SSO - SINGLE HANDED BRILLIANCE

October is a busy month for us with regards to the arts performances. I think the last period when we attended this many concerts and performances was this year’s Singapore Arts Festival in June/July.

Had date with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) Friday evening – Single-Handed Brilliance, conducted by Lan Shui with soloist Alexandre Tharaud on the piano. Also present were the usual guys, EP, WJ and SJ.

Due to a delay at work and a massive traffic jam on the highways (and the byways…grrr…), I missed the first piece of the concert, Overture from The School for Scandal, by Samuel Barber. It was a pity, but I wasn’t too upset, since I was still in time for the two main works to be performed.

The second piece was Maurice Ravel’s Piano Concerto for Left Hand in D Major. The piece was commissioned for Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein, who lost his right arm during his service in the army in the First World War. He had developed an extraordinary one-handed technique in order not to sacrifice his musical career. Tonight the piece was performed by Alexandre Tharaud.

I am no particular fan of Ravel’s music, and make no pretence of understanding or particularly enjoying his music. For tonight’s piano concerto, what interested me and kept me riveted during the whole piece was the sheer novelty of watching a piano concerto being performed only with the left hand. I enjoyed the way the soloist’s left hand leapfrogged across the entire range of the keyboard, watching one single hand pick out melodies and counter melodies that would have normally required both hands. Quite brilliant indeed.

There were some amusing parts in the performance. Due to his only using one hand, the soloist had to move his body along the piano stool in order to be able to reach the extreme keys. He was also playing with quite a bit of energy, so he ended up being rather unstable and almost falling off the piano stool at times.

The third and last piece was Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, Op. 27. Rachmaninov is one of the few (or maybe only) 20th century composer whose music I actually enjoy. To quote the program notes, in his music, one finds an “all-pervading melancholy, a strong sense of yearning for things pasts, outbursts of fervent passion and a penchant for long, heart-wrenching melodies”, the latter which appeals strongly to the romantic in me. The melancholy and darkness that is present in almost all his writings keeps the music from being too sickly sweet and sappy, while the melodic and passionate writing prevents the music from being overly depressing. There is a good balance between the light and the dark.

SSO did a fairly good job with the symphony, which begins darkly in the first movement with the cellos and basses, and slowly evolves to an abrupt climax. The second movement is a faster, more energetic dance of sorts. I found the second movement a little boring and nodded off at times during this movement, and noticed EP doing the same.

The third movement is built around a soaring melody that makes my heart want to fly out of my body, and was my favourite part of the whole concert. However, the crucial clarinet solo in this movement could have been better done. The soloist’s tone was flat and empty and the solo was bland, which kind of spoilt the movement for me. There was no life to his playing. It was a pity since the rest of the orchestra did pretty well overall. Finally, like most Rachmaninov’s works, the symphony ended on a dramatic and loud finale, with lots of loud brasses, especially the trumpets.

Overall, it was an interesting and relatively enjoyable performance, though it was certainly not SSO at their best. At the very least, I had a chance to listen to Rachmaninov live, though I wished they had played one of the piano concertos instead, since a soloist is in town.

We have two choral performances (by foreign choirs no less!) scheduled in the next two weeks. Can’t wait!