SMETANA AND DVORAK / VCH Presents Chamber / Review

 

SMETANA AND DVORAK 

VCHpresents Chamber 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Friday (17 May 2024) 

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 May 2024 with the title "Warm evening of Bohemian rarities at SSO's chamber concert."

Was it good planning or mere coincidence that this year has been a boon for lovers of Bohemian music? Concertgoers might remember superb performances of Antonin Dvorak’s chamber works: Japan’s Aoi Trio in his Third Piano Trio (Op.65) and More Than Music & Friends in the Second Piano Quintet (Op.81). 

Sunday will see the Singapore debut of the Prague-based Pavel Haas Quartet in music by Josef Suk, Bedrich Smetana and Leos Janacek, but this evening’s offering by members of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra should be remembered equally fondly. 

Smetana (1824-1884) is known as the “Father of Czech musical nationalism”, with tone poem Die Moldau (or Vltava) from the orchestral cycle Ma Vlast (My Country) being his best-loved work. Attended by a well-filled house, the 200th anniversary of Smetana’s birth was commemorated with the rare performance of his Piano Trio in G minor (Op.15). 

Composed after the tragic death of his daughter from scarlet fever, the music exuded sadness, opening with violinist Ye Lin’s impassioned solo. Throbbing chords from pianist Albert Tiu added to the pathos while cellist Christopher Mui’s lyrical lines provided a more calming influence. 

The threesome worked very well together, even if the work often highlighted the violin. Ye’s robust tone and flawless intonation seemed symbolic of Smetana’s representation of feminine pride and dignity, which was lent a poignancy through his daughter’s loss. 

The Scherzo was more light-hearted, with a folk dance-like quality, later transforming into something more stately without making a grand statement. The Presto finale fired on all cylinders, with pianist Tiu’s prestidigitations dictating the pace. Cellist Mui’s big melody almost stole the show, before the main theme ground into a slow funeral march. 

OK, who just farted?

Everything's alright,
it was just the VCH ghost!

The brilliant close to the trio got the plaudits its deserved from an unusually mature and sophisticated audience, on a rare evening which had neither fidgety children, errant handphones nor inappropriate clapping between movements. 

The rarities continued into the second half with the Second String Quintet in G major (Op.77) by Dvorak (1841-1904), performed by violinists Chan Yoong-Han and Sayuri Kuru, violist Gu Bing Jie, cellist Ng Pei-Sian and bassist Yang Zheng Yi. The unusual scoring with string quartet backed by double-bass translated into music of genuine congeniality, not unlike that experienced in Franz Schubert’s Trout Quintet. 

Thus its four movements radiated warmth and mellowness which never overstayed their welcome. The opening movement bristled with vigour, contrasted by a Scherzo which was not so much a joke, but a play on listeners’ expectations. Tempo and rhythmic shifts, skilfully handled by the players, had one wondering whether this was a dance, or something more serious. 

The slow movement oozed Slavic intensity. Violinist Chan and cellist Ng strove to maintain its melodic lines and did so gloriously. The finale’s driving rhythms, with ensemble at full throttle, ensured this Bohemian rhapsody closed with highest possible of spirits.

A GIFT TO THE UNIVERSE: CELEBRATING BACH III / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

A GIFT TO THE UNIVERSE

CELEBRATING BACH III

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (4 February 2021)

 

This was the third concert by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra celebrating the legacy of J.S.Bach, utilising chamber forces that have become a norm as Singapore gradually emerges from the Covid circuit breaker period. Conducted by Darrell Ang, the hour-long concert attended by a socially-distanced and masked audience, featured three familiar works.

 

Bach’s diverse set of six Brandenburg Concertos was the closest he came to the baroque concerto grosso form, featuring soloists (concertino group) playing separately from the general ensemble (ripieno group). As such, selected players from within the orchestra were highlighted and given their chance to shine in their solo parts.

 

Issues of balance resulted however cropped up in the popular Second Brandenburg Concerto, when violinist Kong Xianlong was stood front of stage while flautist Evgueni Brokmiller, oboist Pan Yun and trumpeter Lau Wen Rong (substituting for Principal Jon Paul Dante) sat playing in the rear. Given the prominence and volume of brass, this seemed a logical move, but the overall balance of sonorities did not fully gel.

 

The violin barely stood out, the woodwinds often receded into the background while the trumpet - most prominent of them all – stole the show. Playing at the highest possible register, this extremely demanding part was also fraught with difficulties. Although Lau has a pleasant and striking clarion tone, the articulation was not always immaculate.

 

As the ensemble settled into the concert, the Fourth Brandenburg Concerto fared much better. Both flautists Brokmiller and Miao Shanshan played from the back and were as one throughout the three movements. Violinist Zhao Tian played at the front and fully relished his part, with virtuosic flourishes that would not look out of place in a Vivaldi concerto. This was arguably the best ensemble performance of the evening, and closed the concert on a high.

 

Wedged in between the Brandenburgs was the evergreen Concerto in D minor for two violins (BWV.1043), with Ye Lin and guest soloist Chloe Chua doing the honours. Fences were rushed in the opening few bars, resulting in some untidiness but eventually cooler minds prevailed. Once again, one cannot overstate the miracle that is Chloe, joint winner of the 2018 Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition (Junior category), who partnered relative veteran Ye (close to three times her age) to near perfection. The slow movement sung with an aria-like seamlessness and the busy counterpoint of the outer movements were dispatched with spirit and verve.

 

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra has never sold itself as a baroque specialist, but it is encouraged to continue exploring this repertoire, not just the familiar favourites but to forge out further afield.