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
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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!
Concert Review - Rach 3
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The Straits Times LIFE!
Monday, 29 August 2011
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Marc Rochester
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Concert: Rach 3
Concert Date: 26 August 2011
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Christopher Adey
Soloist: Albert Tiu (Piano)
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Children and those of tender disposition in the audience showed signs of agitation and nervousness. As well they might, for the story told by Shostakovich’s monumental Tenth Symphony is a harrowing one.
British conductor Christopher Adey spared us nothing when it came to portraying the horrors, violence, cruelty, viciousness and savage wit in this daunting music, and if we are to believe that this is a musical portrait of Stalin, then this performance painted a far more vivid picture of one of the most evil men of the 20th century than any history book or grainy archive footage in a TV documentary.
To convey such a a powerful picture, any orchestra would need to be at the very peak of condition. Such was the case with Singapore’s Orchestra of the Music Makers.
Shostakovich’s vast archiving themes with their massive dynamic vistas were magnificently drawn, the extensive passages of unison strings, often moving impossibly high in the register were all perfectly delivered, and the biting brass chords were full of pent-up savagery.
Wind solos were impeccably delivered by the masterly woodwind principals, especially the clarinet of Chang Hong and the bassoon of Lim Tee Heong.
The performance of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony may well stand as the OMM’s finest hour so far in their short but impressive history. Not so the performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto.
Troubled from the very start by Adey and the orchestra wallowing in deep troughs of emotional excess, it seemed as if it has no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. Pianist Albert Tiu did his best to push it along, bursting into their self-indulgent mud-baths with abrupt showers of glittering fingerwork, but he was too willing to get himself swallowed in the glutinous morass of cumbersome orchestral texture.
Some ghastly wind intonation at the start of the second movement could well have hammered the final nails into the performance’s coffin, but Tiu was not finished yet.
Blessed with a glittering technical delivery and a clear-headed musical intelligence, he began to assert himself during the third movement, forcing the piano into the spotlight and injecting real energy into the performance. As he did so, the orchestra seemed to realise that they were in danger of losing the plot and, almost too late in the day, shook themselves out of their stupor to deliver something of a final coup.
The lavishly adulatory applause which greeted the crisp closing cadence was not just the affection of a local audience towards these leading lights of Singapore’s musical scene, but a genuine sign of respect for performers who could so brilliantly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
The Straits Times LIFE!
Monday, 29 August 2011
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Marc Rochester
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Concert: Rach 3
Concert Date: 26 August 2011
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Christopher Adey
Soloist: Albert Tiu (Piano)
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Children and those of tender disposition in the audience showed signs of agitation and nervousness. As well they might, for the story told by Shostakovich’s monumental Tenth Symphony is a harrowing one.
British conductor Christopher Adey spared us nothing when it came to portraying the horrors, violence, cruelty, viciousness and savage wit in this daunting music, and if we are to believe that this is a musical portrait of Stalin, then this performance painted a far more vivid picture of one of the most evil men of the 20th century than any history book or grainy archive footage in a TV documentary.
To convey such a a powerful picture, any orchestra would need to be at the very peak of condition. Such was the case with Singapore’s Orchestra of the Music Makers.
Shostakovich’s vast archiving themes with their massive dynamic vistas were magnificently drawn, the extensive passages of unison strings, often moving impossibly high in the register were all perfectly delivered, and the biting brass chords were full of pent-up savagery.
Wind solos were impeccably delivered by the masterly woodwind principals, especially the clarinet of Chang Hong and the bassoon of Lim Tee Heong.
The performance of Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony may well stand as the OMM’s finest hour so far in their short but impressive history. Not so the performance of Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto.
Troubled from the very start by Adey and the orchestra wallowing in deep troughs of emotional excess, it seemed as if it has no intention of going anywhere anytime soon. Pianist Albert Tiu did his best to push it along, bursting into their self-indulgent mud-baths with abrupt showers of glittering fingerwork, but he was too willing to get himself swallowed in the glutinous morass of cumbersome orchestral texture.
