ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE: WALTON & BRAHMS / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra / Review

ORCHESTRAL INSTITUTE:

WALTON & BRAHMS

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory 

Orchestral Institute

Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (9 September 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 September 2023 with the title "Thrilling glimpse into classical ensembles' future".

 

It cannot be overestimated how Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, has impacted and transformed the face of classical orchestral music in Singapore. Scores of music students who graduate every year have joined the rank and file of the Singapore Symphony and Singapore Chinese Orchestras, Orchestra of the Music Makers, re:Sound Collective, T’ang and Concordia Quartets, besides forming the nucleus of Red Dot Baroque. Whoever thought that one alumnus, Kahchun Wong, would become the chief conductor of the Halle and Japan Philharmonic Orchestras?

 

It has been fascinating to observe the conservatory’s orchestra perform over two decades, first led by Chan Tze Law, later Wang Ya Hui and now its present conductor Jason Lai. The Orchestral Institute, as the ensemble is known, performed a rare programme of Walton and Brahms, names not often juxtaposed in concert. Conductor Lai explained that the works were united by a quality of soulfulness besides having quiet and sublime endings.

 

20^th century English composer William Walton’s Cello Concerto (1957) was considered unusually conservative for its time, a period of obligatory atonalism and avant-garde experimentation. Over a gently throbbing accompaniment, soloist Zhu Zeyu coaxed out its lyrical melody, imbued with nostalgia and sorrowful reflection, through long-breathed lines.

Photo: Chan Chen

 

The transparent and chamber-like orchestration was well-observed, and Zhu’s virtuosity and control began to shine through, becoming more apparent in the mercurial and acerbic central movement. Its dissonances were no more spiky than Prokofiev or Shostakovich, and the cellist as nimble vocalist and untiring athlete was truly put to the test. Zhu passed with flying colours into the finale’s Theme and Improvisations, calling for even more imagination and colour. He duly delivered with neither pretension nor apology all through to its ethereal close.     

 

Brahms’ Symphony No.3 in F major (Op.90) is the “Cinderella” of his four symphonies, by virtue of it being his least celebrated. Opening expansively, its main subject was inspired by a motif from his late mentor Robert Schumann’s First Symphony.

Photo: Chan Chen

 

Despite deploying a smaller orchestra, the ensemble created an all-round big sonority, impressing at the outset and later storming through the development with real passion. By contrast, the second movement ambled by leisurely without slackening on its vital pulse.The lilting third movement was the very embodiment of nostalgia, and while its central section dragged a little, a French horn solo gratefully marked the return of what must be one of Brahms’ most memorable melodies.

 

The finale began furtively but then sprung into life, tautly marshalled by conductor Lai. Its narrative was also thrillingly whipped up to a tumultuous climax. Eschewing a blazing conclusion, a final brass chorale heralded the symphony’s opening theme, now retiring to a calming close. For this symphony, the young orchestra demonstrated emphatically that less means more.

 

Curious about what Singapore and Southeast Asia’s future orchestras might look and sound like? Go to Kent Ridge and watch this space.

BEETHOVEN IM GARTEN / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra & Wong Kah Chun / Review

BEETHOVEN IM GARTEN 2022

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra

Botanic Gardens 

Shaw Foundation Symphony Stage

Saturday (26 March 2022)

An edited version of this review was published in The Straits Times on 30 March 2022 with the title "A prelude to better times with Beethoven".

 

The skies over the Botanic Gardens had been overcast for most of the afternoon. Distant thunder rumbled and one wondered whether Beethoven Im Garten (Beethoven in the Garden) would even take place if it had rained. Then at six, the sun emerged from the shadows and a cool breeze swept like a smile over the audience of a thousand, all ticketed, masked and partially socially-distanced.

 

There was to be no repeat of the stormy fourth movement of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, but more like its heartwarming fifth movement, a song of thanksgiving. The symphony to be heard this evening was, however, Beethoven’s Fourth in B flat major (Op.60), not the most popular of his nine masterpieces. The German composer and critic Robert Schumann described it as a “slender Grecian maiden between two Norse giants”, which was flattering albeit in an oblique way.  

 

Beethoven In Garten was an initiative of the German Embassy in Singapore with young Singaporean conductor Wong Kah Chun, presently chief conductor of the Nuremberg Symphony, inaugurated in 2018 to celebrate German-Singapore friendship. Performed by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra (Wong’s alma mater) augmented by ten members from the Dresden Philharmonic, this event had the welcoming effect of ushering in a raft of concerts with relaxed Covid rules.

Mind the Gap!
Why such poor planning from National Parks?

 

The audience was still a segregated one, with sponsored and specially invited guests seated near the stage, while commoners (including this listener) were secluded far back in the rear separated by a 50-metre stretch of no man’s land. It was no picnic either as food and drinks had been banned, and listeners had to be content with listening to one of two speakers blaring out the music while observing the proceedings through binoculars.

