THE MAGNIFICENT CELLO / Qin Li-Wei and Bernard Lanskey / Review

THE MAGNIFICENT CELLO

QIN LI-WEI, Cello

BERNARD LANSKEY, Piano

National Museum of Singapore

Tuesday (17 September 2013)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 19 September 2013 with the title "History of cello through music".

For the penultimate concert in the Music at an Exhibition series at the National Museum, the  cello took centrestage in a delightful hour of music that traced the instrument’s development during the 18^th century. Some eighty years spanned the works performed by Chinese-Australian cellist Qin Li-Wei on his trusty 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello. 

Some purists prefer J.S.Bach’s Cello Suites to be heard on a baroque cello or the viola da gamba, but this music transcends eras and time. The opening Prelude of Suite No.1 in G major is possibly the most familiar of Bach’s music for the instrument, but here it sounded as if freshly minted. The full throated baritone voice coaxed by Qin was both soothing and arresting, and like a master story-teller spinning a yarn. He made you want to care.

The following movements were varied period dances, taken at a faster clip in the Courante and Minuets. The Sarabande, with its widely-spread chords and deeply-breathed air, gently held one captive. It was the bounding rhythm of the Gigue that allowed some relaxation in attention.

Qin was joined by Australian pianist Bernard Lanskey, also Head of the Conservatory, in Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Sonata No.6 in A major. By now, baroque convention had given way to the sleeker and less contrapuntal lines of the classical tradition. The prayer-like slow opening movement offered the display of an exquisite singing tone, while the ensuing Allegro was martial in character but one which smiled from ear to ear.

Beethoven was made of sterner stuff, and in his Cello Sonata No.2 in G minor (Op.5 No.2), the piano had graduated to become an equal partner with the cello. Lanskey spoke about the metamorphosis of the genre, with reference to the paintings on the Metamorphoses of Ovid from the Liechtenstein royal collection. The epic canvasses he alluded to also applied to the sonata.

Its first movement was in effect a slow and serious introduction, opening with a grim G minor chord and one filled with pathos. The early Romantic movement, which Beethoven was part of, meant that passion was often worn heart-on-sleeve. True feelings lurked below its calm exterior, and this erupted in the fast second movement, when pent-up emotion found a joyous release. The contrasts and transition provided by the duo was startling in its immediacy.

The finale’s Rondo was even more cheerful, with the piano taking the fore. Its passages of running notes could have been more cleanly dealt with but the comedic timing with the cello was always first priority. With the ice thawed and melted, Beethoven could always be relied upon to turn up the heat of excitement, and this spiritedly closed the concert proper. The encore was also much loved by the appreciative audience, an effective transcription of Bach’s sublime Air in G major.    

THE PRINCELY PIANO / LIM YAN Piano Recital / Review

 THE PRINCELY PIANO

LIM YAN Piano Recital

National Museum of Singapore

Friday (6 September)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 9 September 2013 with the title "Royal accession of the piano".

It has been a long while, in fact several years, that Young Artist Award winner Lim Yan has given a solo piano recital. The Music At An Exhibition concert series held alongside the Princely Treasures of Liechtenstein display at the National Museum was the perfect setting for his delightful 80-minute-long recital of mostly baroque keyboard music.

Using a Steinway grand piano instead of a harpsichord had its advantages. The music projects better in the dry acoustic of an exhibition hall, and a wider range of dynamics and nuances is afforded. Authenticity is perhaps not top of the list of priorities here, but the works performed had a nice symmetry about them.

A pair of Domenico Scarlatti Sonatas, composed as exercises for a Spanish princess, were tasty starters. Both were fast pieces, with a sparkling lightness that showcased fluency and impeccable staccato technique. Vigorous dances to strumming guitars and clicking castanets come to mind.

This was followed by two popular sets of variations. Handel’s The Harmonious Blacksmith, the final movement of one of his keyboard suites, was lightly ornamented, and with each variation grew in complexity before closing in a cascade of scales. Somewhat simpler was Mozart’s Variations of Ah, vous dirai-je, maman, also known as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

The familiar children’s tune was stated with an insouciant air, and every effort was made by Lim to colour the complexion of each variation that ensued. There was innocence, fluidity, pathos (with a switch to the minor key), reflection, under-stated virtuosity and finally bombast to close.

Lim’s approach to Johann Sebastian Bach, a composer he is not usually associated with, was revelatory. The two Prelude & Fugues he chose were deliberately contrasted. The D major (from Book Two of The Well-Tempered Clavier) was celebratory, with trumpeting fanfares and ceremonial pomp. The C sharp minor (Book One) was one deep in thought and contemplation, so profound was its utterance that the startling dissonance of its fugue seemed a mere sideshow.

The recital was completed with Bach’s Fifth Partita in G major. One of his most cheerful suites, Lim brought a wealth of character and colour to its sequence of antique dances. The dotted rhythm of the Sarabande was taken at a slightly fast clip, but the quaint darting fingers of the Tempo Di Minuetta was the usually-serious composer having some fun in expense of the unsuspecting. The fugal Gigue that ended the work was a culmination of counterpoint at its most joyous.

As an encore, Lim offered a third fast Scarlatti sonata, this time bringing on the full force and volume of an orchestra and marching band. The princely piano had ascended the throne to become a king. 

  

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.