OF FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS / T'ang Quartet / Review

OF FRIENDS AND FOLLOWERS
T’ang Quartet
National Museum Exhibition Galleries
Thursday (26 January 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 28 January 2012 with the title "Four play to impress".

The only pair of concerts held in conjunction with the Dreams & Reality exhibition of artworks from the Musee d’Orsay not devoted to piano literature was given by the T’ang Quartet. True to form, not everything Singapore’s premier chamber group performed was impressionist either. “Think out of the box” seemed to be their credo.

The startlingly modern strains of Stravinsky’s Three Pieces opened the concert. The angular nature of the Dance, with insistent drumming beats from Leslie Tan’s cello, Ng Yu Ying’s stabbing violin syncopations, violinist Ang Chek Meng’s rhythmic thrusts and Lionel Tan’s single-note scrapes on the viola, were calculated to shock. Cubism, primitivism, avant-garde, or call it what you will, these aphoristic miniatures were over in a manner of minutes.

“What is impressionism anyway?” queried the quartet’s usual spokesman Leslie (above), adding that “music and art were all about making impressions”, and that the term concocted by art critics sometimes served to limit the imagination. “Debussy hated being labelled an impressionist,” and “not everything had to sound thin and blurry,” said he too, and so there.

Their next set of pieces, the Three Novelettes by Englishman Frank Bridge, was anything but impressionist. The highly tonal and very personable essays were more like mood pictures, capable of conjuring up ideas, visions and scenarios in the mind. Atmospheric at parts, chatty when the comedic timing of the playing clicked, and mostly a fount of lyricism, these little gems sounded delectable in these hands.

The main course, Debussy’s ground-breaking String Quartet of 1893, was rightly served last. How radical it must have sounded then, when sweet and pleasing platitudes of the Belle Époque were shattered with such uncompromising boldness. Notable was the scherzo, which rebounded with striking and percussive pizzicatos, the spirit of jangling Javanese gamelans being gloriously revived.

The pianissimos of the slow movement were beautifully crafted, and as the audience held its collective breath, one could hear a pin drop. All this served to make the busy finale, with its panoply of counterpoint and reprised themes, all the more rousing and impressive.

With four men bowing their hearts out, was this the climax of the masterfully curated series of concerts? It was difficult to say, as each evening this reviewer attended had its own share of pleasures and little surprises on offer. All these were aided by highly attentive (and impeccably behaved) audiences and a handsomely illustrated 56-page programme book with excellent, lively and appropriately pitched programme notes by Marc Rochester and Francophile Roger Nichols. Great art and great artistry deserved nothing less.

The reviews of the other performances may be found on these links:

Melvyn Tan's Piano Recital (5 January 2012):

http://pianofortephilia.blogspot.com/2012/01/dreaming-debussy-melvyn-tan-piano.html

Dennis Lee & Toh Chee Hung's Piano Recital (12 January 2012):

http://pianofortephilia.blogspot.com/2012/01/flights-of-fancy-dennis-lee-and-toh.html

Albert Tiu's Piano Recitals (19 & 20 January 2012):

http://pianofortephilia.blogspot.com/2012/01/enchanting-expedition-albert-tiu-piano.html

FLIGHTS OF FANCY / Dennis Lee and Toh Chee Hung Piano Recital / Review

FLIGHTS OF FANCY
Dennis Lee & Toh Chee Hung, Piano
National Museum Exhibition Galleries
Thursday (12 January 2011)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 14 January 2012 with the title "Double the fancy".

The series of concerts at The National Museum’s Dreams & Reality exhibition of Musee d’Orsay treasures has truly come alive. One way of getting most out of this worthy art meets music adventure is to arrive early, preferably when doors open at half-past-seven to secure your favourite seat. That done, head to a quiet corner to view just a small number of art pieces.

There should not be pressure to pack in as much as you can. Take your time, there is no hurry. Allow the details, colours and flavours of each painting to register its unique set of impressions, so that you can make a recollection that remains firmly lodged in the mind. Be it a Degas ballet scene, a Pissarro landscape or an Ingres nude, the same processes applies.

Such an approach would also be helpful in listening to music, especially in the hands of artists as perceptive and insightful as Dennis Lee and Toh Chee Hung. The veteran duo began with three varied movements from Gabriel Faure’s Dolly Suite. Simplicity and innocence were the key to the lovely Berceuse, its melodic line gliding gracefully over a gently rocking accompaniment.

The duo is incapable of making an ugly sound, their seamless teamwork born of decades of performing together and listening to each other. The feline elegance of Kitty-Valse gave way to rhythmic precision and clacking castanets in The Spanish Step, the set’s most tricky number.

In the solo segment, Toh applied the most variegated of touches to Debussy’s Estampes (Imprints), beginning with Pagodas, inspired by the exotic Orient. Dreamy and sunbathed, its pentatonic heaven melted into a shimmer of delicate bell sounds. Evenings In Granada wallowed in sultry relaxation, then interrupted by a guitar’s serenade. The concluding Gardens In The Rain was more like the Botanics pelted by a sumatra rather the Tuileries sprinkled with a light drizzle.

