BACH CANTATA SERIES: THE "OTHER" BACH / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory / Review

 

BACH CANTATA SERIES:

THE “OTHER” BACH 

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory 

Conservatory Concert Hall 

Friday (15 November 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 19 November 2024 with the title "Dog has its day in P.D.Q.Bach's series of spoofs".

For the unlucky 13th edition of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory’s Bach Cantata Series, the focus was on P.D.Q.Bach, the youngest, least and oddest of Johann Sebastian Bach’s twenty-odd children. That was the nom de plume of American composer and parodist Peter Schickele (1935-2024), the fictional Professor of Musical Pathology at the University of Southern North Dakota. 

Photo: Neo Jie Ning

The persona of the errant Bach offspring was played by a bewigged Alan Bennett (not that Alan Bennett), Head of Voice Studies, who in German-accented English introduced nine works of chamber and vocal music, a primer of his irreverent and anarchic sense of musical humour. 

Unlike other great musical humorists, Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Mozart or Dmitri Shostakovich, a little P.D.Q. goes a long, long way. 160 minutes of slapstick schtick could drag and grate on the senses, but the full-house audience with many children in attendance lapped it all up.

Jiang Qifan and Xie Lingfei

Even the titles carried an naughty glint in the eye, such as Sonata Innamorata for piano four hands, with three movements spoofing Beethoven and updated to embrace the LGBTQ+ movement. Imagine, also, the fun bringing together four members of the orchestra’s most comical instrument - the bassoon - for a Prelude and Fugue punningly titled Lip My Reeds.

There was a Hindemithian logic to The Only Piece Ever Written for Violin and Tuba, with four movements pranking old Johann Sebastian’s Air on G String and the modern phenomenon of social media influencers. As hoary viola jokes go, “How many violists does it take to play the viola?”. The answer in Sonata for Viola Four Hands and Harpsichord was two, occasionally three.

It takes three violists to play a viola,
Huang Yi, Li Weifan and friend,
accompanied by Beatrice Lin on harpsichord. 

Karst de Jong looking short-tempered.

The Short-Tempered Clavier (in all major and minor keys except the really hard ones) had preludes and fugues based on popular tunes like Chopsticks, Mary Had A Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star alongside more serious ones by Beethoven, George Handel and Johannes Brahms.

Samiksha Argal plays the schlagenfrappe,
Julien Quek plays the tuba mirum
while P.D.Q. is handy with the pastaphone.
Edenia Maureen on piano.

Then came the vocal stuff. Four Folksong Upsettings (for mezzanine-soprano, devious instruments and piano) had in its third and fourth songs, He Came From Over Yonder Ridge and The Farmer On The Dole, an uncanny prescience about the looming 47th Presidency of the Disunited States of America.

Photo: Neo Jie Ning

Park Minjun and Jason Suryaatmaja
on Brokeback Mountain?

Few items could, however, trump the actual cantatas in the concert’s second half, accompanied by the YST Orchestral Institute led by Lien Boon Hua, with stage direction by Edith Podesta. Featuring students of The Opera Workshop, they sang in German for the Cantata Blaues Gras (Bluegrass Cantata) accompanied by a blue grass band of electones simulating banjoes and bass.

Photo: Neo Jie Ning

Kira Lim, Park Minjun, Kim Oh-Yeon
& Stephanie Joshvin with Cobi the Great.

The Stoned Guest, a half-act opera sung in English, included all the operatic tropes played to death in Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Georges Bizet’s Carmen. Everyone on stage got to sing themselves to death, but returned to a happily-ever-after ending, deus ex machina, of course.

Photo: Neo Jie Ning

Hands up all those who came just to watch the Canine Cantata: Wachet, Arf! (Sleeping Dogs Awake!). That a golden retriever named Cobi the Amazing (trained by Albertius Tiudentius, normally better-known for Bach pedagogy), who got a few lines voiced by countertenor Park Minjun, completely stole the show said it all. In these troubled times, humour is the best medicine.

Everybody wanted to meet Cobi the Amazing!

RACHMANINOFF PRELUDES: A TIUDENTS PROJECT

 

RACHMANINOFF PRELUDES: 

A TIUDENTS PROJECT 

Tiudents (Albert Tiu’s Piano Studio) 

Conservatory Concert Hall 

Thursday (14 November 2024)

What are the lengths people go to hear the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff? A sizeable audience made its way to Kent Ridge to witness a performance of his Preludes for piano, and even if was not his full set of 24, it seemed worth the trouble. The chief reason being these were performed by the studio of Albert Tiu, affectionately known as the Tiudents, many of whom will become the future of pianism in their respective nations.

Rachmaninoff’s most famous Prelude, bar none, comes from his early set of Morceaux de Fantasie Op.3, the Prelude in C sharp minor, (Op.3 No.2), notorious because he was compelled by audiences to perform it as an encore whether he liked it or not. In fact, he despised this morsel, having sold its rights to a publisher for a paltry 40 roubles. Marketed as The Bells of Moscow, he should have made millions, but... It received a solid reading from Chen Xing-Chi, who put the right accents where they should be and pedalling was just as good.

