pianomania

A MUSIC VOYAGE AROUND THE ISLAND

Singapore

Chinese Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Saturday (14 January 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 16 January 2017 with the title "Playful take on Singapore-inspired music".

Nanyang music featured prominently in this Singapore Chinese Orchestra concert held for the first time in Victoria Concert Hall since its post-renovation opening, reason being that SCO's Singapore Conference Hall home is undergoing its own refurbishment. The sound of Chinese instruments resonated strongly in this reverberant space, opening with Zhang Xiao Feng's Singapura Overtureconducted by SCO Assistant Conductor Moses Gay.

Its opening was Western before becoming distinctly Malay with its play of drumming. Then various motifs of a deconstructed familiar local tune appeared in whiffs and wafts. It took more than a few seconds to identify Di Tanjong Katong, which was never heard in its full glory with the music galloping like The Magnificent Seven theme to a raucous close.

More original in conception was Simon Kong's Izpirazione II, its three varied movements inspired by local fruits – Durian, Rambutan and Tarap– and taking the form of a prelude, scherzo and finale. Winds and percussion coloured the music's pungent aroma, joined by the musicians' synchronised clapping and stamping of feet as the suite drew to a colourful end.

There were two concertante works that offered very different aspects of solo string prowess. The first was Wang Dan Hong's Amannisha, named after the 15^thcentury Uyghur singer-dancer who defined the muqam musical tradition of Central Asia. Conducted by SCO Resident Conductor Quek Ling Kiong, Chinese erhu soloist Lu Yiwen's spectacular showing began with gentle musings in the upper registers before getting earthy in a vigourous and rhapsodic dance that rocked the hall to its rafters.

Lu's immaculate deportment contrasted with the free-and-easy improvisations of former Singapore Symphony Orchestra concertmaster Alexander Souptel in Phoon Yew Tien's Gypsy Rhapsody. This medley included Monti's Csardas, Enesco's First Romanian Rhapsody and variations on the Russian song Ochi Chornye (Dark Eyes) in a riotous mash-up. Souptel was his usual irrepressible self, cavorting on stage with the connivance of conductor Yeh Tsung, including a cheeky send-up to Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto for good measure.

Not to be outdone, the three conductors did their own solos in the world premiere of Journey Around Singapore by SCO Composer-in-Residence Eric Watson. Hoping to catch Yeh on piano, Quek tackling percussion and Gay playing the erhu, while taking turns to conduct? Here was the piece, destined to be a National Day Parade hit.

A musical travelogue in all but name, the work employed popular tunes representing four compass points: Sentosa Isle (South), Di Tanjong Katong (East), Voices From The Heart (West), the Chinese classic Horse-Racingand Rossini's William Tell Overture (North, specifically the Turf Club at Kranji) before closing with the calypso rhythm of Singapore Town.

That the concert was not to be taken too seriously was also underlined by the works that ended each half. Jiang Ying's Hot Melody from Southeast Asia was an Asian pastiche of all those Leroy Anderson “jazz” pieces, while Zhao Ji Ping's Celebration Overture was a spin-off from Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture with Chinese tunes. If you can't beat them, join them.

LOVE STORY

Piano Themes From Cinema's Golden Age

VALENTINA LISITSA, Piano

BBC Concert Orchestra

Decca 478 9454 / ****1/2

Welcome to the 1940s and 50s world of the silver screen when film music all sounded like the piano concertos of Sergei Rachmaninov. That the composer defected from Bolshevik Russia to live his last days in Beverley Hills seemed like the ultimate irony.

Richard Addinsell's Warsaw Concerto, written for the 1941 British war movie Dangerous Moonlight, was the most famous example of movie music bringing together barnstorming pianism, dramatic gestures and lush Romantic orchestration. The earliest work in this genre however comes from 1940, in the little-known Portrait Of Isla from The Case Of The Frightened Lady by Jack Beaver which is every bit as sentimental.

Even Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich got into the act with his Assault On Beautiful Gorky from The Unforgettable Year 1919 (1951), which was his characteristic cinematic style but without the stock-in-trade grotesque jokes. Included also are Hubert Bath's Cornish Rhapsody (Love Story), Charles Williams'The Dream Of Olwen (While I Live) and Nino Rota's The Legend Of The Glass Mountain, which all sound more familiar than their titles suggest.

The outliers are scores by Richard Rodney Bennett, Carl Davis and Dave Grusin, with contributions from the 1970s and 80s. Ukrainian-American pianist Valentina Lisitsa is in her element, bringing touches of glamour, romance and not to mention, virtuosity, to this unabashedly enjoyable album.

MUSICA INTIMAE: EVENSONGS

Vox Camerata

Yong Musicians Foundation Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Tuesday (17 January 2017)

The first choral concert of the year was given by Vox Camerata, a choir founded by Mohamed Shahril bin Mohamed Salleh which has a distinction of programming serious choral repertoire yet without subjecting its members to a formal audition. This open-handed and egalitarian approach, characterised by a total absence of snobbery, has been rewarded by seriously good performances in venues as diverse as the Armenian Church, School of the Arts and The Arts House.

Its Esplanade Concert Hall debut was backed by an orchestra, no less than the young and very promising The Young Musicians Foundation Orchestra. The concert opened without voices, in Mendelssohn's The Hebrides Overture, also known as Fingal's Cave, conducted by Ignatius Wang. The evenness of the playing was remarkable, led by very good strings (with ex-SSO veteran violinist Lim Shue Churn as concertmaster), and as the work progressed, a very fine woodwind section with an excellent clarinet principal. If the slow opening pages sounded little soporific in pace, it soon built up a head of steam. This was a performance of polish, if not one of raw passion and a little wildness. That would come with some more experience.

