ALBUM LAUNCH OF CHEN ZHANGYI'S TWIN CINEMA

String quartets by Singaporean composers are such rare commodities that an album launch of such repertoire is cause for celebration. Young Artist Award recipient Chen Zhangyi is one of Singapore's finest young composers and his new album of two string quartets and a nonet on the Centaur label is big news. Not since Tan Chan Boon's self-produced compact disc recordings of his three string quartets in 2008 has there been such an event of equal importance.

Chen Zhangyi's Twin Cinema comprised his two String Quartets, Echoes (String Quartet No.1), Give and Take (String Quartet No.2) and Twin Cinema (Nonet for double string quartet & double bass). These were recorded at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Recording studio by the T'ang Quartet (No.2), Espoir Quartet (No.1) and both quartets with Russian bassist Guennadi Mouzyka respectively.

The album launch saw Chen speak about his inspirations from poetry (by Yeow Kai Chai and Sara Florian), art (Georgette Chen, no relation) and Singaporean scenes of life. There were no live performances despite all the performers being present, instead short excerpts were aired in the presentation. It was a reflection on the art of composition, and Chen's music is gratifyingly tonal and accessible despite being a child of its time, the early 21st century.

I had the fortune of witnessing the performances of Give and Take and Twin Cinema in 2023, and had written that "Chen's music blends aural lushness and gentle dissonance in a memorable way", with "ear-catching, rhythmic movements...where jazz, pop and rock rhythms provided a dynamic close." About the Nonet, "both quartets had separate narrative threads, representing different cultures with their respective interactions and reactions being the work's essence."

He also cited Mendelssohn's Octet as an inspiration of his Nonet, the premiere which was performed here by the Stradivari Quartet and Singapore Symphony Orchestra musicians:

The artwork by local artist Alvin Mark Tan from the recording were used for the album, on display and later presented to bassist Guennadi Mouzyka and recording engineer Zhou Xiaodong for their invaluable contributions to the project.

It would not be a Singaporean event had it not closed with platters of local food, pizzas and drinks! Although a compact disc recording has not been produced, individual tracks and the album may be sampled and purchased at:

https://www.prestomusic.com/classical/products/9731877--twin-cinema?srsltid=AfmBOopDDwZXHFqIMdJwi2xMCSZsGhlpJk9uGBD7hhPcaoygICgStAU2

Chen Zhangyi with the founding members
of T'ang Quartet, violinists Ng Yu Ying
and Ang Chek Meng.

CATCHING UP WITH SASHA SOUPTEL

CATCHING UP 

WITH SASHA SOUPTEL

How time flies. It seemed like a short while ago when Singapore Symphony Orchestra concerts opened with the familiar figure of Alexander Souptel (everybody knows him as Sasha) emerging from the wings with his violin raised high above his head to lead a concert. The last time that happened was in 2013, when he officially retired as SSO Concertmaster at the age of 65 years old.

Sasha with his former boss,
Gennady Rozhdestvensky & Viktoria Postnikova.

Sasha first came to Singapore in 1993 as a Russian emigre, having served for many years as concertmaster in the late great Russian conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky's orchestras. He had been head-hunted by Choo Hoey who found him a suitable replacement for the Czech violinist Pavel Prantl. Sasha had an enormous and catholic solo repertoire, and nobody would have expected his first concerto with the SSO to be Sofia Gubaidulina's Offertorium. His second concerto was not by Tchaikovsky, but Stravinsky's Violin Concerto in D major.

Sasha with star student Alan Choo.

He eventually settled down here and became a Singapore citizen, and also taught at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. Among his students was the young Alan Choo, who became the first Singaporean violinist to win 1st prize in the Artist Category of the National Piano and Violin Competition in 2011 with Khachaturian's Violin Concerto.  That seems a complete world away from the baroque violin. 

Sasha with Masako,
from a 2016 concert at Victoria Concert Hall.

After his retirement, Sasha has taught violin privately and in the Virtuosi Music Centre with his partner Masako Suzuki White. He still gives performances, notably in the From Russia With Love concerts which showcased Russian emigres in Singapore, as well as informal gigs where he is most at home performing bonbons, improvisations and jazz.

Tuesday this week (19 September) saw Sasha entertaining a large audience at the Esplanade Concourse in a short programme called Tango For You Again, together with former SSO principal bassist Guennadi Mouzyka and pianist Aya Sakou. Pieces they performed included Matos Rodriguez's La Cumparsita, Carlos Gardel's Una Por Cabeza and Jakob Gade's Tango Jalousie, amongst other popular favourites. As always, Sasha is a total charmer, one for whom music is a natural extension of an easy and outgoing personality. Russia's loss has been Singapore's gain, and long may he continue to shine.