Some ghastly wind intonation at the start of the second movement could well have hammered the final nails into the performance’s coffin, but Tiu was not finished yet.
Blessed with a glittering technical delivery and a clear-headed musical intelligence, he began to assert himself during the third movement, forcing the piano into the spotlight and injecting real energy into the performance. As he did so, the orchestra seemed to realise that they were in danger of losing the plot and, almost too late in the day, shook themselves out of their stupor to deliver something of a final coup.
The lavishly adulatory applause which greeted the crisp closing cadence was not just the affection of a local audience towards these leading lights of Singapore’s musical scene, but a genuine sign of respect for performers who could so brilliantly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Concert review - Gabriel Ng Plays Elgar
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The Business Times
Friday, 24 June 2011
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Christopher Lim
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Concert: Windflower: Gabriel Ng Plays Elgar
Concert Date: 17 June 2011
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloist: Gabriel Ng (Violin)
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Singapore’s amateur musical talents showed their prowess in a recent concert, proving that they have the potential to be stars in their own right.
Local violinist Gabriel Ng helped to demonstrate this point last Friday when he performed Elgar’s sprawling Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM).
The 16-year-old student at Britain’s Yehudi Menuhin school managed to give the 50-minute long concerto an emotional coherence that belied his youth and showed remarkable interpretative stamina.
It isn’t rare for the first movement of violin concertos to bust the 20-minute mark, but it’s relatively rare for the other two movements to also last well over 10 minutes. In fact, the third and final movement is longer than the first, and is often the most memorable because it’s the flashiest thanks to its fiendishly difficult violin cadenza. Ng’s technique was flawless and he kept the concerto’s narrative intact.
The real test of artistry, however, is in the slow second movement, with its long melody lines and the challenge of playing with enough intensity to keep the audience riveted, but with enough sensitivity to reflect the thread of emotional ambivalence that runs through the concerto. As expected, Ng displayed more youthful fire than middle-aged melancholy, but ultimately he did the movement justice.
It’s a testament to the OMM’s caliber that it wasn’t overshadowed by Ng’s technical brilliance. The orchestra had its turn in the spotlight in the second half of the concert when it performed Ravel’s orchestral transcription of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an exhibition.
The tempo of a few movements – such as the Bydlo and Baba Yaga – could have been more brisk, but the OMM more than made up for that with beautiful tone and crisp articulation, particularly in Tuileries, and the trumpets outdid themselves in Samuel Goldberg and Schmuel. Kudos to music director Chan Tze Law for keeping everything together from the baton.
The OMM has released excellent recordings of Mahler’s first two symphonies, and OMM president Yeo Ying Hao says that Friday’s concert was also recorded with the aim of two separate releases before the end of the year. They should be well worth the wait.
The Business Times
Friday, 24 June 2011
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Christopher Lim
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Concert: Windflower: Gabriel Ng Plays Elgar
Concert Date: 17 June 2011
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloist: Gabriel Ng (Violin)
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Singapore’s amateur musical talents showed their prowess in a recent concert, proving that they have the potential to be stars in their own right.
Local violinist Gabriel Ng helped to demonstrate this point last Friday when he performed Elgar’s sprawling Violin Concerto with the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM).
The 16-year-old student at Britain’s Yehudi Menuhin school managed to give the 50-minute long concerto an emotional coherence that belied his youth and showed remarkable interpretative stamina.
It isn’t rare for the first movement of violin concertos to bust the 20-minute mark, but it’s relatively rare for the other two movements to also last well over 10 minutes. In fact, the third and final movement is longer than the first, and is often the most memorable because it’s the flashiest thanks to its fiendishly difficult violin cadenza. Ng’s technique was flawless and he kept the concerto’s narrative intact.
The real test of artistry, however, is in the slow second movement, with its long melody lines and the challenge of playing with enough intensity to keep the audience riveted, but with enough sensitivity to reflect the thread of emotional ambivalence that runs through the concerto. As expected, Ng displayed more youthful fire than middle-aged melancholy, but ultimately he did the movement justice.
