HANS GRAF INAUGURAL CONCERT / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

HANS GRAF INAUGURAL CONCERT

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (28 July 2022)

 

There have just been three days such as this one. The first two took place in January 1979 and January 1997, when the Singapore Symphony Orchestra performed inaugural concerts with Choo Hoey and Shui Lan respectively at the helm. The Austrian conductor Hans Graf is only the SSO’s third Music Director, having assumed the role this month. He had been its Chief Conductor since January 2020. This has been a long-awaited appointment, a delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

During the interim, he had worked regularly with the orchestra in chamber-sized programmes, first presented as digital concerts, and later live concerts attended by very limited and socially-distanced audiences. It was only recently when the full-strength orchestra was allowed to return, presenting an all-Shostakovich concert in April. With subscriptions concerts finally resuming, it was a return to normality as we know it, with all systems go.

 

Richard Strauss’ tone poem Don Juan got the concert off to a sizzling start. Spectacular orchestral showpiece that it is, few will not respond to the music’s swashbuckling drive. With slashing strings and brass on overdrive, this was not just a flashy performance but one of finely detailed playing. From guest concertmaster Markus Tomasi’s violin solo to Pan Yun’s oboe and Li Xin’s clarinet, there was much to savour. And who was not waiting for the moment for all four French horns to shine, a heroic call to arms which heralded an exciting drive to a glorious climax? New Music Director Hans Graf marshalled the forces with authority and clear direction, which made for a stunning opener.   

 

The orchestra was whittled down for Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.5 in A major K.219, nicknamed the “Turkish” for its Oriental-styled finale. Partnering the orchestra was its present Artist-In-Residence Chloe Chua, who will be recording all five Mozart concertos and the Sinfonia Concertante with the orchestra. Audiences got a foretaste of this admirable project, distinguished by Chloe’s absolutely natural musicianship. Her entries were breathtaking for purity of sound and perfect intonation, allied with a singing tone thus enhancing the music’s simplicity.

 

The teenaged Mozart wrote his violin concertos for his own use in concerts, and these seemed tailor-made for Chloe’s artistry. Not content with just playing the notes, she infused each and every phrase with vitality, but never an empty gesture or extraneous effects. With her, it was always the music that mattered most, expressed with love and delicacy. Cadenzas and elaborated passages were tasteful, ear-catching for their short duration and never going off tangent. The slow movement sang like an aria, flowing seamlessly like oil (a phrase Mozart referred to legato playing), before the Rondo finale’s graceful dance. The chamber orchestra rocked with drumming effects for a few rhythmic minutes in its Turkish interlude, and Chloe’s response was to further luxuriate in the joy of music-making. The audience response was vociferous, and her genuine smiles in reciprocation made this evening even more special. Within the frame of a diminutive musician, a giant of an artist resides.        

 

Picture this: an Austrian conductor from Salzburg in his seventies allied with a prodigious 15-year-old girl violinist in Mozart. Does Hans Graf and Chloe Chua not remind music lovers of a similar tandem from the late 1970s: Herbert von Karajan and Anne-Sophie Mutter? Pinch yourself, we have something truly miraculous taking place here in Singapore.

 

Brahms’ Second Symphony in D major was performed at the SSO’s first anniversary concert in January 1980 at the Singapore Conference Hall. And what a difference 42 years makes in an orchestra’s progress. Hans Graf’s conception of this popular symphony was one built on solid scholarship and musicianship. What one will not get is shock and awe, or hope to be swept away by raw emotion, for he is no passion merchant. Instead one will be entranced by the beauty of sound crafted, the finesse of both solo and ensemble playing, and the work’s overall conception.

 

Photo: Jack Yam / SSO

The symphony opened leisurely, almost indolent in mood, but that was to set the stage for the lilting second subject, the tune that recalls Brahms’ Wiegenlied (Op.49 No.4, yes that Lullaby). Even that was played straight, and without being milked for whatever reasons. By now, one would have grasped that Graf seeks objectivity in music, shunning sentimentality, nostalgia or other human impulses. Yet the music does not feel depersonalised, as the movement shifted into higher gears in the development.

