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Here's
something a little bit unusual - a European orchestra younger than
our own Singapore Symphony. The Zurich
Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1981 by none other than tonight's
conductor, Daniel Schweizer. Though it is relatively young, its
expertise and unity is available aplenty, as seen in this concert.
To
begin with, this is an orchestra which has honed its ability for
uniformity of ensemble and especially tone to consummate levels.
The eloquent reading of Honegger's serene Pastorale
d'été immediately
displayed the ZSO's highly unified sound and seamless intra-orchestral
articulation. Its overall tone reminds me of warm silk, a velvety
texture with lovely string sheen and melting winds, which Schweizer
gradually drew gorgeous pianissimi and even build-ups, all
exquisitely sustained throughout the tone poem.
 Tonight's
concert also showcased Sapphire Dream by Singapore
composer Ho Chee Kong, who has the rare honour of being (more or
less) the only full-time music lecturer at the National University
of Singapore. (And as fate would have it, he came just after I graduated.
Dang.) Ho is currently teaching under the University Scholars Programme,
of which the reader can find
out more here.
The
music begins with a rhythmically energetic introduction, with simple
but weighty themes over booming basses. The succinct treatment of
material, coupled with neat and unpretentious orchestration, gave
the work a kind of lightweight contemporary feel - it is neither
overtly "modern" nor obviously derivative - in a word,
it is a "fresh" composition. Ho ascribes the title Sapphire
Dream to the Persian idea that "the colour of the sky was a
reflection of a giant sapphire on which the earth rested upon. As
the day progressed the gemstone changed its colour" - through
the "bright blue of the day, dark midnight blue of the night,
and the brilliant colours of sunrise and sunset".
The
work displays Ho's compact orchestration, in which massed orchestral
sections remain in unified voice (again, well-executed in the hands
of the ZSO), while solos capture the listener with their evocative
simplicity. The writing is confident, striking a fine balance between
lyric melody and intellectual form - indeed, there is an impression
of vibrancy (sunrise?), brilliance (day), tranquility and intimacy
(midnight?) and for sparkle. The sudden and crisp conclusion on
a single streaking chord was a delight.
 German-Finnish
violinst Nina Karmon (right;
photo from her website)
gave a poised and unfaltering performance of the Bruch Violin
Concerto. With rich and beautifully woody tone, she played with
even tone and effortless intonation, in an interpretation which
is more aristocratic rather than dramatic. The opening introduction
of the work was not as dramatically emotional as I would like, but
the consistency of the overall reading was truly impressive. In
the background, the ZSO and conductor was superbly, perfectly placed
- they emerged in full tutti voice only where appropriate, forming
distinct, powerful bridges in the music, emphasizing the unity of
the performance.
The
rich and yearning lyricism of the slow movement was mesmerising
in its lightness of intensity, positioned wonderfully next to the
powerfully sculpted climaxes. From this to the finale, the transformation
of orchestral tone and musical atmosphere was magnificently flourished.
In this brilliant and joyous performance, it was obvious that the
soloist led the music, not the conductor or the orchestra - this
alone is a rare mark of great concerto performance.
 The
thing about performing Schubert's "Great" Symphony
is in keeping the "heavenly length" heavenly. To
this end, at first, I thought the ZSO's soft-grained, soft-accented
approach might not work, but it does. The playing style of the orchestra
was smooth, with soft curves, avoiding hardness on melodic corners.
It seemed to me that conductor and orchestra focusses on control
of volume - not loud/soft volume, but the units of massed sounds
- rather than phrasing (though that is also accomplished skilfully).
The
result is that, despite a lack of "angularity", there
is a palpable sense of order in the performance and the musicians,
and the conductor, whose flawless switches between tempi were admirable.
Interestingly, these characteristics fit well to the Schubertian
model of Classical Romanticism. The aesthetic form is always in
sight, while the Romantic fervour comes across in large blocks of
majestic music - the latter comes off really well, as in the massive
conclusion of the first movement.
Whereas
we tend to think that once we can phrase well, we can up the volume
- the ZSO's way with the Schubert seems to suggest that the assurance
of volume/mass in orchestral sound is the foundation for precise
ensemble phrasing. This voluminous interpretation of the
Schubert "Great" was truly massive in its heavenly length,
and yet genteel in execution - just the sort of portrait of the
composer we know today.
Now
CHIA HAN-LEON can't
get rid of the walking theme from the 2nd movement of the Schubert
out of his head.
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Reviewed
892:
20.6.2001 © Chia Han-Leon
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