The chorus of Vox Camerata, joined by guests from the Anderson Junior College Alumni Choir and German Protestant Church Choir, had their say in Vaughan Williams' Five Mystical Songs with baritone Brent Allcock as soloist, and conducted by Alvin Seville Arumugam. Using the poems of George Herbert, the music relived the English pastoral tradition which the New Zealander Allcock was totally at home with. His is a warm and reassuring voice that sounded gorgeous in the opening Easter, with the words “Rise, heart. Thy Lord is risen”, echoed with deep resonance from the chorus. This set the tone, further lit up with I Got Me Flowers, gently accompanied by harp and strings, and Love Bade Me Welcome, with subtle woodwind contributions and the chorus joining in later with fine and discreet unison humming.

Credit has to go to conductor Arumugam for his command of the orchestra, which was always sensitive to the voices, and never threatened to overwhelm. The transparency of the strings and sublime woodwind solos were true to the music's gentle spirit. The Call was for a short but moving baritone solo, followed by the final song Antiphon, perhaps the most exciting for the chorus, which proclaimed “Let the world in every corner sing”, and meaning every word of it. Vaughan Williams is not often performed in Singapore, so this was indeed a real treat.

The strings remained onstage, joined by pianist Ong Seng Choo to accompany the choir in Gabriel Faure's Cantique de Jean Racine, which was conducted by Ignatius Wang. This short work breathes the same ethereal air as the French composer's Requiem, that is it sounds otherwordly. The men's voices that opened sounded uneven, with the volume weighted to the lower registers, but that soon leavened with the entry of the women. The strained voices sounded exposed here but the spirit with which the music was sung made up for this shortcoming.

It was laudable that in order to save trees, no programme booklets were printed for the concert, with all programme information and notes made available in a downloadable soft copy. The price to pay was that the audience applauded after every single movement, and that trend continued well into the second half.

The excellent orchestra was dispensed with in John Rutter's Magnificat, which was conducted by Vox Camerata Chorusmaster Shahril himself with Ong again on piano accompaniment. In this larger scale work, the chorus occupying centrestage under the acoustic canopy seemed overmatched by the venue, and some parts sounded thin as a result. A choir double its size would have been preferable, but make no mistake, it still brought out a gutsy and committed performance, full of heart and feeling.

The syncopated opening Magnificat was well-delivered, with a keen mastery of its tricky rhythms. Rutter's very tonal and highly approachable music risks sounding saccharine, so the chorus avoided over sentimentality in the slower movements. The 2^nd movement, Of a Rose, a Lovely Rose, was poetically sung, contrasted with pomp and ceremony of Quia fecit mihi magna. Guest soprano Akiko Otao was a standout, her lovely voice wafted clearly over the chorus in Et Misericordia and Esurientes. If one wondered what an angel sounds like, this would be a pretty close approximation. There was a jazzy choral fugue in Fecit potentiam which was unfortunately not further elaborated by the composer, but the final Gloria patria recapped the opening's high spirits and the concert closed on a celebratory high.

The audience clearly enjoyed the music and effort put in the performance, and the applause showed it. Thus it was a pity that the performers chose to leave the stage at the very first opportunity, which curtailed any further plaudits. So there were no curtain calls at all! Here amateur musicians could take a leaf from their professional counterparts by staying onstage for a longer duration, and milk the applause for themselves and their collaborators what it is worth. This would be a lesson for future concert opportunities: You put in the hard work, so you deserve all the credit!

BACH CANTATAS

WITH MASAAKI SUZUKI

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory

Thursday (19 January 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 January 2017

Eminent Japanese Bach scholar and conductor Masaaki Suzuki returned with another round of Johann Sebastian Bach's music with students of the Conservatory. As with last year's concert, the Ong Teng Cheong Professor of Music 2016/17 again drew a full house, keen to experience baroque music in the historically-informed tradition of period performance practice.

Although well-established in the West, this tradition is gradually gaining a foothold in Singapore, thanks to more young musicians formally studying its practice, enhanced by visiting luminaries such as Suzuki. This concert showcased two of Bach's 200-plus cantatas, with both halves opening with purely instrumental music.

Concertmaster Ryo Terakado, one of the world's great baroque violinists, took a seat in the Violin Concerto in A minor (BWV.1041) as freshman Zhang Yuchen performed the solo. His was a very confident account, well-articulated with little vibrato. He projected well, and was superbly supported by the small Conservatory Chamber Ensemble taking cues from Suzuki's very precise direction.

Suzuki became soloist in his own arrangement of Cantata No.35, cast in the form of a three-movement Organ Concerto in D minor. Appropriating and recycling pre-existing works (and often other composers' music) into new pieces was common practice in the 18^th century, and the result was an enjoyable outing on the Conservatory's new Garnier chamber organ.

The outer fast movements were adapted from purely orchestral movements called sinfonias (which had prominent organ solos anyway), and the slow movement was a lovely aria that showcased organ and Masamitsu San'nomiya's oboe da caccia(the antique “hunting oboe” with a curved tube) in lovely counterpoint, accompanied by just double-bass.

The main courses were the sacred cantatas, with Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid(Ah God, How Many A Heartache) BWV.3 performed in the first half. Here was the message that only God was the answer to the heart's woes, for those who believed in Him. The choir of 18 voices (16 students and 2 faculty members) were a pillar of strength in the opening and closing choruses.

Soloists were drawn from these voices. Baritone Jeong Daegyun was a standout in Empfind Ich Höllenangst und Pein (Although I Fear Hell's Angst and Pain), with tenor Fang Zhi following up strongly in the succeeding recitative. The duet of soprano Suyen Rae and mezzo-soprano Lu Pei-Yun blended prettily in Wenn Sorgen auf mich dringen (When Cares Press Upon Me), finding consolation in each other's company.

The concert concluded with Alles nur nach Gottes Willen (Everything According To God's Will) BWV.72, an affirmation of one's faith in the divine. Another excellent choice, with two choruses and showcase of solo arias, this was the turn of soprano Li Wei-Wei to shine in Mein Jesus will es tun (My Jesus Wants To Do This), shading mezzo Lu's more tentative O selger Christ (O Blessed Is The Christian).