Lee’s view of Debussy’s First Book of Images was no less gripping. One could envision Monet’s Water Lilies in Reflections In The Water, his feather-light touch seemed to skim the surface as naturally like ripples around a falling drop. In Homage To Rameau, a cortege regally made its way, a stark contrast to the relentless perpetual motion of Movement, where the pianist may be excused for tiring a little.

Both pianists then joined four hands for their perennial favourite, Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite. Lee provided some prefatory quotes which touched on the music’s propensity to relive the joy and purity of childhood. And how they enchanted and delighted with their interplay and witty repartee. The gamelans headily ran out in Empress Of The Pagodas, a foil to the alternately lilting and gauche waltz of Conversations Of The Beauty And The Beast, before cascades of glissandi concluded The Fairy’s Garden. Music, too, can tell stories as vividly as pictures.

DREAMING DEBUSSY / Melvyn Tan Piano Recital / Review

DREAMING DEBUSSY
MELVYN TAN, Piano
National Museum Exhibition Galleries
Thursday (5 January 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 7 January 2012 with the title "Dreams with Debussy".

Holding recitals in art galleries is not a new idea, even in Singapore. About 12 years ago, Esplanade organised Music Box, a festival featuring young musicians within art spaces of the Singapore Art Museum. Nevertheless the move to present four pairs of concerts on “impressionist” music, showcasing the cream of local talent alongside the Dream & Reality exhibition of Musée d’Orsay art treasures was an inspired one.

The music of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel would surely gain an added resonance when heard within the gaze of canvasses by Claude Monet and Auguste Renoir. Held within the biggest chamber which seated 180 comfortably on four sides around the piano, the setting was one of intimacy. However the high ceiling and dry acoustic did little to enhance the sonic bloom of the Steinway grand, which was made to sound diffuse, even brittle.

This however did little to deter Melvyn Tan, who clearly has a special affinity for Debussy. He is a master colourist, with a palette of rainbow shades, and multitudes of nuances to make each piece and turn of phrase come alive. The recital began with Suite Bergamasque, a longing look at French dances of antiquity.

The Menuet was crisply danced, while the Passepied scampered with a playful elegance. The centrepiece was surely Clair de lune; the moonlit nocturne found an iridescent glow in Tan’s hands, while its harp-like figurations glided as smoothly as a hand running through silk.

The main course was the First Book of 12 Préludes, which were as varied as the paintings themselves. Superb pedalling and control ensured that much of the multi-layered textures were discerned with great clarity, as the opening solemn procession of Danseuses des Delphes (Delphian Dancers) proved.

Even in a subject as elusive as the wind, there was much scope for fantasy. In Voiles (Sails), a fluttering caress was raised by a gentle breeze. Contrast that with Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest (What The West Wind Saw), which had the violence of a force ten gale. Immediately following this was the popular La fille aux cheveux de lin (Girl with the Flaxen Hair), whose utter simplicity was hard to resist.

The final two Préludes were equally gripping in different ways. Le danse de Puck (Puck’s Dance) insinuated with each twist and turn, heightened by Tan’s inimitable body movements, while the vulgar guffaws of Minstrels, exaggerated to perfect effect, brought the set to a memorable close. The next seven recitals will be keenly anticipated.

Treasures of the Musee d'Orsay at The National Museum

One of the most important exhibitions to come to Singapore is the set of travelling artworks from the Musée d'Orsay in Paris. The museum specialises in 19th century and early 20th century artworks, notably the French Impressionists. Included in the set at The National Museum are several works by Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pisarro, Gauguin, Cezanne and Van Gogh. Held in conjunction with the exhibition are four pairs of recitals, by pianists Melvyn Tan (5 & 6 January), Dennis Lee & Toh Chee Hung (12 & 13 January), Albert Tiu (19 & 20 January) and the T'ang Quartet (26 & 27 January), all commencing at 8pm.

What are they photographing?

The Birth of Venus by Alexandre Carbanel.

Venus in Paphos by Ingres. Note the way how the artist distorts the back of the model to accentuate her sensual curves.

A view of the gallery and its visitors. Admission charge is only $11, and complimentary for NTUC cardholders.

Henri Rousseau's War.

Box at Theatre des Italiens by the woman painter Eva Gonzalez. Note the bored and vacant expression on the woman's face at this social event.

Renoir's Young Boy and his Cat.

One of Paul Cezanne's several versions of The Card Players.

Toulouse-Lautrec's portrait of The Female Clown Cha-U-Kao.

A Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Its not the same one we are accustomed to seeing in most books, but its still a compelling Van Gogh landscape.

Eugene Laermanns's The End of Autumn, an allegory of old age and infirmity.

Young Girl and Death by Marianne Stokes.

Claude Monet's chilling portrait of his first wife Camille on her deathbed.

On the way out, one can just sit down and enjoy some of the books on art that are available on display.