MOZART & MAHLER / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory / Review

MOZART & MAHLER

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (17 September 2016)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 19 September 2016 with the title "Angelic outing from virtuosos". 

There was another evening of chamber music at the Conservatory, but it was more of a local variety. The Conservatory's faculty comprises real virtuosos in their own right, and it was a pleasure to hear them perform in Mozart's Quintet in E flat major (K.452) for piano and winds.

The Conservatory's emerald green Bösendorfer grand piano was wheeled out. Pianist Bernard Lanskey (Conservatory Director) towered over the keyboard with his back against the audience and four wind players faced him. This unusual placement worked well because the sound was homogeneous, with the mellow-sounding piano not over-powering the others. 

The winds' opening chord set the tone, and the piano's crisply articulated introduction soon got the opening movement underway. Interplay between guest clarinettist Dimitri Ashkenazy and faculty members Rachel Walker (oboe), Zhang Jin Min (bassoon) and Han Chang Chou (French horn) was excellent, especially in the serenade-like Larghetto slow movement when each took turns in juicy solos to luxuriate.

The finale with its chirpy theme was another delight, as the sheer clarity of each part shone through. Tempos were kept brisk and perky, adding to the movement's rustic and bucolic quality as it danced its way to a cheerful close.

Here was an august collection of highly-skilled soloists, and the same should be said of the young players from the Conservatory Chamber Ensemble who performed in German conductor Klaus Simon's arrangement of Mahler's Fourth Symphony. The shortest and most lightly scored of the Austrian composer's ten symphonies was further reduced to one instrument per part, which made for some interestingly transparent sounds.

Just as unusual was the scoring for piano (played by Foo Yi Xuan), accordion (Syafiqah 'Adha Sallehin) and harp (Charmaine Teo) which helmed much of the accompaniment. Conductor Chan Tze Law, arguably Singapore's most important Mahler conductor, kept a tight rein on the proceedings and the end result was never hectic or hurried.

Once one got used to the Viennese palm court band sound, Mahler's music pretty much spoke for itself. The sleigh-ride jingles of the opening movement rang out purposefully, and it was soon apparent that every player was on the top of his or her game despite their highly-exposed parts.

Special mention goes to first violinist Liu Minglun who adroitly alternated between two violins in the scherzo-like 2nd movement. One violin was tuned to a higher pitch to produce a sinister and discomfiting effect depicting “Death playing the fiddle”. The spectre of mortality loomed high in this ironic movement, but was laid low for the lovely slow 3rd movement which breathed a leisurely and rarefied air.

This paved the entrance of German soprano Felicitas Fuchs, garbed in an emerald green  gown, to sing the verses of Das Himmlischer Leben (The Heavenly Life). This was a child's vision of celestial delights, and even if she did not try too hard to sound childlike, the sheer beauty of her voice backed by musicians in their angelic best was otherworldly bliss.   

ASHKENAZY X 3 in Hong Kong / Review

ASHKENAZY X 3
Dimitri Ashkenazy, Clarinet
Vovka Ashkenazy, Piano
Vladimir Ashkenazy, Piano
Hong Kong Cultural Centre
Friday (12 March 2010)

Strange as it may seem, the musical Ashkenazy family – Vladimir and his sons the pianist Vovka and clarinettist Dimitri – have never performed together in concert until this week when the trio did a short tour of Southeast Asia. The final leg was held in Hong Kong, organised by the ever-resourceful Chopin Society of Hong Kong.

The programme was a varied and enjoyable one, commencing with a first half of works for clarinet and piano. A familial rapport was evident on the outset with Dimitri and father exchanging eye contact and reassuring smiles throughout. With a shrug of the shoulders, they began with Schumann’s Three Romances Op.94. Dimitri or Dimka played with a mellow, almost creamy sound, one rich in lustre supported by excellent breath control. These varied character pieces were ideal starters, alternating between meditative lines, a seamless singing tone (as in the well-known second Romanze) and the blissful repose of the final retiring number.

Much more animated were the five Dance Préludes by Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski. The first, third and fifth dances were filled with the same earthy rhythms and catchy melodies commonly heard in Bartok’s nationalist dance suites, certainly a shared heritage of the Eastern European cultures. Does anyone else also think that the central section of the second dance shares the same theme as the rhythmic middle part of Live And Let Die by Paul McCartney and Wings?

More humour arrived in Francis Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata, written for jazzman Benny Goodman. Its bittersweet melodies, breakneck passages and chameleonic shifts in dynamics found sympathetic interpreters in the Ashkenazys. The elegiac slow movement was the heart and soul of the work, while the perpetuum mobile finale revelled in an irrepressible joie de vivre. Poulenc was a marvellous pianist himself and Ashkenazy senior found his hands full but scarcely missed a note.

In the second half was all piano, with Vovka – the eldest of five siblings – in tandem with Vova (Vladimir Senior) on two pianos. Schubert’s Divertissement a la Hongroise is not his greatest music, too long by half (about 25 minutes in total), but fun to listen to, and probably also fun to play. 

The Hungarian element is in its quaint dance episodes, rhythmic and filled with decorative touches and drones. The short central movement reminded one of Schubert’s better-known Marches Militaires while the finale began with the rhythm to be found in the familiar Moment Musicaux No.3 and Impromptu in F minor (Op.142 No.4). It seemed to go on forever, content with its innocuous Biedermeyer charm, but the Ashkenazys kept it alive and ultimately worth listening.

It was almost a relief when Ravel’s rapturous La Valse arrived. The duo lost no time in establishing fin de siecle Viennese decadence through its swirls and waves of lush sound. There was intricate interplay between both pianists, washed with crashing octaves and chords, and sweeping glissandi. It was a very secure performance, one in which there was hardly a threat of rushing headlong into calamity. Sometimes one almost misses that inherent danger of collapse, which adds to the work’s appeal. Nevertheless, it was always thrilling to witness it “live” than via speakers at home.

There was a surprise encore, one involving all three Ashkenazys. As there is virtually no music for the combo of clarinet and two pianos, the Ashkenazys had one commissioned for the tour. Grandma Had a Little Goat by Nikolai Morozov was its title, described by Vova as having dramatic, tragic (the goat ended up a lupine lunch) and comedic elements, hence typical of lots of Russian music. Eliciting surprisingly good balance between all three instruments, this merry short piece (another Peter and the Wolf in the making?) also had a Jewish flavour to it. Its playful melody could have been from the pen of Shostakovich in an unusually good mood, bringing a historic concert to a happy close.

Vovka & Vova Ashkenazy

meet fans after the concert