Regardless whether one adheres to Bach's religious beliefs or not, it was the sheer beauty of the music that was transcendent. Long may Suzuki's advocacy continue to spread this musical gospel here.

RACHMANINOFF 3

Orchestra of the Music Makers

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (20 January 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 23 January 2017 with the title "A night of guilty pleasures".

If listeners were asked which classical composers were sources of their most guilty pleasures, chances are Sergei Rachmaninoff and Camille Saint-Saëns would crop up. Both the Russian and Frenchman wrote some of the classical repertoire's most unabashedly tuneful scores, the sort music snobs (particularly lovers of Bach and Schoenberg) turn up their noses to.

There was a heavy dose of Rachmaninoff and Saint-Saëns in the Orchestra of the Music Makers' latest concert, directed by young conductor Seow Yibin. First heard were World Premieres of four Rachmaninoff piano Préludes, in orchestrations by three young composers. Alexander Oon was responsible for two of these, Op.32 No.3 and Op.23 No.5, with martial character transformed into something more festive and dancelike.

Darren Sng's take on the lugubrious Op.23 No.1 deftly incorporated clarinet, oboe and flute solos, taking on an impressionist hue. Phoon Yu's vision of Op.23 No.3 was gavotte-like, cleverly utilising strings and woodwinds, even giving concertmaster Chan Yoong Han's violin an exquisite solo. These imaginative efforts follow in the illustrious tradition of Respighi and Stokowski in transcribing Rachmaninoff.

Rachmaninoff's mighty Third Piano Concerto was next, with 18-year-old former child prodigy Tengku Irfan, previously described in these pages as the “Malaysian Mozart”, as soloist. To say that the Juilliard undergraduate conquered and vanquished the “Everest of piano concertos” would be mere understatement.

Beginning quietly and steadily, the performance grew in character and stature over its rapturous journey of over 40 minutes, Without any hint of narcissicism or self-indulgence, his apparent coolness while generating white heat in playing must be the most enviable trait in this profession.

The massive 1^st movement cadenza, the Adagio's climax and skittish waltz, and the finale's mercurial free-wheeling were among moments to savour. A standing ovation greeted this outing, which stands proudly alongside the work's best performances by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (with pianists Sergio Tiempo and Alexei Volodin) in recent years.

Orchestra and conductor played a major part in its success, and the good work continued in Saint-Saens'Third Symphony, also known as the “Organ Symphony”. Hushed strings and an opening oboe solo set a mood of mystique before escalating to the movement proper's nervous tension. Flexibility of ensemble ensured that the work's ebbs and flows was kept on a heightened edge.

Joanna Paul's organ entry in the slow movement was memorable for its subtlety. Her part here was mainly to provide a bed of soft harmonies over which the tender music floated. The big moment came in the dramatic finale, and her huge striding chords did not disappoint. There was a brief stretch when both orchestra and soloist threatened to go off the rails, but cools heads prevailed for that most glorious and reassuring of C major chords to close.

As an encore, the orchestra conjured a somewhat belated tribute to actress Carrie Fisher, with Princess Leia's Theme from John Williams'Star Warssoundtrack. That was another guilty pleasure few would regret.

Pianist Tengku Irfan with
OMM Music Director Chan Tze Law.

WEST SIDE STORY

Singapore

Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (21 January 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 23 January 2017 with the title "Exhilarating Americana ride".

Just one day after the inauguration of a new American president, there was a Stars and Stripes theme to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's concert led by Associate Conductor Joshua Tan. Even the Singaporean composer Zechariah Goh's Blossoms, receiving its World Premiere, was American-influenced. An alumnus of the University of Kansas, his two-movement work supposedly followed the progress of the national orchestra from its inception to present prominence.

Odyssey, its impressionist first part introduced a two-note motif with the interval of a falling minor third, and there was an extended cello solo from Principal Ng Pei-Sian serving as development. This was followed by the fast-paced Ecstasy, using an inversion of the earlier motif as a kind of retort. Its jazzy dynamism, with flying pizzicatos and a riff-like clarinet solo from Li Xin, was reminiscent of Bernstein but tinged with a local flavour.

An outstanding stand-alone piece, it also dovetailed perfectly into the general programme. What followed was John Adams'Violin Concerto (1993) with Singaporean violinist Kam Ning as the exuberant soloist. Coincidentally, the first two notes of her entry were almost identical to the two-note motif of the preceding work. According to Goh, it was a case of pure serendipity, and the path soon diverged with Kam's extremely taxing solo part taking off into a different orbit.

Almost improvisatory in feel, her violin soared above the fast chugging built upon a rhythmic ostinato, and this ever-evolving notion of recreating variations continued into the central slow movement's Chaconne entitled Body Through Which The Dream Flows. How she sustained interest through its langorous and somnolent path was a feat, which meant in compensation the final Toccarehad to be a hell-for-leather romp.

Supported by scintillating strings, hyperactive electronic keyboards and a timpanist working overtime, its feverish pace trumped everything that had come before for a fast and furious finish. It was more Americana for Kam's encore, where she was thrillingly partnered by cellist Ng in Edgar Meyer's bluegrass hit Limerock.

The second half belonged to Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story, which was conducted by Tan from memory. This score orchestrated by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal includes most of the musical's dance numbers and some songs but not performed in sequence. As with much of the earlier music, the audience was brought on an enthralling ride, which included the snapping of fingers, a police whistle, the obligatory fugue and in the rumbling Mambo, two shouts of “Mambo!”.

Hitherto lukewarm in previous attempts, the orchestra did put more effort this time in its vocalisations. It would be in the songs Somewhere and I Have A Love, now wordless, where the music itself would have the greatest traction.

The concert had a neat built-in encore, Adams'Short Ride In A Fast Machine, an extended orchestral fanfare that luxuriated in his fast minimalism, building in pace and revving away to some distant checkered flag. It was all over in four minutes. Catch your breath, and be left in the dust to smell the fumes.

