CD Reviews (The Straits Times, July 2015)

VIVALDI The Four Seasons

RICHARD TOGNETTI, Violin

Australian Chamber Orchestra

BIS 2103 / ****1/2

Does the world yet another recorded version of Antonio Vivaldi's most famous and overplayed quartet of violin concertos from The Contest Of Harmony And Invention Op.8, better known as The Four Seasons?  A resounding yes, if the results are as good as this. The Australian Chamber Orchestra does not sell itself as a period instrument band, and its version strikes a good middle ground between that of a vibrato-less thin-sounding group and those stodgy big-orchestra textures of old. Its leader Richard Tognetti's solo playing is vibrant and full of character, bringing to life the stories of poetic changing seasons without being afraid of contributing individual touches of his own.  

Several movements of lesser-known concertos, with thematic links and references to the Seasons, have been included for good measure, bringing this disc to well over the hour mark. The icing on the cake is the almost-as-famous Concerto in B minor for 4 violins, which features among its soloists Singapore's own homegrown talent Ike See (See Ian Ike). The performance is just as lively and polished, which plainly goes to show that the best of the “Little Red Dot” can also stand proud in any top-notch ensemble in the world.  

  

ALMA BRASILEIRA

GNATTALI Chamber Works

Franz Halasz, Guitar
Debora Halasz, Piano

BIS 2086 / ****1/2

Sometimes the line drawn between classical and popular music is so blurred that it is nearly impossible to make a clear distinction between the two. Such is the case of Brazilian composer Radames Gnattali (1906-1988), following in the example of his famous compatriot Heitor Villa-Lobos who so skilfully married indigenous Brazilian folk music with classical forms that only respect could be is commanded. One short piece for guitar so captures this ethos, entitled Alma Brasileira (Brazilian Soul), also the title of a similar work by Villa-Lobos, is one of Gnattali's best-known tunes. The selection of dances for guitar, including Danca Brasileira, Saudade, Petit Suite and two Toccatas In Samba Rhythm are simply delectable.

The longer works, Sonatina No.2 (for guitar and piano) and Sonata (for cello & guitar), both in three movements, are true classical-popular music hybrids and represent the best of “crossover”. The husband and wife team (German and Brazilian respectively), joined by Swiss-Chinese cellist Wen-Sinn Yang, give idiomatic and exciting performances, and there is no hiding their pedigree. The solo piano works are true virtuoso numbers, with dances like Negaceando, Capoeirando, Batuque and the modernistic Toccata, which make for excellent encores. Over 70 minutes of infectiously toe-tapping music to be found here. 

SUMMER ROSES / See Ian Ike Violin Recital / Review

SUMMER ROSES

SEE IAN IKE Violin Recital

with MIYUKI WASHIMIYA, Piano

Esplanade Recital Studio

Saturday (18 August 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 August 2012 with the title "Effortless artistry in debut solo recital".

Another summer, another young Singaporean violinist returns to give an impressive debut recital. This time, it is the turn of See Ian Ike, who studied privately with violinists Sylvia Khoo and Qian Zhou, and at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia, and was recently appointed Associate Concertmaster of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

See is, however, no stranger to the musical scene having won numerous local awards, performed in outreach concerts with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, besides giving a splendid performance of Bruch’s First Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of the Music Makers in 2010. This was his first public solo recital, and what a splash it made.

The unaccompanied violin music of Bach provided an unequivocal survey of his artistry. The Preludium of the Third Partita, normally a treacherous study of prestidigitation, sounded almost effortless in his hands. It was not just the facility of execution that was unquestionable, but his crystal-clear projection allied with perfect intonation. The movements that followed were fluent and joyfully wrought, fully cognizant of their origins as period dances.  

He has an unfussy view of the magnificent Chaconne from the Second Partita, its short variations unfolding majestically as his conception of the movement’s architecture gained stature with every phrase and gesture. That he allows the music to speak for itself was a plus, and his elucidation of its wonders a revelation.  

Two further sonatas partnered by the marvellous Japanese pianist Miyuki Washimiya completed the picture. First it was Brahms’s autumnal Second Sonata, its song-like subjects flowing with a mellifluousness and musicality that was hard to resist. See’s violin soared above the dense piano textures, and bantered playfully with the piano in the contrasting section of the middle movement.   

Washimiya was every bit an equal partner in this venture, the plethora of colours she yielded was dazzling, and matched by See in every turn. This was even more apparent in Ravel’s Sonata in G major, where the fiendishly tricky play of polytonality could have wreaked havoc, but both held their nerve and a bit more. The Blues movement had genuine swagger, with violin pizzicatos simulating the plucked banjo, and knowing slurs and insinuating slides adding to the music’s sultry exoticism.

