RELATIVELY MOZART / PAUL LEWIS PLAYS MOZART PIANO CONCERTO 25 / Review

RELATIVELY MOZART

Donald Law, Piano

NAFA Wind Ensemble

Esplanade Recital Studio

Monday (13 February 2023)

 

PAUL LEWIS PLAYS

MOZART PIANO CONCERTO 25

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (16 February 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 February 2023 with the title "Three servings of Mozart's Piano Concerto No.25".

 

Mozart wrote some 27 piano concertos, but what were the odds of encountering the same concerto performed three times within the same week? The concerto in question was Piano Concerto No.25 in C major (K.503), which garnered the attention of Singaporean Donald Law and Briton Paul Lewis (twice) in two different but equally engaging programmes.

 

The first performance was in an idiomatic arrangement for winds by Malaysian pianist-composer Wong Chee Yean, with Law accompanied by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Wind Ensemble conducted by Dutch wind specialist Joost Flach. The plangent sonorities of woodwinds and brass could easily overwhelm any solo instrument but this combo of eleven players - pairs of flutes, oboes, clarinets, French horns and bassoons, and double bass - were kept well in check.

 

This allowed the highly musical personality of Law to shine, impressing with crisply articulated  fingerwork and a singing tone. The effect was that of fine chamber music, with the martial strains of outer movements tempered by his lyrical restraint. When virtuosity was demanded, he also duly delivered. The choice of Hungarian pianist Lili Kraus’ cadenza for the first movement, which had the cheek of incorporating the La Marseillaise (French national anthem) near its end, was inspired.

The concert also saw Law playing Mozart’s Sonata in A major (K.331) which delighted with a familiar set of variations and the famous Rondo Alla Turca (Turkish Rondo). As a bonus, the ensemble was joined by four members of the special-needs Purple Symphony – a flautist and three percussionists – for a rousing version of that romping rondo.

 

Then there was the pair of performances with Lewis partnered by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra led by American conductor Robert Spano. Little was spared in Mozart’s original orchestration which had in addition to strings and winds, a pair of trumpets and timpani, providing the music with a festive and celebratory feel.

Photo: Chrispics + / Singapore Symphony Orchestra

 

Like Law, Lewis revelled in the solo part’s technically demanding passages which can easily get embedded within the busy orchestral partnership. Lewis played his teacher-mentor Alfred Brendel’s first movement cadenza, which also quoted La Marsaillaise, albeit a secondary motif (which Debussy used in his piano prelude Feux d’artifice), but at its beginning. What is the big deal about La Marsaillaise? That was because many listeners thought Mozart’s repetitive second subject to resemble that patriotic French tune by Rouget de Lisle.

 

Ultimately it was Lewis’ more free-wheeling interpretation, which included skillful ornamentations and added piano chords in loud tutti sections, which tipped the balance in his favour. Law was, however, in no way a lesser musician. As an encore, Lewis’ choice of Schubert’s brooding Allegretto in C minor, lovingly voiced, was icing on the cake.

Photo: Chrispics+ / Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Robert Schumann’s grand Third Symphony in E flat major, also known as the Rhenish, closed the concert with a bang. The German’s orchestration has long been criticised to be dense and overblown, resulting in musicologists calling for the score to be pared down and slim-lined. There was to be none of that this evening, with a plethora of sound filling the limited confines to near breaking point.

 

Near being the operative word, as conductor Spano coaxed from the ensemble playing of the most lively kind, possessed with a nervous cutting edge throughout, but never going over the top. Standing out was the chorale of brass which distinguished the solemn fourth movement, a glorious portrait of Cologne’s gothic cathedral. By the symphony’s rapturous end, loud cheers indicated that some things should be best left well alone. 

       

VOCALISE / Joost Flach & Nicholas Ong / Review

VOCALISE

JOOST FLACH, Oboe

NICHOLAS ONG, Piano

 

A vocalise is a song without words, usually rendered with a flowing mellifluousness best examplified in the famous Rachmaninov number (Op.34 No.14). However, that song is not included in this very interesting collection of 20^th century vocalises performed by Dutch oboist Joost Flach and Malaysian pianist Nicholas Ong, both esteemed faculty members of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Singapore).

