| SSO's
spacious new home in the concert hall of the Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay, does
much to improve the aesthetic experience of going to a concert, and also in shaping
the sound of the orchestra. The hall seems to give the woodwinds and the brasses
more weight in sound balance; whereas, previously at the Victoria Concert Hall,
the woodwinds always seemed to emerge from a mass of bowed notes. Unfortunately
the string section was unmistakably muted, and in the night's programme of 'Disney'
music which highlighted a colorful use of the wind instruments, the strings failed
to make significant impact.
Second Opinion
by William
Beh 17 January 2003 Listening
to the symphony play in the Esplanade for the first time since the Trial concerts
last year, one must conclude (quite inevitably) that whatever the vaunted acoustical
features of the concert hall, these will not instantly and magically transform
the orchestra into the likes of the big continental European or American bands.
It's a start, of course, but if tonight's performance was anything to go by, there's
still quite a few (light) years of toil and labour ahead. It
was not a bad Friday evening turnout for a programme anchored by Mickey Mouse.
In the 1940 Disney animated feature Fantasia, the little rodent starred
as the title character in The Sorcerer's Apprentice, while The Rite
of Spring was vividly set to imagery of proto-Jurassic Park dinosaurs eating
each other. (And despite repeated avowals in the programme that Dukas is not a
one-hit wonder, I'll believe that the day SSO plays something else other than
Apprentice that Dukas wrote.) The orchestra was
clearly unaccustomed to playing in such a different venue, and that was not helped
by Lan Shui's wilful rubati and cautious tempo in Apprentice. Augustin
Dumay's opulent violin timbre served Chausson and Ravel impeccably - the Poème
was delivered with point and sensitivity - but it was all Lan could do just to
hold the oversized orchestra together through the paganistic stylings of The
Rite of Spring. Despite the remarkably clean, terraced
layers between the rich orchestral timbres, what failed was the balance and sense
of abandon that would have given the music much needed thrust. The woodwinds received
plenty of space in which to show off (thumbs up to the bassoons and clarinets),
but the massed strings were at points emaciated and the brasses went off on their
own from time to time. (Do these people listen to each other ?) The result:
a serving of bangers and mash, and an unshakeable impression that it could not
but get better on Saturday. For the encore, a sprightly reading of Masks
from the First Act of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet. The
idea of having Lan to give a short introduction before the work was also laudable
- but perhaps unnecessary. Between his relatively poor diction and the karaoke-reverb
setting on the speakers, we could only hear maybe one word in every three he said,
and there wasn't really much he could have added that wasn't already in the eight
pages of programme notes. On the other hand, the editors
of the programme book were again absent without leave. The "Composers' Corner"
is really quite a good thing, as soon as (i) they leave enough lighting on in
the hall for decent reading and (ii) they get their facts sorted out. For example,
Chausson's Poème was not premiered in 1898 in Leipzig, but in 1897
in Paris; Ravel's Tzigane was first performed not in December but November
1924. (Hint: The Pan Book of Orchestral Music (A. Jacobs, 1987) is not
the most authoritative reference for doing notes.) Actually,
the previous week's programme was even worse. They couldn't even agree on the
year of the Symphonie Fantastique's premiere: on page 21, Marina Tan puts
down 1833, but three pages later, Koh Dow Fern gives 1830 instead. In fact, we've
already mentioned the 1833 blooper in our last review of the Symphonie
Fantastique (when Dutoit conducted the NHK), but what can you do when they
just don't care ? | Dukas's
The Sorcerer's Apprentice would certainly delight as a witty evocative
piece (who can forget the cartoon while listening to this?), and Lan Shui attempted
to bring out the lively side of it. The chief merit of the piece was contributed
by the wonderfully playful bassoon solo by principal player Zhang Jin Min, playing
the jaunty signature melody of the enchanted broom. Lan Shui encouraged the orchestra
to expressiveness with his dramatic pauses and tentatively dispensed notes that
came in the process of bringing the broom to life. The quartet of horns was also
warming up well at its moments (in preparation of the Rite of Spring perhaps),
and the brasses carried off their sparse parts irresistibly and obviously wanting
to do more. French violinist Augustin Dumay appeared
next for his offering of two works by French composers Ernest Chausson and Maurice
Ravel. Impressively tall, Dumay led the SSO by pure elegance of sound alone, from
the start of Chausson's Poème, setting himself far apart from the
accompaniment. The playing was unflinchingly straightforward but never dull, as
the amazing clarity of voice brought forth the sensual qualities of the music.
