Saturday 5 December 1998 Victoria Concert Hall |
Singapore Symphony Orchetra |
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Maurice RAVEL Valses nobles et sentimentales (1912) Maurice RAVEL Daphnis et Chloé Suite No.2 (1913) Sergei RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme by Paganini (1934) Sergei RACHMANINOV The Isle of the Dead (1909)
Bobby CHEN piano |
OVERALL NOISE RATING:
2 (The following adventures of flu season. Noise Rating of 5 for the piano's top notes)
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
The choice of the "Paganini Rhapsody" certainly gave ample space for a range of expression. The performance began intently, if a bit on the sluggish side. That opening flourish by the orchestra certainly deserved more kick; indeed, most of the performance lacked fire, though it had its beautiful quiet moments. Generally, for a work explicitly involving 24 variations, this reading really lacked contrast.
It did not help that Bobby Chen's tone was very small - for most of the first five variations, his place in the music seemed overly timid and backgrounded. Though his technique is assured, he exuded little confidence or stage presence in his role as concerto soloist. In Variations IX and X, Chen was disturbingly completely covered by the SSO, effectively inaudible. In fact, for most of the performance, I found the relationship between orchestra and soloist rather detached and uninvolving.
Chen also showed little feeling for the music. Sitting straight, he played through the whole Rhapsody with a routine passivity, and avoided moving his body. As a result, I had the feeling he never did try to transmit any bodily strength to the keyboard, which reflects in his small tone. But oddly enough, Chen completely transformed in his encore of the Liszt La Campanella transcription - suddenly he was pounding his entire frame at the piano, ringing out notes with great strength (albeit this forced the VCH grand to cough out its ugliest top notes). Certainly, here he was in his element.
But I still find it disappointing that Chen either chose not to or could not transfer his enthusiasm to the Rach. I thought it was rather obvious that he was very keen to show off his Liszt much more than his Rach, as he volunteered his encores only after a couple of curtain calls.
There was a freedom of playing in this encore which I hardly felt in his rendition of the Rhapsody. His phrasing also failed to "fantasise"; Chen seemed to completely eschew rubato - the famous Variation XVIII was taken straight, with no attempt to mould the melody beyond the note values. As a result, this quintessentially Romantic melody became merely a nicely articulated sentimental tune.
Ironically perhaps, Chen has a beautiful touch - the slower sections such as Variations VI and XI showed this off very well. In the latter, the tone he produced was almost Debussyian! To conclude: well, I don't believe in prodigies - great music-making always requires the experience of life; and true "prodigies" are proven in their future, not their present. I sincerely hope one day, perhaps ten years from now, I will be hyperlinking this review to a much more favourable one.
It is quite sinisterly appropriate that the choice for the end of the Rachmaninov Cycle is the composer's monumental tone poem, The Isle of the Dead. Unfortunately, the hall acoustics seemed to swallow up most of the opening string textures. I found the opening long crescendo of the work rather ineffective in this night's performance. There seemed no sense of growth. The gentling lapping 5/8 rhythm, imitating the sea surrounding the isle, slapping against the boat, was not emphasised enough. All this despite the committed and powerful conducting by Shui Lan - this season has seen some of his very best work. From the middle point, the passage of "bliss", the SSO finally hits home. Their climax was powerful, raging, a great torrent of passion. The ominous appearance of the Dies Irae motif was strongly coloured, like a purple sunset, mysterious. The ending was hushed and still, as it should be.
In the two works by Ravel, it is Shui Lan's conducting again which rose to the top of my list of honours for this concert. I remember when I reviewed Shui Lan's debut concert here as the new MD, I called his style "predominantly French". Here, after nearly two years, I can safely reiterate that view. Shui Lan's gentle but commanding presence in the Valses nobles et sentimentales called from the SSO a reading which combined the swagger of nonchalance with the colours of the "Old World" and the courage of carefree music-making. In his hands, the opening waltzed forth with confident reflexiveness, while the slower sections were perfumed and delicious to the ear. In all, the light mood upheld admirably the very French atmosphere - senselessly intelligent, purposefully meaningless, smart but without a care for intellectualism - totally in tune with the understated irony of the Valses.
As morning surged, Stravinskian-like, the SSO weaved an intoxicating sheen of orchestral colour. The grandeur of this slowly unveiled ballet matched Shui Lan's conducting - his arms seemed to swirl and dance their own choreography. Call this "Full Orchestra Conducting"! His intelligent interchanges of pauses and gestures in the "Pantomime" was wonderful to watch - at one point Shui Lan (left) even struck the first desk, lightly rocking Souptel's score. All to great effect, especially in the giant, blazing sunlight of the climax. Stunning!
The pianist for the final concert of the Rach Cycle was Malaysian student at the Menuhin School, Bobby Chen (b.1979). In recent years he has performed widely in the European arenas, including recitals for the Liszt Society and the London PO's Prokofiev Festival. With these considerable credentials, it was no wonder the many expectant comments I received prior to the concert, particularly the phrase "upcoming".
Right: "The Isle of the Dead" (1886) by Arnold Böcklin
Even more impressive was the performance of the Second Suite from Daphnis et Chloé . The highly evocative performance of the "Daybreak" featured startlingly vivid playing from the SSO, with warbling wind, chirping birds, and gorgeous string tone in their main theme. Above all, the silvery liquid playing of principal flutist Jin Ta totally took my breath away.
Chia Han-Leon first started playing the calculator (Casio, 1980) when he was 7-years-old.
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