This is the pose which people
will remember Sasha the most.

Always play with panache and style!

Olga Alexandrova (Mrs Mouzyka),
Masako and Sasha. Just like old times!

AN ENCHANTED EVENING WITH ALEXANDER AND MASAKO / Alexander Souptel & Masako Suzuki / Review

AN ENCHANTED EVENING

WITH ALEXANDER & MASAKO

Alexander Souptel & 

Masako Suzuki White, Violins

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (28 April 2016)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 30 April 201 with the title "Partying with Sasha and lollipops".

If a history were written about classical music in Singapore, the name of Alexander Souptel would surely appear alongside the likes of Feri Krempl, Goh Soon Tioe and Lee Pan Hon. Souptel, or Sasha as he is known affectionately, was Concertmaster of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 1993 to 2012.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian native emigrated to Singapore where he became a naturalised citizen. Now playing in the rank and file of first violins and coaching conservatory students, he still cuts a commanding stage figure.

His is not one of stern authority but an avuncular, almost carefree charm, blest with the hallmarks of a born entertainer. His often outlandish demeanour was on full show in this concert of lollipops, in tandem with his inseparable companion Masako Suzuki White, herself a fiddler of considerable prowess.

Nobody quite wields the bow like Souptel, circumscribing wide arcs like a light sabre, accompanied by cheeky grins and knowing eyes. The “serious” work on show was Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Violins in D minor, and even that had no pretensions to authenticity. With Jonathan Shin on piano and Guennadi Mouzyka's double bass, the baroque work swung like jazz, not least in the 1^st movement's fugato section.

In Massenet's cloying Meditation from Thaïs, the two violins came across as overcooked with schmaltzy sentimentality. Similarly, the gently gliding of Saint-Saëns' The Swan was supplanted by four young ballerinas from Cheng Ballet Academy who were very cute if not self-conscious.

For Brahms' Hungarian Dance No.2, the irrepressible Magyar spirit took over, with frayed bowstrings the inevitable result. More high jinks erupted in Bang Wen Fu's spiced-up version of Paganini's Caprice No.24, alternating between straight variations played unaccompanied and jazz-club raves with Mark de Souza's drum-set providing the heady beat.

The second half was no less fun, with the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria and Kreisler's Miniature Viennese March and Liebesfreud providing a generous flow of joie de vivre. Virtuoso fireworks were not spared for Sarasate's Navarra, where fearsome passages for triplets on both violins were tossed off with nonchalance, followed by the duel of Piazzolla's aptly titled Violentango. 

Swaying LED lights of audience handphones spontaneously lit up Leigh Harline's When You Wish Upon A Star from the Disney animated classic Pinocchio, which the usually overzealous ushers ignored as a legit part of the act. For Jacob Gade's Tango Jalousie, Souptel had a rose clenched between his lips before presenting it upon bended knee to a surprised Masako. Their patented party piece, Khachaturian's Sabre Dance, slashed its way to the programme's official close.

There were five encores, including Chinese lollipops The Moon Represents My Heart and Horse-Racing, and the titular Some Enchanted Evening from South Pacific. The final encore began with the opening solo from Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto before segueing into the Russian song Dark Eyes (Ochi Chornye). By this time, the audience was clapping along with the foot-stamping music, tossing roses on stage, and according a deserved standing ovation. 

PARTY OF FIVE / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Faculty Concert / Review

PARTY OF FIVE

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Sunday (13 March 2016)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 March 2016 with the title "A close-knit quintet impresses".

After the superlative showing by cellist Qin Li-Wei and pianist Bernard Lanskey in their recital just a week ago, this concert by five other conservatory professors and heads of department was a follow-up of sorts. It was in fact a celebration of the familiar adage, that a family that plays together stays together.

The combo of piano, violin, viola, cello and double bass is an unusual one, based loosely on what talents of a group of musical friends can throw up, rather than the conventional piano and string quartet configuration. The archetypal work was Franz Schubert's Piano Quintet in A, popularly known as the Trout Quintet, but a far more recent addition was Englishman Ralph Vaughan Williams' Piano Quintet in C minor, which opened the evening.    

First performed in 1905, it was withdrawn by the composer but permission was given by his estate for a revival in 1999. The influence of Brahms informs the richly-textured first movement, with Albert Tiu obliged to play big piano chords, while melodies for Zhang Manchin's viola and Ng Pei-Sian's cello ensured the music be dabbed with darker hues.

If one sought RVW's trademark folksong pastoralism, the wait would be a long one. His choral-arrangement skills could however be found in the piano solo for the slow movement, which gave way to fluid lyricism in the strings led by Zuo Jun's violin, supported by Guennadi's Mouzyka's double-bass.

