Saturday 5 August 2000 Victoria Concert Hall	MASTERS SERIES Beethoven Piano Concerto Cycle
	Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Piano Concerto No.4 in G major, op.58 Johannes BRAHMS (1833-1897) Piano Quartet No.1 in G minor, op. 25 (orch. Schoenberg) Pascal ROGÉ piano Okko KAMU conductor

OVERALL NOISE RATING: 2 (Thanks to the Handphone that blasted away and ended the 3rd movement at the most appropriate time - any earlier or later it would have distracted the crowd .)

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.

Pascal Rogé's "Old Friend" by Benjamin Chee Pascal Rogé is taking quick drags on his cigarette, waiting in the second storey lift lobby, waiting for the concert to finish so that he can sign some autographs. Close-up, in his changed off-white jacket, he does not altogether resemble the pictures on his CDs - the wonders of studio makeovers - but there is no missing the warmth of his personality and character as he speaks. We are talking about the piano concerto. "I was in the performance yesterday," I tell him. "I also heard part of the rehearsal. And I've never quite heard the Beethoven Fourth performed like that. It was a very different, a very -" here I am struggling for the right words, although the phrase je ne sais quo comes to mind - "intimate reading. Almost like a chamber performance." "Yes, it's not a work to be performed with lots of panache," he concurs, suggesting that Beethoven composed it with a much more different approach. "He wrote it almost like it was a chamber work, very much unlike the other piano concertos." It certainly explains why Rogé adopted an interpretation which has had a very introspective, phlegmatic quality. It just so happens that for Rogé, the Fourth piano concerto is his personal favourite among the Beethoven Five: "I first learnt it when I was nineteen. Well, maybe the last time I played it, was three, four years ago. But it is a lifelong experience." You get the impression that he is talking about an old friend. "From the opening entry where the solo piano plays, very quietly, and then the orchestra joins in. But it is not very -" he gestuculates, mimicking a waterfall-like outpouring of emotion - "extrovert, you know. It has a different type of character." "I didn't get to pick this work to perform at all," he reveals when I ask if he was offered a choice of which of the concertos to perform. "So in a way, it was a coincidence, a very lucky coincidence, that they asked me to play this one." In fact, having performed Saint-Saëns on each of his last three visits (No.5 in Oct 1986, No.2 in Apr 1993 & May 1998), Beethoven marks a departure from his usual Gallic repertoire. (There exists, in fact, a chamber transcription of the Fourth. Indeed, Beethoven was habitual in making chamber transcriptions: a string quintet from a wind octet, another quintet from a piano trio, a chamber version of the second symphony, und so weiter...) "But Fauré wrote only two piano quintets and two piano quartets," says Rogé, changing the topic to French chamber music and more specifically, referring to his new album with the Ysaÿe Quartet: the second of two discs of Fauré's chamber music for strings and piano. But wouldn't most people associate Fauré more with his Requiem than anything else ? "Of course, the Requiem. But he also wrote a lot of songs." "Most composers," I point out, "have written a lot of songs, but they tend to neglected or overshadowed by their symphonic works." He agrees. On this subject, names and works like Schubert's Lieder, Wolf; the orchestral songs by Mahler, Das Knaben Wunderhorn; Richard Strauss's Vier letzte lieder, all crop up in our conversation. With good humour I name-drop the Poulenc Mélodies, which Rogé acknowledges with a wry nod - he has, after all, recorded the complete Poulenc songs (as well as the orchestral and piano music) to, as the cliché goes, much critical acclaim. Rogé is unarguably one of the foremost - if not the best - interpreters of French piano music today. In a way, we are doubly lucky that he has had a long-standing relationship with the Beethoven Fourth.

Despite the difficulty of finding parking space due to the National Day festivities, many people braved the roads to get to the VCH. In the past two weeks, we have been treated to a feast with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra tackling difficult works and living up to it.

Pascal Rogé is no stranger to the Singapore audience, having performed here on many occasions including the International Piano Festival.

On most occasions he has performed music from his native land of France, from the likes of Saint-Saëns and Debussy. Last week he took on what is to me the most interesting and difficult concerto to pull off - the No.4 in G major by Beethoven.

This is a concerto which is very introspective in nature, with the piano starting off the work. Here is where the performer is given the chance to stamp into the opening bars what he wants to say. Pascal Rogé adopted a lyrical introspective viewpoint. His playing was cautious but always within latitude, nothing too extreme or emotional. Kamu supported him well from the very beginning, never allowing the orchestra to steer past his conducting.

With clear filigree in the upper registers there was always a clear understanding of the music displayed by the Frenchman. Rogé’s playing has always been clean with every note clearly heard, and pedaling always balanced. However I somehow felt that there was a little dryness to his playing; in certain areas a little bit of virtuosity and stamping of authority was needed rather than just lyrical ideas.

Souptel led the strings in the second movement very strictly and allowed Rogé to take on the piano part with ease. There was a certain amount of intensity with crescendos obeying an unmistakable interpretative logic. I do however have certain reservations regarding his bringing out the melody line for the bass which at some points seemed rather vague - but these were minor, few and far in between.

While there was a certain sense of seriousness in his playing, he did play with communing ease and finesse. Ultimately though, I still felt that this was not Rogé's best performance and a little more could have been expected from him.

The Brahms Piano Quartet, orchestrated by Arnold Schoenberg in 1937, was something very new to me. Personally I have never liked anything composed by Schoenberg, finding his music very esoteric. However I was very impressed by his orchestration of this work which the programme notes described as having been followed very faithfully.

The expansiveness of the work is clearly defined and all aspects of Brahmsian style was well managed by Kamu. The solemnness in the Andante con moto was my personal favorite and special commendation has to be given to the leads of the various sections who were called upon to come together to play in a quartet-like manner.

The woodwind and horn sections were spot on from the very beginning and the Hungarian Dance-like segment in the fourth movement tested the true grit of the orchestra which they pulled off well.

I have a new profound respect for Schoenberg and hope to explore some of his music, his orchestration developed into some difficult dramatic moments especially towards the end where there was much spontaneous expression. This is where Kamu was at his best, probing deep into the music and steering the orchestra proficiently.

Further special mention has got to be given to the brass section which performed exceptionally well, as seen in the grandiose introduction of the third movement with its anthem- like theme, and at the ending.

Well done guys!

Johann D'Souza has just started practising the ancient art of Yoga, and has found himself knotted on a number of occasions.

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744: 11.8.2000 ©Johann D'Souza

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