RESILIENCE & LOTUS FUGUE
Bellepoque
Esplanade Recital Studio
Saturday (10 July 2021)
An edited version of this review was published by The Straits Times on 14 July 2021 with the title "Seeking beauty in a time of ugliness".
The Covid pandemic has inspired musical endeavours, not least the Compassion series of chamber concerts at this year’s Singapore International Festival of Arts. Resonances, a double bill by local musical theatre company Bellepoque, seemed like a logical extension but turned out radically different in its execution.
Rather than a concert proper of listed set pieces, the audience was treated to two separate and seemingly unconnected works of performance art. Multi-disciplinary in nature by combining music, movement, spoken word and film, the synergism derived in both formed an aesthetically pleasing whole.
The first part, Resilience, was a 20-minute long composition by Robert Casteels, who true to form defied conventions of concert music. If it is unclassifiable, it is likely to be by Casteels, who was himself part of a trio of live musicians. Operating on electronics and pre-recorded material, he was partnered by pianist Bertram Wee and violinist Kailin Yong who improvised for most part by not having any scores at hand.
Bellepoque founder-director Sabrina Zuber provided the element of dance movement, but eclipsing her in the memory were the lighting design by Yeo Hon Beng and stunning filmography of Tejas Ewing and Deepesh Vasudev. Theirs was a kaleidoscopic treatment of subjects including filmed musicians, nature and cityscapes, an allegory of healing and rejuvenation. This idea was further emphasised by the music centred on and firmly closing in the reaffirming key of E major.
If Resilience was virile and masculine in feel, the second part Lotus Fugue was to be its feminine counterpart. At almost double its length, excerpts from letters and lecture scripts of legendary local artist Georgette Chen were neatly wrapped up as a story engagingly told by veteran writer-playwright-actress Verena Tay.
The accompanying music was more traditional, with sung melodies by Gabriel Fauré and Claude Debussy (pre-recorded by Zuber, now doubling as soprano), piano solos of Erik Satie, Debussy and improvisations by pianist Tabitha Gan. These better reflected the impressionist lotus paintings of Chen, which merged Western techniques with Eastern sensibilities.
The more substantial dance segment was helmed by Mohd Sharul Muhd, exhibiting a rare grace and athleticism in a white frock. His moves were sometimes mirrored by the ubiquitous Zuber, who flitted on and off the floor in a subsidiary role. The accompanying visuals were again en point, but it was Chen’s own words that literally rang with the most resonance.
At a time when people question the role and value of artists in society, Chen provided the answers. Why do we do it? Art is “a labour of love,” she countered, and that alone was the “eternal driving force”. As a parting short, she also added, “When a lotus blooms, its beauty drives out all ugliness in the world.” It may be surmised that all the artists involved in Resonances strived for beauty in a time of ugliness.
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| Final curtain call. Photo by PianoManiac |
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