TO MUM WITH LOVE 2022 / Singapore Chinese Orchestra / Review

TO MUM WITH LOVE 2022

Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Singapore Conference Hall

Saturday (7 May 2022)

 

One of the Singapore Chinese Orchestra’s favourite annual fixtures is its patented Mother’s Day Concert. For two years this popular and well-attended event had been cancelled or deferred because of the Covid pandemic. Thus it returned this year with some style even though it was a rather muted affair. The general sobriety brought on by a masked audience and social distancing measures did remove some of the gloss from the event. Everybody is now two years older, and perhaps more cautious in exhibiting happiness and joy, knowing that something bad might just happen around the corner.

 

Nonetheless, this concert led by SCO Resident Conductor Quek Ling Kiong had many bright moments including its opening number Wang Chun Feng (Longing For The Spring). In this arrangement by sheng-meister Wu Tong and Li Xun, the popular 1930s Taiwanese melody by Teng Yu-Hsien (famously covered in the Minnan-Hokkien dialect by Teresa Teng) had an unusual bedfellow in J.S.Bach’s equally ubiquitous Prelude in G from Cello Suite No.1. Doing the honours were SCO’s own Taiwanese lasses, Yang Sin-Yu on sheng and Huang Ting-Yu on cello, who were simply a spectacular sight. When one thought that this immortal melody could not be further milked, this arrangement did just that and more.

 

Next was Little Note (Xiao Zhi Tiao), a 2009 short film by Royston Tan with music by Jim Lim, rearranged by Sim Boon Yew. Set sometime in the 1980s in rural Malaysia, the loving relationship between a single mother and her pensive son is represented by an exchange of short messages (written on paper, not Whatsapp) over the course of growing up. “No fear” and “No regrets” were among these, and the music included that children’s classic Shi Sang Zhi You Ma Ma Hao (Mothers Are The Best In The World), besides a lesson on the strength and resilience of lotus leaves. One would be excused for being teary-eyed after watching this touching work.  

 

For good measure, Xian Gei Ta (For Her), a medley arranged by Tan Kah Yong relived some memories for Sinophones with songs like Mother’s Words, Mother I Love You and Listen To Mother’s Words, all of which proved unfamiliar to this listener.

 

Special guest of the evening was popular jazz singer and Sing! China finalist Joanna Dong looking her most motherly to date. Nonetheless, she was still an engaging host, enthralling the audience with various bon mots. Lo Ta-Yu’s Love Tunes 1990, orchestrated by Phang Kok Jun and involving a jazz band withup pianist Chok Kerong, was a good showcase of Joanna’s satin-smooth vocals and her stock-in-trade trumpeting.   

 

Stealing the show was Wo Yao Ni Di Ai (I Want Your Love), the Chinese version of Jon Hendricks’ hit I Want You To Be My Baby, orchestrated by Ong Jiin Joo. What has this suggestive and lust-inducing number have to do with Mother’s Day? Joanna explained that the line “Listen to your Mama and you never will regret it” certainly merited its inclusion. Its sauciness was played up to the hilt, which made the final work A Grateful Heart by Chen Chih-Yuan, orchestrated Phang Kok Jun, a slow ballad seem somewhat downcast. There were no encores, but few in the audience would deny that this was an hour with mother (and/or wife) pretty well spent.

 

A SONG FOR LOUIS / Louis Soliano & Friends / Review

SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL 

FESTIVAL OF ARTS 2021:

A SONG FOR LOUIS

Louis Soliano & Friends

Victoria Theatre

Friday (14 May 2021)

An edited version of this review was published in The Straits Times on 19 May 2021 with the title "Soliano shines in starry tribute".

 

This latest edition of the Singapore Festival of Arts (SIFA) was a time for reflection and contemplation as the nation emerged from the pandemic crisis. However, this all changed with the announcement of a new lockdown arising from increased number of Covid cases detected.

 

The pair of tribute concerts organised for local jazz legend and Cultural Medallion recipient Louis Soliano were affected by new event restrictions imposed. The original audience size of 150 had to be reduced to 100 for each show, which was a pity but small blessings given that both would have been cancelled if held two days later.

 

An air of expectancy hung over the proceedings as socially-distanced patrons took to their seats. There was no mingling, but greetings were cheerily exchanged over rows and aisles. Warm applause erupted when the performers emerged behind a screen illuminating the 79-year-old maestro’s lifetime landmarks playing Wes Montgomery’s West Coast Blues. Soliano was born to migrant musicians and made his name performing drums in hotel lounge bands, and playing for American GIs during the Vietnam War. A storied career ensued before the Cultural Medallion in 2018 became his crowning achievement.