F.X.MOZART Piano Concertos Nos.1 & 2

CLEMENTI Piano Concerto

HOWARD SHELLEY, Piano

Sinfonieorchester St Gallen

Hyperion 68126 / ****

Franz Xaver Mozart (1791-1844) was the second son of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who was just four months old when his father died. Interestingly, he was a student of Antonio Salieri (Mozart senior's supposed rival) and Johann Hummel, himself a student and boarder who lived in the same household. F.X.Mozart's two piano concertos are chips from the old block, continuing in his father's classical style of piano and orchestral writing without further developing the genre.

Piano Concerto No.1 in C major (1809) recaps Amadeus' martial air of the C major concertos (Nos.21 and 25) and syncopated tension in the opening tutti of the D minor concerto (No.20). By the time Piano Concerto No.2 in E flat major (1818) came about, Beethoven's more vigorous and highly expressive concertos had already turned the tide of music, ushering in the age of Romanticism.

The Italian Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) was a contemporary and rival of the father, upon who no little scorn and sarcasm was poured. Even his only Piano Concertoin C major (1896) sounds modern by comparison and may be passed off as proto-Beethoven. He, rather than Franz Xaver, was perhaps the true link between the masters Mozart and Beethoven.

Trust the ever-enterprising British pianist-conductor Howard Shelley to breathe urgency and vitality into these little-known works, which are pleasant and worth listening if not life-changing.

STRAVINSKY The Rite Of Spring

GIUSEPPE ANDALORO

& ILYA RASHKOVSKIY, Pianos

GIOVANNI SOLLIMA

& MONIKA LESKOVAR, Cellos

Alpha Omega Sound 14-01-12 / *****

This is a live recording of a concert held in Hong Kong's City Hall Concert Hall on 17 October 2013to commemorate the centenary of Igor Stravinsky's epoch-making The Rite Of Spring, which premiered to a famous riot in Paris. Receiving its first Asian performance (and now World Premiere recording) was an unusual transcription of the ballet for 2 pianos and 2 cellos by Italian pianist-conductor Giuseppe Andaloro.

Adapted from the orchestral score rather than the four-hands piano version, there is a symphonic scope to its conception. Giovanni Sollima's cello replaces the famous bassoon solo with an other-wordly quality to its timbre. The cellos produce a wiry tone and are also employed percussively, thus extending the range of sonorities on the pianos. This vivid performance truly brings out the music’s virility and savage intensity.

Also employed for the same forces is Andaloro's arrangement of Ravel's La Valse, a sweeping performance contrasted with the languid and atmospheric stillness to Sollima's transcription of Debussy's Prelude To The Afternoon Of The Fawn for just 2 cellos. The memorable programme is completed by Lutoslawski's witty Paganini Variations for two pianos. 20^Th century music has never sounding this engaging or enticing.

NG PEI-SIAN & NG PEI-JEE

VCH Presents Series

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (3 February 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 7 February 2017 with the title "Lively performance by twin brothers".

A full-house audience packed Victoria Concert Hall on a drizzly evening to witness a rare recital for two cellos, by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's Principal Cellist Ng Pei-Sian and his identical twin Pei-Jee.

The brothers were born in Sydney, shared the same teachers and schools in Australia and United Kingdom, and won numerous prizes before their individual careers diverged. Presently, the elder sib Pei-Jee is Co-Principal at the London Philharmonic Orchestra and member of the Fournier Trio.

Beginning with French baroque composer Jean-Baptiste Barriere's Sonata in G major, the chemistry was as immediate as expected. Their voices blended as one, interchanging roles of playing melody and providing accompaniment as freely as breathing air. Although the work was brief, with a short central aria and swift finale with rapidly repeated notes, their breezy way with the music served as the perfect prelude.

Slightly more complex was Handel's Trio Sonata in G minor, its alternating slow and fast 4-movement form with Shane Thio on harpsichord. Their interplay with give-and-take in the busy counterpoint of the fast movements was exemplary, with a show of deeper emotions in the slower preceding movements.

On either side of Handel were two unaccompanied Cello Suites by J.S.Bach. The programme booklet did not indicate who was to perform which work, and perhaps this was deliberate. As it turned out, Pei-Sian (above) – the slightly more flamboyant of the two – was assigned the Second Suite in D minor, opening with darker and more elegiac tones. Pei-Jee (below) played the cheerier and more familiar Third Suite in C major.

There was little to separate both cellists, bringing out gorgeous sonorities from their instruments besides displaying perfect articulation in the fast dance movements. Like a mirror image, both Sarabandes of both suites were hewn with burnished and deeply-breathed strokes. Pei-Sian had Menuets and his brother Bourrées to “dance” to, but both finished off with fast rhythmic Gigues which were breathtaking to say the least.

The final piece was a total departure from the baroque, but nonetheless required similar razor-sharp reflexes and tricky coordination as the earlier works. Upping the ante was Uzbek-Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin's Phoenix Story, composed for the duo's 2007 concert tour of the Australian continent.

The dirge-like 1st movement Tears From Above opened with drone-like ostinatos from Pei-Jee over which Pei-Sian's melody unfolded with no little lyricism. The two later switched roles, and earlier contemplation gave way to an ever-rising emotional intensity. The fast 2nd movement, Courting The Dragon, was a fire-breathing and boisterous dance that worked its way to a thrilling end.

Having had little or no time to practise a duo encore, it was left for Pei-Sian to offer Bach's Prelude in G (from the First Cello Suite) while his brother gamely watched on. No matter, the audience was loud and vociferous in their ovation.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS / ELGAR

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

PINCHAS ZUKERMAN, Violin & Conductor

Decca 478 9386 / *****

Lovers of string music should not miss this excellent album which brings together the best-loved string works of two English masters, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) and Edward Elgar (1857-1934).