The pep and energy in the finale’s perpetual motion provided a thrilling conclusion while bringing down a well-filled house. The encore, It Ain’t Necessarily So from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess by way of Heifetz, was a real tease. The Kris Foundation, which supports young talent by presenting this evening’s treats, has backed another sure winner.   

MAHLER 2: RESURRECTION by The Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

MAHLER 2: RESURRECTION
Singapore & Queensland Festival Choruses
Orchestra of the Music Makers

Chan Tze Law, Conductor
Esplanade Concert Hall
Saturday (10 July 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 July 2010.

The Youth Olympic Games may be a month away, but the euphoric flush of youth has arrived, vociferously delivered by 350 young musicians and singers at the Esplanade. Never has there been a greater display of musical audacity, shored up by stoutest of hearts and truest of intentions.

Putting things into perspective, it took the Singapore Symphony Orchestra 15 years before giving the Singapore premiere of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Second Symphony in 1994. Two years was all that was needed for the Orchestra of Music Makers (OMM) and its guiding light Chan Tze Law to pull off that same Olympian feat, and with some to spare.

Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto opened the concert, with young Singaporean See Ian Ike, soon headed for Philadelphia’s famed Curtis Institute, as soloist. Innate confidence, warmth and purity of tone, with unfailing musicality distinguished his playing, running the full gamut of this popular showpiece. A natural and unforced virtuosity, as opposed to making a meal of vacuous gestures, was why this young man stood out. His rock-steady showing will forever put into the shade the recent travesty in the same work by “superstar” Sarah Chang, ice maiden of heartless pyrotechnics.

Fireworks lit up Marina Bay during the intermission, but sparks of a different kind soon ignited in Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. When stirring tremolos and low strings forcefully opened accounts, it was apparent this was to be a reading of no half-measures. Mahler once proclaimed that “the symphony must embrace everything”, and so OMM plumbed the depths and scaled the peaks.

While the funereal first movement could have benefited from a tauter rein, the force of intent was palpable. The tragedy was for real. Massive climaxes rocked the foundations while excellent solos from flautist Cheryl Lim and concertmaster Edward Tan set the tone for instrumental finery to come.

The leisurely Ländler lilt of the slow movement unfolded with gentle insouciance, contrasted with a manic streak in the Scherzo, adapted from one of Mahler’s more surreal songs. The brief fourth movement showcased mezzo-soprano Rebecca Chellappah’s reassuring tones in Urlicht (Primal Light), a nascent calm before the cataclysmic finale.

The latter provided the tour de force of the evening, a hell-for-leather ride that skirted the abyss before the final choral apotheosis. Brass, on and off the stage, worked overtime and brilliantly. The 220-strong chorus’ collective whisper was rapt and mysterious, blending beautifully with soprano Jeong Ae Ree’s ethereal melismata. When they took to their feet for the valedictory proclamation of “Auferstehen” (Resurrection), it was to spine-tingling effect.

Tonight they have conquered the world. Goodness only knows what our sonic youth will accomplish in ten years’ time.

Maestro Chan Tze Law faces the critics (from L):

Marc Rochester (UK), Robert Markow (Canada),

Satoru Takaku (Japan) & PianoManiac.

Singapore's Orchestra of the Music Makers listed in Gramophone Magazine

(Click on image to enlarge)

Singapore's Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) has made a mark in the worldwide classical music scene, with a listing of their 10 July concert of Mahler's Second Symphony "Resurrection" listed in the What's On page of Gramophone Magazine (July 2010 edition). The orchestra, led by Chan Tze Law, is the recipient of the HSBC Youth Excellence Award of 2009 and this is its biggest concert to date. The symphony will feature local vocal talents, Jeong Ae Ree (soprano), Rebecca Chellappah (mezzo-soprano), the Singapore Festival Chorus and the Queensland Festival Chorus. Also on the programme is Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1 with Singapore violinist See Ian Ike.

Chamber Music Weekend / Review

CHAMBER MUSIC WEEKEND

Incursion Trio, Esplanade Recital Studio
Saturday (15 August 2009)

VCH Chamber Series, Victoria Concert Hall
Sunday (16 August 2009, 5.00 pm)

Yang Shuxiang & Friends, Esplanade Recital Studio
Sunday (16 August 2009, 7.30 pm)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 18 August 2009.

What a busy weekend this has been. With the Singapore Symphony Orchestra on a month-long break, local chamber groups and musicians have come out in full force.

