Saturday 26 August 2000 Victoria Concert Hall	An Evening with Benjamin Zander
	Ludwig van BEETHOVEN (1770-1827) Coriolan Overture, op.62 Felix MENDELSSOHN (1809-1842) Violin Concerto in E minor, op.64 Antonin DVORAK (1841-1904) Symphony No.9 in E minor, op.95 "From the New World" LEE Huei Min violin Benjamin ZANDER conductor

OVERALL NOISE RATING: 2 (An attentive audience.)

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.

All Disquiet from the Front by Benjamin Chee There was a much greater buzz in the second storey lobby of the Victoria Concert Hall, or what we sometimes refer to as the "front-of-house" - possibly due to the corporate receptions thrown on both nights by the respective sponsors, possibly due to the high-profile autograph sessions before, during and after the performance. After giving a comprehensive (and lengthy) pre-concert talk, Maestro Zander himself appeared in the lobby before the concert, mixing very comfortably with the audience, signing autographs (having brought his own pen) and sharing anecdotes with his trademark avuncular manner. At the interval, Huei Min also turned up in the front-of-house to meet her fans and sign autographs. Most notably, despite the time restriction of the interval, she still took the time to talk to and personalize signatures for everyone in the queue. Zander also appeared, talking with people and holding court near the Friends' (of the SSO) merchandise desk. Thankfully, the autograph queue was nearly through just as the second warning bell rang after a longer-than-usual interval - quite coincidentally, one might add. After the concert, Maestro Zander indubitably returned to meet his audience, full of vim and energy even after conducting the night's programme. Strongly evangelistical about his music, he also struck a very resounding rapport with the audience: his charisma did not just extend to performance on stage, but also to his personality on the ground - well into the megawattage range. His appearance amidst the crowd was so frequent it virtually removed all barriers between performer and listener. Talk about bringing music to the people in the most direct manner possible. It is also for this reason that, at his own insistence, all of Zander's CDs contain a complimentary lecture disc in which he discusses the music. Needless to say, with his presence, there was a serious outbreak of CD-buying fever in the concert hall. Our account would not be complete with a story about Maestro Zander, so here goes: he was also present to perform at the SSO Open House during lunchtime, and ran into the brass quartet from the Singapore Youth Orchestra as he was leaving. After listening to the scratchy opening of Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever, he could not help but to step in, stop the music, give a succinct "masterclass" on how to play American band music - and then let fly with a totally rejuvenated version of Sousa that had the audience clapping along and the young musicians trying their best to keep up with his tempo.

Contrary to what some people think, most reviewers I know do try to go to a concert with an open mind, and to enjoy, rather than to critique - in fact I don't like to use that word "critique" for it implies that one has to criticize, which is certainly not the point of going to a concert.I know this might sound ominous for the opening of a review, but well, there it is.

I think the main reason the hall was so full on Friday was because of the concerto, and because of some of the marketing done for Ms Lee the week before, since the last time the SSO performed the other popular work the hall was by no means bursting to its seams.Accordingly I shall talk a bit about the concerto first.

Let's first say that Ms Lee has great talent, which has yet to be developed to its full potential. I have heard her play in two other concerts, one of which was with the Prague Chamber Orchestra some time ago, where she played the violin solo part in Beethoven's Triple Concerto, if I remember correctly. Then, I thought that she had talent, and had yet to mature. I still think so.

Chief on my list of worries is that Ms Lee has yet to develop a good sense of proportion. No less than Artur Schnabel said that the essence of musicality is proportion - from the small to the large scale, in terms of vibrato, rubato, volume and the other less tangible aspects of performance.

Perhaps it will seem a little harsh, but I found that a good sense of pacing, timing, and phrasing was consistently wanting in Ms Lee's performance. The first movement of the concerto is more or less an "arch" to me, with the central cadenza of course forming the peak of the arch, if you will. Here a sense of shape was missing.

Ms Lee needs to pace herself, and take little breathers so that she, and the audience will have time to breathe. There was a constant feeling that she was rushing. I must qualify myself here by saying that I am by no means against very quick tempi, though I feel that it can on occasion obscure or smudge expressions.

Heifetz' live performance is an example of a performance with very quick tempi, but which allows breathing all the same. The great performers all advocate one being totally relaxed whilst performing; all too often Ms Lee's nervousness (understandable, of course in view of all the hype she received) and tension permeated her performance.

On another note, I think that Ms Lee has yet to find her communicative voice with her instrument. Communication is after all central to the art of a great musician, indeed, any musician, and a sense of wanting to communicate the music and make the audience enjoy it together with oneself is important, as is of course enjoying playing itself on a personal level.

I do find that she needs to find her own distinctive voice, and make the performance her own, as well as having a little more confidence in directing the flow of the music. All too often she seemed happy to follow what the conductor did, which is unfortunate since Zander's conducting was ultimately nothing special.

Technically I did find her very good, much better than some of the disgracefully sloppy playing that could be heard from some quarters of the orchestra. Her tone on her instrument, a Guarnerius, is very beautiful as well, though it could be more varied. Her staccato, especially in the last movement was stunning as well, though sometimes it seemed she was trying too hard to impress.

It's always interesting to have a guest conductor, especially one who seems to have attained cult status virtually overnight, it seems. Zander has appeared on such programmes as Sixty Minutes, and I was admittedly very curious. It was very curious, then, that this vitality that was projected in the interviews I have seen with him, or the bubbly enthusiasm that he exudes didn't seem to excite the orchestra at all.

The opening Coriolan Overture, while rather well-played compared to the dozens of other times I've heard the SSO play it, lacked fire, drama and humanity, and was ultimately disappointing. Dvorak's Ninth Symphony may not be the most "interpretable" of works, but personal touches were quite lacking here; certainly there was none of the charm of the Czech conductor (who's name I've temporarily forgotten) who we had the privilege of hearing conduct the orchestra in this same work last year.

This performance was tiresomely middle-of-the-road, and unimaginative, in spite of some fine playing by the orchestra here.

Derek Lim is just the latest victim in the world of radiating your brains with telephone signals.

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761: 29.8.2000 ©Derek Lim

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