DANCE WITH THE FOUR / T'ang Quartet / Review

 

DANCE WITH THE FOUR 

T’ang Quartet, Ning An & Albert Tiu 

Conservatory Concert Hall 

Tuesday (29 October 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 31 October 2024 with the title 'T'ang Quartet shows Shostakovich and Piazzolla share common love for Bach".

The T’ang Quartet as we knew it in 1992, its inaugural year, does not quite exist any more. An ensemble-in-residence at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, its remaining founding members violinists Ng Yu Ying and Ang Chek Meng now perform concerts with guest musicians. A former student, Korean cellist Cho Hang-oh, joined it for this concert as did fellow faculty member violist Zhang Manchin for a performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor (Op.57). 

Arguably the most performed 20th century piano quintet, it had inspirations from the Baroque, notably Johann Sebastian Bach. Pianist Ning An’s big opening chords on the newly-gifted Fazioli grand was a statement of intent in the Prelude, from which a probing exposition sprouted and grew. The very tight ensemble continued into the lengthy Fugue, where individual voices and contrapuntal lines stood out with illuminating clarity. 

Photo: Faezah Zulkifli

With formality out of the way, the group let down its collective hair for the madcap Scherzo, its biting irony and vitriolic humour in tandem with a swinging beat. Sparks flew for a short but scintillating course, its irreverent tone giving way to the Intermezzo’s walking-paced passacaglia, yet another Baroque form. 

Seriousness would be called to question with the Finale’s levity and faux-cheeriness soon taking over. One might be puzzled by the volte-face, but the players’ determination in keeping tongues lodged in cheeks held firm, through a manic march to its ambiguous close. The Soviet regime was flummoxed, even awarding Shostakovich the coveted Stalin Prize in 1941. 

After the interval, the T’angs were joined by conservatory student violist Huang Yi and pianist Albert Tiu for a second half of tangos by Argentine composer / bandoneon player Astor Piazzolla. One might inquire what on earth Shostakovich and Piazzolla had in common. 

The answer would be found by just listening: a shared love of Bach. 

Fuga y Mysterio, which began an enjoyable run of half a dozen tangos, was built upon a fugue. Tiu, who crafted these nifty transcriptions, opened with a highly syncopated piano subject, with string voices joining in sequence. Percussive beats were provided by striking of wood (on cello and piano) and short-and-sharp bowing near the bridge. Old J.S. would have been proud of the mastery of counterpoint involved. 

With Soledad (Solitude), Piazzolla had one of his most achingly beautiful slow movements. And how Ng’s violin sang, followed by Huang’s warm and duskily burnished tone on viola. In Concierto Para Quinteto, a progression of descending notes formed the bass over which all instruments took their turns, essentially a passacaglia in disguise. Where did we hear that before? 

In Oblivion, another classic slow movement, solo viola and Cho’s cello came to the fore, poignantly so. La Muerte del Angel (The Death of Angel) was another busy fugue, infectious in its frenetic rhythm and the concert closed with Le Grand Tango, originally written for cello and piano. Here the parts were equally shared by all five players, who clearly enjoyed driving to its intoxicating and rapturous close.

CRYSTAL TO PORCELAIN: KHOR AI MING & TAMAGOH'S 20TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

What a privilege it is to have been among 80 guests invited to Esplanade Recital Studio on Sunday 27 October 2024 to attend the 20th wedding anniversary concert of singer chorusmaster Khor Ai Ming and drummer extraordinaire Tamagoh. Like her annual concerts, this was a heady mix of Ai Ming's favourite songs in Chinese, Malay, Japanese and German, accompanied by the star-studded Simply Jazz Band. 

Esplanade Recital Studio was transformed, with the rows of concert seats removed and its place special arms chairs and coffee tables, arranged as in a jazz lounge. This was a very special concert in celebration of a China anniversary, which the couple niftily called a Porcelain anniversary. Here are some of the photos, and needless to say, all who attended had a great time. 

A special invitation card
and special seating at Esplanade Recital Studio.

The evening's programme,
wedding dinner style!

Ai Ming and Tama make
a very compatible pair,
the secret for 20 good years.

Ai Ming's Kurt Weill segment
was accompanied by pianist Bertrand Lee.

The Simply Jazz Band performs.

Ai Ming accompanies herself in one song.

The final encore was Bizet's Habanera
from Carmen sung in Chinese. 

Take a bow, Ai Ming & Tama.
Here's to 20 more good years!

We were guests along with
Dr & Mrs Tony Makarome,
with the best seats in the house.

