SINGAPORE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL: FRIENDS, NEW & OLD, GALA CONCERT: CELEBRATION! / Review

SINGAPORE CHAMBER MUSIC FESTIVAL 2024 

FRIENDS, NEW & OLD 

GALA CONCERT: CELEBRATION! 

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall 

Wednesday & Saturday

(31 January & 3 February 2024) 

This review was published in The Straits Times on 6 February 2024 with the title "Chamber music festival closes with eclectic programme and touching tribute". 

 

The third evening of the Singapore Chamber Music Festival showcased locally based professional musicians fronted by the Concordia Quartet in partnership with overseas friends. An eclectic programme spanning the classical to contemporary eras was the result.  

 

Performed first was Mozart’s Oboe Quartet in F major (K.370), with veteran Dutch oboist Joost Flach, a resident in Southeast Asia since the 1980s. Partnered with Concordia’s violinist Kim Kyu Ri, violist Martin Peh and cellist Lin Juan, this tuneful work highlighted the reed’s piquant timbre over backing by mellow strings. The ensemble blended beautifully, not least in the chirpy closing Rondo. 

 

Much sterner stuff was Shostakovich’s Piano Quintet in G minor which saw Japan’s splendid Aoi Trio teaming with violinist Yang Shuxiang and violist Peh. Although the first two movements were a neoclassical Prelude and Fugue, jarring dissonances informed the work’s grimmer agenda.  

 

Pianist Kosuke Akimoto projected authority, balanced by paradoxical moments which included the Scherzo’s madcap vitriol and the finale’s unsettling light-heartedness. The five players demonstrated in the music that one could still bring out a smile while under severe duress. 

 

The Concordia Quartet – Edward Tan (violin), Kim, Peh and Lin – were on their own for two  movements from Mendelssohn’s String Quartet in E minor (Op.44 No.2), contrasting smooth congeniality with swift elfin lightness. The 4-year-old quartet, formed just before the Covid-19 pandemic, is now an assured and seasoned outfit.         

 

Tchaikovsky’s very popular String Sextet in D minor, or Souvenir de Florence, for pairs of violins, violas and cellos, generated rich sonorities. Leading was Singaporean violinist Jonathan Ong (first violin of the USA-based Verona Quartet), with the juiciest solos. His repartee with cellist Leslie Tan in the slow movement’s gorgeous melodies was a joy to behold. The group completed by Kim, Jeremy Chiew and Edward Tan (violas) and Lin made the best case possible for the usually morose Russian’s sunniest score.   

The festival’s grand finale featured no less than 32 musicians in a celebration of chamber music’s myriad varieties. There were three string quartets, the youngest being Pythagorus Quartet (average age of 11) which cut their teeth in Haydn with much confidence. Pandan Quartet from Oberlin, Ohio comprised undergraduates with Asian ancestry, and their maturity displayed in Mendelssohn was just as astounding. Jurong Quartet, formed by young lcoal professionals gave a crisp and clear-headed account of Beethoven. All performed first movements from string quartets.  

 

An outlier was the opening movement from Mozart’s Horn Quintet in E flat major (K.407) with Alan Kartik, the concert’s only wind player, partnered by violin, two violas and cello. Even more arcane was a rare performance of 20th century Russian Alfred Schnittke’s Piano Quartet by The Music Circle (violinist Tang Tee Tong, violist Christoven Tan, cellist Leslie Tan and pianist Cherie Khor), a work of grating dissonance and deep disquiet. Both received gripping performances.   

 

“Grand Dame” of Singaporean pianists, Toh Chee Hung, still sparkling in her seventies, partnered with Akimoto in two of Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. She was joined by violinist Ong, violist Peh and cellist Tan in the final two movements from Brahms’ Piano Quartet No.3 in C minor (Op.60), contrasting sheer lyricism with outright passion. These were a touching tribute to Penang-born pianist Dennis Lee, Toh’s husband and ardent supporter of the re:Sound Collective, who passed away last year.  

 

What could top the sight and sound of eight string players coming together for Mendelssohn’s Octet? Its rapturous finale, performed by all the strings from Concordia, Aoi and violinist Yang and violist Chiew, quoted Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, which more or less summed up what everybody on and off stage were feeling.  

 

So what is the big deal about chamber music? It is ultimately a meeting of minds, a celebration of talented and inspired people working and playing, and having a great time together.