ALPS TO APPALACHIANS / 4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival / Review

ALPS TO APPALACHIANS
4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Tuesday (8 March 2011)

An edited version of this review was published in

The Straits Times on 10 March 2011 with the title

"Adventurous Escapades".

Chamber music is one of the most pleasurable activities imaginable, for performer and listener alike. Much enjoyment comes from the repertoire for various combinations of instruments, familiar or obscure. This concert had a bit of both, attended by an unusually large audience.

Completely unknown was Karl Pilss, whose Serenade for wind quintet in four movements was a pleasant if somewhat anonymous diversion. The conservatory students initially appeared tentative and ill at ease in gelling together, but soon settled with a leading light being the very steady oboist.

The pastoral feel suggested music by a lesser contemporary of Richard Strauss, one in which a spot of yodelling would not sound out of place. Wrong. Wikipedia reveals Pilss (1902-1979) to be an Austrian composer-conductor-pianist who wrote no less than 85 works for winds alone. Frankly, one would not greatly miss hearing the other 84.

No such problems with American Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, played in its chamber version for 13 instruments. The ballet written for the Martha Graham Dance Company sounds more invigorating in this rarely-heard form, not least because of its transparent textures. Conductor Chan Tze Law’s clear and precise direction was a boon, and the ensemble overcame all rhythmic intricacies and syncopations with great fluency and ease.

Then came the wonderful moment when the Shaker hymn Simple Gifts is heard, played first by an excellent clarinet solo and the variations following suit. This performance by 12 students (the sole exception being Albert Tiu on piano) was easily the most polished of the evening.

Rough and ready may describe the reading of Beethoven’s Septet (Op.20) by a combo of conservatory faculty and Singapore Symphony Orchestra musicians. Here is Beethoven at his least neurotic, exuding a carefree air of gemütlichkeit more commonly associated with his younger colleague Schubert. This apparent congeniality saw a near lapse in the second movement with anxious looks among the strings.

No matter, it was the warm-hearted manner that all came together that touched. In the dance-like Theme and Variations, the witty exchanges between strings and Gao Jian’s French horn and Ma Yue’s clarinet were a total charmer. The Presto finale saw some harrowing moments of the music coming apart at the seams, but it was Zuo Jun’s outsized violin cadenza that waved all troubles away. Escapade and adventure, that’s what chamber music is all about.

CELEBRATIONS! 4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival / Review

CELEBRATIONS!
4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Saturday (12 February 2011)

This review was published in The Straits Times

on 14 February 2011 with the title

"Classical camaraderie"

The 4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival has come on so surreptitiously that one easily confuses it with the event-packed Conservatory concert calendar. Its celebration concert featured Conservatory faculty, students and alumni performing alongside their counterparts from Baltimore’s Peabody Institute of Music.

A hugely enjoyable evening began with four lady students from the Conservatory String Quartet in Hugo Wolf’s Italian Serenade. There was nothing student-like about the performance, which besides being immaculate, radiated the warmth of its sunny string writing and spontaneous lilt. Their excellent deportment was also a source of pride.

Schubert’s popular “Trout” Quintet, named after his Lied Die Forelle (The Trout), was next. Here the playing was a little uneven, possibly from short of rehearsal time, but there was no denying the palpable camaraderie between musicians. The pianist was Bernard Lanskey, taking time off responsibilities as Conservatory Director, whose leadership also extended to turning pages for his string players.

Violinist Ye Lin and cellist Qin Li-Wei were all eyes, blending beautifully, while violist Jiang Hansong and bassist Yang Xun provided able support. Ye and Jiang, both alumni, are now Singapore Symphony Orchestra musicians. Initially tense, the playing soon settled to a comfortable congeniality, typical of “hausmusik” (literally “home music”) between friends, boosting the feel good factor by several pints.

Conservatory students yield nothing to their professional seniors. Evidence was the totally commanding performance of Debussy’s late Violin Sonata in G minor by Rose Hsien, with sensitive pianism from Akkra Yeunyonghattaporn. Besides a ravishing tone and spotless intonation, Hsien’s playing had depth, myriad shades and that elusive element of fantasy to fill volumes. She is clearly a star in the making.

The final work was the early Piano Quintet in C minor (Op.1) by Hungarian composer Ernö Dohnanyi, with an unmistakeable debt of influence to Brahms. That rich and dark texture, urgently voiced, was well brought out by the ensemble which featured three guests from Peabody, pianist Kuan Sheng-Yuan, violinist Luri Lee and cellist Michael Kannen.

Magyar spices indelibly flavoured the rhythmic Scherzo, while Fan Ran’s viola sang unabated in the opening for the nocturne-like slow movement, easily the work’s highlight. With violinist Zhao Yi completing the handful, the energetic finale pulsed ever so delightfully, despite the academician in Dohnanyi throwing in a fugue for good measure.

This festival continues for over a month, with more musical treasures lie awaiting.

The 4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival is organised by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.