AN 1825 HOPSCOTCH / Tang Tee Khoon & Alasdair Beatson / Review

 

AN 1825 HOPSCOTCH 

Tang Tee Khoon, Violin 

Alasdair Beatson, Piano 

Esplanade Recital Studio 

Saturday (10 May 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 13 May 2025 with the title "Virtuoso playing by Tang Tee Khoon and Alasdair Beatson".

Two hundred years ago, in 1825, the world of classical music moved well into the Romantic era. With Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony premiered the year before, musical history would never be the same again. This was the premise of a very demanding recital of German Romantic violin sonatas by local violinist Tang Tee Khoon, founder and artistic director of Chamber Music and Arts Singapore (CMAS), and excellent Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson. 

Beethoven, Mendelssohn & Schumann.

Photo: Clarence Aw

That the duo focussed on repertoire that is not often heard in concert, a decision that would have adversely affected the box-office, was also telling. Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No.10 in G major (Op.96 from 1812), which opened the concert, is far less often performed than his Kreutzer Sonata (Op.47) and that is our loss. 

Photo: Clarence Aw

It began with a whisper from the violin, echoed by the piano, its congeniality being a far cry from the blood and guts passion of earlier sonatas. This music is for sensitive souls performing for sensitive listeners, and the chemistry between Tang and Beatson showed from the outset. When both musicians listen to each other intently, the results are immediately palpable. 

Photo: Clarence Aw

The hymn-like slow movement oozed lyricism, later seguing into a brief Scherzo with crisply delivered chords. It was the finale’s theme and variations on a jolly subject that surprised the most. Seldom has Beethoven sounded this disarming and non-belligerent, and it was with this good humour that the duo scored the highest marks. 

Photo: Clarence Aw

By comparison, Felix Mendelssohn’s Violin Sonata No.3 in F major (1838) was a showcase for virtuoso chops. The first movement’s main theme was resolute and heroic, a showy prelude heralding the musical sorcery to come. While the prayer-like central movement was a typical “song without words”, the finale flew on fairy wings, its feathery lightness being a hallmark of the technical prowess demanded. The twosome’s charming reading could scarcely be bettered. 

Photo: Clarence Aw

The concert’s second half was occupied by Robert Schumann’s very substantial Violin Sonata No.2 in D minor (Op.121) from 1851, more than a good half-hour of overflowing passion. A late work written at a time of psychiatric crisis, the embattled composer literally poured out his heart, and received the performance it deserved. 

Photo: Clarence Aw

From the series of slashing opening chords, both Tang and Beatson showed they clearly meant business. An overwhelming sense of agitation and urgency obsessed the music, with the Sturm und Drang (storm and stress) generated never flagging for a single moment. This tension continued into the second movement with flashy piano chords accompanying the violin’s plaints. 

Photo: Clarence Aw

Gentle violin pizzicatos opened the lyrical slow movement, its apparent quietude and simplicity later interjected with reminders from the preceding movement. Beneath the surface calm, not all is well was the intended message. The perpetual motion of the finale was a return to the maelstrom, as both performers rallied to an impressively resounding finish. It was a pity that such artistry was not witnessed by a larger audience.

SCHUBERT 1824 / Chamber Music and Arts Singapore / Review

 

SCHUBERT 1824 

Chamber Music and Arts Singapore

Esplanade Recital Studio 

Monday & Tuesday 

(16 & 17 December 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 December 2024 with the title "Chamber Music and Arts presented sparkling showcase in mini Schubert festival".

So soon after the Ding Yi Chinese Chamber Music Festival came another mini-festival, this time for Western instruments by Chamber Music and Arts Singapore (CMAS) curated by Singaporean violinist Tang Tee Khoon. Its focus was on Austrian composer Franz Schubert (1797-1828) and the year 1824. Three repertoire works from that annus mirabilis were heard over two evenings. 

Tang Tee Khoon is the founder 
and driving force behind
Chamber Music and Arts Singapore.

Schubert’s Sonata in A minor (D.821), popularly known as the Arpeggione Sonata, was originally written for the arpeggione, an obsolete bowed instrument with frets. Now commonly heard on cello, this evening’s performance came instead from the viola, helmed by American violist Julianne Lee with locally-based American pianist Ning An. 

Cello or viola, the music is equally beautiful, intimated by Lee’s rich and warm tone. Its lyrical lines were gorgeously voiced and her intonation impeccable. Every bit an equal partner was An’s crisp and unflappable pianism which never sought to dominate, instead making the music sing through three congenial movements. 

While the sonata basked in genteel Biedermeier sensibilities, String Quartet No.14 in D minor (D.810), or “Death And The Maiden”, reflected a more turbulent aspect of the Romantics. Festival director Tang, local violinist Yang Shuxiang and German cellist Eckart Runge joined violist Lee for what had to be the most passionate performance of this masterpiece heard in recent times. 

Its unison opening bars came like a fearsome onslaught, fair indication of angst and agitation to come. Unity and tautness of ensemble was on full display, yet every voice was heard with a startling immediacy and resounding clarity. The tempestuous first movement was contrasted with the slow movement’s variations, based on the solemn plodding chords which Schubert’s eponymous song Der Tod und das Madchen (Death and the Maiden) begins with. 

The full gamut of string quartet writing was wondrously revealed, each variation unfolding with ever increasing tension. Solos from Tang and Runge were lovingly voiced in this mini-epic. While the short Scherzo and Trio contrasted brusqueness with decorum, the adrenaline-fueled finale’s tarantella rhythm closed with an unabashed show of blood and guts. 

The second evening saw a rare outing of the Octet in F major (D.803), scored for strings and winds. The earlier quartet of strings was joined by Frenchman Florent Héau (clarinet), Lim Tee Heong (bassoon), Kartik Alan Jairamin (French horn) and Wang Xu (double-bass), the latter three members from re:Sound Collective. 

In six movements running for almost 70 minutes, this is Schubert’s longest chamber work, even more expansive than his “Great” Symphony. That the eight musicians stayed the course for this exhausting (more for players but less so for audience) masterpiece was credit enough, but they also impressed with an excellent balance of voices and individual instrumental virtuosity. 

The imposing opening movement established their credentials beyond doubt, while the Adagio second movement’s sheer lyrical beauty could melt hearts. Héau’s clarinet solo was an echo of the slow movement from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Tang’s violin and Runge’s cello later took turns to gild the lily, while Kartik’s horn provided the counterpoint. Simply sublime. 

The faster movements, a Scherzo and Minuet, possessed a drive that resisted rhythmic rigidity, opting instead for flexibility when it came to contrasting second subjects. Sandwiched in between was one of Schubert’s greatest Theme and Variations movements, a folksy Mozartean subject put through a creative spin that was both inventive and delightful. 

Vigorous rumbling tremolos from Runge dramatically heralded the finale, an expressive outpouring of joie de vivre all the way to an ecstatic close. The rousing reception accorded to the octet was clear indication that the audience had witnessed something truly special.