|
Friday
13 March, 1998 NUS Theatrette |
A
Concert of Familiar Violin Favourites Presented by Esso Campus Concerts |
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Niccolò Paganini
Sonata in E minor LEE
Huei Min
violin |
OVERALL NOISE RATING: 1 (We didn't
know they were going to play the entire Vivaldi concerto)
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.
by Chia Han-Leon
Huei Min's present claim to fame is the recently oft-proclaimed line
that she is "the youngest student ever to have been admitted to the Yale
University's School of Music graduate programme" - at the age of 14. The
year before she was at Oberlin. She has already won a large number of
awards, internationally and locally. At 11, she won First Prize and the
"Laureate" title at the 36th Kocian International Violin Competition,
playing Sibelius' Violin Concerto. In any case, it's very heartening to
know that the pursuit of "excellence" in Singapore does extend further
than the kind of activities that can afford violins of the $1.5 million
and $3.4 million price tag categories.
A "Lee Huei Min Young Artist Instrument Fund" has apparently been set
up to help her with the business of this instrument. At first, one wonders
whether this is feasible in this country, the price tag being more than
half of the amount gathered by "Beauty World" and company. But when you
read the two (yes, there were two) articles in Life! about this
generous teen - about her decision to contribute at least $300,000 of
her donations to the NAC's Gifted Young Musicians' Bursary Scheme to help
fellow young musicians - I think it's really worth supporting her.
This voice is ideally focussed, neither too lithe nor too heavy. As
she warmed up, the full-bodied lower register of her violin was showcased
in Mendelssohn's On Wings Of Song. There is a certain harmony between
her instrument and herself which is very pleasant to both listen to and
watch, something which is also shown in the virtually perfect voicing
of chords between herself and pianist Tan Ee Sin.
In the famous Quadruple Violin Concerto by Vivaldi,
one thing is certain: Huei Min is a natural leader. Not only in terms
of her place as 1st Violin, but also with the encouraging attention she
paid to her fellow violinists as the music was being played. 2nd Violin
Ang Shao-Wen had the smallest and least forward tone, though this improved
towards the end. Grace Lee, 3rd Violin, was the surest of the three other
than Huei Min, while Ng Li Ling was rather lustreless and mechanical,
with too weak a vibrato and bowstroke. In contrast to the singing Romanticism
of the Paganini and Mendelssohn pieces, Huei Min showed also an ability
to "speak" the more dramatic lines of Baroque music.
The highlight of the afternoon was without the penumbra of a shadow
of a doubt, the Sarasate Navarra. The complete and total harmony
Huei Min achieved with her partner Chan Yong Han must be seen and heard
to be believed. Both their instrumental tones were absolutely unified,
both equally clean and sunny. In fact, they were complementary in all
aspects, whether in the passages of harmonics, the Paganinian violin pyrotechnics
and finger acrobatics, the bird-like warbling of their trills, or simply
the little dynamic shadings which gave so much life and excitement to
the score. These two were, as far as I could humanly perceive, perfectly
synchronized, performing in a spirit of unity that was entirely palpable
and thoroughly enjoyable, not to mention rarely seen. Throughout this
6-minute work, I tried as far as I could to single out any one moment
where they were not "in-sync" - and I failed utterly. Their dramatic timing
and musical camaraderie were simply breathtaking. And the audience, bursting
instantly into loud cheers and applause, evidently agreed.
15-year old Lee Huei Min (left) is another of our local musical talents,
in the line of Kam Ning and Siow Lee Chin, who has made no small name for
herself abroad. Each of them, presumably, are destined (if not already)
for success, both internationally and in their home-country-which-still-does-not-have-a-proper-music-school.
If you heard her at this (free) Campus Concert recital, the reasons to
support this girl become even more urgent. Looking cool and composed in
a black floral dress, Huei Min began the afternoon concert with the Paganini
(right) Violin Sonata in E minor. Right from the start, her singing tone
is evident. Not that the violin by itself was the source of this tone,
but rather she has a way of delicately instilling the nuances of a human
voice in the melodic lines. Better yet, she does this reflexively, without
really thinking about it, a clear demonstration of her treatment of her
instrument as an extension of her musical voice.
The final piece was a piano trio by Paul Schoenfeld, titled Café
Music. The composer is American, as is evident in the music - it is
either Joplinesque in manner or had a touch of tango to it - I must admit
I can't remember. Israeli cellist Inbal Megiddo, who will perform the
Beethoven Triple Concerto with Huei Min on Monday (16th March), completed
the trio. Huei Min, seated for the first time on stage, struck the "Jin
Li Pose" - sitting towards the front-right corner of the chair, with right
leg against the front-right leg of the chair. Named after one of my favourite
violinists in the SSO, I've always considered it as a sign of a good musical
attitude! Her skippingly delightful way with her violin were very
easy on the audience, her playing showing a naturalness born of musical
intelligence.
Yes, Chia
Han-Leon is also a Van Gogh fan. If any of you are thinking of asking
us for the violinist's phone number or whatever, the answer is "No, we don't
have it."
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