HOMECOMING III
Singapore Chinese Orchestra
Singapore Conference Hall
Saturday (27 April 2019)
This review was published in The Straits Times on 29 April 2019 with the title "Rousing finale for SCO's Homecoming concert".
Singapore
Chinese Orchestra’s Homecoming series of concerts is a showcase of local
musical talents who have established international careers, mostly while plying
their artistry overseas. Past editions have included pianist Melvyn Tan,
violinist Kam Ning, wind soloists Kwok Chin-chye and Choo Boon Chong, and the
T’ang Quartet. This latest concert conducted by Yeh Tsung featured three SCO
percussionists and America-based violinist Siow Lee-Chin as soloists.
There
were two major concertante works by Singaporean composer Ho Chee Kong, Head of
Composition at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. Both works integrated solo parts
so well into the orchestral fabric that these could be considered symphonic
poems rather than actual concertos. The Way Of Play (2005) saw
percussionists Xu Fan, Tan Loke Chuah and Benjamin Boo placed behind the
orchestra but they generated enough volume and pulse to drive this work of
extreme energy.
There
was also a pan-Asian air to its palette of symphonic colours, leaving one to
wonder whether the inspirations were Japanese, Javanese or from Jiangnan.
Notions of temple and courtly rituals were conjured, but it was when conductor
Yeh stepped off the podium to admire the threesome’s cadenza that one realised
this was actually a virtuoso’s paradise.
More
Chinese in feel was There And Back, a double concerto receiving its
World Premiere by Siow and cellist Qin Li-Wei. Here, Ho crafted an atmospheric
and cinematic score that evoked the rigours of a journey through China’s vast
loess plateau. Siow’s ethereal violin opened the slow introduction, answered by
Qin’s mellower and deeper plaint.
Before
long, soloists and orchestra were swept into a rugged but exhilarating dance of
the steppes. The most poignant moments transpired when the lights were further
dimmed, revealing only Siow and Qin in an intimate duet, one of rapt stillness
and seeming finality for the ages. This new work deserves to be heard in SCO’s
future overseas tours.
Tagged
on after the intermission were two solo works with Siow. Despite the obvious
show of bravura, Henryk Wieniawski’s famous Polonaise in D major sounded
unwieldy in its guise with Chinese orchestral accompaniment. Much better was
Manuel Ponce’s Estrellita, with Siow’s flowing lyricism backed by
shimmering huqins in Phang Kok Jun’s excellent arrangement.
The
balance of the concert was a extroverted display of the Chinese orchestra’s wealth
of instrumental colours and textures. Liu Qing’s Puppetry, which began
the evening, was finely balanced between modernity and tradition. Concertmaster
Li Bao Shun’s jinghu solo, like some suspended character from puppet
theatre, served as a focal point.
Zhao
Ji Ping’s Homeland Nostalgia from Silk Road Melody was Debussyan
in mood, with Zhao Jianhua’s erhu as protagonist while including the
popular melody Chai Yun Zhui Yue (Colourful Clouds Chasing The Moon)
as one of its motifs. Wang Danhong’s eclectic Macau Capriccio, more
Western (with ideas from Tchaikovsky and Dave Brubeck) than oriental in feel,
closed the evening on a rowdy note.