 

Photo: Jack Yam / SSO

The middle movements are often forgotten by listeners, but here they took a life of their own. Warmth and intimacy of string playing in the austere slow movement soon made one forget this was one of Brahms’ sternest creations. This terseness did give way to some lightening towards the end, further contrasted by the brief and chatty third movement. Woodwinds came into the limelight, sounding positively lively and energised with principal oboe Rachel Walker taking the lead. If there had been any reservations, those departed with the finale’s exuberance. Even this celebratory movement never went over the top, with Graf keeping a tight lid on any tendency to overheat. This should not be mistaken for reticence, but rather a well-nuanced restraint that would eventually find a way to exultation. Graf and his SSO found that way to close the symphony and concert on a glorious high.

 

This was a great performance, part of a historic and memorable inaugural concert by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, one that will stand the test of time. To experience it again would be an unmitigated pleasure, and this may be viewed on YouTube at:

 

Temasek Foundation SSO Hans Graf Inaugural Concert, featuring Chloe Chua – YouTube

 

 

T'ANG QUARTET: GIFT OF MUSIC / T'ang Quartet / Review

 

GIFT OF MUSIC

T’ang Quartet

Esplanade Recital Studio

Wednesday (27 July 2022)

 

After Mark 2.0 of Singapore’s T’ang Quartet was unveiled in April this year, the foursome of violinists Ng Yu Ying and Ang Chek Meng, violist Han Oh and cellist Wang Zihao has gotten down to hard graft with a pair of concerts. This opening evening was a fund-raiser, coinciding with the launch of a coffee table book on the quartet’s 30 years written by Ivan Lim. Thirty years of an ensemble’s history is a significant milestone, and the event got exactly what it deserved – a programme of serious classics which makes no concessions for newbies or beginners, the sort one would find at home in Wigmore Hall and other august concert venues.

The founder-members of T'ang Quartet,
Ng Yu Ying and Ang Chek Meng
address the audience.

 

There was also a pleasing yin and yang to the works, major key Mozart paired with minor key Brahms. The evening opened with Mozart’s String Quartet in C major K.465 also nicknamed "Dissonance", one of six quartets dedicated to the "Father of string quartets" himself, Joseph Haydn. Its nickname was made apparent at its outset, a throbbing beat from the cello, followed by entries from viola and first violin who gave no clue as to what the key was. This must have bewildered its first listeners in extremis, the sort of joke Haydn would have heartily approved, before winding down to the “safe” home key of C major.

 

The Allegro proper, in the proper key, was sunny and optimistic, allied with a show of cohesive playing. The slow movement radiated warmth and lyricism, before the Minuet and Trio's more animated pages. The trio section was in the minor key but not possessing the same startling quality as the quartet's opening. The same could be said of the finale's alternating between major and minor keys, which was not all lightness and fun. The quartet however did its utmost to bring out the music's humour. It is a "Haydn Quartet", after all. 

 

After a short interval was Brahms’s First String Quartet in C minor (Op.51 No.1), which was striking for its austerity. Its spirit of sturm und drang (storm and stress) may seem anachronistic, but the German composer was above all a classicist and “guardian of the old school”. Bristling with energy and vitality, the quartet revelled in its tautness and thematic economy. The three-note motif introduced soon after its fiery opening would appear in different guises throughout the work, which made is all the more interesting.

 

The introspective and hymn-like slow movement radiated an inner glow, and this is where the quartet really showed its togetherness. While not a true Scherzo, the third movement’s Intermezzo saw a return to some degree of tension seemed the natural thing, contrasted by a lighter and almost carefree Trio that resembled folk music. The finale opened at a furious pace, and the spirit was never allowed to flag as the quartet wound to a passionate close. This work is a tough nut to crack, for both performers and listeners. Especially for listeners, but kudos go to T’ang Quartet for shedding some daylight on its apparent mysteries and well-kept secrets.   

 

The sole encore was a surprise, a well-known tune dressed up in late Romantic Brahmsian garb. Local composer and arranger Bang Wenfu’s very idiomatic transcription of Dick Lee’s Home brought a hint of recognition and many smiles as the nation heads into its well-earned fifty-seventh birthday. Arising from the ashes of the Covid-19 pandemic, the second coming of T’ang Quartet is well, up and running. 