American violinist Pinchas Zukerman plays the role of both soloist and conductor. His svelte and sweet tone is best heard in Vaughan Williams'The Lark Ascending, a single-movement violin concerto all but in name. Its use of modal themes relives the hallowed tradition of English folk music, continuing into the Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis, where three string choirs are employed to resonant effect. Here is a cathedral of sound, and a nod to the great English choral tradition.

Elgar is represented by his ubiquitous Salut D'Amour, once again with Zukerman doing the honours. The strings players of the London-based Royal Philharmonic are excellent in the three-movement Serenade For Strings, and shorter pieces Chanson De Matin, Chanson De Nuit and In Moonlight (with Zukerman now on viola), extracted from the tone poem In The South.

This splendid album is completed by the virtuosic Introduction and Allegro, which highlights a string quartet amid a full body of strings. A feast of glorious strings beckons.

WUXIA

Singapore

Chinese Orchestra

Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts

Esplanade Concert Hall

Satuday (11 February 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 13 February 2017

Film music was on the table for the Singapore Chinese Orchestra's contribution to this year's Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts organised by Esplanade. Conducted by Music Director Yeh Tsung, the orchestra delivered a huge dose of nostalgia to the mostly middle-aged audience that filled the hall to its rafters.

For many, the genre of Chinese period dramas with sword-fighting, kungfupostures and gravity-defying leaps came from the 1960s through early 80s, typically churned out in Hong Kong film studios. The celebration of this legacy began with Medley Of Television Dramas by the then-ubiquitous Joseph Koo, with the view of VictoriaHarbour by night serving as a backdrop.

The familiar melodies rolled off easily, graced by short but pretty solos by Zhao Jian Hua (erhu) and Li Bao Shun (gaohu), but does the well-known ShanghaiBeach from The Bund (one of Koo's most memorable themes) belong to this group?

More contemporary was the erhu concerto drawn from Tan Dun's Academy Award winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon score for the movie starring Chow Yun Fat and Michelle Yeoh. SCO member Tan Man Man was the elegant and sensitive soloist, but her reticence in exerting herself meant she was more often than not overwhelmed by the large looming orchestral forces.

Receiving a World Premiere was Hong Kong-based Lincoln Lo and former SCO Composer-in-Residence Law Wai Lun's score accompanying sword-fighting scenes from the 1967 classic wuxia movie One Armed Swordsman. The appearance of the iconic Shaw Brothers logo drew recognition and laughter from the audience, and the saga about chivalry, adversity, revenge and redemption got underway.

The music, with vigorous rhythms and lyricism backing sequences of action and romance, blended seamlessly with the happenings on screen, surprisingly violent (for the 1960s) for including severed arms and spilling of laughably fake blood. The audience was clearly enthused by their collective memories being jolted, and a final return of that Shaw Brothers icon.

Special guest of the evening was Hong Kong singer Johnny Yip, very popular in the 1970s, now in his seventies. He sang six songs including James Wong's Laughter From The Vast Sea, Michael Lai's Imperial Heroes and The Legendary Hero Fok, and three more by Joseph Koo. Clearly his amplified crooner's voice has seen better days, but his glittery silver-scaled and tinselled suits, and easy-going personality indicated he was still up for the job.

Besides singing in Cantonese, he also chatted effably in dialect with conductor Yeh and the audience, much to their approval. Proponents of the Speak Mandarin Campaign will voice their protest, but his authentic and sterling efforts were an exercise reclaiming a certain heritage, in turning back the clock and bringing back the old and beloved.

As the audience clapped along to the encore, Yip singing Koo's Sweeping Through The Mountains And Rivers, there was a palpable feeling of belonging, and that all things were good again.

Photographs by Jack Yam, courtesy of Esplanade Theatres By The Bay.

THE GOLDEN ERA

OF LIVING STEREO:

REMASTERED COLLECTOR’S EDITION

RCA Red Seal 88985321742 (60 CDs) / ****1/2

The third collector's edition box-set of RCA Red Seal Living Stereo recordings dates from 1956 to 1966, and focuses mostly on solo recitals, chamber and choral music.

With all the “big names” accounted for in the two preceding volumes, this 60-disc set highlights the debuts and early recordings of “rising names” including Bolivia-born violinist Jaime Laredo, American coloratura soprano Roberta Peters, the Juilliard Quartet, and late legends like American violinist Erick Friedman (a Heifetz student) and Poland-born pianist Andre Tchaikovsky. The listener is also introduced to French-Canadian violinist Liliane Garnier whose solo recital is a revelation.

Older and established names like violinist Henryk Szeryng, cellist Antonio Janigro, pianist Alexander Brailowsky, soprano Birgit Nilsson are also represented at the heights of their careers. With the thaw of Soviet-American relations, Russian greats Leonid Kogan, Galina Vishnevskaya and Daniil Shafran were also being recorded for their first times in the West.

Not to be forgotten are two discs by the piano duo of Victor Babin and Vitya Vronsky in mostly Russian repertoire (their take on Rachmaninov’s two Suites is unforgettable), and the generically-named Festival Quartet (led by violinist Szymon Goldberg and includes violist William Primrise) in piano quartets by Brahms and Schumann.

Most of the discs play for about 40 minutes, corresponding to LPs of the day, but quality of performances rather than quantity is the key. The remastered sound is also more than acceptable for many hours of pleasurable listening.

DON'T MISS THIS
EXCITING PIANO RECITAL!

SINGAPORE DEBUT RECITAL by

CRISTINA ORTIZ

Programme includes:

RAVEL Sonatine
CHOPIN Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.58
BEETHOVEN Sonata in C sharp minor
Op.27 No.2"Moonlight"
VILLA-LOBOS A Lenda Do Caboclo
Valsa da Dor, Festa no Sertao

Victoria Concert Hall at 7.30 pm
Sunday, 26 February 2017
Tickets available at SISTIC

http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/cristina0217

Cristina Ortiz is one of the most prominent of Brazilian pianists today. Winner of the 1969 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition as a teenager, she has gone on to play with the world's great orchestra and made many excellent recordings on the EMI, Decca, Collins Classics and Naxos labels. Her specialities are works of Romantic composers and the music of her homeland Brazil, particularly the piano pieces of Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Do not miss this rare recital presented by Christine N Concerts.