A GOTHIC HALLOWEEN / Singapore Symphony Chorus & Eudenice Palaruan / Review

 

A GOTHIC HALLOWEEN 

Singapore Symphony Chorus 

Eudenice Palaruan 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Sunday (27 October 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 29 October 2024 with the title "Spine-tingling music at Halloween concert".

What makes certain works of classical music scary? The human imagination is so susceptible that powers of suggestion can often hold sway. The annual Halloween Concert, part of Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s organ series, had the ideal setting in Victoria Concert Hall. 

Victoria Concert Hall was
aptly decorated for Halloween.

Its Klais pipe organ was the star, with the Introduction from French composer Leon Boellmann’s Suite Gothique performed by the Singapore Symphony Chorus’ director Eudenice Palaruan opening accounts. Loud stentorian chords and long-held resonances conveyed vibes of haunted houses and things that go bump in the dark. 

Then enter the men from Singapore Symphony Chorus, all 17 with grim expressions as those awaiting execution. Singing a brief movement from Francis Poulenc’s Four Little Prayers of Saint Francis of Assisi, led by assistant conductor Ellissa Sayampanathan, did not assuage their collective guilt. 

Johann Sebastian Bach’s infamous Toccata and Fugue in D Minor did not make an appearance, but his “Little” Fugue in G minor (BWV.578) did. This was, however, almost cheerful by comparison. More serious was De Profundis Clamavi (Out of the Depths, I Cry to You) with 18 women’s voices joining in. Its alternation of chant-like unison lines and polyphony in Latin, a dead language, sent chills down the spine. 

Low Jinhong’s celesta with its tinkling timbre accounted for the chromatic Notturno (Nocturne) by the Hungarian Bela Bartok, renowned for his creepy skin-crawling music. Interestingly, this had the same opening notes and E minor key as Robert Schumann’s Im Rhein (In The Rhine) which followed. This was a salute to Cologne’s gothic cathedral, with mixed chorus accompanied by celesta, piano (Shane Thio) and organ (Boey Jir Shin). 

The most ambitious and colourful work on show was Palaruan’s Cana, based on a Spanish term referring to a wide range of reed and pipe instruments. Here, staggered chants in unison (Veni Creator Spiritus and Santo Espiritu) were accompanied by handbells, glass harmonicas, bird whistles, khaen (bamboo pipes, played by the composer) and keyboards instruments to great effect. 

Eudenice plays the khaen (panpipes).

Back to the pipe organ, Palaruan completed Boellmann’s Suite Gothique with its soaringly sonorous Toccata. Does anybody else besides this reviewer think that the Malay words of Di Tanjung Katong could be sung to its main melody? Uncanny and bizarre. Edward Elgar’s well-known Nimrod from Enigma Variations, heard on piano and organ, was noble and imposing, but positively non-threatening. So why was it even included? 

On the other hand, Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana can claim its fair share of casualties. The plain chant of Fortune Plango Vulnera (I Mourn the Wounds of Fortune) had a brutal edge to it. The exultant penultimate song Ave Formosissima (Hail, Most Beautiful One) led directly to the iconic O Fortuna, which was sung with the vehemence and bloodlust it deserved. 

Given the parlous state of world affairs today, security and good fortune are not a given. A Donald Trump re-election next week? That is the most frightening thought for this Halloween.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM 

Singapore Symphony Orchestra 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Friday (25 October 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 28 October 2024 with the title "SSO gives Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's music a full-bodied staging".

This title was just half the story, as the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s early Romantic programme led by music director Hans Graf might as well have been two separate concerts. The main event was the Singapore premiere of Felix Mendelssohn’s complete Incidental Music to William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

Those familiar with its four-movement suite would find pleasure in this fleshed out edition with spoken verses by veteran Canadian stage actress Maureen Thomas and sung vocal parts. Every word was by the Bard himself, including a totally engaging Thomas playing the impish character of Puck and breaking the fourth wall to address the audience. 

Photo: Jack Yam

Shakespeare’s English is like a foreign language here, and one wondered whether the use of projected surtitles could have enhanced its appreciation. That would, however, have detracted from the theatre-like ambience deliberately created by dimmed lighting. 

Its Overture was a miracle of teenage precociousness, its themes to be reused in the ensuing twelve movements. Mercurial and full of vivacity, this continued into the feather-light Scherzo. The voices entered with You Spotted Snakes sung ever so sweetly by sopranos Kaitlyn Kim and Giselle Lim, with women from the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir (choral director: Eudenice Palaruan) in support. 

