GOH SOON TIOE @ 110 / AWARD WINNERS IN CONCERT / Review

GOH SOON TIOE @ 110

AWARD WINNERS IN CONCERT

Esplanade Recital Studio

Sunday (18 April 2021)

 

Goh Soon Tioe is 110 years old this year! For those not old enough to remember the name, Goh Soon Tioe (1911-1982) was Singapore’s Western classical music pioneer, one who combined illustrious careers in violin performance, conducting, musical education and impresario work like nobody else had and nobody ever will. In our age of specialisation, his kind will never come again. His legacy lives on in his students, who have included the likes of Choo Hoey, Seow Yit Kin, Lynnette Seah, Lim Soon Lee, Kam Kee Yong and his three daughters (Vivien, Sylvia and Patricia), and the annual Centenary Award bestowed to deserving young string players that bears his name.

 

Since 2012, nine deserving young musicians have been awarded monetary grants (administered by the Community Foundation of Singapore) to further their musical studies and careers. Their names read like a young Who’s Who of music in Singapore today. This concert brought together six award winners in an enjoyable chamber concert,  reassuring one and all that the future of classical music in Singapore is in good hands.  

 

Kevin Loh (2018 winner) is the brightest guitarist to emerge from Singapore in many decades. Presently a Cambridge undergraduate, he helpfully reminded the audience that Goh Soon Tioe himself began his musical career as a guitarist. His studies had been sponsored by no less than Andres Segovia, who also served as mentor and guiding light. Kevin’s varied programme of transcriptions opened with J.S.Bach’s Prelude from Cello Suite No.6, characterised by rhythmic vigour and clarity of articulation. The Latino pieces were also well-contrasted, the vivacity of Albeniz’s popular Sevilla (originally a piano piece) alongside Astor Piazzolla’s slow tango Oblivion, a heart-felt portrayal of melancholy and untold tragedy.

 

Next came Italian opera composer Rossini’s Duet in D major for double bass and cello, composed for the great Domenico Dragonetti, who was hailed as “Paganini of the bass”. Bassist Julian Li (2013), who has served as principal in China’s Hangzhou Philharmonic and Guiyang Symphony, and Theophilus Tan (2015), cellist of the newly-formed Concordia Quartet, did the honours.

 

As with works by bass virtuosos, the orchestra’s largest instrument is no longer content with just providing mere accompaniment but having significant melodic lines of its own. Li showed himself to be very nimble in running passages, crowned by a melodic gift with bel canto qualities. The cello  also had melodic moments in the slow Andante molto movement, accompanied by bass pizzicatos, and the duet was completed with an enjoyable romp of the finale.

 

A much more familiar work was the Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia, usually heard as a showpiece for violin and cello. In this instance, violinist Joey Lau (2017) and violist Joelle Hsu (2019) worked very well together, exhibiting good communication and the requisite “give and take” of chamber music performance while relishing in their virtuosic roles.  

 

Receiving a rare performance was Rachmaninov’s Trio Elegiaque No.1 in G minor, a teenaged work heavily influenced by Tchaikovsky, with violinist Helena Dawn Yah (2012, the inaugural awardee), cellist Theophilus Tan and guest pianist Jonathan Shin. In a short preamble, Shin explained that the trio’s main theme was in fact an inversion of the opening motif from Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. The work’s typically Slavic melancholy and dolour was very well brought out, oozing pathos from every pore.

 

The final work was by Austrian bassist and composer Johannes Matthias Sperger (1750-1812), whose highly congenial Quartet in D major in three movements had one guessing its various influences. Did it sound like Haydn, Mozart, or even the young Schubert? Sperger’s milestone dates indicate that he would have been familiar with the first two composers, while the instrumentation (with the violin replacing the original flute) suggests this was an example of hausmusik (household music) to be played by a group of musical-loving friends over schnapps.

 

As expected, bassist Julian Li had a lion’s share of melodic interest besides also having the most difficult part of all. He was excellent throughout, and well-supported by violinist Joey Lau, violist Joelle Hsu and a most busy cellist Theophilus Tan. Why don’t we ever get to hear this music with any regularity (instead of countless performances of the Trout Quintet)? At least one can trust and hope that the Goh Soon Tioe laureates, who are now a family of a kind, to revive the hausmusik movement sometime. Such an initiative led by these extremely talented young professionals will be most appreciated.   

Vivien Goh, daughter of Goh Soon Tioe

addresses the audience and

thanks the award winners.