First off was the curiously named Incursion Trio (above). Word has it that the three young Singaporeans – violinist Siew Yi Li, cellist Brandon Voo and pianist Beatrice Lin - gave their first recital together in the Swiss town of Sion, hence its name. More topical was the group’s incursion off the beaten track of repertory works to present local premieres of a teenaged Claude Debussy’s Piano Trio in G minor and Spaniard Joaquin Turina’s Second Piano Trio.

These aren’t the greatest of pieces, but there are enough pleasantries to shake off the derivative nature of the former (think Saint-Saëns and Fauré in a palm court), or the paucity of Hispanic-ness in the latter. Polish, confidence and a lovely overall sound are their qualities, capped with an ability to sustain long sighs in Schubert’s autumnal Notturno.

More established are the three ladies of the Feng Trio, members of the SSO, who presented Brahms’ First Piano Trio in B major (Op.8). Has there been a more gorgeous melody than the one that opens this masterpiece? Their sense of nobility and sumptuous handling were alone worth the price of admission.

Pianist Liu Jia (above) also joined other SSO colleagues in Hummel’s Piano Quintet in E flat minor (Op.87), unusually scored to include the double bass. Stylistically caught between Mozart and Mendelssohn, this trifle was 20-or-so innocuous minutes well spent, with a scintillating piano part to tickle the palate.

Leaving the most spectacular for the last, 20-year-old violinist Yang Shuxiang made a stunning debut with pianist Khor Shang Jin (both above) to a rapturous standing ovation. 

Looking like Adonis sporting a Paganinian mane, Yang’s sheer force of personality and a sonorous vibrato to match was simply breathtaking. There was little to quibble about his effortless take on Vitali’s Chaconne, closely followed by Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No.7 in C minor (Op.30 No.2), which penetrated with an intensity of a laser and bristled with brio.

His ability to blend were further highlighted with duos partnering violinist See Ian Ike and violist Tan Wee Hsin, in Moszkowski’s hyper-Romantic Suite for 2 violins in G minor and Lazar Trachtenberg’s devilishly dissonant Witches Soirée respectively. The diablerie continued with Ravel’s Tzigane, a gypsy rhapsody where free-ranging sense of abandon displayed by both violinist and pianist became an asset.

May wonders in our local chamber music scene never cease, and such weekends of musical manna never end.

A Bittersweet Life: Loke Hoe Kit Cello Recital / Review

A BITTERSWEET LIFE
LOKE HOE KIT, Cello
with LIM YAN, Piano
Esplanade Recital Studio
Saturday (27 December 2008)

This review was published in
The Straits Times on 29 December 2008.

Those sceptics who wondered where the Singapore Symphony Orchestra would find young Singaporean soloists to star in its annual President’s Young Talents Concert series should rest easy given the quality of new names coming through. The New York-trained cellist Loke Hoe Kit is one of these, and his demanding solo recital gave much reason for hope.

Sporting sunshades and a coiffure streaked with crimson tints and sparkles, one could be forgiven for expecting the worst, but Loke proved that his musicianship was more than just packaging. The opening with a Desplanes Intrada and Haydn Divertimento was a quite arresting one, at once highlighting a solid grounding in sound production, one comfortably alternating between lyricism and athleticism.

Off came the shades, revealing mascara and more sparkles on the eyelashes! This seeming Boy George of the cello than polished off Swiss-American composer Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo, a single-movement concerto inspired by the biblical King Solomon’s book of Ecclesiastes. Here was a time to be serious, and his oration moved with much eloquence and persuasion, distinguished with bold strokes and gestures, like an impassioned voice from the wilderness.

Clearly he realised the music’s deep dark undertones, and that without pain there would be no glory. Sharing the angst was the excellent pianist Lim Yan (left), whose lush orchestral approach to the piano part (also in the composer’s hand) was every bit as trenchant. Lim also shone in the very tricky piano part in Chopin’s Introduction & Polonaise (Op.3).

Local violinist See Ian Ike than joined Loke in two works for violin and cello - Bohuslav Martinu’s Duo No.1 and the popular Handel-Halvorsen Passacaglia. Both musicians operated like hand and glove, adroitly negotiating the music’s twists and turns with much relish.

The Gregor Piatigorsky rewriting of Schubert’s Introduction, Theme and Variations (Op.82 No.2) was based on a quite brilliant work for piano duet, last performed in 2005 by the duo of Dennis Lee and Toh Chee Hung. Here, Loke’s relative reticence came in the way of concluding the “big” pieces on a truly swashbuckling high. Two of the three encore-like pieces that followed - song transcriptions Fauré’s Apres un reve and Debussy’s Beau soir – showed that he was most at home with the meditative and the sensitive.