THE MOZARTIAN EXPERIENCE 2017

ADDO Chamber Orchestra

Esplanade Recital Studio

Friday (17 February 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 20 February 2017

The ADDO Chamber Orchestra's Mozartean Experience was a sequel to last year's successful concert which had the flavour of a “show and tell” class. A programme sheet given to the audience was designed like a tabloid daily, but the surprise came in lieu of traditional programme notes.

Seconds before conductor Clarence Tan gave his first down-beat, a bewigged blonde dressed in period costume gatecrashed the proceedings. It was Constanze Weber, widow of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who had travelled through time from 1791 to address a 21^st century Singaporean audience on the great Austrian composer's lives and times. Italian singer-actress Sabrina Zuber played such an irrepressible host with her comedic asides that she almost stole the show.

It was the music, however, which prevailed. First up was Antonio Salieri's short Sinfonia Veneziana, which the orchestra warmed up to with some degree of tentativeness. The ensemble comprising just 11 string players backed up by four wind players initially produced a raw and dry sound, but this soon improved in a hurry.

Constanze refuted the notion that Salieri was Mozart's rival and mortal enemy. Instead they were supportive colleagues with a common vision of making good music. As posterity had it, Mozart was gifted with more memorable tunes, like those in his Third and Fourth Horn Concertos, both in the key of E flat major.

Also introduced was Mozart's horn-playing friend Joseph Leutgeb, whose daytime job was that of a cheese-monger. Returning as soloist from the last Mozartean experience was young French hornist Alan Kartik Jairamin from the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, who followed up his helpful demonstration of basic horn techniques with confident showings of both works.

He brought out a warm, burnished sound that highlighted the music's lyricism, and then went all virtuoso mode for the cadenzas. His reading of the better-known Fourth Concerto with its hunting romp of a finale proved a big hit with the audience, which lapped up his every turn and phrase.

To complete the evening's E flat major fare was the Symphony No.84 by Joseph Haydn, one of Mozart's teachers and the mentor who predicted his future greatness. The orchestra which had accompanied the horn concertos very well continued their good work under conductor Tan, now sporting a powdered wig (a la the movie Amadeus).

Jokes aside, this was a very credible performance of a rarely heard work. Its solemn opening soon gave way to an Allegro which bubbled ever so animatedly, fully conveying the humour typical of the composer. The slow movement was taken a a goodly pace, followed by a somewhat ungainly Scherzo and Trio, tinged with an infectious rusticity. Although the finale started with a hint of unsteadiness, this was smoothened out with a mercurial run to an exciting close.

For its next concert on 31 May, ADDO Chamber Orchestra turns its sights on another composing great – Ludwig van Beethoven.

DEBUSSY

Complete Music For Piano Duo

Massimiliano Damerini

& Marco Rapetti, Piano

Brilliant Classics 94448 (3 CDs) / ****1/2

It may come as a surprise that the works for piano four hands by French composer Claude Debussy (1862-1918) amount to well over three hours of music. In this chronological survey dating from 1880 to 1915, one will discern his stylistic evolution from ambitious teenager to that of an established master.

Some works will be familiar to general audiences, as the pretty Petite Suite (1886-89) for piano duet and the more modernistic En Blanc et Noir (1915), his last but greatest work for two pianos. And then there are the faithful but monochromatic transcriptions of orchestral favourites, Prelude to The Afternoon of the Fawn (1894) and La Mer (1905).

The music to be found in the first two discs is virtually unknown. There is a single-movement Symphony In B minor (1880), Diane Overture(1881), The Triumph of Bacchus Suite (1882), First Suite for Orchestra (1883) and Divertissement (1884), early works which were never orchestrated. These stylistically belong to the bygone French Belle Epoque, and hard to identify as classic Debussy.

With Printemps (1887), Marche Ecossaise (Scottish March, 1891) and the Spanish-flavoured Lindaraja (1901), his more distinct voice begins to emerge. The Italian duo of Damerini & Rapetti give sympathetic and best possible accounts of the obscure pieces, and the performances more than satisfy the appetite for undiscovered semi-precious gems.

A WEEKEND WITH BEETHOVEN

Singapore

Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Saturday (25 February 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 27 February 2017 with the title "Display of passion and vigour".

The orchestral works of Beethoven probably constitute the largest form of chamber music that can be performed comfortably at the “new” Victoria Concert Hall, which has developed a somewhat suspect reputation for over-reverberant acoustics and boominess. Those fears did not transpire in the pair of all-Beethoven concerts by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra led by eminent Chinese conductor Yu Long, who is present Music Director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

The opening note and stentorian chords of Egmont Overture that followed were delivered with utmost precision and conviction, setting the stage for a performance that lacked nothing in passion and vigour. Short solos from oboe, clarinet and flute were also excellent, leading up to a final blaze of heroics which defined the ill-fated Dutch hero's defiant patriotism.

If the orchestra was bold and brassy in the opener, it soon changed tack and played sensitive partner to 12-year-old American Chinese prodigy Serena Wang's solo for the First Piano Concerto in C major. She more than held her own. Brimming with confidence, she projected well and clearly articulated every note and phrase with the nous of one three or four times as senior.

Playing accurately was never an issue, and hers were a nuanced reading which revealed an astonishing maturity. The 1^st movement cadenza had sufficient bluster, and the romance-like slow movement radiated warmth and no little Mozartean charm. The Rondo finale had both lightness and ebullience, and none of the outrageous showboating that despoiled Lang Lang's 2010 performance with the SSO.