MATHEA GOH Violin Recital / Review

MATHEA GOH Violin Recital

with Beatrice Lin, Piano

Esplanade Recital Studio

Wednesday (26 October 2016)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 29 October 2016

Fifty years ago, the classical music scene in Singapore was spear-headed by Goh Soon Tioe (1911-1982), violinist, pedagogue, conductor and all-round music entrepreneur. His name lives on in the award created in his memory, given to exceptional young Singaporean string players and administered by his daughters Vivien and Sylvia, and the Community Foundation of Singapore.

The recipient of this year's Goh Soon Tioe Centenary Award is teenager Mathea Goh Xinyi, a student of former child prodigy Lee Huei Min, whose 75-minute long solo recital distinguished her out as a major talent to watch in years to come. There was nothing student-like in her playing, only an astonishing maturity that has to be experienced to be believed.

She commenced her recital with Edvard Grieg's rarely heard Second Sonata, with an opening G minor chord that immediately showed she meant business. Its solidly-drawn quality and the strong, vibrant tone she exuded would be sustained unflaggingly for the rest of her very demanding programme. In the dance-like faster section, her nimbleness and flexibility meant she could truly bring out the robust spirit of the Norwegian composer.

The slow movement sang and flowed like one of Grieg's Lyric Pieces, with simplicity and not a little nostalgia, and the finale's folk-dance leapt up from its black and white pages with fulsome colour and rhythmic vitality. Pianist Beatrice Lin was sensitive throughout, but every bit an equal partner in chamber music.

Arguably even more impressive was the segment for unaccompanied violin when Goh was completely on her own in Bach's First Sonata in G minor (BWV.1001) and Ysaye's Sonata No.3, also known as the Ballade. This resembled the opening rounds of any of the prestigious international violin competitions, which Goh will undoubtedly feature in years to come.

Her impeccable intonation in the Prelude (marked Grave) of the Bach would make players double her age green with envy. The clarity and dexterity displayed in the Fugue and final Presto were again the result of that familiar adage, “Practise, practise, practise,” if one were asked the way to Carnegie Hall.

The hair-raising technical difficulties in the Ysaye did little to faze Goh, as she launched herself fearlessly into its thorny thickets and brambly bushes. That she come out victorious and unbruised was credit itself, and this continued into Paganini's well-known Caprice No.24. In these fearsome variations, she wisely chose to include Schumann's piano accompaniment (again played by Lin) which prevented her from being too exposed.

Together the duo completed the recital with Ravel's swashbuckling Tzigane. The extended solo introduction gave Goh ample opportunity to rhapsodise in as free a manner as she chose, and when the piano joined in, the Magyar swagger was in full flow to its brilliant close.

A chorus of bravos ensued, and Jascha Heifetz's transcription of Gershwin's Summertime showed that in the midst of all that bravura, there is a sensitive and musical soul of a virtuoso also waiting to come out.    

ALAN CHOO Violin Recital / Review

ALAN CHOO Violin Recital

with LIM YAN, Piano

The Living Room @ The Art House

Sunday (10 August 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 August 2014 with the title "Skilful and delightful violin show".

Goh Soon Tioe (1911-1982) is remembered as one of the great Singaporean musical pioneers, a renaissance man among musicians. He was a violinist, conductor, pedagogue, luthier and impresario, the likes of whom will never be encountered again in our present age of specialisation. The annual award in memory of his name identifies outstanding young Singaporean string players who embody the aspirations in his life’s work.

The 2014 and third recipient of the Goh Soon Tioe Centenary Award is Alan Choo Su Ho, 1^st prizewinner in the 2011 National Violin Competition, and the first Singapore-born violinist to garner that accolade since 2003. Presently a student at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute, he is one of few local violinists to pursue baroque violin performance.

Appropriately his recital began with Telemann’s Fantasia in F major, performed on a baroque violin. Playing on gut strings and using the shorter baroque bow, he produced a deep and mellow sonority in its four short and varied parts. Coloured with a life of its own, the dance-like spirit of each part movement leapt tantalisingly to the fore.

With the appetite for this sound world whetted, the balance of the 75-minute programme was however played on a modern violin and partnered by Lim Yan on the piano. Choo’s versatility was immediately apparent as 20^th century German composer Paul Hindemith’s Sonata in E called for a different kind of approach.

Armed with near-perfect intonation, he brought an unusual lyricism to its astringent themes, with long-held phrases alternating with short bristling dissonances that characterised this spiky two-movement work. The neoclassicism of Hindemith’s “Back to Bach” movement was to find a totally satisfying modern resonance here.

Romantic in spirit was Spaniard Sarasate’s Caprice Basque, a virtuoso showpiece that highlighted awkward syncopations in its first half, and a hair-raising set of variations in the second. Choo’s ability to marry melody in the bowing right hand with plucked accompaniment in the left hand was one of the many tricks that delighted the audience.

