LEGACY / Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra & Singapore Chinese Orchestra / Review

LEGACY

Singapore National 

Youth Chinese Orchestra

Singapore Conference Hall

Saturday (29 July 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 31 July 2023 with the title "Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra celebrates 20th anniversary with confidence".

This year marks the 20^th year that the Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra (SNYCO) has been managed under the auspices of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra (SCO), and what better way than to distinguish the occasion by having a joint concert celebrating both ensembles? Conducted by Moses Gay and Quek Ling Kiong, SNYCO Associate Conductor and Music Director respectively, the 100-minute long concert showcased five works without an intermission.

 

Wang Danhong’s Ba Yin (Eight Tones) was a evocation of folk festive and ceremonial music from Guangxi province. Opening with plangent solo suona and later prominent dizi solos, the multi-episode work revealed a mastery of orchestral colour, going through a march-like procession, an interlude of lush string passages before climaxing with a rousing close. Conductor Gay brought out the full plethora of sounds from his young charges.  

 

Both concertante works in this concert featured SNYCO players accompanied by the SCO, and what proud moments this must have been for them. In Lu Yun’s The Lord of Western Qin, which lauds Tang dynasty Emperor Xuanzhong’s famed legacy of promoting arts, co-concertmaster Koh Yu Jie’s erhu ran the gamut of emotions from ruminative to outright ecstacy. While the work luxuriated with big and broad melodies, the erhu’s mellifluous voice confidently singing above rhythmic percussion beats was perhaps the most memorable episode.   

 

In Wang Danhong’s Ru Si (As Thus), Sim Kee’s guzheng was similarly animated. The concerto opened with a brilliant cadenza, before orchestral forces were unleashed. Virtuosic as the work sounded, it was the deft scoring that enabled the solo instrument’s rippling and shimmering harp-like effects to shine through the tutti throng. The relentless drive to its conclusion was in a word, breathtaking.  

Photo: Singapore Chinese Orchestra

 

Both orchestras then reconvened on a very crowded stage, where the all-black attire of SCO players merged almost imperceptibly with the grey overcoats of their younger counterparts. The last two  works were led by conductor Quek, beginning with Chen Si’ang’s five-movement suite Sheng Sheng Bu Xi (Endless). The first four movements were capsule portraits of endangered species, including the river dolphin, crested ibis, panda and Tibetan antelope, sounding like music of a nature documentary. The fifth was of Humankind, the endangering species, which rose to a big crescendo as a plea for conservation and saving the planet.

 

Peng Xiuwen’s Terracotta Warriors Fantasia was unusually nuanced for a contemporary Chinese orchestral work, not some quasi-heroic paean but about the actual lives of soldiers who served under China’s first emperor Qin Shihuang (Shih Huangdi), later immortalised in graven form in a  Xi’an mausoleum. While the music dwelled on subjects of honour, duty and sacrifice of working men, its spare central movement, with its flowing melody punctuated by the desolate sound of wooden clappers, was a representation of homesickness and nostalgia.

 

The combined orchestra, comprising students and their teachers, gave both works the vitality and attention to detail each deserved. All evidence points to the future of Chinese instrumental music being more than assured.  

Photo: Singapore Chinese Orchestra

CHLOE CHUA & HE ZIYU / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

CHLOE CHUA & HE ZIYU

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (27 July 2023) 

   

This review was published in Bachtrack on 30 July 2023 with the title "Sterling showcase of Mozart and Richard Strauss by the Singapore Symphony".

 

It is no secret that Hans Graf, Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, has been honing talents for the future of classical music. The appointment of 16-year-old violinist Chloe Chua as the orchestra’s Artist-in-Residence for 2023/2004 was a case in point, as was his championship of 24-year-old Chinese violinist Ziyu He, now a regular in Singapore. Both were first prizewinners at the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists (2018 and 2016 respectively) and have also recorded Mozart with the orchestra.

 

The evening’s soloistic showpiece was Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major (K.364), without doubt his greatest concerto for violin. An intimate sense of chamber music was established from the outset, with the orchestra kept on a firm leash such that the opening E flat major chords in the Allegro maestoso sounded politely voiced rather than hammered out. This paved the way for the soloists’ silky smooth unison entry. Chua’s violin and He’s viola are a well-matched pair, and despite their distant placements on either side of conductor Graf, they blended well together.

