VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL 1930 / LOKE HOE KIT Cello Recital / Review

VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL 1930

Loke Hoe Kit Cello Recital

with Joanna Paul (Organ)

and Khor Shang Jin (Piano)

Victoria Concert Hall

Saturday (1 July 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 3 July 2017 with the title "Stellar rendition of the works of cello greats".

Cello recitals are rarities in the Singapore musical scene, and rarer still is the unusual programme presented by young cellist Loke Hoe Kit and friends. In Victoria Memorial Hall 1930, he references the year in which concerts were first held in this historical venue, and his well-researched programme notes lists luminaries who have performed here.

Among them were cello greats Gregor Piatigorsky, Emanuel Feuermann and Gaspar Cassado. His recital relived some of the works performed by them and as well adding several local premieres of his own.

Receiving its Singapore premiere was Marcel Dupre's Sonata for Cello and Organ in A minor, which could have presented balance problems for both instruments. Thankfully, Loke's voluminous cello sound held its own against the chords and dissonances of the hall's Klais organ performed by Joanna Paul. The duo made the best of its acerbic idiom in its three movements while luxuriated in its lyrical moments.

From there, it was mostly easier listening, beginning with Richard Strauss' early Cello Sonata (which Feuermann played in 1934), with pianist Khor Shang Jin in partnership. A wide range of emotions were on display, including restlessness and passion in its opening movement, followed by deeply-felt sorrow in the elegiac slow movement. Playfulness and a release of pent-up emotions concluded this work in a full-flush of unabashed Romanticism.

Loke, who performed the entire concert from memory, upped the ante in the Singapore premiere of the Second Cello Concerto by Victor Herbert, the Irish-American composer better known for his operettas including Babes In Toyland. There was no let-up in this virtuosic showpiece, from impetuousness and agitation to a brilliant conclusion which fully taxed both cellist and pianist.

In between, Loke's song-like cello tone in the slow movement, filled with tenderness and longing, was a joy to behold. The practice of performing concertos with piano accompaniment (in the absence of an orchestra) was commonplace in recitals of the past, and Khor served the demanding role of surrogate orchestra with much alertness and sensitivity.

More soulfulness abounded in Ernest Bloch's Prayer, which was heard from Piatigorsky here in 1956. Singing like a cantor in a synagogue, Loke's cello held sway in its all-too-brief duration, before closing with the Toccata attributed to the Italian baroque composer Girolamo Frescobaldi in an “arrangement” by Cassado.

Its Romantic demeanour and the technique called for suggest far more Cassado than Frescobaldi. Nonetheless, both Loke and Paul on organ tore through its baroque pretensions without apology, closing the concert on a resonant high.

Cassado and Feuerman, who both performed this work in Victoria Memorial Hall in 1953/58 and 1934 respectively, would have found in fellow cellist Loke Hoe Kit a kindred spirit. The lovely encore, Bach's chorale prelude Ich Ruf' Zu Dir, Herr Jesu Christ (I Call To You, Lord Jesus Christ), was merely the icing on a well-baked cake.  

A Concert Not To Miss: VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL 1930 by LOKE HOE KIT & Friends

Here's a concert you should not miss:

VICTORIA MEMORIAL HALL 1930

LOKE HOE KIT, Cello

KHOR SHANG JIN, Piano

JOANNA PAUL, Organ

Saturday, 1 July 2017

Victoria Concert Hall, 7.30 pm

Programme includes:

DUPRÉ Sonata for Cello & Organ

R.STRAUSS Cello Sonata

VICTOR HERBERT Cello Concerto No.2

BLOCH Prayer

FRESCOBALDI-CASSADO Prayer

Tickets from $25-45 available at SISTIC

https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/chall0717

A SHORT INTERVIEW WITH

CELLIST LOKE HOE KIT

You have titled your cello recital “Victoria Memorial Hall 1930”. Why “Memorial Hall” instead of “Concert Hall”? And why 1930?

Today, it is widely misperceived that the Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH) only started life as a noteworthy concert venue after it was renovated to serve as the home of the SSO in 1980 (which was when the name Victoria Concert Hall [VCH] was introduced). In truth, the hall has an illustrious musical history that goes way back.

1930 was the year that VMH started serving as a concert hall, following a refurbishment that explicitly transformed it into Singapore’s premiere concert venue. A truly stellar lineup of musical legends appeared at the hall over the following decades (preceding 1980). This significant part of the hall’s history has however been severely neglected; it has been largely overlooked even by the local music community today.

The likes of Arthur Rubinstein, Claudio Arrau, Benjamin Britten, Emanuel Feuermann and Gregor Piatigorsky all played at the hall that the world knew as ‘VMH’. There is such resonance attached to the name VMH, and thus, I’ve chosen to use it to evoke this fascinating history.

Furthermore, the name VCH was introduced in 1980 to apply merely to VMH’s auditorium, and not the building at large. It is perplexing how it came to be widely accepted that VMH was ‘renamed’ VCH then.