 

YEOL EUM SON PLAYS MOZART / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

YEOL EUM SON PLAYS MOZART

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (21 July 2022)

An edited version of this review was first published on Bachtrack on 25 July 2022 with the title "Vasily Petrenko and Yeol Eum Son make spectacular Singapore debuts".

 

At the beginning of its 2022-23 season, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra looked to relive works  presented during its early years. Besides Rossini, also regularly encountered was Carl Maria von Weber, whose operatic overtures made short but splendid curtain raisers. This evening’s performance of his Overture to Euryanthe showed how far the orchestra has progressed over the years.

 

Four decades ago, one might have expected anaemic playing dogged with intonation issues. However the SSO of today, under Russian guest conductor Vasily Petrenko’s taut direction, is altogether a different instrument. The work’s showcase was its many string passages, where the ensemble responded with fervour, fulsome in climaxes and yet capable of providing that hushed quality when called for. This suppleness was key, continuing into the orchestral part of Mozart’s last piano concerto, No.27 in B flat major (K.595).

 

Eschewing the high drama, pomp and pageantry of three preceding concertos, its opening tutti was so lightly scored as be almost transparent. This facilitated Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son’s entry, limpid in its clarity and faultless in articulation. One might have expected this multiple prize-winner (Van Cliburn, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Rubinstein competitions to name a few) to exert full authority, but this was more a partnership between first among equals. She established excellent repartee with the woodwinds, achieving a fine balance in what was essentially chamber music.

 

The lovely slow movement saw Son opening and leading, with simple and tasteful ornamentations colouring the narrative. The Rondo finale, based on the song Sehnsucht nach dem Fruhling (K.596, Yearning for Spring), skipped along with lightness and chirpy humour. Late Mozart could be all too retiring, so some concession for technical display was afforded by his own cadenzas. Adroitly negotiated by Son, these upped the ante without ruffling feathers. Responding to appreciative applause, Son’s two solo encores were vastly contrasting. The gentle tintinnabuli of Arvo Pärt’s Variations for the Healing of Arinushka was followed by Arcadi Volodos’ riotously Horowitzian transcription of Mozart’s Rondo alla Turca.

 

It seemed like a mistake to have programmed Sibelius’ Second Symphony within the smaller confines of Singapore’s historic Victoria Concert Hall. This work cries out for the more capacious spaces and acoustic possibilities of Esplanade Concert Hall, where the full bloom of the music’s climaxes is better experienced. However, the orchestra and Petrenko seemed to have found some kind of sonic chemistry in a venue more suited for chamber music. While the full complement of woodwinds and brass was employed, large empty spaces were left in front of grouped trumpets and trombones, and five French horns. This spatial distancing allowed plangent brass sonorities to rise upwards to the reflectors above, while sparing the hearing of the string players seated in front. It also helped that the Finnish composer’s scoring never got all groups blaring at full volume, except for its soaring conclusion.

Photo: Jack Yam / SSO

 

All this made for a very coherent and absorbing performance. A warm string tone was the highlight of the opening movement, but shades got darker in the slow movement. Here, two bassoons in unison accompanied by pizzicato strings heralded a descent into nether regions. The nationalist fervour of Sibelius’ music was not yet apparent at this point, but the sense of struggle portrayed by the music became real and palpable. Agitated strings in the short scherzo-like third movement further upped the ante before finally breaking through with the finale’s gloriously striding theme.

 

Stirring the blood of Finnish patriotism was Sibelius’ intention in 1902, a worthy follow-up to the blatant flag-waving of his tone poem Finlandia. Trust the Russian in Petrenko, who surely understood what it means to be oppressed and the true value of freedom and independence, to instill this spirit in his Singapore charges for the evening. The drive to the final apotheosis was thrilling, culminating in a sonic spectacle with all guns blazing. Raising the roof of the Vic, the ears were blitzed for a couple of minutes, but all that was well worth the effort.      