 

Sweetness of tone compensated for a deliberate repudiation of forceful projection, most evident in the first movement cadenza and the sublime Andante that followed. After luxuriating in the aria-like cantabile of the slow movement, stops were pulled for the Presto finale but decorum was maintained all through to the closing bars. Restraint and maturity would prevail over youthful impetuosity. As an encore, J.S.Bach’s Two Part Invention No.8 in F major, in an arrangement for two violins with a repeat performed in double quick time, was totally delectable.

 

Watch this video of the finale from Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante:

The concerto proper was preceded by Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute, which also opened with E flat major chords. Far more portentous this time around, it was later relieved by a delightful play of counterpoint, underlining the opera’s overt comedy and covert Masonic messages.  

 

The concert’s true highlight was Richard Strauss’ tone poem Ein Heldenleben (A Hero’s Life), composed in 1898 and his most self-indulgent work. The German was just 34 and had a half-century more to live, yet this six-part monolith resounded with a definitive finality as to be hubristic. 

Opening in a plethora of sound with pedal-points pegged firmly in E flat major (that key again), the Hero’s grandiose visions were well characterised. Leaving little to the imagination, Strauss had cast himself as the striding autobiographical Hero. His Adversaries were, by contrast, snivelling and rodent-like, represented by squeaks and squeals from woodwinds and brassy grunts. 

His Companion was lovingly personified in guest concertmaster David Coucheron’s excellent violin solo, almost a concerto movement of its own. This was his portrait of Frau Strauss, formidable soprano Pauline de Ahna, who was both tender yet complex, but ultimately inscrutable.  

The Hero, his Companion
and their son.

 

A trio of offstage trumpets signalled the call to Battle, an almighty struggle led by the snaredrum’s martial beat. Here, as in the work’s opening, the volume generated at its shattering climax all but raised the roof. In The Hero’s Works of Peace, quotes from earlier tone poems appear fleetingly, notably Don Juan and Till Eulenspiegel, Straussian heroes and anti-heroes both. 

For this hagiography to wind down, what better than a mellow cor anglais and solo violin to seek a peaceable resolution? Finally returning to the warm embrace of E flat major, this outing worked because of Graf’s close to perfectly paced direction, without letting the fine details get in the way of the flowing narrative. For this, he and his orchestra were roundly applauded.    

 

Star Rating: ****

Watch this video of SSO's performance of Ein Heldenleben:

MAESTOSO INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL 3rd Evening / Review

MAESTOSO INTERNATIONAL 

MUSIC FESTIVAL / 3rd Evening

Zarith Sophia Opera House, Johor Bahru

Sunday (23 July 2023)

 

The Maestoso International Music Festival was a three-day event jointly co-organised by parties from Malaysia and Vietnam, culminating in three evenings of concerts by young musicians from around the region and held at Johor Bahru’s new Zarith Sophia Opera House. Its resident ensemble was the Maestoso Chamber Orchestra led by young Vietnamese conductor Nguyen Phu Son, comprising string students and four wind players from ASEAN nations including Vietnam (mostly), Malaysia, Thailand and Myanmar.

 

The festival's final evening opened with Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in G minor (RV.157) in three short movements.  Despite the hall’s slightly dry acoustics, the string ensemble gave a good account of itself, cohesive for most part and keeping the textures light but not astringent. That served as an apt prelude to the main course, two early Mozart piano concertos - both in C major - performed by pupils of renowned Armenian pianist Armen Babakhanian, prizewinner at the Leeds and Van Cliburn International Piano Competitions, who is presently based in Kuala Lumpur.  

 

Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.8 in C major (K.246), also called the Lutzow Concerto, is not often heard except in complete concerto collections on disc. It received a refreshing airing with the opening movement performed by young Christabel Liew, who sparkled in a bright yellow gown. Although the orchestral accompaniment was scrappy-sounding in parts, it still supported the soloist adequately by not overwhelming her. For her part, she was fluent, with grace and clarity being strong points, and also the short cadenza well covered.