Your interest and research into the history of Victoria Memorial Hall sounds like an absorbing one. Which historical figures who have performed in the Hall captivates you the most?

It’s certainly got to be Gregor Piatigorsky (left), who appeared in 1956. He is after all my ‘grandteacher’ – I studied under two of his protégés (Nathaniel Rosen and the late Paul Tobias). To think that his great and warm tone had resonated off the walls of VMH means a lot to me.

A few other notable cellists also visited during the 1950s, including Gaspar Cassadó and Pierre Fournier. Even today, visits by great cellists are rare affairs, and this must have been such a treat for Singaporeans back then. 

I’ve been aware since my youth, through reading their biographies, that many historic musical legends have visited Singapore. I was thus astonished that present-day local sources make virtually no mention of it, and felt compelled to fill this glaring gap in the narrative of our musical history. Coupled with my passion for Singapore’s history (in particular, local built heritage), I spent years researching the hall’s history to uncover the full extent of its legacy.

I’m very excited, in the coming weeks, to present a comprehensive two-part write-up about the hall’s history on your blog, which I’m sure your readers will enjoy.

Emanuel Feuermann & Gaspar Cassadó

Your programme is a rather unusual one too. Which of these were performed at VMH by those cellists in history?  

Richard Strauss’ Cello Sonata was featured by Feuermann in his second of two recitals in 1934, while the Toccata ‘by Girolamo Frescobaldi’ (a work that Cassadó claimed he merely arranged, but actually composed) was played by Cassadó himself during his visits in the 1950s.

Also, as a tribute to my ‘grandteacher’, I’ll be playing Bloch’s Prayer, which Piatigorsky performed in his 1956 recital. I’d like to add that although I’m only featuring one piece that Piatigorsky actually played, I’ve consciously modeled the structure of my recital programme after that of Piatigorsky’s.

There will be some Singapore premieres on your programme. It appears you are   setting your own mark on the Hall’s history as well. Tell us more about these works.

In addition to celebrating the past, I wish to add to VMH’s history as well by including some Singapore premieres. This is in fact in keeping with the recital’s theme, as the visiting legends often featured works that were being heard here for the first time.

There has in all likelihood never been a major solo string recital in Singapore that has featured the use of pipe organ accompaniment, and I wanted to take on this challenge. Since I was a child, I’ve been fascinated by the organ for its sheer majesty. In fact, before I decided to pick up the cello at age 12, I briefly considered learning the organ. Who knows what might have come out of that! Although I never got around playing the organ, I’ve long held a desire to play with it. The great French organ virtuoso/composer Marcel Dupré composed a very fine Sonata for Cello and Organ, and it makes a perfect showcase for the two instruments.

I have also chosen to feature Victor Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto, the work that notably inspired Dvořák to write his own great cello concerto. It’s an appealing work with such beautiful lyricism; yet, it’s not been heard in Singapore.

How was working with organist Joanna Paul and pianist Khor Shang Jin like in these works? How does a cello even begin to challenge the might of a pipe organ?

Both Joanna and Shang Jin are such fine musicians, and I couldn’t be happier collaborating with them.

The organ may be a mighty instrument, but in the hands of a skilled and sensitive organist, we can ensure that the instrument does not overpower the cello.

What do you hope your audience can take home with them on 1 July?

I certainly hope that they have a greater understanding and appreciation of VMH’s history. Of course, I also trust that they’ll enjoy my selection of cello repertoire that has rarely or never been heard in Singapore! 

RACHMANINOFF 3 / Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

RACHMANINOFF 3

Orchestra of the Music Makers

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (20 January 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 23 January 2017 with the title "A night of guilty pleasures".

If listeners were asked which classical composers were sources of their most guilty pleasures, chances are Sergei Rachmaninoff and Camille Saint-Saëns would crop up. Both the Russian and Frenchman wrote some of the classical repertoire's most unabashedly tuneful scores, the sort music snobs (particularly lovers of Bach and Schoenberg) turn up their noses to.

There was a heavy dose of Rachmaninoff and Saint-Saëns in the Orchestra of the Music Makers' latest concert, directed by young conductor Seow Yibin. First heard were World Premieres of four Rachmaninoff piano Préludes, in orchestrations by three young composers. Alexander Oon was responsible for two of these, Op.32 No.3 and Op.23 No.5, with martial character transformed into something more festive and dancelike.

Darren Sng's take on the lugubrious Op.23 No.1 deftly incorporated clarinet, oboe and flute solos, taking on an impressionist hue. Phoon Yu's vision of Op.23 No.3 was gavotte-like, cleverly utilising strings and woodwinds, even giving concertmaster Chan Yoong Han's violin an exquisite solo. These imaginative efforts follow in the illustrious tradition of Respighi and Stokowski in transcribing Rachmaninoff.

