OMM GOES TO THE MOVIES 2 / Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

OMM GOES TO THE MOVIES 2

Orchestra of the Music Makers

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (9 January 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 January 2015 with the title "Starry sound trek of movies".

The Orchestra of the Music Makers' second concert of music from the movies was a hit,  just as the first was four years ago. Returning after a successful concert with OMM of Gustav Holst's The Planets last year was Singapore Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Joshua Kangming Tan, who remains a charismatic presence on the podium.

The first piece on the programme was however not directed by him, but Concertmaster Edward Tan whose appearance triggered off the planned cacophony that was Edgard Varese's Tuning Up. Here was a serious spoof of what an orchestra does before a concert proper – random snatches of sound, brass warming up, repeated iterations of the A note and even quotes of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. Originally composed for the movie Carnegie Hall, it was eventually dropped for something less riotous.

Thus began a nearly 3-hour trek through the starry sound world of celluloid fantasy, almost as long as some of the movies themselves. John Williams is an ubiquitous presence with his music from Star Wars, which rings fresh after all these years. In addition to the familiar Main Title, Luke and Leia highlighted some excellent solos from French horn and oboe, and the furious Duel of the Fates ushered in the full-throated voices of the Vocal Associates Festival Chorus trained by Khor Ai Ming.

The 40-strong Children's Choir graced the Christmassy pages of Home Alone, where Williams' music weaved a different kind of spell, one  of festive cheer and heartwarming antics. It was soon back to the battlefields in Howard Shore's Fellowship of the Ring, where humans and hobbits fought off the orcs, with the pristine voice of boy soprano Mikey Robinson illuminating the way. The heroics of David Arnold's Independance Day provided yet another opportunity of musical flag-waving, as humans (led by Americans, who else?) triumph over invading extra-terrestrials.

The second half gave a nod to Britain's three most iconic characters of popular culture. Titters broke out in the audience as the choir sang out Ecce Homo (Qui Est Faba), Latin for Behold The Man (Who Is A Bean), Howard Goodall's signature theme for Rowan Atkinson's Mr Bean.  Then Monty Norman's James Bond Theme, complete with electric guitar, trumpets and trombones, blared out without apology, contrasted with the more suspenseful vibes, Edward Tan's violin and ticking heart-beat in Arnold's Sherlock Suite.

The rest of the concert centred on music from animated movies, which have now become the most important source of great melodies today. Joe Hisaishi's My Neighbour Totoro enjoys cult status in Japan, while John Powell's How To Train Your Dragon can be as moving as the best Wagner. Disney classics will take credit for being leaders in song-writing, not least with hits from Robert and Kristen Lopez's Frozen and Hans Zimmer and Elton John's The Lion King, which had the choir swaying along to the infectious beat.

The vociferous applause from the full-house yielded three encores, including a whistle-along as the orchestra hammered out Kenneth Alford's Colonel Bogey March from The Bridge Over The River Kwai.  OMM's next concert on 7 March covers jazz and Jeremy Monteiro. Be sure not to miss it. 

Photographs by the kind permission of OMM.

THE PLANETS / Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

THE PLANETS

Orchestra of the Music Makers

Esplanade Concert Hall

Wednesday (13 August 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 August 2014 with the title "Planets that are out of this world".

One thing is for certain: the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) just loves doing big concerts. Its latest outing, guest-conducted by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s Associate conductor Joshua Kangming Tan, had not just an orchestral blockbuster, but a full-length concerto and choral work for good measure.

The concert began with Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, joined by 100 voices from the Vocal Associates Festival Chorus and Children’s Chorus singing in Hebrew. The sheer exuberance of the percussion almost drowned out the singers in the jazzy and syncopated first psalm (Make a Joyful Noise), but it got better in the second psalm (The Lord is My Shepherd) when boy soprano Samuel Yuen’s silky voice rang out pure and true. The final psalm (Lord, Lord), with its contrite message, was a salving balm for the spirit.

The orchestra then played sensitive partner to SSO first violinist Chan Yoong Han in Jean Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor. How the ensemble responded to the fiery and virtuosic solo part was a measure of how its young players have matured with each concert. The slow second movement gave the woodwinds moments to shine, and the quartet of French horns were a paradigm of perfect control and restraint.

Even in the rambunctious finale, the very steady yet exhilarating pace maintained by the orchestra allowed Chan’s flight of fancy to soar unabated to its brilliant conclusion. His encore, a movement from Ysaye’s Fifth Sonata, was an ethereal portrayal of a nascent morn.

Gustav Holst’s The Planets, the popular seven-movement suite on celestial bodies and mythology, occupied the second half. It may be said that his orchestration influenced several generations of film composers, especially in the sci-fi genre. Given OMM’s love and sympathy for celluloid music, this suited the players to a tee,

The vehemence and violence of Mars, The Bringer of War was trenchantly realised, and the debt to which the Star Wars franchise owes it becomes immediately apparent. Excellent solos from horn principal Alan Kartik, concertmaster Edward Tan and principal cellist James Ng distinguished Venus, The Bringer of Peace with its tender entreaties.

Mercury, The Winged Messenger was blest with much lightness and fluidity, while Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity, the hit tune of the seven, was given a grandstanding quality that was wholly appropriate. Unusually cogent was the orchestra’s traversal of Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age, which doddered so convincingly on creaky legs that its rejuvenation at the end became a true revelation.

The manic march of Uranus, The Magician soon dissipated, with the wordless women’s voices diffusing ever so insidiously into Neptune, The Mystic that it brought a chill down the spine. Credit goes to chorus director Khor Ai Ming for so finely honing their invisible act, which flickered ever so gently until they drifted out of orbit.

Loud and prolonged applause led conductor Tan to poll the audience as to their choice of encore: Mars or Jupiter. Jupiter won handsomely and by its glorious end, almost three hours had elapsed as if within an instant. That is relativity for you. 

Photographs by the kind permission of the Orchestra of the Music Makers.