The more familiar set of ten Op.23 Preludes was skipped for the 13 Preludes of Op. 32, which have a more adventurous harmonic language, are less melodic and in certain cases, more inscrutable. With a few exceptions, they are shorter and terser, some not lasting more than two minutes. Every piece also posed its own unique set of challenges. Below are some photos of the performers and a short description of each.

No. 1 in C major, was typical of Rachmaninoff’s later style; very short, highly dissonant, and passing like a flash. Leonie Wiegel, an exchange tiudent from the Norwegian Academy of Music, gave a good account. Blink, and it was over.

No. 2 in B-flat minor, in sicilenne rhythm, had a nervous tension that was gradually built up steadily by Liang Ray-Heng, getting more agitated and improvisatory as it progressed.

No. 3 in E major is an extrovert and jazzy number, flashy and dance-like in its beginning, but soon evolved into a march, not unlike the famous G minor from the Op.23 set. Chen Bo-Yu got to grasps with its tricky rhythms well.

No. 4 in E minor is the first of the extended Preludes from Op.32, a simply terrifying piece. Its distorted bell-like harmonies, reminiscent of alarum bells, getting more chromatic with each turn. Venus Chai Zi Qing, in her outlandish red tinselled outfit, ably provided all the sparks and flashes.

No. 5 in G major, one of the set’s more familiar pieces, achieved a genuine cantabile from Lee Ann, who clearly understands the music’s poetry.

No. 6 in F minor is short and violent, with Xian Ruofei supplying the requisite splash and crash.

No. 7 in F major is little-known and a little puzzling. Is it a happy or sad piece? The Janus-like character of Rachmaninoff is on display here. A hint of melody hidden beneath the right hand’s nervous chatter and laughter was teased out by Panyakorn Lertnimitphan.

No. 8 in A minor, is another short but very tricky piece. The repeated notes and nimble crossing of hands by Kuo Lyu-Cen shows she should be able to play Scarlatti very well.

No. 9 in A major has a broadness and expansivity, despite its relative short length, that was well brought out by Papat Lertchanvit.

Arnold Bocklin's Le Retour.

No. 10 in B minor, which has a pictorial reference to Arnold Bocklin’s painting The Homecoming, had a most convincing reading from Goh Kai Cheng, who was able to convey the music’s true feeling and sense of the epic beneath its many notes and surface glitter.

No. 11 in B major is another oft-overlooked piece, its quirky rhythm, wonderfully realised by Chiu Pin-Hsin, adding to its underappreciated charm.

No. 12 in G# minor turned out to be the final Prelude to be heard this evening, as a hand injury to its performer had prevented the final D flat major piece to be aired. Thus Toby Tan Kai Rong, who recently performed the Paganini Rhapsody with the Singapore Symphony, had the honour of closing the concert. As familiar and hackneyed as this piece has been, Toby found a freshness of feeling, which gives much hope for the future of pianism as this evening has engendered.

Tiudents, take a bow!

IMAGES OF EXOTIC LANDS / re:Sound / Review

 

IMAGES OF EXOTIC LANDS 

re:Sound 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Wednesday (13 November 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 November 2024 with the title "Impressive soloists and enjoyable romp by re:Sound".

If one thought that classical music was old-fashioned, staid and boring, one just needs to attend the latest concert by re:Sound, Singapore’s first professional chamber orchestra, for a serious rethink. Which famous orchestra had as its motto, “True Pleasure Is Serious Business”? That could very well apply to re:Sound’s collective identity as well. 

The concert opened with the world premiere of Cultural Medallion recipient Eric Watson’s Concerto Arabesque for flute and strings. A happy marriage of the Baroque concerto grosso and hallowed British string work tradition, its four movements were highly engaging and enjoyable. 

A more excellent soloist than Rachel Ho, familiar to concert-goers as Red Dot Baroque’s traverso player, would be hard to find. She comfortably surmounted the onerous technical challenges in its fast outer movements, yet yielded a silky smooth tone for the second movement’s filigreed and sinuous lines, accompanied by sliding string portamenti. 

Composer Eric Watson takes a bow.

The third movement’s slow tango oozed sensuousness over a palpable South American beat, and the solo arabesques for the finale had everyone’s attention captivated. Even its false ending had nobody fooled, with vociferous applause coming when it truly mattered. 

Programming Maurice Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin after Watson was elementary, a case of perfect symmetry. Its four neo-Baroque dance movements complemented and mirrored the earlier work. Fluidity of string playing defined the flowing opening Prelude, and the quirkily syncopated Forlane benefited from extrovert woodwind and discreet brass contributions. 

The slow Menuet was the only concession to formality, while the closing Rigaudon’s romp again had woodwinds in top form for its central interlude. Tay Kai Tze’s oboe stole the show, with cor anglais, flute and clarinet following up his good work. 