It’s a testament to the OMM’s caliber that it wasn’t overshadowed by Ng’s technical brilliance. The orchestra had its turn in the spotlight in the second half of the concert when it performed Ravel’s orchestral transcription of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an exhibition.
The tempo of a few movements – such as the Bydlo and Baba Yaga – could have been more brisk, but the OMM more than made up for that with beautiful tone and crisp articulation, particularly in Tuileries, and the trumpets outdid themselves in Samuel Goldberg and Schmuel. Kudos to music director Chan Tze Law for keeping everything together from the baton.
The OMM has released excellent recordings of Mahler’s first two symphonies, and OMM president Yeo Ying Hao says that Friday’s concert was also recorded with the aim of two separate releases before the end of the year. They should be well worth the wait.
Concert review - OMM Goes to the Movies
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The Straits Times LIFE!
Saturday, 8 January 2011
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
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Concert: OMM Goes to the Movies
Concert Date: 8 Jan 2011
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloist: Edward Tan (Violin)
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After conquering the lofty peaks of Mahler symphonies in the past year, the Orchestra of the Music Makers could be forgiven for playing something lighter, such as movie music. But make no mistake, the intrepid group of youngsters still assembled over 120 players for this tribute to Hollywood blockbusters.
With the establishment of atonality and serialism in 20th century music, the Romantic composers had emigrated to Beverly Hills, California, where they founded a new genre that was to become the most heard music on the planet. Venerable names such as Wolfgang Erich Korngold and Miklos Rozsa featured prominently in this concert conducted with total dedication and command by Chan Tze Law.
Korngold’s Violin Concerto, popularised by Jascha Heifetz, contained music from four movies including the Oscar-winning Anthony Adverse. To this lyrical work, Singaporean violinist Edward Tan (left), OMM’s concertmaster, was a paradigm of polish and finesse. Every melody was clothed with loving caresses, topped with flawless intonation. And he did not shy away from attacking the more tricky bits like a skilled swordsman.
Rozsa’s Ben Hur Suite, with its naval battle, chariot race and biblical miracles, benefited from the inclusion of the 44-voice Victoria Chorale (Nelson Kwei, Chorus-master), whose wordless singing and chants of Alleluia provided that extra dimension to the Technicolor spectacular on stage.
Among living film composers, John Williams loomed large. A certain generation of filmgoers will be familiar with his Star Wars, Harry Potter and Superman music and lesser-known scores like Amistad and Hook. The added impact was in how well these were played, especially by sumptuous strings and emboldened brass. Pride of place however goes to the woodwinds, whose handling of Nimbus 2000, Harry Potter’s trusty broomstick, was perfection itself.
There was also a nod to mainstream classical composers, Aaron Copland and Gustav Mahler, for Fanfare for the Common Man (Saving Private Ryan) and Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony (Death in Venice) respectively. Hans Zimmer and Elton John’s Lion King highlights kept the even younger set past their bedtimes. Here a choir of double the size would have been welcome for Hakuna Matata and Can You Feel The Love Tonight?
No doubt about it, this was the best concert of film music ever to grace Singapore stages.
The Straits Times LIFE!
Saturday, 8 January 2011
(c) 2011 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
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Concert: OMM Goes to the Movies
Concert Date: 8 Jan 2011
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloist: Edward Tan (Violin)
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After conquering the lofty peaks of Mahler symphonies in the past year, the Orchestra of the Music Makers could be forgiven for playing something lighter, such as movie music. But make no mistake, the intrepid group of youngsters still assembled over 120 players for this tribute to Hollywood blockbusters.
With the establishment of atonality and serialism in 20th century music, the Romantic composers had emigrated to Beverly Hills, California, where they founded a new genre that was to become the most heard music on the planet. Venerable names such as Wolfgang Erich Korngold and Miklos Rozsa featured prominently in this concert conducted with total dedication and command by Chan Tze Law.