After a reverie-like wallow with sedate tempos, the variations on a folksong-like theme in the finale perked things up before concluding in a quiet calm. A fascinating if not great or representative work, the five players made it sound better than it actually is.        

Schubert's Trout Quintet was first heard at intimate Viennese house soirees (or Schubertiades), but only published after his death. Now his most popular chamber work, one wonders what he would have thought of it being performed in front of large concert-hall audiences.

Regardless of who is listening, the closely-knit work of five musicians remains key. Despite the piano having the biggest part, it was difficult to see who was the obvious leader here. Nonetheless the team worked well together, with the sonata-form 1st movement setting the tone. This was an energised and brisk performance, even if the 2nd movement displayed stretches of gemutlichkeit, or the state of being carefree.

The leading chords of the Scherzo were punched out with purpose, as homespun rusticity took precedence over politeness. And if there were concessions to virtuoso playing, that would be in the 4^th movement's Theme and Variations, based on Schubert's lied Die Forelle (The Trout, hence the nickname). Tiu was kept ever busy, while his string partners tooks turns to sing out its jaunty and catchy melody.

There was good reason to perform Schubert last, simply because the feel-good factor encompassed the entire work. Even if the party of five had performed close to 75 minutes of music, there was no sense of fatigue as the Allegro giusto finale romped to a joyous conclusion. 

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE / Kerim Vergazov et al / Review

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE

Kerim Vergazov (Piano) & Friends

Conservatory Concert Hall

Friday (21 November 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 November 2014 with the title "A romp with the Russians".

Every once in a while, the small but important community of Russian professional musicians in Singapore bands together to give a concert at the Conservatory. Following the fall of the Soviet Union, these musicians planted their roots here, playing in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and teaching in the Conservatory, or both. Attended by a large and enthusiastic audience, it was a way of showing their appreciation to their adopted home. 

St Petersburg native Kerim Vergazov was the busy pianist, playing every minute of the concert with a stern demeanour belying much sensitivity and musicianship. Flautist Evgueni Brokmiller opened both halves of the concert with two showpieces, beginning with the Allegro Concertante No.2 by Vladimir Tsybin, hailed as the “father of the Russian flute school”.

This and Georges Enesco’s Cantabile et Presto, which graced the second half, were not particularly Slavic in character, instead more redolent of the French style. Nevertheless, it gave Brokmiller much scope to showcasing his silvery and mellifluous tone, and nimbleness in negotiating the music’s fast and virtuosic turns.

Soprano Natalia Kumkova had a lion’s share of the programme in a fine selection of art songs. In Liszt’s Pace non trovo (I Find No Peace), a setting of Petrarch’s Sonnet No.104, a rich and wide vocal range was immediately established, even if her sung Italian was not particularly discernible. She was far more at home in five of Rachmaninov’s romances, which were a joy from start to end.

In these, she poured out her heart with the typical wistfulness and melancholy found in songs like The Answer, Lilacs and A Dream. Has there been a more eloquent expression of contentment than Zdes Khorasho (How Beautiful it is Here or How Fair This Spot) from this usually dour composer? Kumkova and her husband Vergazov truly brought out the essence of being Russian.

The spot previously occupied by violinist Alexander Souptel was now filled by his successor as Concertmaster of the SSO, Igor Yuzefovich, who was just appointed to the post this year. While some might miss “old” Sasha’s winking and wily gypsy imitations, “young” Igor impressed with his lofty but understated authority in Tchaikovsky’s Melodie from Souvenir d’un lieu cher and the infectiously lilting Valse-Scherzo.

Gershwin figured in the second half, first with Kumkova in Summertime from Porgy and Bess and the tribute to the Viennese waltz called By Strauss. Yuzefovich also returned in Igor Frolov’s Concert Fantasy on Porgy and Bess, a medley of hit songs modelled on Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy. Having spent his formative years in America, he took to numbers like I Got Plenty O’ Nuttin’ and It Ain’t Necessarily So like a native and with the greatest ease.

Bassist Guennadi Mouzyka joined the flock of five for Astor Piazzolla’s Fugatta, with each instrument taking on a voice as contrapuntal exercise. The Argentine’s most famous tango, Libertango, in Mouzyka’s own arrangement, which included ad libbing from Kumkova, closed the formal programme on a high note.

And there was more, with some late night Russian romances with the dulcet-toned Kumkova as the house lights dimmed to darkness. Down The Long Road, better known in English as Those Were The Days, got the audience clapping along and Ochi Tchorniye (Dark Eyes) sent them home with a song in their hearts. 

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE / Review

FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Saturday (19 November 2011)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 November 2011 with the title "Goodies from Russia".

