I came mainly for the Sarod Concerto, and I was not disappointed.

A simple but ornately decorated platform was set up for the soloist, who would be seated as he played. Before the performance began, Mr Khan took about three minutes to tune his instrument, which has a resonant, glowing, lute-like (but more mellow) tone. Having acomplished that, he thanked us for our patience, and proceeded to relate an incident in Japan where after the extended tuning session, the audience actually applauded, thinking it was part of the performance. Mr Khan seemed highly amused by this, as was the audience. A few of us here in Singapore will appreciate the irony that, these things actually happen here too. (Also, for some strange reason known only to the exceptionally mysterious Singaporean psyche, a member of the audience thought it appropriate to laugh when Mr Khan, while speaking of his instrument, stated that the sarod had 21 strings.)

But on a more serious note, Mr Khan explained, in amiable and soft-spoken voice, how tuning is a very important part of music, for the act not only affects the instrument, but also "tunes" our ears and mood towards the music to come. I was extremely grateful for his explanation, for I for one do lament how formal concerts have become. Even in the practice of early music, today and yesterday, tuning was a very distinct part of the entire artistic experience. There are recordings of early music today which even include such preceeding mood-tuning - and as Mr Khan demonstrated, the effect is very positive and effective in setting the atmosphere for the performance.

As I have described, the sarod has a glowing tone. This is largely a result, if I'm not mistaken, of the fact that of the instruments 21 strings, 17 are sympathetic - meaning, they are not actually played, but vibrate to produce a background "hum" harmonically resonant to the notes played on the 4 melodic strings.

The work begins very quietly as a long crescendo, moving from violas, cellos through the strings, to the winds, in a giant C chord - the effect brought to mind the Sunrise from Also Sprach Zarathustra, which is also based around the C chord. From this, an absolutely tranquil and lyrical wordless poem emerges from the solo sarod, reminiscing over a vast orchestral pedal. "The opening movement," Khan (right) writes, " is the alap or introduction, composed in the devotional and romantic moods." Many interesting solos abound in the accompaniment, including swirling piccolo solos and booming exhortations on lower brass.

The Western orchestra sounds clearly "alien" to the musical culture, as if it's in the "wrong world". The different "scale" used by the sarod, with its microtones and freer harmonic soundscape, is of a different world to the more restrictive and accuracy-based western scale. But the support of the Western orchestra is not entirely out of place. There were many good efforts from the SSO players to cater to the Eastern style of ornamentation, eg. the sinuous rubato and intra-note glissandi. A small point though - it was odd to see so many non-Eastern players take these important solos. In some cases, as in the SSO's new principal cello, Nella Hunkins, the style was not convincing. It was a good effort, but I had the feeling that our long-time acting principal Liu Peng would do better. On the other hand, the more experienced Alexander Souptel did very well in his solo, a very remarkable effort which even Mr Khan obviously approved of. (Having said this, I should add that the Russians are more East than West).

The opening slow section is followed by an extended percussion interlude, "which is almost a cadenza for an array of exotic instruments combining a range of various Indian and Western rhythms, symbolising the importance of the rhythmic aspect of Indian music" (Khan). The "array" is vast, including a full drumset, tom-toms, xylophone, glockenspiel, bells and tam-tam among others. The combination is surprisingly in tune with the work, never jarring or too out-of-place - and very enjoyable. The final fast movement follows, a joyous and vibrant piece, cleverly and musically crafting its material in an energetic build-up to a majestic and spiritually triumphant conclusion. The audience roared its approval.

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Listening to the Shostakovich First after this magnificent essay in oriental music proved to be (relatively speaking) a mistake. As a reviewer reviewing this concert, I must relate my experience, however "unfair". After the beauty, optimism and grace of the Sarod Concerto, I found the Shostakovich blunt, heavy-handed, crude and graceless - which is at least in part the nature of the music anyway. The first movement and the last were heavily done; the SSO did not lack weight, but by and large I found the orchestral soundscape flat and overcooked. Similarly, the Lento was full of sound, but somehow lacked a sense of conviction. There was no lack of dark atmosphere, but a shortage of emotional intensity. The performance was mainly relieved by the spritely colour and hectic vivacity of the scherzic second movement, with gracefully wispy and light-headed playing in the trio.

Overall, I really must confess that I was totally out of tune with the Shostakovich right after the Sarod Concerto - which, by the way, is a very important point I'd like to highlight to the people who programme these concerts. Mr Khan's point about "mood" plays right into this situation - just as his tuning sets the mood for the concerto (and perfectly, might I add), programmers must note how one piece affects another in a concert. A bad combination such as this threatens to ruin audience satisfaction in the same way a loud cough totally destroys the atmosphere of a serene pianissimo passage.

The Elgar Cockaigne Overture is also, if I were to be an over-sensitive freak, a somewhat poor choice, considering that it is quintessentially British music from the colonial era (you know, Great Britain, India...). But no, I'm not stuck in the anti-colonialism movement, so I won't say any more of this. The SSO's performance in this was also somewhat heavier than I would favour, and rather cloudy of tone, though once again this is in part the nature of the music. Towards the middle section, things were much clearer, with strings in lush voice and lower brass displaying vibrant British bombast, if a little too dark in tone. As in the recent performance of Walton's Spitfire Prelude, the SSO could have sounded more brilliant and injected more swagger. Nevertheless, the work ended with adequate pomp.

CHIA HAN-LEON is presently watching the second season of DS9. Better late than never, right?

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