YONG SIEW TOH CONSERVATORY CONCERTO COMPETITION: SINGAPORE'S BEST-KEPT SECRET

 

YONG SIEW TOH CONSERVATORY’S 

CONCERTO COMPETITION: 

SINGAPORE’S BEST-KEPT SECRET 

Saturday (15 March 2025), 6 pm

Everybody knows where the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory is, and how its students and faculty regularly serve up top quality performances, yet one of its best-kept secrets is its annual concerto competition. In an institution that consistently produces the soloists who shine in concerts, this annual event is de rigeuer in finding the top soloists of tomorrow. I had the rare opportunity of attending one of this year’s concerto competition evenings and had a real treat. 

Over two evenings, ten young soloists (representing the best in high strings, low strings, piano, woodwinds and brass, and voice) displayed their prowess in ten repertoire works. And it was free to attend. I had missed the first evening (which included Liszt and Brahms piano concertos, a Prokofiev violin concerto, a Scandinavian brass concerto and Samuel Barber's Knoxville, Summer of 1915) so I was determined not to miss the second. And I was not disappointed. 

The audience was small but enthusiastic and attentive, willing to share in whatever that gets served up. How often does one get to hear a rarity as Wolfgang Erich Korngold’s single movement Cello Concerto? It will never get as popular as his Violin Concerto but soloist Chen Pei-Yi (with Liu Jia on piano) does a very good job, lapping up its lyrical lines with relish while negotiating its knotty counterpoint (who doesn’t fancy yet another fugato?) very capably. Hers was a very confident reading and now let’s hear it with orchestra for real the next time around. 

Another rarity for concertgoers is Carl Nielsen’s Clarinet Concert, a more austere work with a really quirky opening theme, almost an earworm. Chua Jay Roon’s performance was arguably even more impressive as she coped very well with its manifold twists and turns, never missing a beat, and making the cadenzas sound like child’s play. Another good reason was to witness pianist Clarisse Teo virtuosically substitute for the orchestral part, and the twosome handled the thorny bits (there were many in its four movements played as one continuous run) with great aplomb. Looking forward to witness the orchestral version sometime soon. 

Did I mention that every soloist performed their parts wholly from memory? That’s the lot of young professional musicians these days – they must know alltheir music by heart, and with no fumbling around with scores. The rest of the concert was on more familiar ground, beginning with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, which received a sumptuous if not revelatory reading from cellist Liu You-Yu with Liu Jia on piano. She has a good feel for its Romantic impulses, and ardour was well captured in many lyrical lines, and when it came to the more virtuosic variations, her technique held up and she delivered with aplomb. A very satisfying reading all around. 

The only vocalist this evening was soprano Zhou Wenyue (with pianist Choi Hye-Sion) in Mozart’s popular motet Exsultate Jubilate. The famous part is the Alleluia at its end but the aria and recitative that came before it was well worth hearing too. Her clear articulation of the words was admirable, even if her runs were not always immaculate. There were no extraneous gestures or hand movements, just her voice and no other distractions, and when it came to the final Alleluia, she was confident and made the best case possible. 

After a short intermission, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto was the longest work on show. Over-familiarity has tainted this masterpiece, but Syu Cheng-Yi (with pianist Ge Xiaozhe) tried his best to keep it fresh. His technique had held up for most part, with the particularly treacherous first movement cadenza well handled. The most memorable part was in the Canzonetta in G minor, the slow movement’s melancholic mood very well judged, before leading into the Allegro vivacissimo finale where all stops were pulled, providing a riproaring close to the concert. With a few tweaks here and there, and he will be ready to take part in this year’s National Violin Competition. 

It was an enjoyable show all around judged by a panel of three international jurists, and if compelled to pick a performance I would like to hear again with an orchestra, that would be the Nielsen Clarinet Concerto with Chua Jay Roon doing the honours. Came later this year or next, my wish might just come true.

Encore, please!

JIN TA Flute Recital / Review

JIN TA Flute Recital
with Liu Jia, Piano
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Tuesday (29 September 2009)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 1 October 2009.

