WILD
AND IN LOVE
re:mix
with Foo Say Ming (Violin)
Victoria
Concert Hall
Sunday
(8 November 2015 )
This review was published in The Straits Times on 10 November 2015 with the title "Oldies in strings".
One has to be of a certain age to fully
appreciate music performed by the crack local string group re:mix led by
violinist-conductor Foo Say Ming. Purveyors of nostalgia non pareil, re:mix thrives on the music which baby-boomers (born in
the 1950s and 60s) and their parents grew up with. Its latest concert takes its
title from two Wong Kar Wai films, Days
Of Being Wild and In The Mood For
Love.
Within these are oldies which have been
seared into the memories of many, and good tunes do not fade easily. The
concert was turned upon its head with Hollywood film composer Franz
Waxman's Carmen Fantasy, a work
usually performed at the end of concerts. Bizet's opera Carmen would have made a splendid movie, and the soloist in Foo
made the showpiece come alive with its hit arias, the Habanera, Seguidilla and Bohemian Dance.
Foo's virtuosity is of a fearless kind,
surmounting thorny passages and cadenzas with swashbuckling abandon, while
commanding his string players with frequent glances and bodily feints. The main
body of strings responded with a svelte, gorgeous tone and an unanimity of
attack. In a way, this was a tribute to the great Jascha Heifetz, teacher of
Foo's teacher Pierre Amoyal.
The next six short pieces could have
easily been a game of “Guess The Melody”, so familiar to the ear that their
titles and composers are often forgotten. Cultural Medallion recipient Kelly
Tang was responsible for four arrangements, including Guglielmi's Cherry Pink Apple Blossom White,
Menendez's Aquellos Ojos Verdes,
Martohartono's Bengawan Solo and
Evans/Livingston's Mona Lisa. The
technique of cascading strings, patented and perfected by Mantovani and his
Orchestra, was put to good use, as sustained notes and echoes provide a truly
haunting effect.
Derek Lim's arrangement of Li Qinguang's Ye Lai Xiang (Fragrance Of The Night) was simple yet effective, one where Foo's
violin sang above perfumed string harmonies. This was contrasted by the
plaintive tune of Umebayashi's Yumeji's
Theme accompanied by a gentle waltz rhythm.
The longest work of the 75-minute-long
concert was the World Premiere of British composer Dominic Sargent's Sonata Latino, a 5-movement string
serenade using Spanish and Latin American hit songs dressed in the style of
works by Tchaikovsky, Elgar, Britten and others. Commissioned by re:mix, its
old-meets-new, East-meets-West stance truly embodied the ensemble's spirit.
The 1st movement was an allegro in sonata form based on Augustin
Lara's Solamente Una Vez, while the
slow movement Notturno included a
fugue on Osvaldo Farres' Quizas, Quizas,
Quizas, popularised by Nat King Cole. The Barcarolle's rocking rhythm
mashed up Besame Mucho with Perfidio, while the Tango dwelled sultrily on Antonio Carlos Jobim's Desafinado. The finale was an energetic Conga and Lambada in perpetual motion, but wittily taking some measures off
the corresponding movement of Bartok's Concerto
for Orchestra.
A well-filled Victoria Concert Hall
erupted in loud applause, and was rewarded with three encores, Kelly Tang's by
now notorious “pizzicato polka” arrangement of Tian Mi Mi (by way of Danny Elfman's The Simpsons Theme), Jakob Gade's Tango Jalousie and another welcome airing of Ye Lai Xiang. The second CD recording by re:mix is well worth
waiting for.
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