 

Opening the anthology is the sole Singaporean contribution, Zechariah Goh Toh Chai’s Romance (1991). Just one of two works specifically written for oboe and piano, its simplicity is matched by its melody. There is sadness and nostalgia on show, the plaintive quality of the oboe fully exploited.

 

The best known work of the collection is Prokofiev’s Five Melodies Op.35 (1920), originally written for high voice, but now a favourite with violinists. These sound perfectly idiomatic for oboe, a svelte and creamy tone brought out by Flach being every bit as beguiling. Its counterpart is the Little Suite (Vocalises) from 1952 by Dutchman Marius Flothuis (1914-2001), five varied movements (originally for soprano) which display a myriad of moods from meditative pensiveness to jollity. Unsurprisingly, versions for clarinet, soprano saxophone and trumpet also exist.  

 

The vocalises by Olivier Messiaen and Aaron Copland come from their earlier years. Messiaen’s Vocalise-Étude (1935), originally for high voice and from the same period as his better-known Theme et Variations (for violin and piano), is simply haunting for its exoticism, as if emanating from somewhere in the Far East.  Aaron Copland’s Vocalise (1928/1978), written as a commission from the Paris Conservatory (several years after his studies with Nadia Boulanger), sounds far more academic, dominated by a series of scale passages. Hardly vintage Copland. Albert Roussel’s Aria (1930), at just two minutes long, makes for a pleasant pastoral diversion.

 

The style of Dutch composer Louis Andriessen (1939-2021) evolved through the years, espousing neoclassicism, serialism and minimalism amongst others. His very early Sonatine for oboe and piano (1955), in three short movements, is unpublished and a true rarity. This might even be its first recording. According to Flach’s programme notes, the original manuscript had been lost (confirmed by Andriessen himself) and this performance was from a facsimile copy. In traditional fast-slow-fast form, it is very eclectic, and when heard in parts, influences by the likes of Stravinsky, Hindemith, Milhaud, Poulenc and Messiaen may be discerned. Andriessen’s deep admiration of compatriot artist Piet Mondrian is also reflected in the album’s cover design.

 

Joost Flach represents the hallowed Dutch school of oboe playing, which emphasises clarity of articulation, silvery singing tone and a mercurial violin-like sheen. His playing is simply ravishing, sensitively partnered by pianist Nicholas Ong who does not get relegated to the background. The recorded sound is lovely, and despite its short playing time of just over 40 minutes, there is no shortage of good music and great playing.  

 

FROM AN INVALID'S WORKSHOP / Philharmonic Chamber Winds / Review

FROM AN INVALID'S WORKSHOP

Philharmonic Chamber Winds

Esplanade Recital Studio

Saturday (18 March 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 March 2017 with the title"Impressive wind playing".

Wind playing in Singapore has advanced so much that the musical community now supports a number of wind orchestras. Judging by this performance by the Philharmonic Chamber Winds, the standard of playing in the best outfits is very high. This may be attributed to excellent coaching in the educational institutions, exemplified by personalities like Dutch oboist Joost Flach (presently Head of Winds at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts) who conducted this concert.

Flach also played informal host by introducing the works, all by Austro-German composers who wrote for vastly differing genres. Best known was Johann Strauss Junior, whose waltz Kunstlerleben (Artist's Life) opened the programme. Its short introduction dragged a little but the 11 wind players maintained impeccable intonation throughout.

When the waltz rhythm kicked in, the playing picked up in pace and the Viennese dance was in full swing. There was genuine lilt, not an easy motion to maintain, but helped by Flach's bodily movements, swaying in tandem with the three-quarter time beat.

The concert's first half was lighter, and the entertainment continued with three songs by Kurt Weill from his musical theatre works. Kuala Lumpur-based Australian singer Sandra Wolf was appropriately attired in a low-cut black frilly gown and red feather boa as she launched into the Alabama Song from Mahagonny, a working girl's seach for "the way to the next whisky bar".

