THE PURSUIT OF BEAUTY IN THREE CONCERTS

 

THE PURSUIT OF BEAUTY

IN THREE CONCERTS

Why do people still go to concerts? Is it to be entertained, educated, enlightened or provoked? Art engages us in many ways – literally, visually and aurally – whenever we read books, visit museums and art galleries, and attend artistic events. In concerts, we seek beauty in sound, in all its infinite and glorious varieties. 

Over the last two weeks, I count myself fortunate to have attended three very different concerts from three very different musical cultures. I was not reviewing for The Straits Times, just soaking in the sound and trying to appreciate what I have heard. I cannot pretend to understand everything on show, but cannot help but admire the sheer artistry and virtuosity witnessed. I was moved and touched in different ways. That is what excellent concerts by excellent artists do.

Photo: Siong Leng Musical Association

TRANQUILITY . TEMPEST

Siong Leng Music Association

Drama Centre Black Box

Friday (15 August 2025)

Nanyin is the music of China’s southern provinces, its chamber music comprising a woman’s voice accompanied by a few instruments, including pipa, erxian, sanxian and xiao. This is the intimate world of Siong Leng, one of Singapore’s oldest existing music groups dating from the 1940s but now inherited by a young generation of musicians. The singing of Lim Ming Yi in the Minnan dialect is haunting and of a melancholic quality, the accompanying musicians supporting her rather than seeking attention for themselves. Now throw in Indian tabla player Nawaz Mirajkar’s group SwaRhythm with singer Aditi Gopinathan (completely different but just as alluring) accompanied by veena, we have music from a completely different sphere.

Photo: Siong Leng Musical Association

Photo: Siong Leng Musical Association

Coming from diverse cultures, one would have expected a clash or sonorities. But no, the sequence of alternating voices and instruments was seamlessly held together in this production. One did not need to know what they were singing, nor the contexts, to enjoy their work. In fact, it was easier to close one’s eyes and be immersed in their respective sound worlds. When the two musics coalesced in composer Ng Kang Kee’s sensitive arrangements, it did not matter which was Chinese or which was Indian. They simply became one in soul and spirit. If only politicians and soldiers could resolve their differences in this manner.

THE END OF THE LINE

Chroma

Armenian Church

Sunday (24 August 2025)

The ten-person vocal concert Chroma led by UK-based chorusmaster Gerard Lim celebrated the respective birth and death anniversaries of Giovanni Palestrina (1525-1594) and Orlando Gibbons (1583-1625), two great composers of the late-Renaissance period. This was the efflorescence of polyphony, where independent vocal lines converge with concordance and resonance. The discovery and development of polyphony has to be one of the glories of Western civilisation when rest of the world still relied on monophony and heterophony. And nothing is more expressive than the human voice.

Whether it was sacred music or secular madrigals, the joy of polyphony filled the ears and fulfilled the senses. The Armenian Church of St Gregory the Illuminator has to be one of Singapore’s best kept secrets, its close to perfect acoustics is ideal for choral and chamber music, with performers placed almost directly under its rotunda. Palestrina’s music was written for the Vatican and performed at its Sistine Chapel. One does not need to travel to Rome to imagine what Chroma was achieving in its survey of his music. Whether one knew the Latin or old English words was immaterial when faced with music and sound of such exquisite beauty.

SIMPLY STRINGS

STRING ORCHESTRAL MUSIC 

BY KELLY TANG

SOTA Concert Hall

Thursday (28 August 2025)

When it comes to string music, there are few composers / arrangers as skilled as Cultural Medallion recipient Kelly Tang. In a private benefit concert for Eagles Communications, popular oldies were dressed in such sumptuous string finery that was hard to dislike. Most of the pieces on show such as Those Green Eyes, Perhaps and Love Me Tender were written for Foo Say Ming’s string ensemble re:mix. Kelly’s own T’angology for string quartet was commissioned by the T’ang Quartet. All of these sound just as beautiful played by a younger next generation ensemble led by violinist Bobur Eshpulatov.

