Singapore
Conference Hall
Saturday (15 August 2015 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 August 2015 with the title "Yellow River legends live on".
It seems inconceivable that any Chinese
or Sinophile today be unaware of the Yellow
River Piano Concerto or Yellow River
Cantata. Like the geographical Huang He , both works are symbols
of Chinese history and national sorrow, which have now transcended to represent
Chinese patriotism and pride.
The composer of the Yellow River Cantata, Macau-born Xian Xing Hai (1905-1945), occupies
a position in Chinese music not unlike that of Shostakovich or Prokofiev in
modern Russian music. In commemorating the 110th anniversary of his
birth, Singaporeans are reminded that he spent ten years of his youth here, and
was an alumnus of Yangzhen (Yeung Ching) School. He played in the school band
and his musical talent was honed here before returning to China
Two orchestral works opened the Xian Xing
Hai tribute by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra conducted by Yeh Tsung. Phoon
Yew Tien's rousing orchestration of Xian's Behind
Enemy Lines incorporated its martial strains with the more optimistic Er Yue Li Lai (Second Lunar Month), both clothed in patriotic fervour. Law Wai
Lun's A Decade Of Xing Hai In The Lion
City was a brief reminiscence of Xian's melodies with the old Yangzhen School
Two soloists from the Shanghai Opera
House sang a trio of songs orchestrated by Phang Kok Jun. Baritone Tao Kuo was
a commanding presence in Ye Ban Ge Sheng
(Phantom Lover), a song about midnight trysts. Soprano Liu
Fei's two songs, Second Lunar Month
and Tie Ti Xia De Ge Nu (Showgirl Under The Iron Heel), took on a
socialist slant, extolling a fruitful springtime (to produce more patriots) and
decrying the trials and tribulations of being a songstress.
The first half concluded with the Yellow River Concerto, composed in 1969
by a committee of six members of Beijing
Young Chinese pianist Sun Yingdi, winner
of the 2005 Liszt International Piano Competition, spared no effort in
thundering out its outsized cadenzas, cascading arpeggios and stampeding
octaves. But there were tender moments too, with Lim Sin Yeo's bangdi evocatively opening the 3rd
movement, Wrath Of The Yellow River, and Sun's excellent repeated note
technique in simulating a pipa. So was this a nationalistic work or a Communist
one? The inclusion of The East Is Red
and the Internationale at the
finale's apotheosis strongly points to the latter.
Xian's eponymous cantata, composed within
six days in 1939 during the Sino-Japanese war, occupied the concert's second
half. By now, many of its melodies would have been familiar, but despite its
heroic tones, it is a more nuanced work than the concerto. Crosstalk exponent
Huang Jia Qiang was the narrator, and his opening gambit, “Have you been to the
Yellow
River ?”
set the tone. A combined choir formed by the Shanghai Opera House Chorus and
Nanyang Khek Community Guild Choir delivered a message of struggle and ultimate
victory against all invaders.
Baritone Tao and soprano Liu sang one
movement each, but it was the 5th movement's animated dialogue
between Everymen Zhang and Wang, sung by tenors Xu Xiao Ming and Yu Hao Lei (above) from the choir contributed a folk-like charm to the proceedings. The
orchestra provided excellent support
through its eight movements, the original context of the overplayed concerto
being laid bare. Love or loathe them, the legends of the Yellow River will live on as long as
the Chinese walk this planet.
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| Post concert: SCO Music Director Yeh Tsung meets with founding SSO Music Director Choo Hoey, who was also instrumental in founding the SCO in 1997. |
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