From English, she seamlessly switched to German for Surabaya Johnny (Happy End), where her dusky voice shone through the evocative and idiomatic arrangements by Wong Chee Yean, who also doubled on the piano. It was the familiar ballad Mack The Knife (The Threepenny Opera) taking on a jazzy and night-clubby vibe that closed the first part on a tipsy high.

Richard Strauss' modestly titled Sonatina No.1 for winds, also called "From An Invalid's Workshop", was the most ambitious undertaking. From the composer's late years, and imbued with the same autumnal mellowness abd kyricism as his Oboe Concerto, its three movements played for well over half an hour. For wind players, this is almost an eternity.

There was, however, strength in numbers. Among the 16 instruments were four French horns, five clarinets (including basset horn) and three bassoons (including contrabassoon, below). Together they produced a fulsome and highly resonant sonority that engulfed the hall. That this kind of depth and volume endured through its entire length was simply impressive.

The solo French horn was entrusted with some of the best melodies, and the busy counterpoint in the outer movements was well accounted for by the supporting instruments. The central slow movement titled Romance and Minuet was lighter, providing some respite and playing of much tenderness. The playful finale with its leaping figurations could have been tiring (and tiresome) for both player and listener, but the spirit and composure never flagged for a second. The audience's prolonged applause spoke volumes of the players' prowess.

THE TROUT / NAFA Music Faculty / Review

THE TROUT

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Music Faculty

Lee Foundation Theatre

Thursday (12 January 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 14 January 2017 with the title "Chamber music with lots of heart".

Chamber music is the most pleasurable activity for musicians and listeners alike. Originating from works written for royal court musicians, this later evolved into hausmusik (house music), played by members of 19^th century middle-class households for their own entertainment. A collegial spirit exists in chamber music performance, hopefully allied by excellent techniques and refined tastes.

There were strong doses of all that in this concert featuring faculty of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Music Department. It opened with 20^th century Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski's Trio D'Anches for woodwinds, written during the dark years of the Second World War. Far from being a sombre work, oboist Joost Flach, clarinettist Tang Xiao Ping and bassoonist Aw Yong Tian gave a lively and ebullient reading.

There were dissonances aplenty, and a spicy brand of humour ran through its ten minutes. The fast outer movements were tautly delivered with pin-point cues and accents, contrasted with a slow and doleful central movement, housing a canon where the oboe carried its tune. A dance-like finale with a witty end completed a fine reading.

Further contrasts came in the four-movement Horn Trio by Johannes Brahms, a well-known but not often performed work here. Its paucity is due to a lack of willing French horn players and a strenuously acrobatic piano part. Thankfully hornist Marc-Antoine Robillard was a total natural. Shaping the instrument's singing lines and possessing accurate intonation are often taken for granted.

Pianist Nicholas Ong's role was jumping through musical hoops, especially in the fast 2^nd and 4^th movements, accomplished with no little confidence. Violinist Foo Say Ming completed the threesome, which galloped through the “hunting-call” finale with a fearless panache. Anything slower would have been lead-footed, so their natural impulses were to go for broke. This was very well received by a noisy audience which had far too many fidgety children for its own good.

Too many children behaving poorly and treating
Lee Foundation Theatre like their private playground.
Their parents should be sent for re-education.
Photo taken during the intermission.

Foo was joined in the second half by violist Janice Tsai, cellist Lin Juan, bassist Wang Xu and pianist Lena Ching for Franz Schubert's popular Piano Quintet in A major, nicknamed the Trout Quintet. The performance was by no means note-perfect, but it possessed that pre-requisite of chamber music: lots of heart.

A smart and brisk pace rightly dictated the 1^st movement, helmed by Ching's incisive playing that was anything but mechanical. There were lots of moments to heave a breath and savour the scents, and Ching was always alert to her partner's notes and nuances. The alternating fast and slow movements were contrasted to good effect; the 2^nd movement's congenial indolence found a foil in the punchy rhythms of the 3^rd and 5^th movements.

The work's heart was the 4^th movement, based on Schubert's lied Die Forelle (The Trout, hence the concert's title), which unfolded beautifully with each variation. Here the heart throbbed, and the warmth of camaraderie filled the hall with a glowing presence. That was, simply, the true essence of chamber music.   

