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Those
of you who were there at the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra's
last visit in November 1999 will no doubt still remember two evenings
of music-making par excellence: the sway and syncopation
of Adams's The Chairman Dances, Mahler's mighty Titan
Symphony  ,
the flawless violin artistry of Antje Weithaas in Sibelius ,
etcetera etcetera.
It
is therefore with no small expectation that local audiences have
flocked to the Victoria Concert Hall to catch the MPO in action
again, this time courtesy of the Singapore Arts Festival. It certainly
is easier than a trip up country to the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas
to catch this orchestra in action.
The
selection of programme for the evening was quite agreeable, if somewhat
conventional, with the items all drawn from recent MPO programmes.
Mendelssohn's concert overture, The Fair Melusine, proved
to be an amenable opening to the concert. With the rippling arpeggios
more than reminiscent of the Rhine motif in Das Rhinegold
and sinuous wind playing, the orchestra sketched a convincing tone-picture
of Melusine herself.
 Conducting
without a baton, Bakels' phrasing and sense of rubato was impeccable
and the musicians responded as a group, who have travelled a lot
of musical territory together, only could. Exploding into the irate
minor-key figure of Raymond, Count of Lusignan, as a smooth extension
of the first motif, the contrast between the two characters was
smartly delineated and played upon, only wanting for a bit more
in dynamic contrasts.
Deeply
inflective and thoughtful, Bakels (left) lovingly drew the music
to its serene conclusion. Even if this appetizer did not show off
the orchestra to its full capabilities, the penetration of the reading
and the quality of the playing clearly set the tone and mood for
the rest of the programme to follow.
 Singapore-born
violinist and erstwhile academic Siow Lee Chin took to the stage
in a body-hugging gown of gold lamé for the Brahms. Again,
the well-rehearsed orchestra under Bakels set the right ambiance
for the soloist's entry: against a gooseflesh-raising tattoo of
timpani, Ms Siow burst into her solo with an extravagant flourish.
Almost
immediately there was no mistaking the chaste quality of her violin
timbre, sheer and glossy, with an absolutely gorgeous vibrato and
matchless double-stopping. Her elucidation of Brahms was straightforward
and candid, tackling the violinistic hurdles with no fear and much
aplomb. In fact, the orchestra, at some points, seemed hard-pressed
to keep up with her iron-fist-in-a-velvet-glove approach.
Ten
minutes into her entry, however, and this high-voltage rendition
of a romantic work written before the discovery of electricity
started to fray on the nerves, as it became apparent that apart
from technical virtuosity, there was little else that Ms Siow had
to say about the Brahms. Where was the poetry and the imagination?
Quality of the playing aside, the reading did not really
engage the audience.
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Kees
Bakels has done an amazing job of founding and creating a
world-class orchestra out of literally nothing. The Malaysian
Philharmonic arrived in town in the early hours of June 4th,
but Benjamin Chee managed to catch up with the conductor later
the same morning to get his thoughts.
About
the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
I think the orchestra has been doing well. We have been covering
a huge amount of repertoire, although the programme (for the
Singapore Arts Festival) has been drawn largely from our concerts
in the last two months. We just didn't have the time to prepare
new works.
On
Singapore audience reception
The last time we performed here (in November 1999), we were
very well received - there were ovations and all that. But
our audiences generally have been very good, not just here,
but back at home as well.
On
the orchestra's reception back home
Well, for once I'm glad that we managed to get things done
in the right order - our marketing was developed after
the programme was fixed. I have to say that I was surprised
by the reception from the concert-going crowd in Malaysia.
It's amazing how well our many of concerts are sold by subscription.
On
performing music by Malaysian composers
We are exploring this possibility for our 2002/03 season,
and there have been several attempts to write serious music
in this respect. The issue, as I see it, is that locally there
is not enough experience yet in this field, especially in
orchestration.
About
the orchestral membership
Well, we're about to start our third season now. As you know,
orchestra members were drawn from all over the world and initially
offered a two-year contract. Some of the members like working
with the orchestra and decided to stay on for another contract.
Membership, like anywhere else, is an ongoing business.
