Saturday 11 July 1998 Victoria Concert Hall |
Magical Summer Nights |
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FELIX MENDELSSOHN Overture and Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream (1826/42) HECTOR BERLIOZ Les Nuits d’été, op.7 (1843-56) SAMUEL BARBER Knoxville: Summer of 1915, op.24 (1947)
Karen BEARDSLEY soprano |
OVERALL NOISE RATING:
1 (Despite occasional coughing and paper rustling, satisfyingly quiet)
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.
This review has been kindly sponsored by the Singapore Symphonia Co. Ltd
by Chia Han-Leon
Very often, themed concerts merely bank on some catchy name without actually having any real committment to their substance. This "Magical Summer Nights", turned out to be a fine example of a well-planned one. Despite the simplicity of the theme, the repertoire is satisfyingly varied, balanced and even educational.
No guarantee of the performance quality of course. Seemingly still in holiday mood, so to speak, the SSO took far too long to warm up for Mendelssohn's skittering Overture to Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, composed in a fit of inspiration by the 18-year-old Felix. The opening wind chords were off, Folse's pauses in between I think rather too long. The orchestral picture was scrappy and bulging, not quite catching the flittering spirit of one of music's earliest examples of "Fairy Music". Even the "HEE-HAW! HEE-HAW!" of the Ass came across as laboured and forced. Overall, the performance was wanting in elegance, perhaps too angular, and also lacking colour. Only towards the end did the SSO settle in, producing a conclusion that felt like a starlit, chilly night scene - like a curtain raiser for the rest of the night's magic.
American soprano Karen Beardsley came onto stage wearing a beautiful green dress (as well as an hourglass figure many helden-sopranos would die for). Only "30-something", Beardsley looked just perfect for the "role" of singer-poetess for Berlioz's hauntingly sensuous song-cycle, Les Nuits d’été ("Summer Nights").
So, although the SSO drowns her every now and then, or the acoustics seem cold and sapping, Beardsley's playful portrayal in the flirty Villanelle, her wispily beautiful account of Le Spectre de la Rose and her general air of easy dedication to the music was very winning. Despite a certain cloudiness to the entire performance, in terms of the orchestral support and the execution of the French, I found the entire cycle quite well-sustained. (OK, admittedly, quite a few members of the audience looked bored). Au Cimetiere ("In the Cemetery"), for example, is long and drawn-out, but if one concentrates, the effect can be hypnotic.
Watching Beardsley, obviously in her element, sing the work was a wonder in itself. Her every gesture - vocal, poetic, bodily - made this performance more than just an aural experience. Her casual enunciation of the word "casually", or the lifting of the word "lifting", or simply the tiny trembling over "hangar" was an act of art; her tender listing of "vanilla, strawberry, pasteboard, and starched milk" turned the mundane into beauty. Even singing "of nothing in particular, of nothing at all in particular, of nothing at all", she brought out the cheeky, half-absurd quality of the music/poem in coyness, bringing meaning to the meaningless.
Overall it was this ability of the composer, music and the performers to coax beauty out of nothing that came across. All are at once witty, understated, and dreamily sensuous. Above all, Beardsley's charisma and grace on stage worked its magic - by the time of the last verse, in a cream-white dress, she looked positively angelic.
A key test of this is the famously famous Wedding March. The trick to this piece is... not to sound clichéd. Sounds impossible in this day and age? Not really - the march must be pushed, never letting its inherent energy down. Though I wasn't particularly impressed with Folse's conducting so far, here in this finale his efforts to drive the march along were admirable. The result was a grand and strong, forward-moving rendition. Ideally the SSO could have been much brighter in tone; mostly dingy the whole night, they only achieved this in the triumphant closing bars, bringing a concert that was actually quite enjoyable to an end.
No, not yet! To our delight, after his first exit, Folse returned to stage with Beardsley. Encore! My fellow reviewer and I hastily made a few guesses, and got the composer right: George Gershwin. In fact, we should have known the piece too: the sultry "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess (What else???). Once again, Beardsley demonstrated how in American music she was very much in her element. Likewise, Folse's conducting style changed, becoming particularly sensitive, as both Americans delivered a deliciously hushed account of this Gershwin favourite.
If there were any bored by the Berlioz or even the Barber, this song totally won their hearts. After all, for me and my companion, Karen Beardsley was the "magic" in this "Magical Summer Night". If all summer nights were this beautiful, I hope the sun never rises on them.
Let's get one thing out of the way: Beardsley (left) does not have a heavy voice - and she knows and admits it (See interview in Life! July 12). So, although I found she lacked projection and was kind of airy, it was not strictly her voice which I found interesting, but her winsome stage presence, her wholly natural and unforced carrying of the poetic roles, and yes, her smile. Her legato lines can seem thin, but they are superbly focussed. And one thing for sure - Beardsley's intonation is effectively perfect. Flawless from top to bottom. Straightaway, here is a soprano who should be seen when she is heard - and the effect is enjoyably beguiling.
The jewel of the night was the performance of Knoxville: Summer of 1915 by Samuel Barber (right). I have never heard it before, so this concert was quite an education. Understatedly impassioned and melodiously sensuous, this is widely regarded as one of Barber's masterpieces. And what a breathtakingly beautiful work it is! The text is adapted from an autobiographical fragment by James Agee (1909-1955), later incorporated in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, A Death in the Family (pub. 1957). Dealing with the effects of the early death of the father in the family, the 15-minute work inhabits a late Romantic world of nostalgia-sweetness and despite the lingering tragedy, sadness is never explicit. In all, a concise and mesmerizing work notwithstanding its assymetrical word-setting.
It was heartbreaking to return to Mendelssohn... The concert continued with the Incidental Music to A Midsummer's Night's Dream, composed 16 years after the Overture. The performance was slightly one-dimensional, architecturally flat and monochrome, with the Scherzo a tinge too careful, and also heavy - I still insist that Mendelssohn should be played with a smaller orchestra. Much more kick can then be injected into the readings.
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245: 13.7.98
Readers' Comments
From: Kerryn Chan (scorpioboy@hotmail.com)
I attended the performance on Saturday, and I must say I was sorely disappointed with Karen Beardsley's performance. Sitting in the circle, I found her lack of projection quite disturbing, especially since she was executing Berlioz's song cycle in the original foreign language, French. From where I was sitting, she lacked lower register voice, and thus was drowned by the orchestra throughout the six songs. Whenever she could be heard, her intonation seemed flawed - out of focus, and lacking the clarity to project the expressions of the songs even to the people sitting in the last row. The orchestra also played like a separate unit, and did nothing to add to the atmosphere of the song cycle. They did not seem to be supporting the soprano, and plodded their way through most of the songs, without any feelings. I must also add that I was so disappointed that I left the concert during intermission.
From: Adrian Tan (avnger@pacific.net.sg)
Regarding the above comment, I think you are being too harsh on Karen Beardsley. No doubt the Berlioz was certainly flawed but it was certainly not expressionless. As for projection, I heard some remarks approximating yours when Barbara Hendricks was in town to sing. Maybe some of it has to do with hall acoustics. I think to have missed the 2nd half of the show was a loss because Barber's Knoxville was simply beautiful and I found Beardsley much more comfortable on her homeground with an American composer and in English. 'Summertime' was a gem. I think you should have given her a chance.
From: Abbey Ring (gaged@hotmail.com / Thursday, November 5, 1998 at 06:30:38)
I am in one of Australia's leading brass bands. I would like to know more information about when your Orchestra is playing so that I may be able to lisen particually to the brass on thier techniqes of playing. Keep up what you are doing know. It sounds fantastic.
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