Watch Alexander Oon's orchestral transcription of Rachmaninov's Prelude Op.23 No.5 here:

Rachmaninoff's mighty Third Piano Concerto was next, with 18-year-old former child prodigy Tengku Irfan, previously described in these pages as the “Malaysian Mozart”, as soloist. To say that the Juilliard undergraduate conquered and vanquished the “Everest of piano concertos” would be mere understatement.

Beginning quietly and steadily, the performance grew in character and stature over its rapturous journey of over 40 minutes, Without any hint of narcissicism or self-indulgence, his apparent coolness while generating white heat in playing must be the most enviable trait in this profession.

The massive 1^st movement cadenza, the Adagio's climax and skittish waltz, and the finale's mercurial free-wheeling were among moments to savour. A standing ovation greeted this outing, which stands proudly alongside the work's best performances by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (with pianists Sergio Tiempo and Alexei Volodin) in recent years.

Orchestra and conductor played a major part in its success, and the good work continued in Saint-Saens' Third Symphony, also known as the “Organ Symphony”. Hushed strings and an opening oboe solo set a mood of mystique before escalating to the movement proper's nervous tension. Flexibility of ensemble ensured that the work's ebbs and flows was kept on a heightened edge.

Joanna Paul's organ entry in the slow movement was memorable for its subtlety. Her part here was mainly to provide a bed of soft harmonies over which the tender music floated. The big moment came in the dramatic finale, and her huge striding chords did not disappoint. There was a brief stretch when both orchestra and soloist threatened to go off the rails, but cools heads prevailed for that most glorious and reassuring of C major chords to close.

As an encore, the orchestra conjured a somewhat belated tribute to actress Carrie Fisher, with Princess Leia's Theme from John Williams' Star Wars soundtrack. That was another guilty pleasure few would regret.  

Pianist Tengku Irfan with
OMM Music Director Chan Tze Law.

Watch Tengku Irfan perform the finale of Rach 3 with OMM here: 

SONGS TO THE DIVINE / 4th Singapore Lieder Festival / Review

SONGS TO THE DIVINE

4^th Singapore Lieder Festival

The Living Room @ The Arts House

Thursday (2 October 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 4 October 2014 with the title "Wealth of talented voices".

The Singapore Lieder Festival appears to be the best kept secret in the land’s musical calendar. Now in its fourth year, its curatorial approach to programming art songs by the Sing Song Club is astonishingly exhaustive as it is unprecedented. This year’s theme is 100 English Composers, featuring 120 songs in English over six evenings, involving six singers and two pianists.

Subjects like English gardens, the pastoral life, London, Shakespeare, popular culture, entertainment, humour and romance are covered, and composers from Henry Purcell to Andrew Lloyd Webber have been included. This evening’s theme was on songs of a sacred, spiritual and biblical bent, which proved to be more interesting than the notion suggests. The beneficiaries were just 15 people in the audience, five less than the number of songs sung.

The three singers on show presented a wealth of talent and their very different voices were well suited for the repertoire. Mezzo-soprano Joanna Paul, who is better known as an organist and choral conductor, possesses a radiant ring in her registers, capable of instilling awe in Thomas Dunhill’s To the Queen of Heaven, yet soothing in two lullabies, Herbert Fryer’s The Virgin’s Cradle Hymn and Arnold Bax’s Cradle Song.  

Both her intonation and pronunciation were impeccable, as was that of Kuala Lumpur-based tenor Peter Ong. He had the task of bringing to life five baroque songs, by Pelham Humphrey, John Blow, Henry Purcell, Jeremiah Clarke and William Croft, in very demanding realisations by Benjamin Britten. Their rather serious content and sombre nature could have cast a pall over the proceedings, but Ong’s enormous emotional range and expressive power ensured that the message was not lost.

Pianist Shane Thio was his usual unflustered self, coping well with the multitudes of notes and sometimes even dominating the narrative while supporting the singers to the hilt. His appearance in five of the six concerts (100 songs in total) is a testament to his astounding ability to master new music in a very short span of time.

His co-director at the Sing Song Club, tenor Adrian Poon, had the most varied plate of the evening. His six songs sung in succession included a psalm (Edmund Rubbra), a prayer (Cyril Rootham), a hymn (Clive Clarey), a popular song (John Rutter), culminating with the concert’s longest item, Benjamin Britten’s First Canticle, My Beloved is Mine. Its intimations of love were whole-hearted and dramatic, yet comforted with a serene ending.  

The songs by women composers, Caroline Maude and Rebecca Clarke, were sung by Paul, and it was with typical Victorian pomp that she closed the concert with Arthur Sullivan’s The Lost Chord, with its harmonious cadences and that life-affirming final Amen. The last concert of the 4^th Singapore Lieder Festival, with 20 love songs, takes place on Sunday. Be sure not to miss it. 

Photos by the kind permission of the Sing Song Club.