In one of the finest flute recitals in recent memory, Singapore Symphony Orchestra principal flautist Jin Ta distinguished himself as a virtuoso par excellence. It was not just his craftsmanship and versatility that impressed, but the musicianship in articulating a phrase and shaping it with the love of ages that transcended mere notes.

The recital began with Baroque, Georg Philipp Telemann’s Sonata in G major displayed clear limpid lines in dulcet tones in its four-movement sonata da chiesa form, varying slow and fast with great ease and alacrity. Liu Jia’s piano (left) was unobtrusive but as with baroque music, harpsichord accompaniment would have been preferred.

Jin was all on his own in living Spanish composer Cristobal Halffter’s Debla (1980), a tour de force of solo playing. Beginning with long sustained notes, the soliloquy was punctuated with ear-piercing shrieks but this was no empty bluster for mere effect. The work probed a wide range of moods, presenting a hint of lyricism without evolving into melody, reveling in flamenco-like foot-stamping before closing by whistling overtones into his golden flute.

More virtuoso fare was ushered by the Flute Concerto (1950) by André Jolivet, a French composer for whom dissonance was a mere excuse for luscious melodic writing. Sounds ironic but the first movement brought out long-breathed song-like lines that bathed the senses with aural honey. Its slow-fast-slow-fast sequence uncannily echoed the Telemann, creating an aesthetic symmetry that was not immediately apparent but totally satisfying.

The extremely demanding piano accompaniment necessitated razor-sharp reflexes, which the diminutive Liu handled superbly, laying the path for Jin’s forceful show of exuberance. Collective hair was let down when the duo was joined by bassist Guennadi Mouzyka and percussionist Mark Suter on drums (left) in a selection from Claude Bolling’s Suites for flute and jazz trio popularised by the late Jean-Pierre Rampal.

Jazzy and Veloce were the breathlessly exciting finales of the Suites No.2 and No.1 respectively, bringing out the cheers from the house. Jin then dedicated his encore, the popular Sentimentale (Suite No.1), to his conservatory colleagues and audience. Like his surname, the heartfelt perfomance spelt pure gold.

SSO Chamber Concert: Schubert's Trout Quintet / Review

VCH 

CHAMBER 

SERIES
SCHUBERT’S 

TROUT QUINTET
Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (12 July 2009)

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s chamber music series at Victoria Concert Hall began in 2003 as an exercise to sharpen the musical skills of individual players performing in small ensembles. By this year, celebrity musicians such as American-Chinese violinist Cho-Liang Lin and Russian conductor Lev Markiz have come as guests, bringing these concerts to an even higher level.

Local musicians have also found themselves a faithful following. It was refreshing to see Shanghai-born pianist Yao Xiao Yun (left), who two weeks ago brilliantly graced the Young Virtuoso Recital of the Singapore International Piano Festival, return to collaborate in chamber music. Her offering was the extremely demanding piano part in Anton Arensky’s First Piano Trio in D minor, one that dominated the proceedings, alternating between Russian melancholy and brooding with Mendelssohnian wit and charm.

Her string partners, violinist Chen Da Wei and cellist Chan Wei Shing, who carried much of the melodic lines - and hence the pathos – were in sync with her throughout. The balance was close to ideal, none better heard in the 3rd movement’s Elegia, a tear-jerker in the best Tchaikovskian tradition.

Northern doom and gloom gave way to the sunny climes and gaiety of Schubert’s Trout Quintet in A major. Here it should be noted that Arensky (above) died from the ravages of alcoholism while Schubert those of syphilis. Its unusual scoring gave double bassist Yang Zheng Yi the role as a resolute anchor and rhythm section while his colleagues had all the tunes.

Central to this was pianist Liu Jia’s (left) contribution, which was immaculate in that it never sought to shock and awe despite its starring role. Such is the essence of chamber music, where one-upmanship is shunned and consensus arrived before the first note. Violinist Chan Yoong Han is a natural leader, and when the loud opening chord resounded with gusto, one was reassured that the performance was going to be a strong one.

As it proved, the audience was silent and gripped for the longest part, alert enough to ignore the false endings and erupt with vociferous applause and one raving chant of “bravo” when it ended. More of the same again please.