Korngold’s Violin Concerto, popularised by Jascha Heifetz, contained music from four movies including the Oscar-winning Anthony Adverse. To this lyrical work, Singaporean violinist Edward Tan (left), OMM’s concertmaster, was a paradigm of polish and finesse. Every melody was clothed with loving caresses, topped with flawless intonation. And he did not shy away from attacking the more tricky bits like a skilled swordsman.
Rozsa’s Ben Hur Suite, with its naval battle, chariot race and biblical miracles, benefited from the inclusion of the 44-voice Victoria Chorale (Nelson Kwei, Chorus-master), whose wordless singing and chants of Alleluia provided that extra dimension to the Technicolor spectacular on stage.
Among living film composers, John Williams loomed large. A certain generation of filmgoers will be familiar with his Star Wars, Harry Potter and Superman music and lesser-known scores like Amistad and Hook. The added impact was in how well these were played, especially by sumptuous strings and emboldened brass. Pride of place however goes to the woodwinds, whose handling of Nimbus 2000, Harry Potter’s trusty broomstick, was perfection itself.
There was also a nod to mainstream classical composers, Aaron Copland and Gustav Mahler, for Fanfare for the Common Man (Saving Private Ryan) and Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony (Death in Venice) respectively. Hans Zimmer and Elton John’s Lion King highlights kept the even younger set past their bedtimes. Here a choir of double the size would have been welcome for Hakuna Matata and Can You Feel The Love Tonight?
No doubt about it, this was the best concert of film music ever to grace Singapore stages.
OMM's Mahler 2 CD reviewed by Fanfare Magazine!
MAHLER Symphony No. 2, “Resurrection” • Tze Law Chan, cond; Ae-Ree Jeong (sop); Rebecca Chellappah (mez); Queensland Fest C; Singapore Fest C; Music Makers O • OMM LIVE! (78:28) Live: Singapore 7/10/2010 Available from sales@orchestra.sg
On July 10 of last year I attended in Singapore one of the most thrilling performances of Mahler’s Second Symphony I have ever heard. That it was given by an orchestra consisting primarily of young musicians (most in their late teens and early 20s) who are not pursuing professional careers in music and who do not play together every week made the event all the more remarkable. That performance is now available on disc.
Singapore’s Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM), the subject of a feature story in Fanfare 34:2, came into existence barely four years ago when a group of graduates from several of Singapore’s high schools with advanced music programs asked a prominent local conductor, Tze Law Chan, to help them form an orchestra and to be their leader. At first skeptical, he soon realized the seriousness of their intent, and OMM was born. The slightly cumbersome yet poetic name comes from the title of a poem by the 19th-century author Arthur O’Shaughnessy, later gorgeously set by Elgar as an oratorio. Their first recorded venture, Mahler’s First Symphony, was reviewed in highly favorable terms in the aforementioned issue of Fanfare. The Second Symphony surpasses that effort by a good margin.
The very first bars serve notice that this is going to be a performance radiating fierce energy and laser-like intensity. Those opening salvos from the cellos and basses, tossed off with technical bravado, strike a note of sheer terror that does not abate until the sublime second theme arrives. Throughout, conductor Chan paces the climaxes so adroitly that, when they arrive, the listener is nearly swept out of the room on tidal waves of sound. The percussion section, though never out of control, is so powerful that I can recall no other, even from the greatest orchestras, that makes a more magnificent contribution to this symphony. Never, in half a century listening to dozens of performances of this work, have I heard that long, agonizing crescendo from the percussion in the finale build to such a deafening roar. In fact, Chan told me that it actually blew out his expensive German Rainbow speakers while listening to the playback. (The passage had to be slightly compressed on the CD.)
Aside from the fact that the musicians are not paid, there is nothing to suggest that OMM is not a full-time professional orchestra. Ensemble is tight, balances are well judged, rhythms are precise. I detect not a single missed note and, while touch-up sessions are common for live performances transferred to recording, only a few spots taken from the dress rehearsal were used here. The Andante moderato begins a bit raggedly, and attention throughout this movement seems to flag, but it is regained in the Scherzo, set in motion by electrifying shots from the timpani.
