical scene, not least London-based Singapore violinist Kam Ning’s two week residency with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She capped last week’s two performances of Mendelssohn’s E Minor Violin Concerto with a splendid chamber concert leading the orchestra’s strings.

Photo: Nathaniel Lim

 

Haydn’s underrated Violin Concerto No.1 in C major saw her projecting a rich and healthy tone, alternating between solos and joining the general ensemble in the tuttis. While the outer movements buzzed with fervent activity, it was in the central slow movement where she was allowed to truly shine. Her seamless aria-like solo line radiated an unmatched beauty while accompanied by gentle pizzicato strings.  

Photo: Nathaniel Lim 

 

An unbridled sense of exhilaration possessed the finale, which continued into the hour-long concert’s second work, the dissonantly exciting Divertimento by 20^th century Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. The refinement of Haydn was now replaced by rough-hewn and earthy textures, and this made for fascinating contrasts.

Photo: Nathaniel Lim

 

Kam’s leadership kept the ensemble on a fine razor’s edge throughout, capable of switching from rapt pianissimos to loud slashing discords within a matter of seconds. While a gypsy fiddler’s insouciance defined her solos, it was her joie de vivre that proved to be most infectious. For want of a better word, she and her charges went headlong on a uninhibited romp in its final passages. The encore, Leroy Anderson’s pizzicato paradise, Plink, Plank, Plunk!, was no less enthusiastically received.

 

Photo: Ung Ruey Loon

Also making a welcome return was Berlin-based Hong Kong pianist Chiyan Wong, presented by Altenburg Arts. In recent years, Wong has made a name for himself as a Liszt and Busoni specialist, with a penchant for unusually eclectic programmes. His recital began neo-baroque with two movements from Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, displaying limpid and crystal clear articulation aided by judicious and subtle pedalling.

 

Photo: Ung Ruey Loon

In Wong’s take on Italian pianist-composer Ferruccio Busoni’s edition of J.S.Bach’s Goldberg Variations, tricks and treats came aplenty on Halloween night. This performing version omitted all repeats, removed several variations, introduced surprising ear-catching new voices and dabbled in octave doublings. Purists will recoil at these revisions, but Wong’s missionary zeal aided with no little delicacy and outright virtuosity made this a compelling listen. Running under 34 minutes, this was a right Goldberg for people in a hurry.      

Chopin’s brief Mazurka in C sharp minor (Op.63 No.3), ravishingly voiced, was the prelude to Busoni’s Nine Variations on a Chopin Prélude. The subject was none other than the famous chord-laden Prélude in C minor (Op.28 No.20), and the modernist phantasmagorical set of variations held a 20^th century distorting mirror to the earlier Bach.

 

Wong’s love for the offbeat also extended to his encore, Busoni’s Elegy No.4 or Turandots Frauengemach (Turandot’s Boudoir), which turned out to be the most outrageous transcription thought possible of Greensleeves. Naughty but nice.