Tang has a keen understanding of string sonority and a strong grasp of nostalgia, which was what tugged at the heart-strings. When the Teresa Teng classics The Moon Represents My Heart (月亮代表我的心) is dressed up like a Mahlerian Adagio or when Tian Mi Mi (甜蜜蜜) is Dayong Sampan meets The Simpsons and Pizzicato Polka, something special is going on. And who could resist a fugal treatment of the hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful (the original and non-Rutter version)? Kelly Tang is a national treasure whose music and arrangements should never be forgotten.

Good concerts of good music abound in Singapore today, and it does not take a great deal of effort to discover them. The pursuit of beauty continues and one will be more than amply rewarded.

METAMORPHOSIS / Singapore Chinese Orchestra / Review

 

METAMORPHOSIS

Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Singapore Conference Hall

Saturday (19 July 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 July 2025 with the title "SCO's Metamorphosis a celebration of SG60".

The Singapore Chinese Orchestra’s opening concert for the 2025/2026 season, led by principal conductor Quek Ling Kiong was a celebration of SG60. Sixty years of Singapore’s nation-building were premised on a multicultural identity and social harmony, all represented in this concert.

The evening opened with SCO composer-in-residence Wang Chenwei’s Lion City Rhapsody, a modern look at the baroque concerto grosso. Its concertino group of soloists played 14 different instruments covered the five Chinese dialect groups in Singapore, each with its own distinct colour. Its infectious and kinetic energy founded upon the Nanyin classic Trotting Horses culminated with a greeting for National Day in Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese, Hakka and Hainanese.

Of a more descriptive nature was Chen Si’ang’s The Grand Canal, which began quietly with serene scenes of quaint river towns on the 2500-year-old water system. Working itself into a big climax as it empties into the great Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the quasi-cinematic work was symbolic of longevity and endurance.

Former SCO composer-in-residence Law Wai Lun’s The Stories of Singapore highlighted landmarks in the nation’s history as viewed in the pages and photographs of local Chinese newspapers. The accompanying images to the music’s optimistic and self-congratulatory tone have been updated to include defeating the Covid-19 pandemic and ascensions of Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and President Tharman Shanmugaratnam.

Photo: Singapore Chinese Orchestra

There were two concertante pieces, both featuring Young Artist Award-winning percussionists. India-born tabla player Nawaz Mirajkar was soloist in his Soul of Damaru, a raga-based work where he performed on six tablas. The hypnotic spell generated was most magical when heard in counterpoint with Benjamin Boo’s xylophone.

Photo: Singapore Chinese Orchestra

A quite different atmosphere came with Riduan Zalani helming no less than eight frame drums (including tambourines) in Taiwanese composer Chang Yungchin’s Within and Beyond. In its sequence of increasingly exuberant dances, there were spots for ad libbing and even audience interaction, which kept the episodic work edgy and absorbing.

Photo: SCO / SPH Media

Then came the world premiere of Wang Chenwei’s Converging Resonances, which commemorated 60 years of the Singapore Conference Hall’s history. Its metamorphosis from National Trade Union Congress headquarters to SCO performing home unfolded in the form of a passacaglia, an inventive series of short variations on a ground bass. While its inspiration came from Johannes Brahms’ Fourth Symphony, the immaculate execution with numerous instrumental solos was wholly Chinese in character and feel.

Closing the concert was Felix Phang’s Pasat Merdu, translated as “melodious marketplace”, another concerto grosso-like work where diverse cultures and ideas are welcome. This adaptation by Germaine Goh for Chinese orchestra placed centrestage four members of The Straits Ensemble – Govin Tan (tabla), Nizarfauzi (rebana), Azrin Abdullah (oud) and Phang (double-bass) – in a raucous and colourful melange. 

Photo: Singapore Chinese Orchestra

This and the encore of Tamil song Iyarkaiyin Kaatchi, which included President Tharman in a clap-along, were enjoyable reminders that multiculturalism in harmony is what makes Singapore tick.