About
the June 4th programme
It's important for the orchestra to have flexibility, which
is why we cover so many genres - baroque, avant-garde,
romantic and classical. Take the (June 4th) programme: I would
say Debussy is the most difficult composer to get the balance
right. I tell my musicians, you can get the notes right, but
you may still not get Debussy right.
About
the June 5th programme
The Brahms begins softly, so the preceding piece should not
end with a bang. I remember doing concerts where the opening
overture ended so loud, that the audience was so stunned they
couldn't recover in time for the start of the second piece.
(laughs) I think the Mendelssohn, which ends softly, fits
quite well into this. As for the Prokofiev, we all know that
the popular symphony is the Fifth - everyone does it
- but I think the Fourth is more interesting, more
lyrical.
On
acclimatization to the local culture
I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you there. (laughs) My
schedule for the last two years has been the same: at the
concert hall by nine for rehearsals, working the rest of the
day until five, and after that I go straight home and prepare
for the next day. I think I've been to Chinatown once so far.
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There
was little gentleness about her approach to the slow movement, although
the solo oboist's sublime introduction did initially suggest otherwise.
In the extended passages of portamento and ornamentation,
Ms Siow managed only to exhibit fleeting moments of beauty. At least,
she made some amends with a rousing Rondo in the finale,
with Bakels tossing off sprightly rhythms and ignoring Brahms's
"ma non troppo vivace" tempo marking for the most part, although
not to the detriment of the music.
The
orchestra itself sounded untidy in the latter half of the work,
and some sections miscued their entries, ever so slightly. Nonetheless,
Ms Siow managed to blaze her way to a stirring conclusion to the
delight (sigh) of the house. She was accorded no less than
five curtain calls, although in true aristocratic fashion she did
not oblige with an encore.
The
lesser-heard Prokofiev's Fourth Symphony found a more than willing
audience on the night. To be sure, Prokofiev is not for the faint-of-heart
or short-of-patience. I mention the latter because some people in
the audience started talking among themselves as the symphony
wore on - but I'm getting ahead of myself.
With
a spiky Andante opening leading to a rather stimulating Allegro
Eroico, Bakels got into the idiom of the Russian school with
consummate mastery. With a riotous middle episodes showing off the
percussion, brasses and strings of the Malaysian band to good effect,
Bakels swept through the first movement like a whirlwind. Chords
clashed in dissonance, side-drums chattered nervously, and the lyrical
portions could not have contrasted more sharply against the sections
of agitato.
With
an equally emotional subject in the second movement, there was not
so much tranquillo as romanza - an inspired working-out of the music
that plumbed some depths of introspection. Not any less quirky was
the third movement, smartly characterized by a most-excellent clarinet-bassoon
duet. Strangely enough, some members of the audience were getting
restless about this time (thirty minutes into the music and maybe
twelve more minutes to go) and decided to have a conversation amongst
themselves to kill the boredom. Maybe next time they should have
stayed at home and listened to a CD instead.
Bakels,
as the song goes, saved the best for last: in the finale, there
were elements of tuneful nobilissimente and swagger juxtaposed against
the quixotic and the acerbic. Hewn out of a mighty Niagara of noise,
the conductor pushed the tempo with relentless pace and manic energy
- one might have even caught a glimpse of the wild ballet origins
of this music. With a crescendo of timpani, bass drum, side drum,
cymbals and every instrument at deafening volume, the MPO brought
Prokofiev home with a big bang - and then some.
The
twenty-five minutes of ovation which followed was one of the longest
and well-deserved in recent memory. Bakels and the orchestra obliged
with no less than three encores; curiously enough, all three were
preludes to Verdi operas (including the famous "Raymond Weil" Prelude
to Act I of La Traviata.) Even in the encores, there was
no sign of fatigue: the sections came in with pinpoint accuracy
and indefatigable oomph. This, I suspect, is going to be one which
people will be talking about for a long time to come.
WILLIAM
BEH
is already planning to get his subscriber's tickets for the 01/02
MPO concert season.
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June 4 | UROBOS: Project Time
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6.6.2001 © William Beh
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