A HONG KONG DIARY (20-22 February 2011) / Part I

Ever wondered why they call it Statue Square?

Sunday, 20 February 

Face it. When it comes to music, the Singapore Arts Festival cannot hold a candle to the Hong Kong Arts Festival. I have been a regular visitor to the SAR’s annual arts fest since 2000, catching class acts in music which will not see the light of day at the Esplanade. The year 2002 was Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov (the Moscow Bolshoi Opera, no less), 2004 was Beethoven’s Fidelio (Berlin Komische Oper), 2008 was Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’enfant Jesus (Joanna MacGregor), and this year’s draw was Masaaki Suzuki’s Bach Collegium Japan with two evenings of Bach (including my first ever experience of St Matthew Passion). 

Did I mention Cecilia Bartoli? Having confirmed my flight tickets and hotel for three evenings, I found to my horror that the Italian mezzo’s gig on 22 Feb had been completely sold out! The official ticketing website had displayed “limited tickets”, which prompted my rash decision to book the flights, but that’s not the same as “no tickets”. Anyway hope springs eternal as I descended into the smoggy metropolis. My ritual first stops after checking in – a cut price set lunch followed by a CD shopping spree at HMV. The exchange rate is decent (1 SGD = 6 HKD), so why not? Having braved the Sunday throng at Central (it’s the day off for the domestic help), Bach awaited at City Hall Concert Hall.

Hong Kong or Manila?

Someday I’ll get to hear all the 200 and more Bach cantatas, but at this time I’m happy to tick off those I’ve heard in concert or on disc, like some obsessed trainspotter. The Bach Collegium Japan is a period performance group with a small band (two per part) and a choir of not more than 20. I’ve heard their recordings, and they are as good if not better than the best in UK and Germany. It’s the light, lithe sound of their playing (as with others like Gardiner) that appeal to me most, rather than those dreary and heavy orchestral versions (no names mentioned) of less enlightened decades past. 

Sporting a distinct silver mane, Masaaki Suzuki looks like some guru from the Zen temple of baroque. He conducts without a baton, looking clear and precise in his directions. I’d like to sing under him sometime. The soloists – soprano Hana Blazikova, countertenor Robin Blaze, tenor Gerd Turk and bass Peter Kooij – sing from within the choral ranks. They’re all very good, and the all-Japanese choir responds with a crispness and fervour that is hard to dislike. Close your eyes, and one thinks they are Germans.

They performed three cantatas, No.72 Alles nur nach Gottes willen (Everything according to God’s will), No.159 Sehet, wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem (See, we are going up to Jerusalem) and possibly the most famous one of them all, No.147 Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (Heart and Mouth and Deed and Life). I don’t go to church services so often these days, but if choirs perform a cantata in place of some overlong sermon, I might be persuaded to change my mind. 

Besides the wonderful music, the words and their meanings come through very vividly. The message is not the usual popular feel good “God loves yer” (in those inane American-styled pop songs) but rather the burden of bearing the cross that Christians face, and the vigorous statement of true faith. There was an additional number, Alles mit Gott (All things with God, BWV.1127:1-3), an extended aria discovered as recently as 2005. Soprano Blazikova sang it with great beauty. Her voice is light and penetrating, and the string accompaniment ever so sensitive. 

For the final cantata, the trumpet came in for a burst of festive colour, and there was that gasp of recognition from the audience when the chorale of Woll mir, dass ich Jesum habe arrived. That’s the same music as Jesu bleibet meine Freude, or what us English speakers say Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. A lovely way to close a lovely evening.

As safe as the banks of HK.

A HONG KONG DIARY (20-22 February 2011) / Part II

The spanking new I Square Shopping Centre

on Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Monday, 21 February

I make it a point to visit a different Hong Kong museum every time I come. The HK Heritage Museum is located in Shatin, in the New Territories, but nowhere is very far when you have such an efficient mass transit rail system. A massive hangar-like edifice greets you as one exits the Che Kung Temple station. It is huge, given the many different exhibits about HK culture, art and social life it exhibits. The offerings today include design, poster art, Chinese brush painting (the Chao Shao An school), Tibetan artefacts and Tang Dynasty figures (the Tsui collection), history and life in the New Territories and the Cantonese opera phenomenon (with a collection of legendary singer Yu Kai’s costumes). It is easy to get lost in two hours of wandering around here.