Mention must also be made of the principal trumpet, Nuttapong Veerapun, who soars effortlessly over the orchestra; of the offstage horns in the finale, who fearlessly go for—and nail—the high C (a moment that can turn seasoned professionals to jelly); the sumptuous organ at Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall in the symphony’s crowning moments; the fully professional contribution of the Queensland Festival Chorus (from Brisbane) and the Singapore Festival Chorus; and the gorgeous, perfectly balanced brass chorales in the “Urlicht” movement and the finale.
In short, this “Resurrection” can stack up to any other on disc you care to name. It has virtually everything going for it: technical perfection, unstinting energy, assured musicians not afraid of dynamic extremes, a percussion section that gives new meaning to the word “awesome,” a conductor with the full measure of the Mahlerian idiom securely in hand and, above all, the thrill of a live performance brought vividly to life. It is a recording to which I will return again and again with great pleasure. Robert Markow
On July 10 of last year I attended in Singapore one of the most thrilling performances of Mahler’s Second Symphony I have ever heard. That it was given by an orchestra consisting primarily of young musicians (most in their late teens and early 20s) who are not pursuing professional careers in music and who do not play together every week made the event all the more remarkable. That performance is now available on disc.
Singapore’s Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM), the subject of a feature story in Fanfare 34:2, came into existence barely four years ago when a group of graduates from several of Singapore’s high schools with advanced music programs asked a prominent local conductor, Tze Law Chan, to help them form an orchestra and to be their leader. At first skeptical, he soon realized the seriousness of their intent, and OMM was born. The slightly cumbersome yet poetic name comes from the title of a poem by the 19th-century author Arthur O’Shaughnessy, later gorgeously set by Elgar as an oratorio. Their first recorded venture, Mahler’s First Symphony, was reviewed in highly favorable terms in the aforementioned issue of Fanfare. The Second Symphony surpasses that effort by a good margin.
The very first bars serve notice that this is going to be a performance radiating fierce energy and laser-like intensity. Those opening salvos from the cellos and basses, tossed off with technical bravado, strike a note of sheer terror that does not abate until the sublime second theme arrives. Throughout, conductor Chan paces the climaxes so adroitly that, when they arrive, the listener is nearly swept out of the room on tidal waves of sound. The percussion section, though never out of control, is so powerful that I can recall no other, even from the greatest orchestras, that makes a more magnificent contribution to this symphony. Never, in half a century listening to dozens of performances of this work, have I heard that long, agonizing crescendo from the percussion in the finale build to such a deafening roar. In fact, Chan told me that it actually blew out his expensive German Rainbow speakers while listening to the playback. (The passage had to be slightly compressed on the CD.)
Aside from the fact that the musicians are not paid, there is nothing to suggest that OMM is not a full-time professional orchestra. Ensemble is tight, balances are well judged, rhythms are precise. I detect not a single missed note and, while touch-up sessions are common for live performances transferred to recording, only a few spots taken from the dress rehearsal were used here. The Andante moderato begins a bit raggedly, and attention throughout this movement seems to flag, but it is regained in the Scherzo, set in motion by electrifying shots from the timpani.
Mention must also be made of the principal trumpet, Nuttapong Veerapun, who soars effortlessly over the orchestra; of the offstage horns in the finale, who fearlessly go for—and nail—the high C (a moment that can turn seasoned professionals to jelly); the sumptuous organ at Singapore’s Esplanade Concert Hall in the symphony’s crowning moments; the fully professional contribution of the Queensland Festival Chorus (from Brisbane) and the Singapore Festival Chorus; and the gorgeous, perfectly balanced brass chorales in the “Urlicht” movement and the finale.
