|
A predominantly 'Chinese' programme for the night
is strangely fitted with a spanish virtuosic piece for prodigy violinist
Li Chuan Yun, but there's no complains about the chance to see a
rare show of high octane violinistic act with that exciting inclusion.
The main draw of the concert must be the Butterfly
Lovers Concerto which has had several performances in recent
years and is undeniably a crowd pleaser.
Zhu Jian-Er's Festival Overture was given
a somewhat negative appraisal by the programme notes, being described
as "pleasant is a little inconsequential", which is an
injustice as I feel the work is definitely more than inconsequential.
The overture seems to be looking to being a symphonic opening movement
in itself, and bear lofty ambitions in its material in that nine
minutes of it.
The Festival Overture does not hint at a depth of thematic
treatment early on, with the trumpet cry that heralded a noisy brass
chorus in a kitschy fashion. Neither was the tossing around of the
main subject to different ensembles refreshing, but with the introduction
of the lyric theme by the flute and then carried by the eloquent
cellos, things got more and more interesting. An intensifying aura
produced by a repeated figure on the strings built a valiant character
which essentially led the music further and deeper into development.
The ease of revisiting the lyrical slow figure again was satisfying,
and a long complicating finale that seemed to persist on without
stopping for breath enforced the impression of inspiration here.
Right: Landscape by Tang Yin
An overture seems to be the wrong genre for a piece
with such expansive ideas, and the orchestra seemed to agree too,
responding to the piece with an eagerness that promised much for
the evening. The brass had a good measure of discipline in their
trumpeting and the strings answered with similar obedience. Playing
with the heart is necessary, but here one is aware of the effort
of cooperation in music making to a greater extent rather than indulging
in individual parts. In any case, the Festival Overture was
well served here with warm playing tempered with good pace and judgement.
At the other end of the concert, there is the nine
minute Symphony No. 2 of Chan Pei-Xun which defies the categorisation
with it being a very short one movement symphony - at least Sibelius'
Symphony No. 7 stretches three times as long. Structurally
the 'symphony' overall sounded like a reluctant creation, hesitant
in reaching its intended emotive modes, and the inevitable climax
just does not seemed to be the center, the heart of the music.
A solemn mood by the cellos and violas set a distinctive
mood to the symphony which appeared difficult to develop from there,
and for a long while the whole orchestra had to get involved in
that single idea in a lengthy tutti discourse. Perhaps it was the
lack of a juxtaposing of themes different in character that made
the symphony rather introverted and hard to approach emotionally.
Without a suitable contrast to the effective start the climax was
noticeably weak in emotive depth. Individual sections like the flute
solo passage with accompanying strings were wonderful inventions
that however failed to connect together to relate a cohesive narrative.
For those who had not the luck to attend Li Chuan
Yun's stupendous concert playing the Khachaturian
concerto previously, I can here comment about his superlative
skills on the violin. But this performance of the Butterfly Lovers
Concerto highlighted another aspect of his style - his every performance
is an inimitable one. It had to be. Music making with him seemed
to be a capricious affair, as a prodigy with unlimited talent delighting
in experimenting with the possible interpretations of a mute score.
The concerto here was exactly that, given a fresh and unpredictable
reading that might or might not appeal but was definitely amazing.
 The
most important point to commend for his take on the concerto was
the 'correctness' of his style, especially the portamento effects
that was so essential to bring out the operatic 'sing-song' mannerism
in the expressive moments. However Li exhibited quite a few schizophrenic
moments of paganinian fits in the dramatic acts, trashing his own
violin performing doublestop passages in a blur of motion or threatening
to break the E-string with a hair-raising screech of shrill note.
Now that is certainly something one can never hear in any recording
of this piece. Between this odd mix of incredible sweetness and
violent outbursts, his audacity in interpretation was confirmed,
and his technique certainly assured. My goodness, his thrown bow,
playing of cross string arpeggios had this gravity defying bounce
that it seemed he was trying to stop the motion rather than produce
it. And mind you it was not a mechanical dropping of the stick,
but a true attack on the strings at each point of contact coupled
with a physics-baffling act of making the bow ricocheting off.
The frustrating thing about this spectacular event
was that the orchestra refuses to engage in it. The opening and
ending flute solo did not sound very naturally chinese, orchestral
climaxes were all badly subdued, and the cello was a letdown in
the important duet. The conductor must be very mistaken if he believed
that Li could not hold his own ground within the concerto. Anyway,
the gracious soloist actually played together by ear with the orchestral
tutti most of the time rather than waited for his next appearance,
and did that playing to the orchestra, facing the strings
and clearly relishing the experience.
 Yet
again an uncooperative ensemble wrecked the music again in the Carmen
Fantasy. Needless to say, watching Li play a show off piece was
a jaw-dropping experience. In the second movement he even got to
insert a solo presentation of the Habanera theme, again an outrageous
act! Left hand pizzacatos and harmonic doublestops troubled him
not a bit, and he could adapt between spiccato and the ricocheted
staccato notes within the same repeated passage. What turned the
performance into a disaster was the non-involvement of the orchestra.
Worse than just being half-hearted, they almost disappeared and
leave Li seemingly engaged in an indulgent act of virtuosity. The
audience clearly felt this and gave half-hearted applause after
the piece; Li was definitely short-changed in earning his accolades
here. What a shame.
The Dance of the Yao People for orchestra rounded
off the night in a surprisingly pleasant manner. I had expected
a very kitschy arrangement of the hackneyed melodies of the piece.
The same themes are there, but the arrangement was very tastefully
done, and focussing on the threading of the pieces into a whole
makes the reiteration of the quirky dance figure and languid flowing
melody blend together nicely. The orchestra finally perked up after
being a dour accompanist and showed enough vivacity to carry the
music to a joyous conclusion.
ONG
YONG HUI deals with his schizophrenic moments by balancing
music intake between Chopin and Creed.
If
you wish to Add a Comment to this review, please post your comments
to classical@inkpot.com.
Last
Concert Reviewed | Next Concert Reviewed
All
original texts are copyrighted. Please seek permission from the
Classical Editor
if you wish to reproduce/quote Inkpot material.
|
