PRUSSIAN
WINDS
Music at
an Exhibition
National Museum of Singapore
Tuesday (27 August 2013)
This review was published in The Straits Times on 29 August 2013 with the title "Music like fresh summer's breeze".
There
is a painting by Adolph Menzel called The
Flute Concert of Frederick the Great that describes the perfect setting for
a concert such as this. It depicts the Prussian monarch standing and playing
the flute, surrounded by adoring subjects and musicians in the glow of
candle-lit chandeliers in his Potsdam palace of Sanssouci. This was the mid-18th century,
the “Age of Enlightenment” when a warrior king could also be a Renaissance man,
composer, consummate artist and patron of the humanities.
Among
his entourage counted Johann Joachim Quantz, his flute master, and Carl Philipp
Emanuel Bach, his harpsichordist, who both assumed highly salaried positions in
his court despite being humble servants. This concert was an imaginative
recreation of such a soiree, with paintings from the Royal Collection of
Liechtenstein as the opulent backdrop.
Baroque
music, which does not get enough of an airing here, was served with an intimacy
and immediacy that had its audience enraptured. Flautist Roberto Alvarez and
oboist Audi Goh were the contrasted woodwind players, supported by the basso
continuo of cellist Leslie Tan and harpsichordist Yang Tien. There were six
sonatas in total, each short enough to make up an hour’s worth of royal
entertainment.
All
the sonatas comprised four movements each, in the slow-fast-slow-fast form
known as the sonata di chiesa or
“church sonata”. Incidentally, five were set in the minor keys, but the mood
was anything but sombre. Quantz’s (left) Trio
Sonata in A minor opened the evening, and the flute’s mellow timbre stood
out from the oboe’s more piercing and piquant quality. These were the two
voices which traded melody and counterpoint through much of the music.
Also
interesting to note was the cellist performing in the manner of the baroque,
using softer gut strings and cradling the instrument with his thighs, rather
than resting on its spike. His sound, eschewing the usual vibrato, was lovingly
complimented by the subtly plucked strings of the harpsichord.
Although
the accusation that much baroque music sounded alike is noted, there was much
to enjoy in the individualities of each work. Handel’s Flute Sonata in E minor had a most virtuosic solo part, echoing the
florid runs in his flashy operatic arias. Telemann’s Trio Sonata in D minor saw flute and oboe in comic chattering
repartee, and its finale had an earthy country dance with bagpipe-like drones
from the cello as a short interlude.
The
Flemish composer Jean-Baptiste Loeillet was the interloper in this company,
having died long before Frederick rose to the throne. His very short Trio Sonata in E minor was distinguished
by an aria-like opening Largo and a
jig-like finale. CPE Bach’s (right) Oboe Sonata
in G minor concluded with a delightful theme and variations.
The
concert closed with Quantz’s Trio Sonata
in D major. A cheerful work with a sunny, pastoral feel, it ended in a bounding
Tempo Di Menuet with an enjoyable
lilt and kick in its step. Seldom has an hour of music, delectably performed,
passed like a fresh summer’s breeze.
