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Upcoming Concert - OMMProm: Vive la France!
Chan Tze Law, conductor
Date: 19 February 2012, Sunday
Time: 5.00pm
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall
PAUL DUKAS The Sorcerers' Apprentice
GABRIEL FAURE Pavane
MAURICE RAVEL Bolero
CAMILLE SAINT-SAENS Danse Macabre
GUSTAV HOLST Oriental Suite
MAURICE RAVEL La Valse
in collaboration with Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay
Come have a ball at the inaugural 2012 OMM Prom!
The Orchestra of the Music Makers invites you for a leisurely, Sunday afternoon stroll through the ‘Louvre Museum’ of French musical treasures, made available right at your doorstep in Singapore! Indulge in the music of French composers like Ravel, Faure and Saint-Saens, and discover where all those familiar classical tunes come from. With a repertoire of classical favourites in store, this concert promises to be a great musical experience for both musicians and non-musicians alike.
The Orchestra of the Music Makers is the recipient of the 2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Musical Excellence. It also received laudatory comments and reviews for its performances and recordings in both local and influential international press. As an orchestra run and managed entirely by volunteer music-lovers, the Orchestra hopes to bring classical music to the masses through its OMMProm series of concerts.
Tickets are available from SISTIC at $15 (Package of 2: $24 / Package of 4: $40)
http://www.sistic.com.sg/cms/events/index.html?contentCode=omm0212
Concert Review -Mahler 5
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The Straits Times LIFE!
Monday, 9 January 2012
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
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Concert: Mahler 5
Concert Date: 6 January 2012
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
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The first orchestral concert of the year was given not by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra but its young amateur counterpart, the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM). To be even more specific, the first notes to be heard came from the Combined Schools String Camp Orchestra, an even younger group mentored by members of OMM.
As Mahler was the theme carried over from last year’s centenary festivities, Mahler’s own arrangements of Bach’s orchestral music opened the show. There was something familiar yet strangely unfamiliar about the music. It was Bach for sure, a suite of popular movements from the Second and Third Orchestral Suites. However the elephantine scoring for massed strings, encumbered with pompous organ chords and timpani, made the music overblown and bloated.
It was however the fine string sound and expert pacing coaxed by conductor Chan Tze Law that saved the work. Emphatic yet subtle, they allowed flautist Cheryl Lim’s virtuosity to shine through the thick molasses for the Rondeau and Badinerie. The famous Air on G String was given a suitably luxuriant feel, but authenticity was probably the last thing on their minds.
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony was however the real thing. Nuttapong Veerapun’s superb trumpet solo commanded the stage for the funeral march, and soon the procession went underway. As with OMM’s earlier performances of Mahler’s First and Second Symphonies performances in 2010, this reading was characterised by force of will and an overall sweep that was totally captivating. There were bum notes here and there, committed in the heat of the moment, but that mattered little in the grand scheme of things.
The tumultuous second movement came like the whirlwind, with a shuddering force which contrasted wildly with the intoxicating Ländler country dance of the central third movement. In the latter, Alan Kartik’s French horn was a pillar of strength, holding sway steadfastly as the world revolved around its axis.
The much-vaunted Adagietto provided an oasis of beauty from strings and harp, and resisted the temptation of becoming sappy and sentimental. The finale, thick with intricate counterpoint, flagged a little in tempo but that provided an opportunity for much of the details usually glanced over to be better savoured. The final rush of adrenaline to its breathtaking conclusion was however one to be remembered. Is Singapore becoming a city of Mahler orchestras? Better believe it!
The Straits Times LIFE!
Monday, 9 January 2012
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
---------------------------------------------------
Concert: Mahler 5
Concert Date: 6 January 2012
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
---------------------------------------------------
The first orchestral concert of the year was given not by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra but its young amateur counterpart, the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM). To be even more specific, the first notes to be heard came from the Combined Schools String Camp Orchestra, an even younger group mentored by members of OMM.
As Mahler was the theme carried over from last year’s centenary festivities, Mahler’s own arrangements of Bach’s orchestral music opened the show. There was something familiar yet strangely unfamiliar about the music. It was Bach for sure, a suite of popular movements from the Second and Third Orchestral Suites. However the elephantine scoring for massed strings, encumbered with pompous organ chords and timpani, made the music overblown and bloated.
It was however the fine string sound and expert pacing coaxed by conductor Chan Tze Law that saved the work. Emphatic yet subtle, they allowed flautist Cheryl Lim’s virtuosity to shine through the thick molasses for the Rondeau and Badinerie. The famous Air on G String was given a suitably luxuriant feel, but authenticity was probably the last thing on their minds.
Mahler’s Fifth Symphony was however the real thing. Nuttapong Veerapun’s superb trumpet solo commanded the stage for the funeral march, and soon the procession went underway. As with OMM’s earlier performances of Mahler’s First and Second Symphonies performances in 2010, this reading was characterised by force of will and an overall sweep that was totally captivating. There were bum notes here and there, committed in the heat of the moment, but that mattered little in the grand scheme of things.
The tumultuous second movement came like the whirlwind, with a shuddering force which contrasted wildly with the intoxicating Ländler country dance of the central third movement. In the latter, Alan Kartik’s French horn was a pillar of strength, holding sway steadfastly as the world revolved around its axis.
The much-vaunted Adagietto provided an oasis of beauty from strings and harp, and resisted the temptation of becoming sappy and sentimental. The finale, thick with intricate counterpoint, flagged a little in tempo but that provided an opportunity for much of the details usually glanced over to be better savoured. The final rush of adrenaline to its breathtaking conclusion was however one to be remembered. Is Singapore becoming a city of Mahler orchestras? Better believe it!
OMM's Mahler 2 CD On Sale Now!
Available by mailing sales@orchestra.sg. Each copy at S$10 (plus shipping)
Hear for yourself what the critics have been raving about!
"There were moments of beatific stasis and terrifying walls of sound. Never, in half a century of hearing dozens of performances of this symphony live and on disc, have I experienced such terror at that moment in the finale when the drums make their agonizingly slow crescendo from the merest rumble to a deafening road. Also in the finale, the initial presentation of the "resurrection" chorale in the brass was as close to perfection as I have heard anywhere."
-Robert Markow, Fanfare Magazine
"...I doubt that this anniversary year will throw up anything quite so rewarding again and if I ever claim to be 'tired of Mahler', just remind me of the Orchestra of the Music Makers of Singapore; guaranteed to inspire even the most jaded of critical palettes..."
-Dr. Marc Rochester
Hear for yourself what the critics have been raving about!
"There were moments of beatific stasis and terrifying walls of sound. Never, in half a century of hearing dozens of performances of this symphony live and on disc, have I experienced such terror at that moment in the finale when the drums make their agonizingly slow crescendo from the merest rumble to a deafening road. Also in the finale, the initial presentation of the "resurrection" chorale in the brass was as close to perfection as I have heard anywhere."
-Robert Markow, Fanfare Magazine
"...I doubt that this anniversary year will throw up anything quite so rewarding again and if I ever claim to be 'tired of Mahler', just remind me of the Orchestra of the Music Makers of Singapore; guaranteed to inspire even the most jaded of critical palettes..."
-Dr. Marc Rochester