MAGNIFICAT / NAFA Orchestra & Chorus / Review

MAGNIFICAT

NAFA Orchestra & Chorus

Ashley Solomon, Conductor

Victoria Concert Hall

Wednesday (15 April 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 April 2015 with the title "Baroque rocks the house".

Verily, verily, Victoria Concert Hall was designed for baroque music in mind. After attending almost a year of concerts in the newly reconstructed VCH, it is the chamber music and baroque concerts which have given this reviewer the greatest satisfaction. This all-Bach concert by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts with period performance practice in mind may just be the catalyst for a renaissance of baroque music not just in this space, but in Singapore as well.

Ashley Solomon, founder of the renowned British baroque ensemble Florilegium, led the NAFA Orchestra playing with period bows on modern instruments like a guiding light. The concert opened with the Overture in D major by Johann Bernhard Bach, a second cousin of the ubiquitous Johann Sebastian. This rarely-heard work, which consists of a French overture and a suite of dances, only exists because the latter had hand-copied the parts for his own use.

The performance was a delightful one, with crisply articulated playing of minimal vibrato that brought out the vivacious essence of the baroque. The dances, which included fast passepieds, a graceful slow sarabande and lively caprice to close were very well characterised. This playing of ebullience continued in Johann Sebastian Bach's Concerto in D minor for violin and oboe (BWV.1060R) with soloists Foo Say Ming and Joost Flach respectively.

This was a rarely-heard edition of the same concerto often heard and recorded in C minor. The ears adapted easily to this transposition, and both soloists shined in the intricate play of intertwined voices and counterpoint through its three movements. The central slow movement, with its singing line shared by the players, can only be described as a gem within an embarrassment of riches.

The main work was J.S.Bach's Magnificat in D major, with the orchestra joined by a 110-member choir comprising the entire corpus of music students in the academy. This was the major departure from the baroque age which operated with far smaller vocal forces, but sheer numbers provided both unity and strength here.

Chorus master Lim Yau, also Head of Music at NAFA, had drilled them well, with the opening proclamation of Magnificat (My Soul Doth Magnify The Lord) coming like joyous laughter as Virgin Mary exults on learning she will bear the son of God. Their entries in the choral fugues were also close to immaculate, with clarity and diction being strong suits. And has there ever been an choir assembled here with as many as 32 men?

All five soloists acquitted themselves well in arias besides being well matched in duets and ensemble. Countertenor Chia Wee Kiat was a standout in Esurientes implevit bonis (He Hath Filled The Hungry With Good Things), buoyantly lifting himself above the two flutes without sounding lightweight. Alto Jessica Chen and soprano Isyana Sarasvati provided contrasting timbres to the arias Et Exsultavit (And My Spirit Hath Rejoiced) and Quia Respexit (For He Hath Regarded) respectively, the latter poignantly accompanied by oboe and cello.

Tenor Jeremy Koh emoted well in the emphatic Deposuit (He Hath Put Down) while baritone William Lim only had the brief Quia Fecit (For He Is Mighty) to distinguish himself. The final Gloria, which reprised the first movement's revelry, provided grandstanding moments for the chorus and orchestra, which was greeted with deafening cheers from the audience. With NAFA's revitalised appetite and promise in baroque music, there is certainly great scope for more high quality performances of early music to look forward to here. 

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE HISTORY OF WIND MUSIC / NAFA Wind & Brass Ensembles / Review

A JOURNEY THROUGH THE

HISTORY OF WIND MUSIC

NAFA Wind & Brass Ensembles

Lee Foundation Theatre

Thursday (5 February 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 7 February 2015 with the title "Blowing through history of wind music".

A more ambitious title for a concert would have been hard to find, but the Wind and Brass Ensembles of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts did what they could to showcase the diversity of of music written for their instruments over the centuries. These are two separate ensembles led by different conductors, and French horns were the only instruments common to both groups.