Star Rating: *****

 

HAN-NA CHANG AND CHUREN LI: BEETHOVEN AND GRIEG / Review

HAN-NA CHANG AND CHUREN LI:

BEETHOVEN AND GRIEG 

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (16 July 2022)

This review was first published on Bachtrack on 18 July 2022 with the title "Han-Na Chang conducts familiar favourites as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's new season opens."

The Covid-19 pandemic has now attained endemic status in Singapore. This opening concert of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s 2022-23 season thus marked a complete reset to the “good old days” of before the virus. This reset also saw concert programmes reminiscent of the orchestra’s early years (1979 to early-80s), when wet-behind-the-ears audiences were gradually introduced to popular works of the repertoire in accessible doses. Mahler, Bruckner and Shostakovich would come much later, but one name was ubiquitous: Rossini. His operatic overtures were de rigeuer in early SSO concerts, so the inclusion of the Overture to William Tell was most apt.

Photo: Aloysius Lim

 

Its opening with massed cellos was atmospheric, with principal Ng Pei-Sian’s solo a real standout. The ensuing Alpine storm was short but riveting, and the pastoral scene with Elaine Yeo’s cor anglais and Roberto Alvarez’s flute contributions being pivotal to the performance’s finesse. This “mini concerto for orchestra” concluded with the most famous musical gallop of all, with brass working overtime. This would have been the perfect primer to the orchestra for any person attending a classical concert for the very first time.

Photo: Aloysius Lim

 

Credit must also go to Korean guest conductor Han-Na Chang, former child prodigy cellist, for her mastery of fine orchestral detail, which would also influence the performance of Grieg’s evergreen Piano Concerto that followed. It is often said that all conductors will sleep walk through this work. Not so this evening, as her astute marshalling of the orchestral forces paved the way for Singaporean pianist Churen Li’s showcase.

Photo: Aloysius Lim

 

Li was a graduate from Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, and has garnered master’s degrees in music and philosophy from Yale and Cambridge respectively. Academic achievements aside, her full-blooded approach to the Grieg had much to recommend. Hers was not just a performance of utmost virtuosity but one full of nuances as well. Keen awareness for the music’s inner poetry sat cheek-by-jowl with the requisite barnstorming, not least in the first movement’s Lisztian cadenza. 

The slow movement’s muted strings ushered in heart-on-sleeve emoting by Li before the finale’s bounding Halling dance. There was a brief lapse of synchronicity but that was shrugged off without issue, the grandstanding close being what what mattered most. Her lovely encore was retiring in stark contrast, Dobrou noc ! (Good Night!) from Janacek’s On An Overgrown Path.   

 

The fifty-two minutes of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony might seem long-drawn or dragged out, but it did not feel that way. Under Chang, who conducted from memory, the overall pacing was very well judged. The emphatically punched-out two opening chords set the tone; this was not going to be a routine run through. Although brisk and bristling with urgency, the tempos never felt hectic or forced. The ever-pervasive sense of surging forward came in waves, symbolic of the  impetuous Napoleonic inspiration, except that Beethoven had angrily scratched out the original dedication. He was not going to honour an emperor and tyrant, but the memory of a hero that was.

Photo: Aloysius Lim

 

To that end, the second movement’s funeral march became all the more inevitable. Again, the pacing was just right; not too lugubrious, and the build up to its powerful climax proved to be the highlight. Spurts of premature applause from newbies in the audience seemed like the right response to relieve the tension. To contrast the symphony’s shorter and far lighter second half with the very serious first, the mood softened considerably. The Scherzo was clockwork in its delivery, capped by the trio of French horns who were in sync throughout.

 

The finale, playing on the comedic Creatures of Prometheus theme, revelled in its humour and busy counterpoint, without being frivolous. This was a nuanced reading which took its time in the quieter bits, which made the furious coda all the more exciting as the symphony drew to its triumphant close. There must have been first-timers to this concert, and judging by the applause accorded to Chang and her charges, it certainly will not be their last.       