As if to further emphasise her fleet and nimble fingers, her encore of Debussy's Toccata(from Pour Le Piano) flashed through like a bolt of blinding brilliance. She is certainly ready to join China's elite brigade of young pianists: the likes of Wang Yuja, Chen Sa, Wang Xiayin and Zhang Haochen.

The same fervour that gripped Egmont Overture returned in the Seventh Symphony, where conductor Yu's interpretive insight provided a highly satisfying performance. Knowing how to build up tension in the discursive introduction to the vivacious 1^st movement proper was key, and the end result was like the release of a tightly wound spring.

Enlivened, the music leapt from the printed page with the orchestra responding as if its sheer existence depended on it. The slow movement was just as good, its variations unfolding with great purpose, culminating in a very well delineated fugal episode.

The final two movements shifted gear from very fast to even faster still, and with no loss of concentration and pace at this risk-taking velocity. Richard Wagner had hailed this as the “apotheosis of the dance”, but nobody was going to replicate this on the Viennese dance-floor. Perhaps he had in mind Yu's nifty footwork on the podium as the supremo of Chinese conductors commanded his players on a headlong charge to what must be the most exciting reading of this symphony in recent times.

CRISTINA ORTIZ Piano Recital

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (26 February 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 28 February 2017 with the title "Recital with distinct colour and texture".

It seems almost strange that the eminent Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz, veteran of the world's great concert stages and many well-regarded recordings, has never performed in Singapore until this evening. Now in her mid-sixties, she cut an elegant and sprightly figure, much of which translated well in her varied and very demanding solo recital.

Straight off, her playing stood out for its distinct colour and sense of texture, evident in the opening Sonatine by Maurice Ravel. Its formal lines were well-crafted through three movements. Limpid and crystalline in the first, this gave way to a drier but no less nourished sound for the neoclassical central Minuetbefore reaping a whirlwind in the vertiginous finale.

What struck this listener was not how virtuosic a work was, but how the music flowed through her fingers. This organic approach continued into Chopin's Third Sonata in B minor, often fodder for the world's piano competitions. Here she let the music breathe, and the feeling of urgent development was heightened with the exposition repeat judiciously omitted.

The Scherzo did not come across like a study for fast fingers, much to her credit. The Largo slow movement was no mere nocturne either, but an deeply felt expression of sadness. All this built up to a barnstorming finale, where despite a stumble of missed notes in the middle did little to faze her as she closed the first half with thrilling aplomb.

The second half was even better. Replacing the originally programmed Beethoven Moonlight Sonata with three Debussy pieces, she began appropriately with Clair de lune. The music was simplicity itself, but her use of the Steinway grand's pedals was exemplary. Creating a wash of shimmering sound was perfect for the watery realm of Poissons d'or (Goldfish, from Book Two of Images) and made ecstatic riding on the waves of L'Isle Joyeuse (The Isle of Joy).

In repertoire from her homeland, Ortiz has few peers. The three pieces by Heitor Villa-Lobos were well contrasted, beginning with A Lenda da Caboclo (Legend of the Half-Blood) and Valsa da Dor (Waltz of Anguish). The lyricism of its folkloric subjects came through winningly, and more importantly, that feeling of saudade (the typically Brazilian sense of longing and sadness) became all the more palpable.

The recital closed with the coruscating Festa no Sertao (Jungle Festival, from Ciclo Brasileira) with cascades of octaves and chords, and a central whimsy of dizzying nostalgia. The small but enthusiastic audience was rewarded with three rarely-heard encores from a pianist who could have played all night.

Two of English composer York Bowen's 24 Preludes made for lush hearing with luxuriant and occasionally bluesy harmonies, and Brazilian Fructuoso Vianna's Corta-Jaca, a virtuoso study which cleverly incorporates popular folktunes. A repeat visit by Cristina Ortiz could not come any sooner.

A STATE OF WONDER

AZARIAH TAN PLAYS CHOPIN

SJ50 / ****1/2

Strange as it may seem, this appears to be the first-ever CD recording of Frederic Chopin's piano music by a Singaporean pianist. Not even Melvyn Tan, Seow Yit Kin or Toh Chee Hung has ever attempted such a recital programme on disc.

The pianist is 25-year-old Azariah Tan, alumnus of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and University of Michigan, who was diagnosed to have progressive sensorineural deafness since the age of four.

Despite the disadvantage, he is an utterly musical and sensitive soul, which is immediately apparent in the two Nocturnes Op.62 and two shorter Preludesfrom Op.28. He finds a song-like tenderness and underlying disquiet to equal degree, and summons the passion needed to surmount the Second Sonata(Op.35), well-known for its Funeral March slow movement. If only there were a little more wildness alloyed to the good taste displayed, it would have been just right.

The Fourth Ballade (Op.52) unfolds ever so alluringly, with its climaxes very well judged. His view of the lyrical Berceuse is an epitome of grace, and the recital is completed by the early showpiece, Andante Spianato& Grande Polonaise Brillante (Op.22) which is sleek and majestic without being over-stated. One hopes to hear more from this genuine and exciting talent.

AMBER QUARTET

Ones To Watch Series

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Tuesday (28 February 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 2 March 2017 with the title "Slick show of versatility".

Twenty years after making the Academy Award-winning documentary From Mao To Mozart(1979), venerated American violinist Isaac Stern returned to Beijing where he was filmed giving a masterclass to a young Chinese string quartet. He commended the players for their technique but commented on a lack of passion and insight.

These caveats no longer hold true for many young Chinese musicians today, such as the Amber Quartet, winner of the prestigious Asia Pacific Chamber Music Competition in Melbourne in 2013. Its four members are recent graduates of Beijing's Central Music Conservatory, and they impressed with a slick show of musicianship and versatility.