Musicians from Eastern Europe have over the decades contributed significantly to the diversity of Singapore’s musical scene. The names of Feri Krempl, Pavel Prantl, Martina Maixnerova, Jiri Heger and Alexander Souptel immediately come to mind. It was however the fall of the Soviet Union which made the biggest impact, bringing this evening’s five Russian speaking virtuosos to our shores.

The delightfully varied programme had the intimacy of a private salon, despite being attended by a house filled to overflowing. The first half was a showcase for Tatarstani flautist Evgueni Brokmiller and Kazakh harpist Gulnara Mashurova, both musicians of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Their performance of Jean Michel Damase’s Variations on Early One Morning began with childlike simplicity before revelling in a flight of fantasy, where mildly spiced dissonances added to its attractiveness.

Earlier, Brokmiller had impressively opened the concert with Zybin’s flashy Allegro and later brought out the piquant melodies of Dutilleux’s Sonatine, while Mashurova lent a touch of boldness and finery to Fauré’s classic Impromptu. The biggest cheers went to soprano Natalia Kumkova from St Petersburg, a private singing teacher, whose vocal projection and mastery of coloratura held the greatest resonance.

Vladimir Vavilov’s Ave Maria, widely misattributed to Giulio Caccini, was given the due respect and gentility of the baroque aria antiche. It was in Mozart’s Alleluia (from Exsultate, Jubilate) and Henry Bishop’s Lo! Here The Gentle Lark where she unleashed the full gamut of dazzling devices. In all three songs, she was ably accompanied by a student string quartet, led by young Uzbek violinist Adelya Nartadjeva.

Double bassist Guennadi Mouzyka, the Principal from SSO, gave his ungainly instrument the sweetest of voices, bearing the soul in Lensky’s Aria from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin and providing counter-melodies to Kumkova in Bottesini’s Tutto il mondo serra. The latter song sounds familiar because it is a vocal arrangement of Chopin’s Étude in C sharp minor.

The very popular Kumkova closed the formal programme with two haunting romances by Rachmaninov, Sing Not, O Lovely One (Op.4 No.4, based on a Georgian song) and the wordless Vocalise, partnered by her busy pianist husband Kerim Vergazov. As generous encores, the audience was transported to a Moscow cabaret where all five performers took their turns in a potpourri of Russian oldies but goodies. Moscow Nights, Dark Eyes… it was almost as good as being there yourself.

JIN TA Flute Recital / Review

JIN TA Flute Recital
with Liu Jia, Piano
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
Tuesday (29 September 2009)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 1 October 2009.

In one of the finest flute recitals in recent memory, Singapore Symphony Orchestra principal flautist Jin Ta distinguished himself as a virtuoso par excellence. It was not just his craftsmanship and versatility that impressed, but the musicianship in articulating a phrase and shaping it with the love of ages that transcended mere notes.

The recital began with Baroque, Georg Philipp Telemann’s Sonata in G major displayed clear limpid lines in dulcet tones in its four-movement sonata da chiesa form, varying slow and fast with great ease and alacrity. Liu Jia’s piano (left) was unobtrusive but as with baroque music, harpsichord accompaniment would have been preferred.

Jin was all on his own in living Spanish composer Cristobal Halffter’s Debla (1980), a tour de force of solo playing. Beginning with long sustained notes, the soliloquy was punctuated with ear-piercing shrieks but this was no empty bluster for mere effect. The work probed a wide range of moods, presenting a hint of lyricism without evolving into melody, reveling in flamenco-like foot-stamping before closing by whistling overtones into his golden flute.

More virtuoso fare was ushered by the Flute Concerto (1950) by André Jolivet, a French composer for whom dissonance was a mere excuse for luscious melodic writing. Sounds ironic but the first movement brought out long-breathed song-like lines that bathed the senses with aural honey. Its slow-fast-slow-fast sequence uncannily echoed the Telemann, creating an aesthetic symmetry that was not immediately apparent but totally satisfying.

The extremely demanding piano accompaniment necessitated razor-sharp reflexes, which the diminutive Liu handled superbly, laying the path for Jin’s forceful show of exuberance. Collective hair was let down when the duo was joined by bassist Guennadi Mouzyka and percussionist Mark Suter on drums (left) in a selection from Claude Bolling’s Suites for flute and jazz trio popularised by the late Jean-Pierre Rampal.

Jazzy and Veloce were the breathlessly exciting finales of the Suites No.2 and No.1 respectively, bringing out the cheers from the house. Jin then dedicated his encore, the popular Sentimentale (Suite No.1), to his conservatory colleagues and audience. Like his surname, the heartfelt perfomance spelt pure gold.