Subtle horns and woodwinds distinguished the Nocturne, and everybody recognised that Wedding March, so overplayed at matrimonial services. The hee-haw motif representing Bottom’s asinine transformation lit up Dance of the Clowns, and the voices returned for the final blessing Through The House Give Glimmering Light. Puck’s disclaimer of an epilogue was cheekily delivered by Thomas but no apologies were needed, as this hour and a bit was well worth enjoying again. 

The concert opened with Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto in C minor (Op.37), performed by Argentine pianist Ingrid Fliter, last seen here at the 2022 Singapore International Piano Festival. The orchestra’s opening tutti pulled no punches, and Fliter’s entry was every bit its equal. Sweeping scales were delivered with brusque immediacy and rude health, without mincing of notes or lines. 

Photo: Jack Yam

Beethoven had crossed the threshold from from Classical sensibilities to Romantic ardour without looking back. A singing tone and melting lyricism were never far away, humanising this account which matched elegance with bravura. 

The first movement’s cadenza had the intended bluster, balanced by the lovingly voiced chorale melody of the ensuing Largo slow movement. These tender feelings would soon give way to the rollicking Rondo finale that followed without break. 

Fliter’s sharp accents delineated a highly rhythmic dance, clearly relishing its boisterousness yet impossible to waltz to at this speed and intensity. Storm and stress would however turned to joie de vivre for the last pages, which romped home in cheerful C major. 

Her far quieter encore, the Andantino slow movement from Robert Schumann’s Second Sonata in G minor (Op.22), like the concerto that preceded it, was a perfect synthesis of poetry and passion.

You can read the original review of this concert that was published on Bachtrack.com: Mendelssohn and Beethoven share Singapore Symphony’s game of two halves | Bachtrack

ECONCERT / Ding Yi Music Company / Review

 

ECONCERT 

Ding Yi Music Company 

Esplanade Recital Music 

Wednesday (23 October 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 25 October 2024 with the title "Eco-themed concert a wake-up call about waste".

Some of Ding Yi Music Company’s most interesting concerts over the years have focused on Singapore’s history and disappearing local culture, but more recently the ensemble has turned to highlighting environmental issues. 

The second of its ECOncerts, directed by resident conductor Dedric Wong De Li, was about the high toll exacted by the generation of waste. Stage-directed by Ang Xiao Ting, with music composed by Malaysian Yii Kah Hoe and Singaporean Avik Chari, the 75-minute concert was inspired by the documentary feature Wasted (www.wasted.film) by Eco-Business which highlighted a modern-day dilemma resulting from rampant consumerism. 

Much of the concert’s first third was devoted to accompanying film excerpts featuring vast vistas and mountains of garbage from rising Asian economies, including Vietnam, South Korea and India. “Nature creates no waste. Waste is a human invention” was the overriding message, and so was, “What we throw away doesn’t go away”. The music was dissonant, depicting a bleak landscape with ultimate despair being the foreseeable future. 

The chamber ensemble of Chinese instruments performed within an arts installation created by Alecia Neo, which include an amorphous pile of plastic flakes and fake rocks, and a barren tree in the foreground, a la Samuel Beckett’s Waiting For Godot. The play of darkness and light, representing futility and hope, by lighting designer Liu Yong Huay also provided a suitable ambience for the action to take place. 

Some hard truths about recycling were presented, including the stark statistic that less than ten percent of waste discarded in recycle bins was actually recyclable. Depressing. The concert’s second third had no projected visuals, instead allowing more of the music to be better appreciated. 

In Nature’s Realm – Sounds Of Waste, Chin Yen Choong’s jinghu and Tan Yong Yaw’s yangqin was heard over a cacophonous counterpoint provided by rustling of bags and wrappings, banging of bottles and crushing of cups, all plastic, of course. 

Symbolism was also strong, with composer Yii emerging from within the audience to rake the plastic flakes, forming a Zen sand garden in the process, and playing tunes on the xiao (vertical flute, crafted from bamboo) before disappearing offstage. All this while accompanied by zhongruan and bowed strings, most likely a sign of regeneration. 

In Humans Produce Waste: Recycling Concerto came the concert’s much-awaited climax, with Bekhzod Oblayorov and Wong Wai Kit playing on a sustainable cello and zhongruan respectively. These instruments were created from recycled cardboard, designed by the team of Alvin Chea Hong Shen and Chea Wei Xian from Trio Packaging. While not quite as sonorous as originals of wood, these were obviously works in progress. 

As the score moved ever so gradually from discordance to concordance, from dark desolation to bright illumination, its denouement was an optimistic but guarded conclusion. As long as we pay heed to our environment and better manage our resources, the wake-up call provided by this thought-provoking concert should not go to waste.