Cesar Franck’s Sonata in A major was to complete the evening’s fare. Both violinist and pianist were to take an epic view of the classic. While big gestures and crashing climaxes distinguished its course, it was the softer and more tender moments that made the contrasts stand out. And when the coruscating second movement came to its brilliant conclusion, premature applause was smartly averted when pianist Lim launched immediately into the third movement.    

The familiar finale’s canon was a demonstration of fine balance, with the violin following the piano’s lead through the entire movement without getting into each other’s path. The tension was firmly maintained but with a song-like sensibility throughout. The resultant applause was rewarded with an encore, a fast movement from one of French baroque composer Francoeur’s sonatas. It is hoped that Alan Choo’s next recital would be an all-baroque affair, another first for the Singapore music scene.   

Alan gets a giant cheque of $6800
from the Goh Soon Tioe family.

With his conservatory violin teacher
former SSO Concertmaster Alexander Souptel. 

With former school orchestra conductor Chan Yoong Han.

ONE GREAT SYMPHONY / Goh Soon Tioe Centenary Concert / Review

ONE GREAT SYMPHONY
Goh Soon Tioe Centenary
SCO Conference Hall
Tuesday (30 August 2011)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 1 September with the title "Tribute to a Singapore legend".

It is easy to forget our history amidst the rapid pace of life in Singapore. Whenever we enjoy the sumptuous string sound of the Singapore Symphony and local youth orchestras, it would be apt to remember the pioneering work of Goh Soon Tioe (1911-1982). He was the foremost violin teacher from the 1940s through 70s, besides multitasking as performer, conductor, luthier and impresario.

His students represent a Who’s Who of Singapore music, including Choo Hoey, Lee Pan Hon, Seow Yit Kin, Lynnette Seah, Kam Kee Yong and Lim Soon Lee amongst many others. They in turn mentored the movers and shakers of music today, but how many people younger than middle-age remember his name?

Goh Soon Tioe and some of his illustrious students: 

(Clockwise) Goh, Choo Hoey, Kam Kee Yong, 

Seow Yit Kin, Lynette Lim, Lim Soon Lee, 

Lynnette Seah & Vivien Goh

This concert, uniting alumni from the Goh Soon Tioe String Orchestra, was a timely celebration of his centenary. The centrepiece of the evening was a 40-minute film by Cheng Lai Yee documenting Goh’s life as a starving student in pre-War Europe to his legacy as master pedagogue. One is challenged not to be touched by his passion and dedication to his students, several of whom were reduced to tears in their interviews.

As for the performances, how would the arch-perfectionist and strict disciplinarian in Goh have responded when Vivaldi’s Concerto in A minor grounded to a halt in the slow movement? Perhaps with words of comfort and encouragement, as the ensemble of mostly amateur musicians picked itself up to complete the piece, and went on to play works by Dell’Abaco, Mozart and Vaughan Williams with conviction and without further hitches.

There was an air of informality, like family birthday gatherings, with Goh’s second daughter Vivien Goh directing the proceedings with much congeniality. His eldest daughter, flaming redhead Sylvia Goh-Luse, was an equally proud stalwart in the cellos, also providing a steadying influence.

The future of Singapore music: 

Seah Huan Yuh, Jonathan Ong, 

Yang Shuxiang & Beatrice Lin (From L to R)

The other performances came from one of Goh’s youngest students Lynette Lim, now a successful teacher herself, and her students. Lim and Seah Huan Yuh mastered the tricky cross-rhythms of Martinu’s Sonatine, also blending amiably with Jonathan Ong in three light pieces by Shostakovich, both accompanied by pianist Beatrice Lin.

The most stunning performance came from another Lim student Yang Shuxiang, whose command of Sarasate’s Gypsy Airs was hair-raising. These young talents are the bright future of Singapore music, a future made possible by the vision of Goh Soon Tioe.

WHAT DO THESE MUSICAL LEGENDS HAVE IN COMMON?

BENJAMIN BRITTEN, CLAUDIO ARRAU,

MSTISLAV ROSTROPOVICH, ITZHAK PERLMAN,

SERGIU CELIBIDACHE, SIR NEVILLE MARRINER,

GOH SOON TIOE, PAUL SELVARAJ ABISHEGANADEN

& CHOO HOEY.

Q: WHAT DO THESE MUSICAL LEGENDS HAVE IN COMMON?

A: THEY HAVE ALL PERFORMED AT

SINGAPORE'S VICTORIA CONCERT HALL.

Please see tomorrow's review of the

Victoria Concert Hall Gala Closing Concert.