Saturday 2 December 2000 Victoria Concert Hall |
MASTERS
SERIES Stephen Hough Plays Saint-Saëns |
| Albert
ROUSSEL
(1869-1937) Pour un fête de printemps, op.22 Charles Camille SAINT-SAËNS (1835-1937) Piano Concerto No.4 in C minor, op.44 Robert SCHUMANN (1810-1856) Symphony No.3 in E-flat major, op.97 "Rhenish".
Stephen HOUGH piano |
NOISE RATING INDEX: 5/1 (Friday - see below. Saturday - thank goodness).
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 Johann D'Souza and Chia Han-Leon
|
What
an audience |
|
While I understand parents wanting to bring their children to a concert for educational purposes, infants-in-arms and children misbehaving right through the first half of the programme displayed in them (the adults) total and utter disrespect for the soloist, conductor and the orchestra. People chatting aloud about the pianist, clapping in between movements (every single movement including the symphony), handphones going off despite clear warnings prior to the concert were totally unheeded. I was even told that there was a lady who was seen mixing and preparing milk for her baby in the circle seats. Throughout the first half I become increasingly exasperated by the minute. Why irks me is the fact that the management did nothing to stop these people from coming into the auditorium. I remember on many occasions in the past ( this is not the first time) when former SSC GM Tisa Ng would come running up to parents and literally taking the misbehaving child out of the auditorium. What do we have to do? Perhaps only allow adults to concerts, and have ushers stand in the concert hall? I recently had the opportunity of going to the Dewan Philharmonik in Kuala Lumpur for the Sumi Jo recital. What made it a pleasant experience was that not a child made a sound - Yes there were children who knew when to clap and how to behave, people also dressed appropriately, people who clapped at the right time and even stood up to give her a standing ovation. On Friday, we were not in the midst of an average pianist. Stephen Hough is in the upper echelon of world-class pianists. He did not play an encore - and I was actually happy he did not - the audience did not deserve one in the least. I am saddened by the fact that genuine concert-goers and pianophiles who tried to get tickets were turned away. I did not bother to stay for the second half, opting to come back the following day. There were some of us who apologized to Stephen Hough for what had happened, when he came out for autographs. From the bottom of our hearts – We are truly sorry for this despicable behavior. I truly question our education policies and the graciousness that we talk about and wish for. To me it’s a real sham; we will forever be behind others and the courtesy campaign that has been going on will unfortunately be part of our heritage - of shame. I am even beginning to take the view that classical music is indeed only for the privileged and appreciative few, and not for everyone. |
Only
thing missing were the recording engineers
by Chia Han-Leon
Now this is the kind of performance standard that deserves the compliment: "Should have been recorded for posterity."
On Saturday, the SSO was in remarkably solid form - everything seemed to defy expectations as the entire orchestra, top to bottom, performed far beyond their usual standards.
The Roussel work was delivered in luscious tone, beautiful balance, imbuing the opening bitonal colours with gorgeous textures which I'm sure would have done the composer proud. The SSO sounded as if they've been playing this music all its life, considering the amount of expertise and maturity that came through in their reading, right up to the wonderful final pianissimo. Every detail was presented with subtle clarity.
The Schumann was no different. I must confess I came to this concert expecting "Oh ok, another Romantic symphony". But instead, I found myself paying much attention to the very fine performance. The SSO brought to the this - Schumann's last symphony - energy and youthfulness, in rich sound and excellent tone. No lack of Romantic sweep, nor warmth - all in detailed, smooth, sweet yet empowered sound. The winds were splendid tonight, with mighty and heroic-voiced horns (first movement), unified, solemn and religious wind choir (fourth movement) and wonderful solos throughout.
Shui Lan kept everything together in unobstrusive and concise timing, in his best tradition. In fact, the fusion and unity evident between the conductor and orchestra proved to be the perfect recipe for the grand and "together" sound best for Romantic music. Their phrasing was long-breathed and well sustained, but also graceful. All in all, a very beautiful performance, which everyone, even those on stage, obviously appreciated.
Bidding goodbye (for the season), Shui Lan presented as well the lovely Intermezzo from Mascagni's Cavelleria Rusticana - again, smooth, beautifully unified, passionate yet sweet.
Hough
Magic
by Johann D'Souza
I cannot actually remember when was the last time I heard Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto No.4 live. Having decided to go twice and thankfully so (as those who only attended Friday will realise - read the sidebar), Stephen Hough provided the true-blue concert-going audience with a rendition that will long be fixed in our memory.
I have heard
him on a previous occasion in the Rachmaninov First Piano Concerto 
and
that memory was a very pleasant one. From the opening bars for the piano
tonigh, Hough immediately stamped his authority with his Merlin touch.
A work composed in two movements, it has all the tellings of the brilliance
of Saint-Saëns. This concerto, just like his famous Second Concerto
in G minor, possesses some beautiful sections for the pianist to show
off his dexterity. The difficult parts were played with consummate ease
and Hough displayed total control thanks to Shui Lan, who allowed him
to dictate the pace. I particularly enjoyed watching Hough's clean, clear
pedaling when he did the runs and also his clear filigree across the higher
register. His use of the sostenuto pedal has to be watched for one to
understand what I mean.
This
work poses many difficult problems for the pianist and if one watched
closely, there were these pole-vaulting runs across the piano in chordic
formation which looked so devilishly difficult yet Hough was able to weave
through them like a true grand master. Arpeggio runs , chordic progressions
both descending and ascending were always done effortlessly and with difference
- listen to the repeats and you will know that they were treated differently.
Hough's understanding of the work was seen not just in the difficult technical aspects of the work but also in the slow sections of the second movement which calls for some introspectiveness. This he delivered through some well thought out phrasing. Hough possesses a wide repertoire, from contemporary composers to the old grand masters of the piano like Brahms, Rachmaninov and Schubert. With such experience and repertoire, he was able to demonstrate the use of colour in his concerto performance and encore, a piece by Frederico Mompou - Three Girls in the Garden - a piece unfortunately not found on his award winning disc of the composer's music (Hyperion).
For the fortunate few who had the opportunity to get him to sign our CD covers – we were privileged to find out that he has just recorded a disc of Liszt and will be doing the Rachmaninov and Saint-Saëns concertos in the near future. For the die-hard pianophiles - we look forward to hearing him in the recital on Tuesday.
Johann D'Souza works in a laboratory of a different sort with Firewalls, VPNs and virtual reality bosses.
|
Click to Return
to the Concert Index!... or Visit the Inkvault archives! |
802: 29.11.2000 © Johann D'Souza, Benjamin Chee
 |
Explore the Flying Inkpot
| Concert Reviews |
Bit deadish:
| MORE STUFF |
Do you have a website relating to classical music performance in Singapore? Tell us about it! Email classical@inkpot.com