 

After the obligatory speeches, the symphony soon got underway and Beethoven’s music rarely disappointed. Did one know that the slow introduction of the first movement employed a variant of the Fate motif of his famous Fifth Symphony? Now slowed down till barely recognisable, but it served as a launching pad for the movement’s exciting main section.

 

The energised start was followed by a masterly slow movement built on waves upon waves of sound. Contrast was provided by the Scherzo's somewhat ungainly lurching, but Wong's taut direction ensured the ensemble kept in sync throughout. Applause greeted the end of each movement, but unlike in concert halls, it did not feel inappropriate but a totally natural response. 

 

The finale was a perpetual motion in fast tarantella rhythm, a breathless ride in which every player became his or her own virtuoso musician. Conductor Wong then spoke touchingly but frankly about how the pandemic had affected the lives of young professional musicians, and this concert was a harbinger for better times ahead.

 

The concert closed with the exhilarating final movement Saltarello (another fast and swirling dance) from Mendelssohn’s Fourth Symphony, better known as his Italian Symphony. The skies had darkened but the weather held up for a stirring conclusion.

You can catch the concert here:

[LIVE] Beethoven im Garten - YouTube

INTERSECTIONS / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra / Review

INTERSECTIONS

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Tuesday (9 April 2019)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 11 April 2019 with the title "Ethereal beauty meets harmony".

There are good reasons why Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in the National University of Singapore is known as “Asia’s International Conservatory”. Its students and staff are a good representation of the world’s diverse cultures, and despite being an educational institution of Western classical music, projects the feel of  “East meets West” in its pursuits.

The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra’s pre-tour concert, led by its British Principal Conductor Jason Lai, also proudly paraded that internationalism. As if commemorating the bicentenary of Raffles’ acquisition of Singapore as a Crown Colony of the British Empire, the programme was for a large part English but showcased significant homegrown talent.  

Courtesy of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory

Ralph Vaughan Williams’s Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis, written for only strings, opened the concert on an ethereal high. The ensemble was subdivided into three “choirs”, each with separate parts, but together they coalesced with a vast cathedral-like sonority that belied its relatively modest size. With one voice, this string chorus radiated waves of warmth and burnished beauty.  

Standing out were the quartet of soloists, led by violist Wei Jun-Ting and violinist Kong Xianlong, which formed a concertino group as if playing in a baroque concerto grosso. This concept of stand-alone voices backed by a larger body of musicians also extended into young Singaporean composer Chen Zhangyi’s Concerto For Erhu, Zhongruan, Percussion and Ensemble, which received its world premiere.

Courtesy of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory

This quasi-impressionist work harnessed woodwinds and brass, hitherto unused in this concert, as backing for three soloists playing Chinese instruments. Likie Low (erhu), Sulwyn Lok (zhongruan) and Yuru Lee (Chinese drums and marimba) were all conservatory students, majoring in  composition, audio arts and sciences and percussion respectively. This could have been a recipe for balance disasters, but Chen’s deft scoring ensured each instrument maintained its own voice amid spirited accompaniment, besides coming together for precious brief moments.

Courtesy of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory

Despite the work not sounding overtly Chinese in idiom, the Confucian principle of  “San ren xing”, or journey of three persons, was applied. Here, each traveller benefits from the wisdom of the others, and to these ears, the unusual combo of erhu and marimba seemed to effect the greatest harmony. 

After the intermission, William Walton’s Violin Concerto was given a rare airing with Qian Zhou, the Conservatory’s Head of Strings, as impressive soloist. Written for Jascha Heifetz, the 1939 work fused technical dare-devilry, unabashed Romanticism with 20^th century accents. Bittersweet melodies in the 1^st movement were the perfect foil for the witty and mercurial scherzo.

Qian dealt these wide shifts of dynamics with much flair, besides evincing a firm, robust tone and impeccable intonation. Just as importantly, Lai’s young charges coped well in these capricious mood swings, alternating bracing sarcasm with disarming sentimentality. On this form, the conservatory orchestra is set to do the nation proud in its coming visit to South Korea.    

UPBEAT / Igudesman & Joo / Review

UPBEAT

Igudesman & Joo with the

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra

Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (17 November 2018)

This review was published by The Straits Times on 19 November 2018 with the title "Fun with comical and classical mash-ups."

The musical comedy duo of violinist Aleksey Igudesman and pianist Hyung-ki Joo have been delighting audiences, live and on YouTube, for years. Coming across much better in the flesh, their two-hour-long gig was enhanced by the connivance of the excellent and totally sporting Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra.

Musical jokes tend to be a little too sophisticated for casual audiences, more often suited for cued-in listeners than being outrightly hilarious. Igudesman and Joo however found a happy medium by adding a little slapstick to their schtick but stuck to being seriously good musicians.

Whoever thought they could both sing or conduct? They took turns leading the orchestra in An Austrian In America. The 5-movement spiel was to mash up classical tunes by Austrian greats with American standards. The Overture saw Strauss’ Die Fledermaus Overture mixed with Old Folks At Home, Simple Gifts and Yankee Doodle. Schubert Loves America muddied Die Forelle (The Trout) with, well, America.