A Tang dynasty horse at the HK Heritage Museum.

Back in town, I approach the box office of the Cultural Centre in a hope of return tickets for the Bartoli concert. As luck would have it, they’ve got just one ticket, the very last one – at the princely sum of HKD 1280 - and I grabbed it like an Ethiopian meeting a breadroll. After lunch with my favourite Hong Kong aunt, another CD shopping spree, this time at Ladies Market and its smattering of delightfully uncoordinated shops, loaded like some musical Alladin’s cave, And of course, there is always Shun Cheong Records and its latest array of temptations. I succumb gratefully. Back at the hotel, I’ve discovered that my good friends at the Chopin Society of Hong Kong had also trawled for Bartoli returns, and netted a biggie too. Instead of a big fat nought, I now have two tickets!

They really love the arts in HK.

A typical scene at City Hall Concert Hall.

I don’t know when the next performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion will come again, so I had better make good this one. All ears, I allowed Bach’s musical evangelism to regale me with his vision of apostle Matthew’s account of Jesus’ passion. The opening chorus Komm, ihr Töchter (Come, you daughters) is serious rather than joyous, and one meant to reaffirm one’s faith and convert the unbeliever. “This was how Jesus died for your sins”, and the story unfolded through tenor Gerd Turk’s Evangelist (Narrator). Bass Peter Kooij’s Jesus, dark and rich in stature, was a sympathetic presence. The series of recitatives and arias followed, punctuated by the choruses and chorales, each making a comment on each turn of history. For me, the chorales are the heart and soul of the Passion. The familiar strains of the chorale, first heard as Erkenne mich, mein Huter (Recognise me, my guardian), and repeated another four times, each returning with ever resounding reassurance.

Again Masaaki Suzuki’s direction was authoritative, with two orchestral groups and two choirs on either flanks, and an assortment of keyboards (two chamber organs and a harpsichord) in the middle. In those days, such forces were supposed to be massive. I am overwhelmed by the show of evangelistic vigour, but the moment to die for was the sublime Erbarme dich (Have mercy) sung by countertenor Robin Blaze with Ryo Terakado’s violin obbligato. Has Bach written a more beautiful and beseeching melody? Probably not. Sixty-eight numbers and three and a half hours later (the concert ended at 11 pm), I am as bright as a lark and not complaining of a sore back. A hearty late night steak dinner supper at Sik Heung Yuen Café (on Saigon Street, off Nathan Road) in Jordan is further reward.

I'm not a vegetarian. Nobody's perfect.

3 Best Classical Albums of 2010

Its the end of 2010, and The Straits Times gets me to name the three best classical albums of the year, and here they are:

BEETHOVEN Cello Sonatas
LI-WEI QIN, Cello
ALBERT TIU, Piano
Decca 889 9119 (2CDs)

Beethoven’s five cello sonatas, highly original works and without precedent, receive performances of vigour and brio from Chinese-Australian cellist Li-Wei Qin and Filipino pianist Albert Tiu. Qin’s tone is voluminous and breathtaking, while Tiu’s exacting role is pursued with great immediacy and clarity. Retailing at 2 CDs for the price of one, this album has the added distinction of being Made in Singapore.

TRANSFORMATION
YUJA WANG, Piano
Deutsche Grammophon 477 8795

The 23-year-old Chinese phenom’s second recording tops her celebrated début effort, simply because her technique in ferociously demanding works such as Stravinsky’s Three Movements From Petrushka, Brahms’ Paganini Variations and Ravel’s La Valse is always in service of the music. She makes everything sound ever so simple, so be prepared to be blown away.

BACH & BEYOND
Bach Collegium Japan
MASAAKI SUZUKI
BIS 9036/39 (15 CDs)

This is the ultimate stocking filler for the festive season, a selection of Bach’s choral and instrumental music performed by one of the finest early music ensembles on the planet. Besides Bach, one will also be enchanted by music from Handel, Vivaldi, Monteverdi, Buxtehude, Schütz and Ahle. The familiar and obscure get equal billing, and full documentation with texts and translations make this ever so pleasurable. Simply not to be missed.