In case no one noticed, the entire first half was performed with the conspicuous absence of a conductor. For the second half, Francis Poulenc’s Concerto for Two Pianos had Adrian Chiang leading from the podium, if only to keep all the riotous elements in check. 

The impressive soloists were Nicholas Loh and Jonathan Shin, who had earlier played examples from the concerto during re:Sound founder Mervin Beng’s eloquent yet succinct preamble about its musical themes. Chief of these were tinklings of the Balinese gamelan, with pelog scales getting a workout, Mozartian niceties with a Gallic twist, and Parisian dancehall frivolities all wrapped up in three neat movements. 

Despite being very different pianistic personalities, Loh and Shin worked like hand and glove, with pinpoint precision and unfettered clangour. The hypnotic slow section at the first movement’s end was so filled with Oriental mystique that one could almost smell the incense. 

The joke-a-minute Finale, with fingers flying over both keyboards, seemed like too much of a good thing. However, the final word was left to the “gamelan” making its run of mass malleting before closing with several healthy slaps of the bottom. The duo’s encore of the uproarious Finale from Poulenc’s Sonata for piano four hands was just as rousingly received.

TWO GREAT RECITALS PRESENTED BY ALTENBURG ARTS

TWO GREAT RECITALS 

PRESENTED BY ALTENBURG ARTS

What a relief it is to attend a concert and not have the pressure of  submitting a review to the national daily within a deadline of 12 hours. Thanks to the increasing panel of music reviewers for The Straits Times, I am able to attend concerts (and pay for the tickets), sit back, relax and not have critical mode kick in while enjoying the music. Mind you, I still enjoy most concerts which I review, but with the weight lifted off my shoulders, there is a kind of guilty pleasure which feels oddly different.

Two recent concerts, both presented by Altenburg Arts and helmed by Lionel Choi, gave me much pleasure and enjoyment. I did not write the reviews, but the pleasure afforded the other reviewers was shared and possibly multiplicated. Altenburg Arts does not pander to popular tastes (for example, Lang Lang or Yundi Li would never be invited), and its concerts are not always well attended. However, the audiences it attracts are highly discerning ones, mostly cognoscenti and serious people in the know. There is never premature applause during breaks between movements, and even the children who attend are well-behaved (which speaks about the kind of parents they have - the good and proper kind). Now, that is a rare phenomenon in Singapore.

BEATRICE RANA'S Piano Recital

30 October 2024 at SOTA Concert Hall

She's a true piano star if there are still any, but one that does not get the limelight she deserves. I first heard her at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2013, and she was a revelation besides winner the Silver Medal and Audience Prize. I had all her CDs, and none have disappointed.

Her programme was an excellent one too, with true cantabile playing and playful skittishness in a selection of Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words and Scherzos. The F # minor Lieder ohne worte led into Brahms' Second Sonata (Op.2) in the same key (a smart bit of programming thought) and what power and sonority she unleashed in this unbridled beast from the German's early impetuous ears. It's not great music but a true test of a Steinway D's ability to withstand tons of massive octaves and chords.

The Ravel second half was predictably excellent, Rana's Gaspard de la nuit certainly flows and glows. All the horrendous and fiendish bits in Ondine and Scarbo do not faze her, and that Le Gibet truly hypnotised with its repeated tolls of B flat. La Valse provided a big splash, and her encores (a microcosm of her full programme) were just as good: Brahms' Waltz in A flat (Op.39 No.15), Mendelssohn's Spinning Song (Op.68 No.4) and Debussy's L'isle joyeuse. A rare pleasure and it was great to see her again in person.

CHRISTOPH PREGARDIEN'S

Schubert Die Schone Mullerin

12 November 2023 at Victoria Concert Hall

Lieder is an acquired taste in Singapore. Just ask those Sing Song Club folks who organise the Singapore Lieder Festival. Again, it was a smallish audience who attended German tenor Christoph Pregardien's recital of the Schubert song cycle with pianist Michael Gees. Pregardien, despite being in his late 60s, sang with the freshness of youth in these songs about disappointed love, disillusionment and death. The songs in German, which sound all-too-congenial without knowing the words, packed a punch in its message.

Some songs were transposed downwards by a semitone or a tone, but Pregardien was always on his game and never sounded strained. Time passed ever so swiftly through the 20 songs, and a loud and prolonged ovation from the lucky few who attended attested to the quality of the recital. His encores include Liebesbotshaft and Die Musensohn, which were eagerly lapped up.

The last time I felt so fulfilled after a Schubert evening, was after Hermann Prey sang Winterreise (with pianist Helmut Deutsch) at Victoria Concert Hall all the way back in 1988. Thanks for the great memories!

Altenburg Arts' next concert takes place on 15 December 2024 with Japanese pianist Mao Fujita plays Chopin and Scriabin Preludes. Get your tickets here:

Piano Recital by Mao Fujita