THE MOZARTIAN EXPERIENCE / ADDO Chamber Orchestra / Review

THE MOZARTIAN EXPERIENCE

ADDO Chamber Orchestra

Esplanade Recital Studio

Thursday (25 February 2016)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 27 February 2016 with the title "A light-hearted homage to Mozart".

If one wondered why this concert was not titled The Mozart Experience, that was because it included music that was known during Mozart's era rather than exclusively by the Austrian composer himself. It began with the Sinfonia to Italian Domenico Cimarosa's popular comic opera Il Matrimonio Secreto (The Secret Marriage).

The overture opened with a fanfare very similar to that in Mozart's The Magic Flute, and the busy string flourishes that follow took after the master's wit himself. Conductor Clarence Tan kept the  pacing water-tight, best exhibited by the strings and a pair of flutes. Even if some winds had wayward moments, the buffo aspects were never lost as the music raced to a breathless end.

Young Filipino soprano Angela Cortez then joined to sing Mozart's well-known motet Exsultate Jubilate, a virtuosic showpiece she did not seem totally comfortable with. She has a pleasing voice and good diction which worked well for the slower languorous bits, but had some difficulty with the runs. Nevertheless, she made a good impression of Handel's slow Lascia Chio Pianga from the opera Rinaldo that followed.

Would it be better for her to have started with the Handel aria, essentially a lament, before moving to the flashier Mozart? Chronologically it would have made more sense, and the fact that Handel's operatic music was well-known to Mozart and not the other way round. In both works, the orchestra displayed sensitivity with the most discreet of accompaniments.       

French horn soloist Alan Kartik Jairamin, from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, is one performer who has no confidence issues. He brought out a big, warm burnished tone in two Mozart horn concertos, shining brightest in the slow movement of the Second Concerto in E flat major (K.417). Its hunting horn Rondo finale was simply a joy, having to nimbly jump through a series of musical hoops.

The First Concerto in D major (K.412) brought out more of the same, except this work was in just two movements including another animated Rondo. This was followed by a show-and-tell session that truly engaged the audience. Kartik's humour in demonstrating playing notes on a natural horn (without valves) and a garden hose fitted with funnel and mouthpiece was greeted with much mirth and hilarity. His performance of the Rondo in D for hosepipe and orchestra is destined for YouTube notoriety.

The concert closed with Mozart's Symphony No.35 in D major, also known as the Haffner Symphony. The earlier discipline wielded by Tan's baton was immediately apparent in the vigorous opening, which was tautly knitted and driven with a firm rhythmic thrust. The slow movement weathered rough spots from the horns and was saved by the finesse of the string playing.

The Minuet exuded courtly grace, and one will note the subtle phrasing at the beginning of the finale, which opened quietly under the voice and then went for the jugular. The febrile feeling of storm and stress, expressive devices popularised during the classical age, was well brought out as the work closed on a head of steam. ADDO Chamber Orchestra's take on Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony on 5 May should be worth catching.

All photographs by courtesy of the ADDO Chamber Orchestra.

GEORGE AND THE MUSIC BOX / Bellepoque / Review

GEORGE AND THE MUSIC BOX

Bellepoque

Esplanade Recital Studio

Thursday (14 May 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 16 May 2015 with the title "Bedtime fun with stories and toys".

The name of Jacques Offenbach (1819-1880) has been synonymous with light comic operettas in French and his single important opera The Tales Of Hoffmann. Credit goes to local musical theatre company Bellepoque for unearthing his Six Fables de la Fontaine, little known musical settings of children's tales by 17^th century writer Jean de la Fontaine, neatly packaged as a one-act musical called George and the Music Box by playwright Susana Jose.

George is a restless young descendant of the writer, who needs his bedtime stories and toy companions to lull him into slumber. He has a somewhat dysfunctional relationship with his maman, quirkily portrayed and sung by Italian soprano Sabrina Zuber, who is also founder-director of Bellepoque. An element of abuse and oppression is hinted at by their absent father/husband, who gets his snarling voice in by way of director-pianist Robert Casteels. His peripheral but glowering presence, attired in concert garb and armed to the teeth with metronomes, was surely symbolic of discipline and over-regimentation.

Their dynamics made for some uneasy viewing, George's petulance caught perfectly by local tenor Jeremy Koh as a foil to his parents' schizophrenic comings and goings. With their berating and taunts “George is a naughty boy”, it would take some miracle if he does not grow up to become some French Amos Yee.

His consolations are the fables and his toy soldier (sung by tenor Leslie Tay), dancing doll (soprano Angela Cortez) and teddy bear (baritone Daniel Ho), who sing and act out his fantasies at bedtime. Despite none of them being native Francophones, their parts in sung French and spoken English came out credibly, aided by projected translations on a screen behind.

Some of the fables, like those of Aesop's with morals and cautionary dictums, would be familiar to many. These included La laitiere et le pot de lait (The Milkmaid and the Pot of Milk) and Le corbeau et le renard (The Crow and the Fox) which remind the listener “not to count chickens before they hatch” and “flattery feeds on the vain”. The latter and Le rat de ville et le rat des champs (The Town Rat and the Country Rat) cleverly highlighted hand puppets, and La cigale et la fourmi  (The Cricket and the Ant) utilised shadow play, to aid the narrative.

The music, as expected, was light and frothy, and as each fable lasted a matter of minutes, there was some padding up with highlights from The Tales of Hoffmann and La Vie Parisienne. These gave the singers ample opportunities for solos and ensemble work, which came out very well.

In case one thought that this was a production for children, it was decidedly not. The relatively late hour ensured that there were only a few youngsters in the audience, and stage director Sharon Joy Frese's scenarios were aimed mostly at adults, albeit those young at heart. Visual designer Caterina Minganti's children's bedroom, the painted clownish faces, maman's movements, and that man-sized and man-shaped comfort pillow named Doudou which George hugs in his deep stupor all had a touch of the creepy (think the horror movie genre) about them.

Little matter, as this was a largely enjoyable and musically satisfying outing fully consistent with Bellepoque's ethos to challenge the status quo through simple yet sophisticated departures, and to entertain. George and the Music Box, part of the European Season and Voilah! French Festival, plays for one final evening on Saturday, which would be well worth your time.