THE COMPLETE BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS / Red Dot Baroque / Review

THE COMPLETE 

BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS

Red Dot Baroque

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (3 September 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 5 September 2023 with the title "Red Dot Baroque sheds new light on Brandenburg Concertos".

 

Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos have been regularly played in Singapore over the years, but no ensemble has ever performed all six works in a single concert. Singapore’s leading period instrument ensemble, Red Dot Baroque (RDB), celebrated its fifth anniversary this year by accomplishing that very feat.  

 

Dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg, these assorted concertos were so diverse that no same combination of instruments was repeated through its course. Led by founder violinist Alan Choo, RDB’s performances eschewed big orchestral sound effects heard in recordings of old, opting instead for lighter textures, thus shedding new light on the music itself.

 

The concertos were not played in sequence, instead juxtaposed to make logical sense and most enjoyable listening. The two longest works were heard in the first half, beginning with Concerto No.1, which had four movements and involved the most players. Flown in specially from Europe were natural horn players Nicolas Roudier and Stefan Blonk. Together with oboists Veda Lin, Leow Rui Qing and Howard Ng, they formed a cohesive unit of soloists, giving the music a festive feel.

Everyone wants to play in Red Dot Baroque,
including composer Chen Zhangyi (viola)
and conductor Lin Juan (cello).

 

After a traditional fast-slow-fast three-movement form, its dance-like fourth movement was a multi-part minuet which also included an invigorating polonaise. Unusual too was Concerto No.3 for just strings and continuo, arguably the most familiar work of the half-dozen. Its second movement consisted of only one bar, a cadence ornamented by harpsichordist Mervyn Lee, before launching into that most tricky of speedy string fugues. The effect was just marvellous.  

 

Closing the lengthier first half was Concerto No.5, historically the “grandfather” of all keyboard concertos. Harpsichordist Gerald Lim began as part of the ensemble, and later peeled away as his score got increasingly more soloistic and florid, culminating with an elaborate cadenza, essentially a written-out improvisation. Its lovely central movement had just three players, Lim with Rachel Ho’s traverso flute and Brenda Koh’s violin as intimate partners.

 

The shorter second half opened with Concerto No.2, famous for its unique combo of trumpet, recorder, oboe and violin as soloists. Its bright and celebratory music unfortunately revealed how difficult it was to play a trumpet without valves accurately, dogging soloist Danny Teong for most part in its outer movements.   

 

Concerto No.6 featured no violinists, being instead a haven for mellow low strings. Violists Placida Ho and Chen Zhangyi, with cellist Zoi Yeh, backed by viola da gamba players Leslie Tan and Mervyn Lee, ruled the roost with darker and dusky timbres that was a welcome diversion from all the high-pitched high jinks. The jaunty gigue that closed showed that “unfashionable” instruments could also have their fun.

 

This revelatory concert concluded with the cheerful tones of Concerto No.4, in effect a virtuoso violin concerto closely backed by Tan Aik Shin and Rachel Ho on recorders. This totally suited Alan Choo’s free-wheeling showmanship to a tee. Is there a local group that marries academic rigour with an infectious joy in performance as naturally as Red Dot Baroque? Based on its five years of creative spirit and energy, no.