FANFARE: BRASS, PERCUSSION & CARMEN / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

FANFARE: BRASS, 

PERCUSSION & CARMEN 

Singapore Symphony Orchestra 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Friday (28 February 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 3 March 2025 with the title "Eclectic programme highlights SSO's sections at their virtuosic peak".

Following the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s great success in its three-city concert tour of Australia, music director Hans Graf led a very interesting programme of 20th century music that highlighted the orchestra’s different sections at their virtuosic peak. 

SSO Music Director Hans Graf shares
with the audience about the unusual programme.

The brass had the entire first half to its own, opening with Frenchman Paul Dukas’ Fanfare from his 1912 ballet La Peri with stunning aplomb. Three minutes was all it took to display a warmth of tone within a wealth of harmony. 

Just slightly longer was American Samuel Barber’s Mutations from Bach (1968) which subjected the Lutheran chorale Christe, du Lamm Gottes (Christ, You Lamb of God) to gradual transformations. Seamlessly merging the harmonisations by Joachim Decker and Johann Sebastian Bach, the music was a short but spiritually moving tribute capped by a French horn recitative near the end. 

Photo: Simon Yam

Arguably the most unusual work on show was German Paul Hindemith’s Konzertmusik for piano, brass and two harps (1930), where deeply sonorous brassy timbres were balanced by the scintillating sounds of Albert Tiu’s piano and the harps of Gulnara Mashurova and Charity Kiew. 

Photo: Simon Yam

The first two movements played like an extended Bachian prelude and fugue updated to modern times. The jaunty fugal subject established on piano would be shouted out by brass interjections, which soon took over to complete the outlandish display of counterpoint. 

The slow third movement’s Variations was scored only for piano and harps, an oasis of nocturnal calm before the syncopated finale’s romp where brass returned with a vengeance and even hints of jazz. The obligatory encore came from the splendid brass, a lovely transcription by conductor Graf of the sublime final chorus from Maurice Ravel’s opera L’enfant et les sortileges (The Child and the Magic Spells). 

Living Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (1967), a ballet of thirteen short movements, was scored for strings and percussion using popular themes from Georges Bizet’s evergreen opera Carmen. This was performed by SSO in 2021 during the pandemic before a very small audience, and it fully deserved the near full-house this evening. 

Photo: Simon Yam

By jumbling up the original sequence of melodies, chopping and slicing popular numbers, this was like viewing an old friend through a series of distorting mirrors and prisms. Particularly intriguing was the Torero movement, where its march-like melody abruptly disappeared, leaving just the accompaniment chugging along. 

Much was left to the listeners’ imagination, with the skillfully rejigged Habanera, Flower Song and Fate theme indicating the music, despite its glitz and glamour, was focused wholly on the subject’s tragedy. This was headily accomplished by the strings and five very busy percussionists. 

This very unusual concert was dedicated to the memory of SSO’s founding patron Dr Goh Keng Swee. Given his visionary ability to look outside of the box, he would have greatly appreciated the sheer eclecticism of its programming.

MOZART FLUTE & HARP CONCERTO / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

MOZART FLUTE & HARP CONCERTO

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday 25 November 2022

This review was published in Bachtrack on 28 November 2022 with the title "Singapore Symphony principals and Ludovic Morlot delight in Mozart".

 

Presented as part of the Voilah! France Singapore Festival, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra led by French conductor Ludovic Morlot, current Music Director of the Barcelona Symphony and Conductor Emeritus of the Seattle Symphony, had to include something French in this concert. Thus Darius Milhaud’s single-act ballet Le Boeuf sur le Toit (The Ox on the Roof) opened the evening.

 

Its Dadaist title was typical of 1920s Parisian chic, where meaningless or seemingly ridiculous titles belied art of a more serious kind. The music reflected a cosmopolitanism that was all a rage, a Provencale composer dabbling in exuberant Brazilian rhythms. Infectiously danceable and outrageously hip, it was jarring polytonality that caught the ear. Woodwinds played in different keys from the strings for stretches, yet these meshed together well. As repetitious as some parts were, there was always mischief afoot and the players were alive to it all. Was this jazz, vaudeville or dance hall music? Perhaps a bit of all those, but these days we simply use the term “crossover”.

Percussionist Mark Suter plays the guiro,
or scraper, commonly heard in South American music.

 

The riot then gave way to the courtly formalities of Mozart’s Concerto for Flute and Harp in C major (K.299), featuring two of Singapore Symphony’s long-serving principals, flautist Jin Ta and harpist Gulnara Mashurova. Truth be told, this was more a vehicle for the flautist, who carried most of the melodies and added flourishes of his own, while the harpist provided delicate accompaniment. As a duo, they worked perfectly fine, aided by a pared down orchestra of strings, two oboes and two horns, which played as discreetly as possible.

