VARIATIONS: RE:SOUND WITH PAVLO BEZNOSIUK / Review

VARIATIONS:

RE:SOUND WITH PAVLO BEZNOSIUK

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (6 October 2022)

 

The chamber orchestra re:Sound has been known for innovative programming, but little did one expect this peach of a concert, built around the theme of variations. Included was one world premiere, two Singapore premieres and a rarely performed (in Singapore) string masterpiece led by British violinist-conductor Pavlo Beznosiuk.    

 

The world premiere was Singapore composer Tan Chan Boon’s arrangement of the second movement from Brahms’ String Sextet No.1 (Op.18). String lovers know this as a tightly-knit set of variations on a sombre theme, and so do pianists who play Brahms’ own piano transrciption. Tan’s treatment was more like Rudolf Barshai’s highly idiomatic work on selected Shostakovich String Quartets (called Chamber Symphonies) rather than Schoenberg’s over-the-top conflation of Brahms’ First Piano Quartet. The music and architecture of the work was retained but the sound palette expanded, the six parts of the original sometimes stretched out to nine. A lovely rich sonority was achieved, and Tan was also afforded the liberty of a coda of his own after the final variation.   

 

Also in the same key was C.P.E.Bach’s Piano Concerto in D minor (Wq.23), receiving its local premiere with pianist Koh Jia Hwei, now better known as an organist, as soloist. Composed in 1748, the original probably involved a harpsichord or fortepiano, which explained why Koh began the work as part of the ensemble (or continuo) before coming into her own as a soloist. The sturm und drang of the opening movement was exciting in itself, the result of the baroque transitioning into classical sensibilities.

 

The confident if not blindingly brilliant Koh made true music of the sedate slow movement before going for broke for the finale, another stormed tossed affair, which had a short cadenza to close. The strings led by Beznosiuk kept up the cut and thrust all through its twenty or so minutes. It is a wonder why this is nowhere as well-known as Papa Bach’s or Papa Haydn’s keyboard concertos. One is better off having made its acquaintance.

 

The second half began with Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov’s minimalist Epitaph for piano and strings (1999), written in memory of his wife who died three years before. An unusually hypnotic work, it comprised a procession of piano octaves and chords (with Koh Jia Hwei again) answered by muted strings, and one is kept guessing what the next chord would be through its 9 minutes. By some quirk of listening, one is regularly reminded of the funeral march from Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. This very timely and haunting performance might very well also be in memory of innocent victims lost in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

The concert closed with one of the great 20^th century works for strings, Benjamin Britten’s splendid Variations on a Theme by Frank Bridge. First Pavlo Beznosiuk demonstrated on the violin Bridge’s somewhat retiring theme (the second of Three Idylls for strings), explaining these were not strict variations in the traditional sense, but rather freely crafted short movements based on certain motifs derived from the said theme. The fantastical variations that followed were such that the original theme would be so well hidden as to be unrecognisable.

 

An extremely tricky work, the ensemble did very well to cope with the myriad changes of dynamics and textures all through movements which included amongst other things a March, Aria Italiana, Bourree Classique, Wiener Walzer, Funeral March and an outrageously skittish Fugue to close. The camp wit and sometimes frivolous asides know little bounds, especially in the Aria, with strings strummed like guitar while accompanying melodramatic violins. This masterpiece was written in 1937 for the virtuoso Boyd Neel String Orchestra performing at the Salzburg Festival. After witnessing this fine and truly infectious performance, one fancies re:Sound to be Singapore’s Boyd Neel as well. As an encore, the still-energised ensemble reprised the off-kilter and half-drunk Wiener Walzer, sounding even more delicious this time around. 

All photographs courtesy 

of re:Sound / Yong Junyi.

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS / re:Sound with Pavlo Beznosiuk / Review

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

re:Sound with Pavlo Beznosiuk, Leader

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (5 July 2019)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 8 July 2019 with the title "A homage to great classics".

The history of classical music has been one of composers copying and emulating the styles of earlier composers, developing they own niches before being copied and emulated by younger colleagues. This is compositional evolution taking place, punctuated by the occasional revolution from composers like Beethoven or Stravinsky.

This concert by re:Sound, Singapore’s first professional chamber music, eloquently demonstrated the process of musical Darwinism spanning almost 200 years. The journey began with Antonio Vivaldi’s Overture to La Senna Festeggiante, described by re:Sound founder Mervin Beng as a proto-symphony. 

Its three very short movements, in the fast-slow-fast form, served like a perfect appetiser before the main course. The performance by just 12 string players, two oboists and one bassoonist was crisp and finely-hewn, directed by British violinist-conductor Pavlo Beznosiuk from the leader’s chair. 

What followed was unprecedented, two important symphonies from two different eras performed by alternating their movements in sequence. This allowed the listener to enjoy and ponder upon the influences Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), so-called “Father of the Symphony”, had on Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953), an enfant terrible of music during the early 20^th century.

This 8-movement upsized symphony in D major opened with the emphatic gestures of Haydn’s Symphony No.104 (composed in 1795), his last, also known as the “London Symphony”. The sonata form of its 1^st movement was well-illuminated, with a slow introduction giving way to a vigorous and spirited allegro. The infectiousness of his style was repeated in the corresponding movement of Prokofiev’s First Symphony (1917), appropriately called the “Classical Symphony”. 

The Russian meant this as a homage rather than mere pastiche, and the slow second movements of both symphonies soon followed. Haydn’s was a short series of variations while Prokofiev’s a graceful serenade which could only be described as Haydnesque. The Minuet and Trio of Haydn’s 3^rd movement was a lively way to close the concert’s first half.

The audience was given the chance to applaud whenever the spirit led them, which meant clapping between movements without attracting disapproving looks from know-it-alls. That was what 19^th century audiences did anyway, thus some authenticity was being observed.

Like entertainments of that period, concerts also showcased soloists in virtuoso concertos. That was where Australian-Chinese cellist Qin Li-Wei came in, performing Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme with the verve and flair expected of him. The Mozartean theme itself was simple and unadorned but the ensuing variations showed the breadth and depth of a cellist’s artistry. Qin’s tone was breathtaking, and credit also goes to re:Sound’s discreet accompaniment and excellent woodwind cameos.

Qin Li-Wei's encore was The Swan
from Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals
in an all-string arrangement.

Then it was back to Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony with its brief 3^rd movement Gavotte sounding a little over-emphatic and impatient, as if straining to rush into the mercurial finale. Even before the applause could end, a bucolic drone in D ushered in Haydn’s exuberant finale, showing that the old masters still had the final word.     

BAROQUE TO BEETHOVEN WITH PAVLO BEZNOSIUK / re:Sound / Review

BAROQUE TO BEETHOVEN

WITH PAVLO BEZNOSIUK

re:Sound

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (4 May 2018)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 7 May 2018 with the title "Enlightening performance led by director's clear vision".

Singapore's premier professional chamber ensemble, re:Sound, continues to grow from strength to strength. One of its secrets is to work with a different leader/director every concert, and the results are fresh and different each time. Its latest guest director was the Ukrainian-British violinist Pavlo Beznosiuk, well-known for his work with renowned period instrument ensembles like the Academy of Ancient Music, New London Consort and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

Enlighten the audience he did in a programme of mostly 18^th century music, familiar and obscure. How often has one heard a Handel concerto grosso here in a live performance? Exactly. In Handel's G major Concerto Grosso (Op.6 No.1), he led the 13-member string group from his violin, and the sound was sleek and transparent through its five short movements.

Although the players do not perform on antique instruments, it was the approach by Beznosiuk which relived the spirit of the baroque. Vibrato was minimised, textures were light, but not light-weight and tempos lively, rather than merely fast. That each movement swung like a dance was the intention, and the overall results were impressive.

Also rarely heard was Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante in B flat major, a curious hybrid between symphony and concerto that was once a popular compositional form. Even more curious was the combination of solo instruments employed, including violin (Beznosiuk), cello (Robert Choi), oboe (Tay Kai Tze) and bassoon (Zhang Jin Min).

The 1^st movement's martial air was provided by the orchestra's two trumpets, two French horns and timpani, but the quartet of soloists held its own with delightful interplay and a showy cadenza. The slow movement opened with violin and bassoon in conversation, a testament to Haydn's ingenuity and the finale's humour bubbled over. There was a passage where solo cello echoed the solo violin, as if saying “whatever you can do, I can do just as well”. 

The concert's second half was dedicated to Beethoven's Second Symphony in D major of 1802, an early work with the German beginning to overflex his creative muscles. Now seated, Beznosiuk still towered over his charges with his clearly defined directions dominating the performance. The opening notes were emphatic, and the slow introduction deliberately building into something special.

When the Allegro finally came, it was with a joyous surge of energy. Here was the true meaning of brio, a vitality that is natural and never forced. By contrast, the slow movement was graceful, chirping woodwinds singing over elegant svelte strings. The ensuing Scherzo hinted at a joke, but with Beethoven this meant providing surprises for the listener, such as catchy three-note phrases and springing unexpected changes in rhythm and dynamics.

Similarly, the finale was delivered with ebullience, with more humour shining through. The encore gave a clue to Beethoven's inspiration, the animated Minuet movement from Haydn's last symphony (No.104, also in D major). Can one hope for more of the same from Beznosiuk's next re:Sound concert?