Nine works, five for woodwinds and four for brass, were performed. These were played not in chronological order but in a sequence alternating brass and winds that allowed the young performers to catch their breath. Historical context was provided by wind ensemble conductor Joost Flach who preceded each work with brief but helpful descriptions in lieu of programme notes.

Fred L.Frank's Overture for Brass scored for four trumpets, three trombones, two horns and one euphonium, began the concert. Conducted by Terrence Wong, the short work included ceremonial fanfares, a waltz and cheerful circus party music to round up. The general warmth of the playing was a reassuring one.

Wind bands gained popularity in the 18^th century, and numerous arrangements of popular works and symphonies, written with or without the composers' permission, arose to cater to the demand. Among these were Josef Heidenreich's arrangement of Mozart's Magic Flute Overture and Charles Bochsa's arrangement of Haydn's Symphony No.85.  

The solemn masonic chordal opening of the former was taken a little too slowly, which resulted in a strain to the ensemble, but the fast fugal section had a good sprightly pace which brought out the ebullience of the piece. The latter's first movement, which included a double bass, was very well judged, befitting its rather regal nickname of “La Reine” or “The Queen”.

Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli was famous for his brass choruses which played in the sanctums of St Mark's Cathedral during High Mass. To simulate the antiphonal sonics, eight brass players performed Canzon Septimi Toni No.1 on the steps on both sides of the hall, with Wong conducting in the centre. Even when individual players were not always flawless, the surround-sound effect was nonetheless impressive. The polyphony of Renaissance composer Josquin des Prez's Tulerunt Dominum, performed on stage, provided a similar buzz to the ears.

For once, the noisy girls with handphones
sat through the music stunned with silence.

Two contemporary works for winds were included. Malaysian composer Johan Othman's highly chromatic He Too A Simulacrum, That Another Person Was Dreaming Him was the evening's most demanding work for both players and listeners. Almost atonal, it operated within a narrow bandwidth of dynamics and emotion, and was clearly not meant to be understood at first listen. British composer John McCabe's Symphony for 10 Winds was far more accessible, and the playing was correspondingly more coherent.

To close the winds displayed good unison playing in the first movement of Frenchman Andre Caplet's Persian Suite, while the brass had the last words with two Regimental Marches by Bohemian Franz Krommer. These jaunty and upbeat numbers gave a positive lift to an educational and enlightening evening of music for blown instruments.

LEGACY / NAFA School of Music / Review

LEGACY

NAFA School of Music

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (22 January 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 January 2015 with the title "NAFA soars with Leong's legacy".

After Leong Yoon Pin, the doyen of Singapore composers, passed away in 2011, his scores, recordings, correspondances and assorted memorabilia were bestowed to the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) for research and archival purposes. A concert of his chamber music and art songs by the NAFA School of Music, which he helped found in 1984, was held last October, the compact disc recording of which was launched this evening.

A short film was aired, with reminiscences by his former students and NAFA staff members, detailed his illustrious career as music educator, conductor and composer. Significantly, he was the only Singaporean to have studied with the famous French pedagogue Nadia Boulanger in Paris during the 1960s and was awarded the Cultural Medallion in 1982.

Sketches (1984), three works for oboe and piano based on his travels to New Zealand, was performed by Joost Flach and Shane Thio, the same performers who premiered the work in 1985 in a New Music Forum concert at the very same venue.

The work displayed his typically gritty style that juxtaposed dissonances with short snatches of melody, which despite the movements' titles was more absolute music rather than programme music. Thio revealed that the performers had hitherto been unaware of what each movement had described until the second performance in 2014, when the work was revisited.

Beach contrasted resonant piano chords with the oboe's more chromatic exposition. The central movement Mineral Spring featured microtonal playing on the oboe, sliding between pitches, while Goats On A Slope was a lively and animated dance with a somewhat Oriental flavour. 

A more lyrical side of Leong was heard in the art song Firefly (1968), performed with feeling and flair by mezzo-soprano Jessica Chen and pianist Nicholas Loh. Sung in Chinese, which was Leong's mother tongue, this represented his significant contribution to the Chinese vocal and choral repertoire, which is all too rarely heard by audiences of Western classical music here.