 

Watch this: 

Li Churen & SSO (Han-Na Chang) 

in Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor:

JOAN MANEN Violin Concerto No.3, Symphony No.2 / Review

JOAN MANÉN

Violin Concerto No.3

Symphony No.2

Barcelona Symphony Orchestra

DARRELL ANG, Conductor

Naxos 8.574274-75 (2 CDs)

 

At the rate he carries on, Grammy-nominated Darrell Ang might very well become the most recorded Singaporean conductor of all time. For the Naxos label, he has done sterling work in introducing the lesser-known music of French and Spanish composers. Following up on his earlier and much-acclaimed recording of Spanish violin concertos with Yang Tianwa and the Barcelona Symphony is this album dedicated to Catalonian composer Joan Manén (1883-1971).

 

It is unfathomable how Manén, a contemporary of Igor Stravinsky (1882-1971), is almost unknown despite having written much good music. He was a virtuoso violinist (considered a younger rival of Pablo de Sarasate), pianist and conductor who made the first recording of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto. Second only to cellist Pablo Casals as the most famous Catalan musician, the two major orchestral works in this album suggested he also had Beethovenian ambitions.

 

His Violin Concerto (1941), nicknamed “Iberico”, plays for some 43 minutes. Only Beethoven, Brahms, Elgar and Reger wrote longer violin concertos. Its description sin tono (without tonality) is curious, meaning that it does not have a definite tonal centre. Far from being atonal, it is a lush Romantic work with memorable melodies. The opening movement plays for almost a half-hour (echoing his famous predecessors), while the brief second movement serves as an enlace (link) to a rather short-winded finale. While not as overtly nationalistic as Manén’s own Concierto Espanol, a distinct Iberian flavour pervades the work. Spanish violinist Ana Maria Valderrama, winner of the 2011 Sarasate International Violin Competition, is a most convincing soloist.   

 

Symphony No.2 (1955), nicknamed “Iberica”, in four movements and scored for large orchestra, is even more ambitious at 55 minutes. This was Manén’s Eroica Symphony, given its scope and sense of proportion. A Slavic solemnity and foreboding dominates the sprawling opening movement and slow third movement, but it is the highly rhythmic and dance-like Allegro scherzando second movement and celebratory finale where more obvious Iberian influences come to bear. Conductor Darrell Ang keeps a tight rein on the proceedings, firmly guiding its narrative while preventing the music from becoming protracted and over-bloated. Given Joan Manén’s well-conceived and flavoursome music, Naxos’ low price and excellent annotations, this double-CD album is well worth exploring. 

ANATOL UGORSKI Complete Recordings on Deutsche Grammophon / Review

ANATOL UGORSKI

Complete Recordings

on Deutsche Grammophon

DG  479 9923 (13 CDs)

 

The year is 1991. The imminent fall of the Soviet Union saw the 50-year-old Saint Petersburg-born Anatol Ugorski join the roster of the German yellow label. Known as a modernist and proponent of the avant-garde, his DG recordings dating from 1991 to 2000 gave a hint of his “subversive” tendencies. Not since Ivo Pogorelich had a pianist divided opinion or been as controversial.

 

An example was his view of Beethoven’s final Sonata in C minor (Op.111), which ran over 38 minutes. The glacial pacing of the Arietta (and variations) was so protracted as to strain credibility. The slower Bagatelles from Op.126 and the ubiquitous Fur Elise were also a snore-fest. His ability for fast playing was however evident in the Rage Over the Lost Penny. His expansive take on the Diabelli Variations, going past the hour mark, was somewhat more acceptable. As was his epic stance on the three Brahms piano sonatas, all early and blustery works. This grandstanding does work, even more so in the Handel Variations and Chaconne in D minor (after Bach’s Violin Partita No.2) for left hand. The mind boggles what he would have done with the Hammerklavier Sonata if given the chance.

 

Fortunately, Schumann’s Davidsbundlertanze Op.6 comprising 18 short pieces strung together like a necklace finds Ugorski in peak story-telling form, while Schubert’s rhapsodic Wanderer Fantasy blazes like the virtuoso showpiece it is. In Chopin, he brings charm to the early Polonaises (albeit naive teenaged efforts) and assorted shorts like the rarely-played Bolero, Tarantella, Ecossaises (Scottish Dances) and Nouvelles Etudes. Barnstorming was never the issue in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and Stravinsky’s Three Movements from Petrouchka, instead he brings out the colours like a true Russian. In four of Scriabin’s Sonatas (Nos.2, 3, 5 and 9), he smoulders ever so patiently, sizzles and eventually catches fire. For his sole concerto album, Scriabin’s early, Chopinesque Piano Concerto and Prometheus (Poem of Fire)  are poles apart in style but still sound convincing. Both are partnered with the Chicago Symphony conducted by Pierre Boulez.