 

His collaborating performers read like a Who’s Who in Singapore’s jazz scene. Vocalist Joanna Dong was the chirpy host, styling Gershwin’s S’Wonderful before ushering in Malay pop icon Rahimah Rahim’s deeply felt rendition of P.Ramli’s Getaran Jiwa. On a video sent from Australia, Don Gomes accompanied himself on piano in Cole Porter’s Just One Of Those Things.

 

The irrepressible Richard Jackson gave a masterclass in scat-singing and ad-libbing in Chick Corea’s Spain, partnered by an equally free-wheeling flautist Rit Xu,, but where was Louis? Forty minutes into the show and midway through Paul Desmond’s Take 5, the diminutive figure of Soliano sashayed onstage to join Jackson in the improvisation.

 

The physical disparity between the two was obvious, but the wizened veteran commanded the stage with a rich and low bass-like voice that belied outward appearances. Size does matter, it seemed. Now making himself comfortable on a drum-set partnered by pianist Jeremy Monteiro and bassist Tony Makarome, the trio polished off Jules Styne’s Just In Time. Speaking about time, the 50 minutes in which Soliano appeared passed much faster that the 40 minutes that came before. Call this relativity, but this listener defers to that elusive factor called star quality.

 

With fellow drummers Bobby Singh (doubling on tabla), Jimmy Lee and Tama Goh, the quartet of percussionists had whale of a jam before the entire crew returned for Duke Ellington’s Caravan. Harry Warren’s mash-up of  The More I See Of You and There Will Never Be Another You saw the more reflective side of Louis the vocalist. He had to close on an upbeat high, and so Charles Strouse’s A Lot Of Livin’ To Do did the trick.

 

As an encore, Louis with Monteiro and guitarist Andrew Lim ended the evening with Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust, and this was amply rewarded with a well-earned standing ovation.      

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR CONCERT 2018 / Ding Yi Music Company / Review

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR 

CONCERT 2018

Ding Yi Music Company

China Cultural Centre Theatre

Sunday (4 March 2018)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 6 March 2018 with the title "Chinese New Year spirit resonates at concert".

It is a few days past the official Chinese New Year period but the spirit lingered on in this festive Ding Yi Music Company concert conducted by Assistant Conductor Dedric Wong De Li. Neat symmetry distinguished its programming, as each half began with an instrumental prelude, followed by a concertante work before closing with vocal selections.

The concert began with See Chee Hang's The Battle Of The Snake And Bee, a fine showcase of counterpoint combining Nie Er's Wild Dance Of The Golden Snake and Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight Of The Bumble Bee. Both pieces were familiar, but whoever thought of bringing the hissing and buzzing together?

Ding Yi specialises in putting a new spin on Chinese classics, and this also transpired in the second half's opener, Gao Jia's jazzy arrangement of the Taiwanese favourite Ladies Of Alishan which had Desmond Soo and Fred Chan on erhus accompanied by double-bass, vibraphone and drums. 

A nod to the Chinese zodiac was found in Su Wen-Cheng's The Garden After Rain which was inspired by a downpour when the composer was playing with his canine pet. Soloist Kenny Chan on zhongruan cast a spell in its slow first half, which sounded much like Spanish guitar music.

At its climax, disaster struck when one of his strings snapped. He was fortunately prepared, as a spare ruan was whipped out for the fast and busier conclusion, thus avoiding a dog's breakfast and achieving a brilliant finale.    

There was a world premiere in Zhong Zhiyue's Metaphysical North with cellist Chee Jun Sian in three short connected movements. Over a morass of bleakness and scraping dissonance, the cello sang a plaintive song, its lyricism later morphing into tension and agitation in a closing shaman's wild dance.

The vocal segments were arguably the selling points for the sold-out pair of concerts. Classical singer He Cai Xia provided the rustic resonance to Folk Song, Spring River from the famous musical film Liu Sanjie. Her two other songs came from television dramas, Zhang Qian Yi's The Beautiful Tibetan Plateau (from The Road To Heaven) and Zhao Ji Ping's  Love From Afar (Qiao's Grand Courtyard), the passion of which tugged on the heart-strings.

Altogether different were the musings of jazz singer Joanna Dong, celebrated finalist of Sing! China, who provided a popular vibe. Love Tunes 1990 was initially dogged by a microphone malfunction during her entry but she maintained a coolness and composure that made the final version even more alluring.

Comfortable singing in both Mandarin and English, she alternated between languages and idioms effortlessly in Jay Chou's Simple Love and Jon Hendrick's I Want Your Love. Memorable too was her stock-in-trade wordless “trumpeting” which would have made Louis Armstrong proud. Her encore of Chinese New Year staple He Xin Nian was so jazzed up as to be almost unrecognisable and sexy to boot. Shopping in Chinatown will never be the same again.