Friday 16th July, 1999 Victoria Concert Hall	Subscription Series Hungarian Rhapsody
	Franz LISZT Hungarian Rhapsody No.1 in F minor, S359 Franz LISZT Les Préludes No.3, S97 Béla BARTÓK (Duke) Bluebeard's Castle (sung in English) Ellen SHADE soprano Samuel HEPLER baritone Bart FOLSE conductor

OVERALL NOISE RATING: 5 (a Caucasian girl and her older brother gamboling happily up and down the isle......a middle-aged man strapping and unstrapping his sandals, someone leaving in a rush leaving his seat flipping up and down...)

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

This was by far one of the worst-attended concerts lately; a pity really, since the selection included one of the greatest, most underrated composers of all time whom we don't often hear in the form of the orchestra - Liszt; and we don't hear Bartók everyday either, much less his early masterpiece Bluebeard's Castle. Sometimes audiences don't really know what they are getting, and if it takes a title of "Hungarian Rhapsody" to bring them in, well, then I think the SSO can only be thanked for that.

Bart Folse seems to have a liking for "Hungarian" music, but I can't in all honesty say that the opening piece, the First Hungarian Rhapsody, orchestrated from the piano version by a friend of Liszt (right), was totally successful. "Hungarian songs became the blood of my soul", Liszt wrote. "An admirable and magnificent kaleidoscope: sadness, sorrow, suffering, depth of spirit, pathos, gracefulness, reverie, gravity, whimsicality, melancholy, boredom...", and unfortunately the first two sections of the poem were truly just that - boring. Part of the blame has to lie with the truly uninspired orchestration on the part of Liszt's friend, so that despite the solo contributions from all around the orchestra, one is left bored.

Folse's interpretation came across as a straight-laced one, with little in the way of rubato which Liszt's music thrives on. It was only in the fiery third section that the music came to life, and with the truly scintillating solo parts, especially on the violin, this time, the rhapsody breathed and rocked to its rambunctious ending.

Liszt's Les Préludes, uncharitably nicknamed "Variations in Search for a Theme" fared much better. Although one very dramatic moment with a molto ritardando was made little of, the overall interpretation was one which though not over-the-top, managed to grasp my imagination. The orchestra played superbly in this very difficult score (try the violin parts for size!), and the horn solos were beautifully performed, much to my delight. Though one could wish for more flamboyance in this very extroverted music, one could not have wished for more beauty, especially in the spine-tinglingly gorgeous pastorale section.

In Bluebeard's Castle, Folse did show a lot of dramatic flair in this work, but in general this was at the expense of subtlety and greater variety in colour. Nevertheless this peformance of Bluebeard kept me at the edge of my seat, and was quite an experience.

I have not heard Ellen Shade before, though I had heard about her. Her voice is a rich and dark one, almost mezzo, and I was not surprised to read that she had sung Sieglinde, a very demanding role, before. If her voice lacks the uniqueness of other artists, she more than makes up for it in her clear diction (I understood nearly everthing she sang), shading of voice and also her inspired acting on stage. Her facial expressions and obvious familiarity with the score, though sung in English, shined through and put her partner, Samuel Hepler to shame. Granted that he did not get to sing much compared to Shade, but his voice, though beautiful in its own right, was taxed in the high tessitura and his uneven vibrato did not help.

Shade's voice soared over the vast Post-Romantic orchestra effortlessly in a way that Hepler's didn't; part of this had to do with the orchestra not being in a pit, which stacked the odds against the duo being heard. I'd have to say that I really could not make out clearly a lot of what he was singing. As to his acting, I really can't make much of a judgement as he seemed to be taking the role in a stoic sense.

In any case, Bartók's music spoke volumes more than his facial expressions, as it perhaps, should. Some may have found Shade too declaimatory, too Italianate. For me I found her to be intimately in tune with the music and Bartók's own style. Remembering Bartók's own piano playing, it is hard to draw conclusions that his was a predominantly percussive style. In any case Shade's phrasing and singing in general brought many rewards in its clear delivery and directness. Hearing her, I was reminded of Berg's comment on his own opera Wozzeck, "It needs to be sung as if it were Trovatore."

The semi-staging must be said to be rudimentary, and this mostly in the way of lighting. The doors opened slowly to reveal - lighted expanses of cloth! Though it must be said that the opening of the doors itself added more than a modicum of drama, and kept the audience wondering which one would open next, the effects themselves were disappointing. For example, did the opening of the fifth door even live to a grain of the anticipation brought to boiling point by Bartók's music? That a single feeble halogen light had to suffice for Bartók's brilliant, brilliant C-major chord, complete with organ was simply pathetic.

I may be wrong, but I think that Bartók (left) had probably meant for his music to be married with a brilliant production. It is after all an opera, not a cantata. But as to the extramusical aspects, I think I mustn't complain, since tickets were at the same low SSO price we've always been used to. The only thing is that I found it not at all convincing.

After all the six front doors of the hall (complete with EXIT signs in green) had been opened we were kept wondering which door would open up next, and were duly surprised when the door leading to organ opened, revealing three beautiful ladies (two SSO staff and a certain chorister...). Despite my few reservations about this "production" I feel that this was a worthwhile effort of a daring (for the SSO) repertoire, and I definitely would like to see other operas in concert. But of course, for the real thing... ...How about Wozzeck next?

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Derek Lim is an old-fashioner. He would like to see real dragons one day, for instance, in Wagner's Ring.

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542: 1.8.1999 ©Derek Lim

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