Opening with Anton Webern's very early Langsamer Satz (Slow Movement, 1905), the foursome was totally at home in its late Romantic language, no more modern than Wagner or Brahms. The langorous and aching lyricism found a sympathetic voice with the players' individual lines, and together the harmonic balance was close to perfect.

In Yunnan-born Chinese composer Zhang Zhao's First String Quartet (2001), the sense of interplay through its four short movements was ever more acute. The title “Totem” provided a clue. Its use of indigenous folk music, dance and vocal traditions was akin to Bartok's strings quartets, albeit with strong Chinese accents.

Violist Wang Qi was assigned the main melodic interest in the first two movements. His evocation of a “Singer” and a “Musician” (actual titles of these movements) were both vivid and earthy. Sonic effects were also legion. Bowing close to the bridge, pizzicatos in various degrees of forcefulness and tapping of the instruments' wood, all conjured a percussive vibe and an authentic rusticity of the Middle Kingdom.

In the slow movement “Sorceror”, Yang Yichen's cello provided a drone that wailed through microtones, like a shaman's voice slipping within the cracks between keys. The rhythmic finale “Drummer” was a wild dance, with echoes of the virile Adolescents Dance from Stravinsky's The Rite Of Spring.

Mendelssohn's Sixth String Quartet in F minor (1847) was also the German composer's last major work. Conceived in response to his sister Fanny's death, this was a far cry from his usually congenial musings. Opening with extreme vehemence, its outpouring of grief and rage was handled with requisite passion and accuracy. Agitated outbursts alternating with calmer asides made for a listen of gripping tension and unease.

The Scherzo was no elfin dance, but darkly-coloured and served with unremitting intensity. In the slow movement, lyricism reigned but its reflection was one born of longing and regret. The furious last movement had only one theme, hammered home with a frenzied obsession of finality, but not without a show of soloistic virtuosity from first violinist Ning Fangliang.

Here was one leaving the stage with a last big hurrah, but the Amber Quartet's encore was more subdued. Astor Piazzolla's slow and nostalgic Oblivion was played like they meant every note of it.

NB: For this concert by the Amber Quartet, Ma Weijia replaced Su Yajing for the second violin part.

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

re:Sound

Victoria Concert Hall

Wednesday (1 March 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 3 March 2017

August 31 of 2016 will be remembered with much fondness, for that was the day when re:Sound, Singapore's first professional chamber orchestra, gave its inaugural concert. Its second concert conducted by Singapore Symphony Orchestra Associate Conductor Jason Lai showed that all the critical acclaim and good notices were fully justified.

The essence of chamber music lies in diminutive forces, with a small number of individuals listening and reponding to each other within a show of intimate cooperation. This was no better illustrated in avant-garde Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti's Ramifications, scored for just 12 string players, each with a different part.

With six players tuned a quarter-tone sharper than the others, the effect was one of deliberate aural disorientation through constantly wavering pitches. Like a floor that fluidly shifts under one's feet, the emanating sound evolved from an incessant buzzing, through high-pitched tinnitus to subterranean growls, all achieved with utmost control at low volumes.

This “music” then evaporated into the ether, leaving the conductor beating time in thin air and ambient silence. These startling plays on sonics will explain why Stanley Kubrick so effectively used Ligeti's music for his iconic movies 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining.

Altogether more traditional was Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto in G major with veteran Penang-born pianist Dennis Lee as soloist. His delivery of its opening chords was pivotal, a secure statement borne from wealth of experience, which defined the tenor of this reading. His was a more classical-attuned view, of transparent textures, measured gestures and no little nimbleness, as opposed to the boisterously Romantic version offered by Nicholas Angelich recently with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.

Lee's Apollo was a world apart from Angelich's Dionysus, but both had much to offer in this masterpiece. One factor that tipped to Lee's favour was the smaller ensemble, which revealed often glossed-over details besides providing sensitive accompaniment. The rapt conversation of Orpheus and the Furies in the slow movement was a lovely interlude before the unbridled jollity of the finale.

The programming of Mendelssohn's Third Symphony (also known as the “Scottish”) seemed like straying into SSO territory but no, this was a thoroughly enthralling account that revelled in the chamber forces utilised. No victim to Victoria Concert Hall's sometimes feared reverberance, the strings sang without inhibition, while woodwinds and brass rang with bell-like clarity.

Conductor Lai's tempos were excellently judged, the solemnity of the opening movement (evoking the ruins of Edinburgh's HolyroodCastle) contrasted well with the vigourous Allegro that followed. Storm clouds hovered menacingly but sunshine prevailed in this luminescent account, which also gloried in the snappy and mercurial Scherzo, and nostalgia of the song-like slow movement.

The martial finale did not strike a warlike posture for long, instead delighting in the ending chorale cast in the major key. Delivering victory without too much bloodshed, one looks forward to re:Sound's next concerts on 26 April and 2 July.

A MUSIC VOYAGE AROUND THE ISLAND / Singapore Chinese Orchestra / Review

CD Review (The Straits Times, January 2017)

EVENSONGS / Vox Camerata / Review

BACH CANTATAS WITH MASAAKI SUZUKI / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory / Review

RACHMANINOFF 3 / Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

WEST SIDE STORY / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

CD Review (The Straits Times, January 2017)

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, February 2017)

NG PEI-SIAN AND NG PEI-JEE / Victoria Concert Hall Presents / Review

CD Review (The Straits Times, February 2017)

WUXIA / Singapore Chinese Orchestra / Review

CD Review (February 2017)

DO NOT MISS: Singapore Debut Recital by Eminent Brazilian Pianist CRISTINA ORTIZ

THE MOZARTEAN EXPERIENCE 2017 / ADDO Chamber Orchestra / Review

CD Review (The Straits Times, February 2017)

A WEEKEND WITH BEETHOVEN / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

CRISTINA ORTIZ Piano Recital / Review

CD Review (The Straits Times, March 2017)

AMBER QUARTET / Ones To Watch Series / Review

THE JOURNEY CONTINUES / re:Sound / Review