Saturday 24 October 1998 Victoria Concert Hall	Singapore Symphony Orchestra
	SERGEI RACHMANINOV Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, op.18 (1900-1) DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No.11 in G minor, op.103 "The Year 1905" (1957) Yakov KASMAN piano CHOO Hoey conductor

OVERALL NOISE RATING: 1 (The orchestra was too loud for any coughing to be heard)

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

Only upon the return of Conductor Emeritus Choo Hoey does the audience get treated to the likes of tonight's program. Van Cliburn Silver Medalist Yakov Kasman joins the SSO in the beautiful Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2 in the first half of the program, followed by the daunting Symphony No. 11 "The year 1905" by Dmitri Shostakovich. High expectations abound from those who know the music. Surely, the SSO has come a long way to even dare attempt a repertoire such as this, a challenging program which will definitely test the musicians onstage to their fullest. A lingering thought at the back of one's mind is surely the heavy repertoire that might not bother the performers but the audience. Still, we keep an open mind for one of the season's most awaited concerts.

Left: Sergei Rachmaninov - painting by Boris Chaliapin.

Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto is arguably the composer's most popular work. Written in 1901, it was believed that the music was in part musical therapy for a nervous breakdown that was caused by the severe criticism of his First Symphony premiered by an irresponsibly drunk Glazunov. Certainly not the most demanding work for the virtuoso pianist by Rachmaninov's standards (as compared to the Rach 3), it is certainly a piece that demands much more expression and involvement from the performer. As my fellow reviewer put it, it will not even be close to "good enough" even if you get all the notes right. Kasman certainly did get most of the notes right (and if I'm not mistaken even added somes notes!) but most of the performance did not work for me at all. It was so difficult to sit through that it was almost painful.

The performance did however start quite well. Kasman opted for a more sustained opening with an increased use of the pedal. The orchestra took this more brooding reading of the music with an intense entry that immediately struck me in its relentless pulsing caused by an emphasis on the onbeats. Unfortunately, that was how the entire first movement went, dragging the music along in its depressing mood. I kept feeling that Kasman was trying to push the music along, but Choo seemed determined to keep it at that pace. The result: an inhibited performance with the pianist trying hard to milk whatever emotion from Rachmaninov's beautiful melodic writing unassisted by the conductor. Throughout the entire performance, this uneasy relationship between the soloist and orchestra was an obstacle to the effective delivery of such "Romantic" music. On occasions, one could even see a hint of frustration on Kasman's face.

The second movement is perhaps the most endearing, with it's heart-wrenching Romanticism. But because of this, it can be done badly through too much mushiness or being absolutely feelingless. Tonight, it was the latter case. The entire movement was a chore to sit through. There were some small discrepancies in the playing, starting with the flute solo that came in a tad too flat in pitch. A glimmer of hope arose as the clarinet came in with its sublime melody but that was soon over with some insensitive pizzicato from the celli. Kasman strangely opted to play the entire melody in a detached fashion, with minimal use of pedal. There was certainly an effort to phrase with projected emotion while trying not to get soppy but it did not work for me at all. The orchestra was generally heavy sounding and almost listless: something I had not expected to see in such beautiful music.

To be honest, I had almost given up on the whole thing by now. Choo Hoey's attempt to liven things up with a more lively opening to the third movement pushed things on a little. But the music returned to its stagnant state, punctuated with some overdone climaxes that were to foreshadow the Shostakovich performance later on, except it worked better there. The tempo was again draggy and the orchestra responded with some sloppiness. The piece ended in frustration, as if Rachmaninov had not recovered from his pessimism and apathy, much less in triumph. Regardless, the audience gave the effort a generous round of ovation at the end of which Kasman treated us with a humorous account of Prokovief's March from The Love of Three Oranges. Its mocking tone was rather ironic.

I think the issue is not Kasman's technique but more a matter of interpretation, and the lack of musicianship. Clearly, the soloist is an excellent pianist with fantastic technique, but as I mentioned before this is not going to help in this concerto. Add to this a heightened expectation from the audience due to the immense accessibility and popularity of the concerto just made it worse. I remember leaving the hall for the interval wondering how I was going to sit through the Shostakovich after such an unbearably long Rachmaninov.

Despite a certain lack of direction in the performance, it was an encouraging effort. At worst, tempos were sacrificed for no apparent reason while the 'lack of mood' resulted in some listless playing from the SSO musicians. But Choo Hoey conducted with much clarity and energy and that gets an A+ for effort. Nevertheless, I think he should spare more time refining the orchestra with regards to this kind of music. Being the proponent of so much new, unusual and/or refreshing music in the SSO programming nowadays, this can only serve well in his efforts to educate both audience and musicians.

Adrian Tan thinks that they should warn unaware audiences, in the first rows especially, of the dangers during Shostakovich symphonies.

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325: 26.10.1998 〢drian Tan

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