AMERIGO-ROUND / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestral Institute / Review

AMERIGO-ROUND 

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory 

Orchestral Institute 

NUS University Cultural Centre 

Friday (2 February 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 5 Feburary with the title "Orchestral institutes delivers classics from the Americas with exuberance".

The latest concert by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestral Institute had a decidedly American slant. Evident in its peculiar title, the name comes from Florentine explorer and navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512) whom at the turn of the 16th century voyaged from Europe to the Americas. The “New World” was a term coined by him, and the newly-discovered continents – North and South - were in turn named after him. 

The carnival atmosphere, also suggested by the title, opened with Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide, his operetta based on Voltaire’s satirical novella. Conducted by Jason Lai, the orchestra leapt into its ebullient pages with a fearless abandon, bringing out its bubbly Rossinian wit. The tricky syncopations, not least in the Glitter and be Gay segment, were brilliantly pulled off. 

Next stop was George Gershwin’s very boisterous Cuban Overture, composed after a holiday in Havana, which incorporated local musical idioms particularly the rumba, and motifs from several popular songs. Percussion and brass sections were made to work overtime, their efforts paying off handsomely in this exuberant performance. 

Aaron Copland’s El Salon Mexico followed, with scents and aromas south of the border being celebrated. From indolent siesta to joyous fiesta, the music luxuriated in excellent solos from trumpet and clarinet. The work soon gathered pace and erupted into a full-blown dance, with terrific thumps on the timpani at the climaxes for good measure. 

American (Jewish) icons:
Bernstein, Gershwin & Copland.

Incidentally, all the three American composers were of Jewish ancestry, from Massachusetts (Bernstein) and Brooklyn (Gershwin and Copland) respectively. How they captured the infectious rhythms and irrepressible flavours of the vernacular with such skill and seeming authenticity, relived by this young orchestra, seemed almost incredulous. 

The concert’s second half had no borrowed music, instead opening with three dances from Spanish composer Manuel de Falla’s ballet Three Cornered Hat. It was the Spanish conquest of the New World which brought its characteristically rhythmic music over to the Americas. In the Neighbour’s Dance, Miller’s Dance and Final Dance, one soon got the essence of Latino music, and it really did not matter which side of the Atlantic it was from. 

If the last dance was hustling and bustling from the very outset, living Mexican composer Arturo Marquez’s very popular Danzon No.2 was a slow boil. Opening with just solo clarinet, piano and claves (two wooden sticks struck against each other) and quietly accompanying strings, the music seemed to emanate from some soporific cantina. 

Its gradual awakening to rude health was what made this reading tick. Soloists stood up as they performed, and with time the standing groups got larger as the music gained in volume and momentum. Eventually the entire string section that got onto its collective feet, and with a loudly-popping shower of streamers, the enjoyable Americas-themed extravaganza was brought to a sonorous close.

INTO THE NEW WORLD / NUS Symphony Orchestra / Review

INTO THE NEW WORLD

NUS Symphony Orchestra

University Cultural Centre

Sunday (10 March 2013)

This review was published by The Straits Times on 12 March 2013 with the title "Energy flows when East meets West".

The East and West have always had a mutual fascination of each other’s cultures, and this concert drew upon this synergy with popular works of the symphonic repertoire. On casual glance, the pieces performed by the National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra did not seem to reflect this, but the listening experience soon proved otherwise.

Opening with three movements from Hungarian nationalist Zoltan Kodály’s Háry János Suite, one was immediately struck by how Oriental the music sounded. Jonathan Lee's nicely shaded opening viola solo set the melancholy mood for the nostalgic Song, paving the way for the virtuosity of guest yangqin soloist Qu Jian Qing (Principal in the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, above), whose instrument more than ably replaced the Hungarian cimbalom, played by striking rather than plucking or bowing its strings.

Traditional Chinese instruments, the sheng, dizi and yangqin, also appeared in Chen Gang and He Zhanhao’s Butterfly Lovers Concerto, replacing and complementing the parts of the oboe, flute and harp. Although scored for Western orchestra, these touches lent an air of authenticity and the orchestra supported violinist Foo Say Ming  (left) to the hilt.

To say that Foo plunged into its Romantic excesses with real relish would be to put it mildly. He owned the piece, colouring it with judiciously placed portamenti, or slides, which simulated the erhu’s plaint and vocal inflections of Beijing Opera. He also blended very well with cellist Kenneth Lee and their unison duet together was very memorable.

After the intermission, conductor Lim Soon Lee (right) presided over a tautly paced account of Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, popularly known as “From The New World”. Whether it contains native-American melodies, Afro-American spirituals, Central European symphonic formalities, or a synthesis of these is one for the musicologists, but this performance had much to recommend.

After a cautious start from the violas and cellos, the young musicians launched themselves fearlessly into the fray. At the energetic tempo adopted by Lim, there was no room for insecurity or doubt, and their response was a robust one. Woodwinds were excellent in the Largo, with Georgina Ng’s cor anglais solo garnering the honours, and the strings had many degrees of subtlety which guaranteed the success of this movement.   

The third movement’s Slavonic dance was equally trenchant, and there was no let-up in the rambunctious finale, with the tension ratcheted to almost unsustainable levels. Sustain they did, and despite strain in the brass when pushed to extremes, the final pages were a testament to how well this ensemble has progressed through the years.

The encore of Brahms’s First Hungarian Dance was an apt and welcome one, a celebratory close to the evening’s fine musical fare.    

  

Photographs courtesy of NUS Centre for the Arts.

