BAROQUE FESTIVAL: BACH'S BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

BAROQUE FESTIVAL:

BACH’S BRANDENBURG CONCERTOS

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday & Friday 

(2 & 3 November 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 7 November 2023 with the title "SSO soloists shine in Brandenburg Concertos". 

 

Barely two months after Red Dot Baroque’s groundbreaking first performance of Johann Sebastian Bach’s six Brandenburg Concertos on period instruments, concertgoers here got another helping of the beloved half-dozen, this time from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). These were performed over two evenings of the Baroque Festival led by British historically-informed performance practice specialist Andrew Arthur from the harpsichord.

 

SSO musicians perform on modern instruments, using steel rather than gut-strings of their period instrument counterparts. The resulting sonority is rather different, more resonant and voluminous, while some say richer in tonal colour. The heavy vibrato and stodgy tempos, characteristics of recordings from 50 years ago or more were however absent, given the preference for lither textures and buoyant rhythms. This overall outlook, which guided these performances, was a boon.

      

The first evening opened with Brandenburg Concerto No.1 F major in four movements, the longest of six and also involving the most players. Its bustling and celebratory character was winningly brought out by the excellent pair of French horns (Austin Larson and Marc-Antoine Robillard) and three oboes (Pan Yun, Carolyn Hollier and Elaine Yeo).   

 

In the familiar Concerto No.2 in F major, guest musician James Nash helmed its virtuosic trumpet solo in the highest registers with ringing immediacy. The crispness of playing also extended to other soloists, violinist Zhang Sijing, flautist Jin Ta and oboist Rachel Walker. In the all-string Concerto No.3 in G major, virtuosity of SSO strings led by Kong Zhao Hui was highlighted in its fast outer movements, especially the finale’s dizzying play of counterpoint.

 

An added extra came in the form of Vivaldi’s Concerto No.11 in D minor from L’estro Armonico, a truly fun work where the duelling violins of Kong Xianlong and Sayuri Kuru, with cellist Ng Pei-Sian’s abetting, stole the show. Whoever said Vivaldi had little more offer than the overplayed Four Seasons?

 

Owing to the SSO’s large membership, a totally different complement of players performed on the second evening. It was also Arthur’s turn to be soloist, in Brandenburg Concerto No.5 in D major, long regarded the forerunner of all keyboard concertos. His harpsichord part was no longer just an accompaniment, but one simmering in fine detail before culminating in an extended and very difficult cadenza which swept the board as others fell silent.

A close-up of SSO's
2004 Carey Beebe harpsichord

 

Now playing with his right profile towards the audience, more solo work came in the Harpsichord Concerto in F minor (BW.1056), memorable for its exquisite slow movement accompanied by gentle pizzicato strings.

Violists Zhang Manchin & Gu Bing Jie
on the left of Andrew Arthur. 

 

Wedged in between the keyboard hijinks was Brandenburg Concerto No.6 in B flat major, scored for low strings, which received arguably the best performance of both evenings. No one missed the absent violins because of the unfettered joy as viola soloists displayed by Zhang Manchin and Gu Bing Jie. Their warm and burnished tone radiated a sonorous glow that made disputes on matters of performance authenticity irrelevant.

 

The concert closed with Concerto No.4 in D major, a welcome return to the festive feel which opened this mini-festival. Here Roberto Alvarez and Miao Shanshan on flutes (replacing the original recorders) operated like hand in glove, and were nearly upstaged by Xu Jueyi’s virtuosic violin part where well-behaved Bach came close to emulating vivacious Vivaldi.

So a question remains: period instrument Bach or modern instrument Bach? Having enjoyed both different sets of Brandenburg Concertos, it probably boils down to a matter of personal taste. That these options are even available in Singapore today is the true cause for celebration.