There was the usual inappropriate applause between movements but in this case it was justified, as Christabel had completed her task and received the rightful plaudits. The slow movement and finale were undertaken by Berry Wong (no spelling error, and surely named after the late Austrian baritone Walter Berry), a more mature performer. Despite his burly stature and hulking demeanour, he displayed both nimbleness and agility in his touch. The contrasts were well brought out, a singing tone in the Andante followed by the dance-like (Tempo di Menuetto) moves to close the concerto on a high. 

 

 

Surely the highlight of the concert was the second half, a performance of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.13 in C major (K.415) by Toby Tan. Here is one of the stars of tomorrow, having recently awarded First Prize (Junior category) at the Aarhus International Piano Competition in Denmark. He clearly has a feeling for Mozart’s idiom, his silky and “flowing like oil” smoothness and rococo sensibilities. Nowhere does the music feel forced in his hands, and even the supposedly virtuoso cadenza is made to feel like part of the overall musical fabric.

 

Time stood still in the Andante, where cantabile qualities truly stood out. Toby’s shaping of phrases is admirable and if there were moments where tears may be shed, this was it. Even the orchestra, held in abeyance by such musicality, seemed to adjust their playing accordingly. The concluding Rondeau had a playful and buoyant charm, punctuated by interludes of graceful slow dance music. Its episodic nature saw some premature clapping but it was that initial theme which returned time and again (hence the concept of round dance or rondo), sounding better with each repeat before the final romp.

 

After receiving the loudest and longest applause on the evening, Toby’s riproaring encore of Scarlatti’s Sonata in D major (K.29), capturing its feathery light harpsichord textures with astonishing aplomb, capped off a fine evening of music. Although all the performers on stage (including the orchestra) were young and inexperienced, their passion and willingness to serve the music was clearly palpable. This experience will stand their future musical careers in good stead for years to come.

The obligatory end-of-Festival
corporate photoshoot

They say it takes a village
to raise a pianist.
Toby Tan with his teachers: Rena Phua,
Armen Babakhanian and Albert Tiu.
Missing Poom Prommachart,
Rosemery Halim and Winnie Tay today.

A VISIT TO JOHOR BAHRU'S ZARITH SOPHIA OPERA HOUSE

A VISIT TO JOHOR BAHRU’S

ZARITH SOPHIA OPERA HOUSE

 

Whoever thought there is spanking new opera house / concert hall just across the Causeway in Johor Bahru? Just before all of us were caught napping during the Covid pandemic, the not-exactly-new concert venue sprung up in January 2020, when the world was coming to grips and closing shop to handle the viral scourge.

The entry portal did not look
too promising but do walk some more.

Observe the opera house's close proximity
to the SG-JB Causeway.

 

I had a chance on Sunday (23 July 2023) to visit this sparkling gem built by mainland Chinese developers right on the edge of the water, just several stones' throw from the Causeway, and was not disappointed. The driveway approach appeared inauspicious and retail areas around the hall are still mostly unoccupied, thus the initial impression was one of a ghost town. However as one heads closer to the shoreline, the glass and steel of the opera house soon reveals itself. Its angular architecture reminds one of a multi-faceted jewel standing out from the concrete that is emerging on the water’s edge.  

 

This is not a big hall, one just seating 600 at its full capacity, but the complex gives the feeling of a vast sprawl, especially with highrise apartments behind (much still vacant) and the Straits of Johore and Woodlands in front. Rumour has it that a new MRT project connecting Singapore and Johor Bahru (an underwater link?) would arrive sometime in the distant future, and this would totally transform this area to become JB’s answer to the Esplanade.

A view of the environs, where the projected
MRT station might be located.
Note also the JB-Singapore water pipeline
and the famous Johor sultanate palace.

 

Arts events have begun with the pandemic settling and overseas travel resumed. Visiting Chinese cultural groups have performed, and more recently from March this year, there have been piano recitals by Henri Sigfridsson, Kotaro Fukuma and Armen Babakhanian. On this occasion, I was attending the final evening of the three-day Maestoso International Music Festival (a review of the concert will follow). One hopes that this will also kickstart a vibrant arts scene in Singapore’s rapidly gentrified hinterland of Johor Bahru, and Zarith Sofiah Opera House will not become a white elephant.      

Impressive views of the interior.