The balance of the concert featured winners of the NAFA Music Essentials concerto competition. Pianist Lin Wan polished off two virtuoso etudes by Liszt and Rachmaninov with requisite bravura, while Alexander Oon gave a rare performance of Franz Strauss' Fantasie for French horn (with pianist Loh), showcasing an excellent burnished tone in the slow bits and much agility when demanded.

Most stunning was Wei Yayi's yangqin solo in Xu Changjun's Phoenix Concerto, with its frenetic pace and rhythms, which found an equal match in pianist Hsieh I-Chieh's solid accompaniment. The breathless sweep as the mythical bird rose from its ashes was both a visual and aural spectacle to behold. An altogether sedate avian species was displayed by cellist Li Jingli in Saint-Saens' The Swan (with pianist Lin), which glided with a smooth and silky cantabile to close the concert on a sublime note.

The Leong Yoon Pin CD will soon be made available for retail. In the meantime, there is little doubt that his younger colleagues at NAFA have done his legacy proud.

CHAMBER MUSIC OF LEONG YOON PIN / Review

CHAMBER MUSIC OF LEONG YOON PIN

Lee Foundation Theatre

Thursday (16 October 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 18 October 2014 with the title "Composer's understated genius".

It is said that a composer’s reputation suffers the most a few years posthumously, after the eulogies have quietened down and memories dimmed. It is a credit to the faculty, alumni and students of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts that they have not allowed the legacy of Leong Yoon Pin (1931-2011), Singapore’s pioneering composer, to slip away.

His extensive library of scores, writings and memorabilia had been donated to NAFA, and this concert revived chamber music that had not been performed for decades. It revealed an individual voice that reflected Leong’s Asian heritage, Western formal training and eclectic influences. He was not a showy or flashy composer, but an introverted personality who bared his soul in a profound mastery of technique.

Celestial Peach Garden (1994) has the same scoring as Bartok’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion, but does not imitate the Hungarian’s nationalist and folk-inflected voice. The 12-minute long essay is more aligned with Benjamin Britten’s idiom of blending dissonance with melody.

An extended procession of soft piano chords opens the work before unleashing a heaven-storming duel of piano and percussion that relives the Monkey God’s battle with deities inspired by Chapter 5 from the Journey to the West. Pianists Shane Thio and Nicholas Loh with percussionists Ng Sok Wah and Sng Yiang Shan coped with the score’s thorny yet intricate passagework admirably for an invigorating performance.

Sketches for oboe and piano (1985) were performed by the same artists who gave its world premiere, Joost Flach and Thio. The three movements were based on scenes captured by the composer in New Zealand. The Beach was a reflective and serene pastorale, almost impressionist in colour, contrasted with the violent and abrupt shifts of dynamics in Mineral Spring, which depicted bubbling volcanic mud pools. The closing Goats on a Slope was a playful country dance that further tested the technical prowess of the able duo. 

A more lyrical side of the composer was displayed in a selection of six songs settings of local poetry from the 1960s and early 1980s, sung by soprano Cherie Tse and mezzo-soprano Shireen Sanbhnani accompanied by pianist Loh. Awaiting had a dark, contemplative edge which was well-captured by Tse, while Sanbhnani impressed with her command of Chinese in the more light-hearted Marine Parade and The Firefly. 

The best work was left for last, Interfusion for piano quintet (1989), performed by pianist Thio, violinist Ng Wei Ping, violist Lim Chun, cellist Li Jingli, bassist Wang Xu, and conducted by Zechariah Goh Toh Chai. This is the same group of instruments used in Schubert’s Trout Quintet, but Leong was to express joy in a totally different way. In an unusual mix of atonalism and minimalism, he was to find a genuine coherence and resonance.

In its Adagio, each instrument was assigned an individual refrain of its own. Heard in isolation, they would have sounded fragmented, but put them together, here was literally the voice of a symphony. The closing fugue and interwoven counterpoint provided an indescribable high that could only be an expression of unbridled happiness. It behoves this and the next generation of musicians to rediscover and share in the quiet and understated genius that was Leong Yoon Pin.

Photographs by the kind permission of NAFA.