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Sunday
26 April 1998 Victoria Concert Hall |
The Flanders Recorder Quartet Presented by the Singapore Symphonia Company |
GEORG PHILIP TELEMANN (1681-1767) - Concerto in C JOHANNES CICONIA (1370-1411) - Ut te per omnes/Albane misse celitus HEINRICH ISAAC (c.1450-1517) - Alla Battaglia TIELMAN SUSATO (c.1500-c.1564) - Pavane and Gaillarde from... Anon. (c.1400) - Estampie from the Robertsbridge Codex ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741) - "Summer" from the Four Seasons. ANTONIO VIVALDI (1678-1741) - Concerto in D minor, op.3, no.11 RV565 J.S. BACH (1685-1750) - Contrapunctus Nos.3, 4 & 9 from The Art of Fugue HIROSE RYOHEI (b.1930) - Idyll WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756-1791) - Rondo alla Turca (arr. Jan van Landeghem)
Joris van Goethem, Bart Spanhove, |
OVERALL NOISE RATING:
2 (It started off so quiet you could hear the hum of the air-con. Then there was the rustling of programme booklets, the usual coughs and the not so usual belch.)
The Noise Rating Index is a partially-objective measurement of pager and handphone blasts, 9pm and 10pm watch beeps, coughing-during-the-pianissimo-bits, intra-audience conversation and other mind-bogglingly inept noises emitted in the concert hall during actual performance of music. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 5, in increasing annoyance.
Tickets for Inkpot classical music reviewers have been kindly sponsored by the Singapore Symphonia Company.
by Chia Han-Leon
The Quartet gives masterclasses throughout Europe and has made a number of recordings. One of these will be released later in 1998 on the French label Opus 111. Another fascinating project they did with Harmonia Mundi was the 5-recorder transcription of Vivaldi's Four Seasons, performed with renowned recordist Marion Verbrggen. A most welcome item in this concert's programme was the 4-part arrangement of "Summer".
The effect of hearing the birds of "Summer" (see Four Seasons Sonnets) sung by recorders is an aural boon - indeed, the Quartet imitated the birds with naturalistic rubato. Likewise, the winds/storm passages were interesting to hear on wind instruments. In contrast the jarring imitation of thunder in the second movement was, not surprising, ineffective. The final movement, depicting more thunder and lightning, was however quite exciting.
The Quartet's substantial decorations to the score were very tasteful and effective, and their sense of coordination impressive. The latter was made even more palpable in their performance of the three Contrapuncti from Bach's final and unfinished work, the great Art of Fugue. The Telemann Concerto, performed on four alto recorders, was a delightful and fluid affair, though like in the Vivaldi "Summer", suffered from the occasional mis-blown (or over-blown) note from the (I think) 1st recorder.
To my horror, the notes in the booklet were a total farce. It not only reproduced wholesale the description of Vivaldi from the notes for "Summer", but insinuated that this piece was from Opus 8 (the publication which includes the Four Seasons), and then identified it as the B minor Concerto (Op.3 No.10) for 4 violins! Now I wouldn't bother to mention this, since the performance is more important and I thought the Quartet had perhaps altered their programme. But the fact that the booklet, typos aside, also failed to even print the names of the four recordists was totally unforgiveable!
The Renaissance and Medieval pieces were of even more interest, both in terms of the rarity of the music and the performance standards. While the Baroque recorders used were more elegant of sound, the Quartet explained, earlier recorders sounded more coarse but were also more powerful. It was this more pungent and highly evocative voice which filled the Hall as the Quartet performed the Johannes Ciconia work, followed by a few instrumental dances by Tielmann Susato and the Alla Battaglia by Heinrich Isaac. A number of instruments were used, including a 1-metre monster which elicited a "wow" of awe from the audience.
One of the most fun and vibrant types of music for a small Early Music consort is the medieval estampie, a type of troubadour dance tune (almost like Medieval techno). The Quartet introduced us to the form before launching into a bright and virtuosic performance of an example from the Robertsbridge Codex. Here they were very much in their element, as demonstrated in the improvisory phrases. Throw in a tabor or nakers (medieval drums) and it would have been even more exciting!
Modern compositions for recorder consort are substantial in number, and many come from the pen of contemporary Japanese composers. Hirose's Idyll is influenced by shakuhachi music, and thus we heard the ghostly slides, "speaking" phrases and drifting harmonies typical of Japanese traditional music. The second part of the work is a dance reminscent of those of the Medieval European variety. Like the third part, it comprises much tuneful music. The ending returns to the opening mood of eerie philosphizing. It has a monochrome starkness, and yet somehow expresses many colours. Well, I am absolutely no expert in this area, and profess to knowing no more suffice to say it was an eye - and ear - opener.
In fact, the tone of this concert was "cosmopolitan". The recorder, like the guitar, is one of those really old instruments which continue to play a part in a wide range of music. As a result, it can evoke a huge range of "modes", from the Medieval to the Modern - and that's what the Quartet did in a sense. But if the above pieces seem on the serious side, do read on...
The final lap of the concert proved to be the most fun. The Quartet began its farewell with a whimsical arrangement of Mozart's popular piano piece, the Rondo "alla Turca" (in Turkish style). Everyone recognized the tune, of course, but before long and much to our surprise, other things began to creep into the score. Suddenly, little bits of Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumble Bee found their way into the music, intertwining with the Mozart. As the performance progressed, tempi underwent many effective shifts, the recordists began to modulate towards minor keys, adding extra lines and extending others! Suddenly, out of nowhere, a short burst of Johann Strauss's Radeztsky March marches cheekily into the music! My every compliment to the arranger, the Flemish composer Jan Van Landeghem!
Much to the audience's delight, the Quartet performed two encores. The first is the Circus Renz, which Paul Van Loey described as "Something European". It is a set of variations on a carnival/festive tune, involving very fast fingerwork and parodying. Van Loey was put in charge of playing the frantically fast main melody, which was repeatedly interrupted in good humour by the other recordists as they mischieviously disrupt the tempo and key in order to prevent him from continuing the music! All in all, this elicited much laughter from the audience, and it was a refreshing break from the stark silence that sometimes accompanied the other pieces.
The second encore was a medley of sorts involving a Csrds tune by Vittorio Monti. It is basically a Hungarian/Gypsy dance tune, but again with much humour thrown in in the form of episodes of "drunken" harmonies and improvised elements. In particular the interjections of other pieces of music drew much laughter - these included snatches of the Bumble Bee and Rondo alla Turca, but also Handel's Hallelujah chorus!
All praise indeed to the Flanders Recorder Quartet!
Founded in 1987, the Flanders Recorder Quartet (from left: Joris Van Goethem, Fumiharu Yoshimine, Bart Spanhove and Paul Van Loey) is one of the increasing number of recorder consorts involved in the ongoing Renaissance of Early Music, and also contemporary music for Early Music groups. This award-winning quartet has performed all over the world in addition to Europe, including the US and Japan. Their stopover in Singapore was facilitated through their current tour of Japan.
The Quartet also played a transcription of Vivaldi's Concerto in D minor, Op.3 No.11. They delivered this with consumate skill, an engaging blend of exciting finger exercises and solemn D minor urgency.
The four-part song Madame amours is from the well-known musical collection of Henry VIII (which also includes Greensleeves). The transcription for one bass and three double-bass recorders produced an organ-like sonority which the Quartet proved was a very sad sound. True to that undying English knack for melancholy, it was full of sorrow.
Chia Han-Leon also plays the Chinese bamboo flute, the dizi. Does anyone have a Baroque flute for sale?
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