Oh My Darling Johann Strauss had Wiener Blut bloodied with Clementine, sounding like La Valse gone horribly wrong. And no prizes of guessing what melodies got marching orders in Stars And Radetzky Forever. The audience also got their spot of synchronised clapping.

Speaking of audiences, there was a send-up to their bronchial members in the form of a concerto for coughing violinist. The soloist did not get to play a single note, but his respiratory affliction soon infected the conductor, orchestra and audience, resulting in a ca-cough-phonous conclusion.

“And a piece by Rachmaninov,” announced Igudesman, and that was the entire 1^st movement of the Second Piano Concerto. After its sonorous opening chords, Joo showed that the first few minutes could easily be faked as the orchestra’s tutti soared with the big tune. As it turned out, he could also play the tricky solo bits as well, and fairly convincing too.  

Among the best spoofs was the baiting of Richard Wagner, the vilest anti-Semite among composers. The idea of turning his Ride Of The Valkyries and Bridal Chorus from Lohengrin into a riot of Klezmer and Kalinka was a brilliant riposte to the boor of Bayreuth. At its climax, Igudesman sporting a Darth Vader mask proclaimed, “I am your... bride!”

In the same vein were uproarious orchestrations of that pesky Nokia ringtone (originally a waltz for guitar by Tarrega) in the styles of Mozart, Brahms, Schoenberg and culminating in a battle between conductors where Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Ravel and Dvorak tussled for the right to conclude the work. Beethoven (his Ninth Symphony) won.

There was even a spot for young Singaporean guitarist Kevin Loh to share the limelight, alongside original compositions by the duo. The fun had to end sometime, and it was to the strains of Zorba The Greek, Sabre Dance and Chariots Of Fire. It should be concluded that Igudesman & Joo are the best comedians among musicians, and the best musicians among comedians.   

  

Darth Voyder sticks it up to Richard Wagner,
"Up yours, goy!"

PRELUDE TO THE AFTERNOON OF A FAUN, STRAUSS' DON JUAN AND ALBERT'S TCHAIKOVSKY / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra / Review

PRELUDE TO THE 

AFTERNOON OF THE FAUN,

STRAUSS' DON JUAN & 

ALBERT'S TCHAIKOVSKY

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Tuesday (10 April 2018)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 April 2018 with the title "Pianist Albert Tiu steals the show". 

The Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra's final concert of the academic year resembled a graduation prom. Most of the lady players wore colourful evening gowns, adding a dose of glamour to a programme filled with glitzy orchestral showpieces. These are works which professional musicians are expected to play in orchestras, and the young players did a fine job under the helm of French guest conductor Olivier Ochanine.

Bravura was first order of the day in Richard Strauss' tone poem Don Juan. Needing little or no time to warm up, the orchestra immediately launched itself into its passionate pages. The romantic sweep and swashbuckling impressed, which was made even more special by the solo playing. The plaintive oboe in the work's dreamiest episodes was excellent, matched by solo clarinet in repartee, and the famous passage for French horns was truly a moment to wait for and savour. There were heroes and heroines aplenty.

The orchestra's versatility showed when it switched gears for Debussy's Prelude To The Afternoon Of The Faun with its languid and haunting opening. Long sinuous lines on solo flute set the mood where the ear entered a realm of sensuousness. The sensitive and evocative playing was accompanied by projected visuals created by media students Mervin Wong and Emilia Teo.

Great music and spirited playing do not need added visual dimensions, and the moving pictures of dispersing smoke, seeping water and close-up shots of plants and flowers were merely innocuous appendages. Other than an unintentionally comical cartoon of a faun, this seemed like an experiment in synaesthesia, an affliction where sounds induce coloured visual hallucinations. 

The longest work of the evening was Tchaikovsky's rarely performed Second Piano Concerto in G major, with Albert Tiu as soloist. Trailing in popularity to its predecessor by a long distance, it is also ungratefully taxing for the pianist.

Tiu however mastered its crunching chords, stampeding octaves, and tricky fingering with fearless aplomb, even if occasional over-enthusiastic orchestral playing masked some passages. More importantly, the ballet-like quality of the music shone through, culminating in a long and treacherously rhythmic piano cadenza which did little to faze Tiu.

The slow movement, played in its original unedited version, was a essentially a mini-concerto for piano trio. Concertmaster Askar Salimdjanov and principal cellist Jamshid Saydikarimov, both from Uzbekistan, conducted an exquisite pas de deux in an extended introduction before being sidelined by the piano in the concerto's finest melody. Resolution invariably occurs with Tchaikovsky, and a loving menage a trois with all soloists ensued. 

The infectious gaiety of the rollicking finale brought the loudest cheers and two encores. Still with Tchaikovsky, Tiu emoted with Mikhail Pletnev's transcription of the Andante from Sleeping Beauty, followed by his own arrangement of a fugal tango by Astor Piazzolla for the marvellously balanced threesome. The house simply rocked. 

  

Watch this performance of 

Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto here: