LAST NIGHT OF THE BUKIT DAMAI PROMS: The End of an Era

All good things have to come to an end sometime. The musical community of Singapore bade a touching farewell to an institution that has come to represent a happy confluence of the professional and amateur piano communities in Singapore. After spending 30 extremely fruitful years in Singapore, Neil Franks and his wife Debbie are returning to England. For the record, Neil has been very active in the amateur music making scene in Singapore, having been a tenor in the International Festival Chorus and Singapore Symphony Chorus (besides being its coach in the Hebrew language for Schoenberg's A Survivor from Warsaw), and a Director of the Singapore Lyric Opera. The Franks have also held fund-raising musical events in aid of the Singapore Lyric Opera in their home. 

The Friday evening of 22 February marked an end to an era of happy music making in 7 Royal Road, the historic black and white mansion on Alexandra Park known as Bukit Damai. There was music-making galore to be sure. The programme below gives an indication to the pain-staking efforts put in by the host Neil Franks in trying to get six pianists together for a musical bash.

The evening began with Neil Franks and his teacher 
Boris Kraljevic in two Slavonic Dances (Op.72)  by Dvorak.

Neil with Etienne Chenevier in Carl Bohm's Brise Printaniere. 
for 8 hands on 2 pianos.

Boris Kraljevic performed the only solo of the evening, 
Debussy's Bruyeres.

The audience's view of the Fantasy on Themes 
from Bizet's Carmen, arranged by Mack Wilberg.

TL and Boris played the second piano part of  
Rossini's William Tell Overture

Silly fun for 6 hands, Godard's Scaramouche 
arranged by John Rippin.

David Mayo and Ed Manser with  The Hippopotamus and 
I Went To a Marvellous  Party by Flanders and Swann, 
accompanied by Neil on the piano.

Truly the Last Night of the Bukit Damai Proms, 
with Elgar's Pomp and Circumcision March No.1 (Neil's title), 
the Land of Hope and Glory.

Pianophiles unite: Boris, Benjamin Loh, Neil and TL.

Till we meet again!

NAFA Mentorship Piano Recital @ Steinway Gallery Singapore

Steinway Gallery Singapore at Palais Renaissance has truly become a hive of piano activity, with recitals taking place ever so often that it is sometimes difficult to keep track of. The latest was a Mentorship Piano Recital on Sunday 16 October, featuring two eminent teachers of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts and a trio of their best students.

The teachers, Rena Phua-Cheung and Boris Kraljevic opened the proceedings with a performance of Mozart's Sonata in D major for 4 hands, K.381. The faster outer movements buzzed with rhythmic exactitude and exuberance, with the slow movement being an oasis of lyrical charm and beauty. The legato they achieved was simply delicious.

Thanks to Boris, the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts has been attracting some fine musical talents from the former (and present) Communist bloc nations. Three such students featured in the recital, beginning with Ana Jovanovic (Serbia) who performed two contrasting movements from Prokofiev's Second Sonata. The slow movement saw her build a fine arch of brooding crescendo, building upwards to a cathartic climax of sorts, before unleashing a rush of adrenaline for the breathless finale. She hasn't got all the notes yet, but this is a good start.

Everyone knows the love affair between Kseniia Vokhmyanina (Ukraine) and Chopin's Fantasy in F minor. She has lived with this work for almost two years, and her every performance of this demanding masterpiece gets more and more convincing. She has begun to take ownership of this piece; her every note and phrase and gesture means something important, and there is nothing that is superfluous. Simply, she has unearthed the genius and passion of Chopin, and that is cause for celebration.

Similarly, Nguyen Tien Khai (Vietnam) has grown in confidence with her interpretation of Prokofiev's Eighth Sonata. The first movement is a blockbuster of bittersweet lyricism coloured with a violent streak. Both these contrasting elements were well brought out. The languorous melodic line of the opening soon morphing into something far more sinister and malevolent. The rumbling unheavals of the central episode were a tour de force of expressing a painful and agonising disquiet.

Mentors and students come together for a final bow.

Three virtuosas in the making.

A proud teacher Boris Kraljevic and his charges.

Hausmusik @ Bukit Damai

There's at least one household in Singapore that still believes in Hausmusik, that is music-making by friends and family members as a matter of fun and recreation, be it after a meal or during a birthday celebration. That is de rigeuer in the Franks family at Bukit Damai, a historic villa in Alexandra Park. Here's what happened on the evening of Friday 14 October 2011.

The host himself, Neil Franks, performed some solos, including Liszt's La Chapelle de Guillaume Tell (from Annees de pelerinage) and Debussy's Sarabande from Pour le piano.

Ana Jovanovic from Serbia performed the finale from Prokofiev's Sonata No.2, a veritable finger twister in tarantella rhythm.

Master and student, Boris Kraljevic and Neil Franks play the Berceuse from Faure's Dolly Suite.

NAFA colleagues at work and play, Rena Phua-Cheung and Boris Kraljevic take on Mozart's Sonata in D major for 4 hands - all three movements!

Its the turn for six hands, Boris, Neil and Tou Liang in Rachmaninov's Romance, originally composed for three sisters. PianoManiac took the easiest part, of course.

Some lighter fare, Thomas Frost (not the record producer!) on saxophone and pianist Jeremy Wong play jazz standards, including Take Five as the ladies swooned.

Eight hands on two pianos in a transcription of Rossini's William Tell Overture. PianoManiac was lucky to be paired with the lovely but less fortunate Ana Jovanovic.

Finally. Rena, Boris and Neil polish off the Grand Gallop de Concert, Qui Vive by Wilhelm Ganz. It was a total blast! We're all looking forward to the next dinner!