 

The jewel in the crown has to be the three discs devoted to Olivier Messiaen’s 13-movement Catalogue d’Oiseaux (Catalogue of Birds). Messiaen was a noted ornithologist who studiously recorded birdsong, then transcribed them for piano as extended musical portraits. The ambient environment and geography were also crafted into the soundscapes, standing in stark contrast with the varied twitters and tweets (using the terms literally). Ugorski was reputed to have played all of these from memory, an outstanding feat of dedication, which comes across most sonorously.  

 

Short Stories is a disc of encores by Chopin, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Liszt, Debussy, Rachmaninov, Scriabin, with the usual suspects, but the inclusion of the Mozart-Busoni Giga, Bolero e Variazione and Weber Invitation to the Dance greatly enhances its interest. Whatever caveats one may have with Ugorski’s Beethoven, his music-making is interesting and liberating, totally befitting his reputation as a piano maverick extraordinare.

PIANO SPECTRUMS / ANNA KISLITSYNA, Piano on Navona Records / Review

PIANO SPECTRUMS

ANNA KISLITSYNA, Piano

Navona Records NV6413 / TT: 76’00”

 

How does one approach a piano recital album where every single composer it is not previously known to the listener? Listen with an open mind and ears, and then listen again. When impressions form, or connections are made with past memories, make a note of them. And then listen again. Some works would became friends, while others remain remote and elusive. The cost of listening is time, and there is certainly not too much to go around. And then decisions are made. The pieces you get, you get to keep. As for the others, some other time... perhaps.

 

I have listened to Russia-born and California-based pianist Anna Kislitsyna’s album several times through. There are 20 tracks in total, all short pieces, representing nine composers based in USA, Canada, United Kingdom and Australia. Five of these are slightly lengthier works, running 6 minutes and more, with some comprising multiple movements. Here are some random thoughts and very brief notes.

 

Among the longer works, Tara Guram’s Piano Sonata is in three movements, showcasing  mild dissonances of the Hindemith variety, a central movement with jazzy rhythms, and a funeral march in A minor after Chopin. Zhiyi Wang’s Etude for Concert has a slow, quiet beginning filled with Coplandesque harmonies, later builds up in tempo and volume with syncopated rhythms before closing quietly. Jacob E. Goodman’s Variations on a Theme of Beethoven is very approachable, based on the well-known Andante Favori in F major. One variation incorporates children’s ditties and another a fugue. Eric Chapelle’s Place in Landscape (Taormina) is a single-movement gentle and impressionistic soundscape of a Sicilian seaside town, both atmospheric and minimalist.

 

There is much variety in the short pieces. Michael Cohen’s Prelude is neo-Bachian, with a bluesy feel. Richard Vella’s selections from Book Two of Mise-en-Scenes are atmospheric and minimalist. John Robertson’s selection of four Preludes are tonal character pieces, including  a tango (No.11) and  a menuet a la Haydn (No.12). David Nisbet Stewart’s Prelude No.7 brilliant and etude-like number, which would work equally well on a harp or guzheng. Two selections from Carla Lucero’s opera Wuornos: Rough Trick is bluesy while The Capture provides a dramatic and dissonant close. Bruce Babcock’s Time and Again: four shorts alternating between being gritty, kinetically charged and lyrical.  

 

Will any of these pieces become part of the mainstream, or appear in a concert pianist’s recital repertoire? Given the profusion of composers and compositions in these times, only an infinitesimally small fraction will ever become known to a wider public. Among these, Goodman’s Beethoven Variations and Chapelle’s Taormina might just gain some currency beyond this album. Kislitsyna’s playing is incisive and persuasive, which will bring these works new and receptive listeners. I am no clairvoyant, but this recording might just be the only chance of ever hearing these works again. 

To sample / download / purchase this album:

Piano Spectrums – Navona Records