Saturday 19 April 1997 Victoria Concert Hall	Singapore Symphony Orchestra
	BELA BARTOK Dance Suite (1923) WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART Piano Concerto No. 25 in C Major, K503 (1786) WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI Concerto for Orchestra (1950-4) Paul BADURA-SKODA piano CHOO Hoey conductor

OVERALL NOISE RATING: 2 (As usual, respiratory interjections from the audience during pianist's encores.)

The Noise Rating Index is a partially objective measurement of pager blasts, 9pm and 10pm watch beeps, coughing-during-the-pianissimo-bits and other really inapt noises emitted in the concert hall during the music itself. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 5, in increasing annoyance.

This review has been kindly sponsored by Singapore Symphonia Company.

I decided to attend this concert to hear the considerably-lauded Concerto for Orchestra by Lutoslawski, who died only three years ago. Born in 1913, here is a man who lived through some of the most jolting years of human existence, an experience which, I must admit, I'm not extremely keen to share. I also admit that I've never heard the work, so this review is more of a review of a first-time encounter with Lutoslawski and "one of [his] most accessible works" (according to the programme notes).

The dark, pounding beginning reminded me of Brahms's first, with a forbidding theme on the celli, interspersed with flashes of light as the music climbs its way through the higher strings. What struck me as interesting were these "flashes of light" among the darker strains of the score -- these form a shifting wave of light and dark modes, constantly modulating. The movement builds up its material to several climaxes before ending quietly with the chiming "ding... ding..." of bells. Whizzing, insect-buzz like string writing begins the next movement; the composer's bold orchestration returning via the brass before the movement ends with strings pizzicati accompanied by percussion. The penultimate Passacaglia is in the ancient Lydian mode, emphasising perhaps the Eastern European roots of the composer. Not long after, the orchestra gains momentum, swirling themes on wind, pointed string chuggings. At one point, the intonation of the SSO violins was severely tested by notes on the uppermost registers. The work ends boldly with a brassy Corale.

Wow, I thought. I don't "understand" this -- yet. Let's say that a considerable proportion of the listeners didn't either. Needless to say, much of the audience were CFCs (Came For Concerto) who had already left during the break. The overwhelming reputation of "20th Century Music" is that it is unfriendly - an incredibly ignorant and unfair remark, to put it politely. The quantitative variety of styles, themes, forms, etc. of 20th century music far exceeds any other movement or period; there's always something for everyone, and the patient listener is frequently rewarded. The first step is to be brave enough to listen. After a season of mostly conservative warhorses, it was very refreshing, in fact, to hear these "harsher" sounds. Choo Hoey's experiments with programming may not always draw large crowds, but they do serve as a very important means of exploring music that is rarely played in the world, let alone in Singapore. Whether you like the work or not on first hearing, it is at least an educating experience.

Speaking of education, I've never gotten the hang of playing that monster of an instrument called the bass clarinet, but the people handling the bass winds in the performance of Bartok's Dance Suite did a really good job. Warm woodwinds, and nicely gruesome brass too. The SSO was occasionally a little too loose, even messy with the structures of the work, for example in the Allegro Vivace, though they produced sensuous sonorites and ample colour. Integration between the sections was excellent in the Molto Tranquillo, with thick woodwind contrasting with suitably cool strings. Overall the orchestra produced an appropriately viscous sound.

In his first encore, the Adagio for Glass Harmonica, the soaring episode in the final movement was simply magical, rapt and intensely savoured. Badura-Skoda not only announced the title of his encores (thanks) but told the audience how he thought of the final moments of said encore to be like the sound of "rotating in water, the tips of one's fingers on a wineglass" (I may have misquoted -- my notes are cryptic.) Here, in any case, is a man who obviously wants to share his music with others, with the best of intentions. Long may he live.

Directing the Prague Chamber Orchestra from the piano, Paul Badura-Skoda has recorded Mozart's piano concerti nos. 20, 21, 22, 23, 25 and 27 on the French label Auvidis/Valois (Nos. 23 & 25 are on V4713).

Chia Han-Leon has just completed his final exams for his BA in English Literature. He's free! Free!! Free!!! For a while, at least.

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