THE JOY OF PIANO / Review

THE JOY OF PIANO

ExxonMobil Campus Concerts

University Cultural Centre

Tuesday to Thursday (23-25 October 2012)

An edited version of this review was published in The Straits Times on 27 October 2012 with the title "Bask in a breathtaking piano landscape". 

The Joy of Piano, Singapore’s only free international piano festival, brought together three talented young pianists in challenging recital programmes that could rival the established Singapore International Piano Festival. They were united by having won top prizes at the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, organised by The Chopin Society of Hong Kong, as well as other major awards.

 

In the Russian Ilya Rashkovskiy, who opened the festival, one found an interpreter par excellence of Russian repertoire in the mould of legends Richter and Gilels. In Prokofiev’s Eighth Sonata, he negotiated a treacherous tightrope between bittersweet melancholy and lacerating violence with a cool steely resolve. In commanding control throughout, he also yielded poetry from Rachmaninov’s clangourous Second Sonata through its dense thickets of notes.

Breathtaking virtuosity aside, lyricism was breathed into Schubert’s desolate Impromptu in C minor and seemingly hackneyed Chopin began to resound anew. The Second Ballade and “Heroic” Polonaise could often be reduced to a mass of loud clichés, but the passion Rashkovskiy instilled into these warhorses both inspired and invigorated. His seamless legato singing line in the Nocturne in D flat major (Op.27 No.2) was also one to die for. 

 

Wednesday evening saw an equally trenchant response from Hong Kong’s Colleen Lee, an epitome of feminine grace whose lithe stature belied a big sound and enormous reserves. There was whimsy and fantasy to Schumann’s little Arabeske, while world-weariness coloured the Fantasy in C major, with a share of wrong notes in the treacherous second movement as if to prove the point.

Her overall vision and conception was never in doubt, volatile and excitable in Chopin’s Second Scherzo and displaying a kaleidoscopic range of moods and colours for the 24 short Préludes of Op.28. The journey was eventful and highly personal, one that revolved around the “Raindrop” Prélude, where time stood still for a full five minutes. The coruscating final number in D minor was the perfect a jolt to the senses, delivered with stunning panache.

 

On the final night, Italian Giuseppe Andaloro played what must have been the most unusual recital thought possible. Completely eschewing classical and romantic repertoire, baroque and 20^th century music held sway. In Frescobaldi’s Partita on La Follia, harpsichord-like ornamentations on the Steinway grand astonished as well as delighted, while his view of the Bach-Busoni Chaconne traversed dynamic extremes, from tinkles of a music box to thunderous organ sonorities. 

The keyboard wizardry continued in the contemporary works, where impressionistic hues of Messiaen’s Préludes sat easily with the bald dissonances of Bartok’s Suite Op.14 and syncopations of Stravinsky’s Tango and Ligeti’s Two Capriccios. Four of Kapustin’s free-wheeling Études, played with a fearless disregard of their complexities, brought down the house. The capacity audience, rewarded with two further encores, was clearly captivated and basking in the joy of outsized pianism

The Joy of Piano is part of the ExxonMobil Campus Concerts Series and was generously sponsored by The Chopin Society of Hong Kong. All photographs courtesy of NUS Centre for the Arts.

THE JOY OF PIANO / Singapore's Only Free International Piano Festival

Not to be missed! THE JOY OF PIANO, to be held on three evenings from 23 to 25 October 2012 at the University Cultural Centre Theatre, is Singapore's first and only free international piano festival. Featured are three extremely talented prize-winning pianists who have been associated with the Hong Kong International Piano Competition, organised by The Chopin Society of Hong Kong. Two of them are 1st prize winners of that competition: Ilya Rashkovskiy (2005) and Giuseppe Andaloro (2011). Joining them is Hong Kong's most decorated pianist in the SAR's history, Colleen Lee.

Tickets for the recitals at 8 pm are available on a first come first served basis and can be obtained at the door on each evening. Please come very early to claim them. 

Ever wondered what the programme is going to be? Here's a low down on the prizes each pianist has won and their exciting recital programmes.   

ILYA RASHKOVKIY (Russia)

1st prize, Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2005

2nd prize, Marguerite Long International Piano Competition, 2002

4th prize. Queen Elisabeth International Piano Competition 2007

3rd Prize, Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition, 2011

SCHUBERT Impromptu in C minor, Op.90 no.1

PROKOFIEV Sonata No.8 in B flat major, Op.84

CHOPIN Ballade No.2 in F major, Op.38

CHOPIN Nocturne Op.27 No.2

CHOPIN Polonaise Op.53 "Heroic"

RACHMANINOV Sonata No.2 in B flat minor, Op.36

COLLEEN LEE (Hong Kong) 

Finalist, Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2005

Finalist, Chopin International Piano Competition 2005

Finalist, Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition, 2006

Finalist, Sendai International Piano Competition 2007

SCHUMANN Arabeske in C major, Op.18

SCHUMANN Fantaisie in C major, Op.17

CHOPIN Fantaisie in F minor, Op.49

CHOPIN 24 Préludes, Op.28

GIUSEPPE ANDALORO (Italy)
1st Prize, Hong Kong International Piano Competition 2011
1st Prize, Sendai International Piano Competition 2001
1st Prize, London International Piano Competition 2002
1st Prize, Busoni International Piano Competition 2005

FRESCOBALDI Partita sopra l’aria di Follia
BACH-BUSONI Chaconne
MESSIAEN Three Préludes
STRAVINSKY Tango
BARTOK Suite, Op.14
LIGETI Two Capriccios
KAPUSTIN Four Études, Op.40

The Joy of Piano is presented by the NUS Centre for the Arts under its ExxonMobil Campus Concerts series, and generously sponsored by The Chopin Society of Hong Kong.