Came the second opening theme for the violin solo, Dumay's bright unclouded tone
was reinforced by virtuosic double-stopped passages which he tossed off without
hint of aggression or force. It was truly an archetypical display of the Franco-Belgian
school of playing, exhibiting purity of tone coupled with evenness of phrasing.
Thus was the audience held captivated throughout the piece's lyrical musings,
despite the orchestra lending rather dreamy support to it. Now,
how would such a graceful sound like this play against the audacious Tzigane?
Augustin Dumay ended my pondering early with a quick, brash introduction to to
the work. The recitative was generally handled with a fast tempo aimed to startle,
although its dark and capricious character lacked a certain dimension without
a suitably strong and expressive lower register. That said, the frightening precision
of the playing held the audience's attention, and at moments where extreme techniques
were called for, Dumay did not shirk nor disappoint from a daring showing. At
its breathless conclusion, the performance was still note-perfect, heightened
only by sharp, exciting changes of tempo. Lan Shui did a good job in providing
attentive accompaniment. It was truly a pity that an encore was given despite
the numerous curtain calls thereafter. To attend Stravinsky's
Rite of Spring in concert is, in a way, to expect a showing of dynamic
orchestral ability (if not virtuosity), to experience a recreation of the atmosphere
at its (dare we say) scandalous debut. Written to express an aggressive, pulsating
energy, against this expectation it was interesting to see how Lan realized this
interpretation. As it transpired, his reading of the piece was rather far from
exciting, coming across as being warmer for the lyrical elements than chilling
for being precise and sharp in execution of its violence. After
the extended exploration of the folk-song motif by the bassoon, the opening of
The Adoration of the Earth was quite entirely dominated by the woodwinds,
which came on excitedly to add aural complexity around the edges. The Dances
of the Young Girls came on with a muted feel in the throbbing chords; and
where the strings were supposed to have its first significant appearance, the
effect was weak and devoid of force. It needed the woodwinds to revive and sustain
the energy in the work, working to develop the theme introduced by the horns and
starting the dance. Overall, the performance of the
piece was in a word, bland - Stravinsky wrote music that had a fantastic range
of expression, but the orchestra could not get it pinned down. Furious moments
in the Ritual of the Rival Tribes were unduly drowned out by the brasses,
and the opening to the Procession of the Sage failed to convey a sense
of gravity. The long-drawn conclusion needed a sustaining of dramatic tension,
which instead, came across in fits and spurts. The
Sacrifice suffered similarly from a lack of vitality. The lull of the opening
scene and the Mystic Circles of the Yong Girls were engaging for their
evocation of mysterious nature, but the numbing timpani poundings to break the
stillness was surprisingly ineffective; a moment's hesitation was all that was
needed to reduce the shock element. Much effort was seemingly gathered to produce
the greatest impact in the Sacrificial Dance, and although it was difficult
going to obtain a balanced orchestral timbre in the chaotic chordal mass, by and
large Lan Shui managed to push the orchestra intensely through to the final twist
at the ending of the piece. Ultimately, one failed to discern a coherent approach
from this performance, and perhaps the favoring of the wind instruments over the
strings by the hall acoustics contributed to the lack of impact overall. The
concert ended with Prokofiev's Masks from Romeo and Juliet as the
encore, which might be chosen for its whimsical moments or for a sleek finishing
to end the evening. Finally, I have to commend the effort in producing a programme
booklet which now contains so much more reading, even if the hall lights get far
too dim for reading when the music begins, and the usual plethora of careless
mistakes still appear.
Ong Yong Hui,
unfortunately, cannot remember the part of the animation which employed the Rite
of Spring in Fantasia. If
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