A
GIFT TO MUM
Singapore
Chinese Orchestra
Singapore
Conference Hall
Saturday
(7 May 2016)
This review was published in The Straits Times on 9 May 2016 with the title "A charming and nostalgic Mother's Day concert".
The Singapore Chinese Orchestra's annual
Mother's Day Concert this year was not so much about motherhood than about the
memories of childhood. Directed by Resident Conductor Quek Ling Kiong, the
concert opened with Lullabies, a medley of familiar cradle songs
orchestrated by Sim Boon Yew.
Schubert's Schlafe, Schlafe (Sleep,
Sleep) and Brahms' Wiegenlied from the West were balanced by songs
from Dongbei and Kyoto, the last featuring the Japanese shakuhachi, and
this was incongruously followed by Five Little Monkeys On The Bed, which
sounded all too flippant. More appropriate was Lo Leung Fei's Memories Of
Youth which featured nostalgic child-like melodies, accompanied by a
projected montage of baby photographs of SCO musicians and their families,
which was a nice touch.
Two concertante works completed the first
half, beginning with Gu Guan Ren's arrangement of Charms Of Jiangnan,
with soloists Yin Zhi Yang (on qudi), Ling Hock Siang (erhu) and
Xu Hui (guzheng). This was much like a Chinese concerto grosso, with
each instrument having separate flourishes and joining the general ensemble for
a grand finish.
The outright virtuoso concerto of the
evening was Phoon Yew Tien's Rhapsody On Dinuhua for yangqin,
based on a popular Cantonese operatic melody. Qu Jian Qing, its dedicatee, gave
a spectacular performance, easily transcending the orchestral textures in her
stirring runs, and also casting a ruminative spell in the work's slower and
more reflective moments. This work deserves a place among the Yellow River
and Butterfly Lovers of the Chinese canon.
The concert's second half had the feel of
a pop concert, with dimmed lighting and flashing spotlights. Law Wai Lun's
medley of six Luo Tayou popular songs constituted Love Song (2016),
which employed a different solo instrument for each melody. Conductor Quek was
also on hand to quiz members of the audience as to which instrument played a
starring role.
The stage was now set for Singapore-born
singer-songwriter Hanjin Tan, a pop icon presently based in Hong Kong, to charm
the hearts of mothers. Boyish in appearance, laconic in humour (occasionally
referring to himself in a third person), and possessing a Barry Manilow kind of
crooning voice, he was a natural slayer of aunties.
His Mandopop ballads, Marry Me, Wo
Men Dou You Cuo (Nobody's Perfect) and Yi Bu Yi Bu Ai (Love
Step By Step) had a contemporary feel which would easily appeal to listeners
younger than the concert's pioneer generation audience. That he could get a
usually-reticent crowd to clap, respond and shout “encore” (with a little
coercion) - no easy task - was a testament to his entertaining abilities.
Fearing for their safety, he spared the
audience the need to stand for his final song, Zhan Qi Lai (Stand Up),
which closed the programme on a high. Quek and the orchestra were not done yet,
and a clap-along to the popular melody Tian Xia De Ma Ma Dou Yi Yang (Mothers
Are All The Same) was indeed the perfect encore.