 

Virtuoso cadenzas provided by Carl Reinecke at the end of each movement gave scope for display, while the harp was afforded the luxury of opening the Rondeau finale with a show of individual prowess. Musical poetry was the order of the day, not least in the aria-like central Andantino and later in the duo’s encore, an original work by Jin Ta, Phoenix Song, filled with piquant impressionist harmonies and colours.

 

Robert Schumann’s First Symphony in B flat major, or the “Spring” Symphony formed the concert’s second half. Poor Schumann has been accused of being a weak orchestrator, and his symphonic reputation suffered for being neither Beethoven nor Brahms. However, conductor Morlot’s tautly-knit vision of the work, played without extraneous additions by other composers who sought to “improve” it, will change minds.

 

The opening trumpet fanfare signalled intent in its introduction, before launching into the Allegro molto vivace which possessed an inner tension and urgency. Further excitement was provided by a single triangle (appearing only in the opening movement) whose celebratory tintinnabulation might have given Liszt ideas for his First Piano Concerto. What about the Beethovenian slow movement, the second subject of which later became the main theme of Brahms’ Third Symphony? Despite everything, Schumann was definitely influential and was not just writing orchestrated piano music.

 

The Scherzo third movement in G minor was delivered with true sturm und drang, its rapid shifts in pace and tempi skilfully negotiated. Despite the finale’s grand opening flourish, this music was more about lightness and humour. Pianophiles will recognise one of its themes to be the eighth and  final fantasy from Schumann’s Kreisleriana, with its E.T.A.Hoffmann associations. It was with this levity that the symphony closed, and judging by the applause, clearly appreciated by the audience.

 

Photo: Alvin Ho / Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Star Rating: ****

DEBUSSY AND DVORAK / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

DEBUSSY AND DVORAK

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (5 May 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 8 May 2017 with the title "Divine Debussy & Dvorak".

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is presently recording the major orchestral works of Claude Debussy. La Mer, Images, the ballets Jeux and The Toy Box, and several concertante works are already “in the can”. This evening's concert conducted by Music Director Shui Lan offered some of the Frenchman's youthful and rarely performed works.

Marche Ecossaise (Scottish March, 1891) received its Singapore premiere this evening. Better known in its version for piano four hands, its sumptuous orchestration highlighted the orchestra's solo woodwinds to good effect. Rachel Walker (oboe), Elaine Yeo (cor anglais) and Jin Ta (flute) distinguished themselves in this slight but pleasant rhapsody on a Scottish modal theme.

Printemps (1887) was considered Debussy's first “impressionist” work, and its 1913 orchestration by Henri Busser nevertheless adopted the master's imprimatur. Another rustic modal theme was developed through its two movements, from a hushed and hazy beginning, blossoming like a nascent spring into a dance and through to its rousing close. The orchestra's insightful performance should win it many new friends.

Better known and staple of the harp repertoire is Danse sacrée et danse profane (Sacred Dance and Profane Dance), which saw SSO Principal harpist Gulnara Mashurova backed by only strings. One of Debussy most ethereal works, the harp's celestial strains stood out above the sensitive accompaniment, first sounding chaste and formal before breaking out to a freer but no less elegant waltz rhythm. Mashurova's nocturne-like solo encore was just as sublime.

The evening's main draw was Antonin Dvorak's Cello Concerto in B minor with China-born cellist Wang Jian as soloist. Now in his mid-forties, Wang first found fame as the irresistible 10-year-old boy who performed in the end-credits of Isaac Stern's iconic docu-movie From Mao To Mozart. It was also with the Dvorak that he made his SSO debut in 1993.

Enduring through the intervening decades was his deeply felt and instinctual response to what is arguably the greatest cello concerto ever composed. This and his gorgeously-hewn tone, fully voiced, plain-speaking yet so filled with vitality, made for another memorable performance.

What has been shed was that exuberance of youth. In its place was an unspoken yet palpable sadness, possibly borne of world-weariness that permeated its three movements. This is work of maturity which received its due, through the 1^st movement's upheavals, the slow movement's plaintive song and the finale's resolute denouement.

The orchestral partnership was not as sharp as in the SSO's live recording with Qin Li-Wei on Decca Records, and there were occasional intonation issues with the French horns. Nevertheless it was still a gripping reading, culminating in the glorious shared passage with Wang and concertmaster Igor Yuzefovich's violin towards the end.

For encores, Wang starred in Dvorak's Song To The Moon (from the opera Rusalka) accompanied by full orchestra, before closing with a Chinese melody on his own. The latter's title Liang Xiao (Beautiful Evening) was a perfect summation of the two-and-a-half hours that had so eventfully passed.     

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.