Visitors from across the Causeway:
piano professors Albert Tiu, Rena Phua
and Andrzej Pikul (Krakow, Poland). 

Making new friends, as always.

Official website of the Zarith Sophia Opera House:

Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House (pzsoh.com.my)

A FAURE FETE / AN EVENING WITH CHELSEA GUO / Review

 

YOUTH & SERENITY: 

A FAURE FETE

The Music Circle

TMC Studio, Queen’s Road

Saturday (15 July 2023)

 

AN EVENING 

WITH CHELSEA GUO

Chelsea Guo (Piano & Voice)

School of The Arts Concert Hall

Sunday (16 July 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 19 July 2023 with the title "Engaging chamber concert and unusual piano-vocal recital at two weekend shows".

  

Two unusually different musical events took place last weekend, a chamber concert and a piano/vocal recital. The first saw about 50 people, including many children, packed within a cosy studio in The Music Circle’s school premises at Queen’s Road. This was an interactional concert meant to introduce young people (and their parents) to the joy of chamber music performance.

 

On show was a rare airing of late Romantic Frenchman Gabriel Fauré’s autumnal Piano Quintet No.2 in C minor (Op.115) performed by some of Singapore’s finest chamber musicians - pianist Cherie Khor, violinists Tang Tee Tong and Clarissa Lim, violist Christoven Tan and cellist Leslie Tan. Presenter Moegi Amano, a pianist herself, gave a short spiel on impressionism and Faure’s life history.

 

Strictly speaking, Fauré was not classed as an impressionist composer like Debussy or Ravel, but his more traditional music still provided instances where imaginations were allowed to run freely. As youngsters was busily colouring pictures of Eiffel Tower or pasting paper strips, the quintet performed as they would in a serious concert. In the flighty second movement, the audience was suggested to visualise children playing in a park, while the stillness of the slow movement reminded them of a peaceful river scene.

 

Applause between movements was not discouraged and all through this rarefied and sometimes austere music, many moments of beauty were illuminated, with listeners kept attentive and enraptured. Musical outreach has seldom been this engaging or unstuffy, and more schools are encouraged to win more followers to classical music by pursuing such persuasive means.   

 

Photo: Aceolution

The second concert featured one artist in dual roles of pianist and singer. While this is a given in pop music and jazz, it is virtually unheard of in classical music. Enter American-Chinese pianist and soprano Chelsea Guo, an undergraduate at New York’s Juilliard School, whose delightful programme centred on the love triangle of Robert Schumann, his wife Clara, and their friend Johannes Brahms.

 

The recital’s first half was all piano, opening with Robert’s Kinderszenen (Scenes From Childhood), musings on juvenile memories rather than didactic pieces for children. Innocence and simplicity were well brought out, the popular Traumerei (Dreaming) and the closing Der Dichter Spricht (The Poet Speaks) being particularly poignant.

 

Photo: Aceolution

Two contrasting Romances, Clara’s Op.21 No.1 and Robert’s Op.28 No.2, confirmed that she was no less of a serious composer than her husband. Brahms’ youthful Variations on an Original Theme (Op.21 No.1) provided the most technically challenging moments for the fingers but Guo prevailed.

 

 

The second half was all vocal, with Guo multi-tasking by being her own collaborative pianist. In Mir Klingt Ein Lied (In Me Sings A Song) is based on the melody of Chopin’s Tristesse Etude (Op.10 No.3) with the difficult bits left out, a mellifluous prelude to three songs by Clara which revealed far more of Guo’s art as interpreter. Her German was idiomatic, her tone pure but resolute, paving the way for Robert’s song cycle Frauenliebe und Leben (Woman’s Love and Life).

 

The words by Adelbert von Chamisso seem to modern sensibilities anachronistic and misogynist, that a woman is forever in the thrall of her man. It thus worked best just to pay attention to the music, and Guo expressed in its eight songs a wealth of emotion and colour, her voice never overshadowed by the piano’s rich details and textures. 

The recital closed with Robert’s Du Meine Seele (You My Soul), better known as Widmung (Dedication) written for Clara as a wedding gift, in the showy transcription by Franz Liszt. That heartrending romp and the Chinese song Molihua as encore brought down the house.