In short, this “Resurrection” can stack up to any other on disc you care to name. It has virtually everything going for it: technical perfection, unstinting energy, assured musicians not afraid of dynamic extremes, a percussion section that gives new meaning to the word “awesome,” a conductor with the full measure of the Mahlerian idiom securely in hand and, above all, the thrill of a live performance brought vividly to life. It is a recording to which I will return again and again with great pleasure. Robert Markow
OMM's Mahler 1 CD reviewed by Fanfare Magazine!
Tze Law Chan: MAHLER Symphony No. 1 on OMM LIVE!
Feature ArticlesWritten by Robert Markow Friday, 08 October 2010
MAHLER Symphony No. 1 • Tze Law Chan, cond; Orchestra of the Music Makers • OMM Live! (53:43) Available from sales@orchestra.sg. S$10 (about U.S. $7) plus shipping
With somewhere around a hundred recordings of Mahler’s First Symphony on the market, the potential buyer needs a compelling reason to consider this one from a youth orchestra residing in a country (Singapore) with little performance tradition of the central European classics. But make no mistake—this Mahler First can stand up to nearly any of them in brilliance, enthusiasm, and sheer visceral excitement.
One senses this is going to be a performance worthy of attention right from the opening bar, played truly softly (seldom the case in other performances). The first three movements are very well done, but it is the finale that really glows with excellence, unfolding in a seamless arc of controlled intensity. Seldom have I heard an orchestra tear into that finale with the fierce determination of the OMM. It truly roars and rages, yet also brings all the consoling sweetness and tenderness one could wish for in the ensuing Sehr gesangvoll passage.
There are virtually no audible flubs, though one detects here and there a slightly out-of-tune chord in the woodwinds and a few (very few) ragged entrances in the strings. But the thrill of the live performance given on January 3, 2010, (surely the first Mahler First for most if not all of these youngsters) is palpable, and the spirit of adventure infuses every page of the score. In fact, it all sounds as if every member of the orchestra had gone out and purchased a recording so as to become thoroughly familiar with the score beforehand. For most of the time, it is difficult to believe that this is an orchestra of players whose average age is just 20 (considerably less than that of the Mahler Youth Orchestra).
Distinction abounds in nearly every section. Particularly outstanding are the principal bassoon, Jo Anne Sukumaran; principal horn, Chakrit Songtorsrisakun; principal double bass, Dennis Khoo; and the entire percussion section, which adds considerable heft to the band’s already beefy sound.
Singaporean conductor Tze Law Chan obviously has the pulse of the Mahler idiom and is fully in control at all times, demanding and obtaining from his forces everysforzando, dynamic bulge, and subito forte and piano . One would need to search hard to find an orchestra that gives more. Chan’s tempos are traditional except for the Scherzo, which seems more sluggish than rustic, but it is rendered with enough conviction that it just might win you over.
Kudos also to the engineers who recorded this performance in Victoria Concert Hall, a handsome old colonial building but severely lacking in proper acoustics. At concerts I have heard there the sound tends to remain stuck on stage, but this handicap is nowhere in evidence on the CD. The acoustical setting is more in keeping with a good seat midway back on the floor of a fine concert hall—vibrant, reverberant, with all forces well balanced and natural. Good program notes and a list or orchestra personnel are included. Robert Markow
Feature ArticlesWritten by Robert Markow Friday, 08 October 2010
MAHLER Symphony No. 1 • Tze Law Chan, cond; Orchestra of the Music Makers • OMM Live! (53:43) Available from sales@orchestra.sg. S$10 (about U.S. $7) plus shipping
With somewhere around a hundred recordings of Mahler’s First Symphony on the market, the potential buyer needs a compelling reason to consider this one from a youth orchestra residing in a country (Singapore) with little performance tradition of the central European classics. But make no mistake—this Mahler First can stand up to nearly any of them in brilliance, enthusiasm, and sheer visceral excitement.
One senses this is going to be a performance worthy of attention right from the opening bar, played truly softly (seldom the case in other performances). The first three movements are very well done, but it is the finale that really glows with excellence, unfolding in a seamless arc of controlled intensity. Seldom have I heard an orchestra tear into that finale with the fierce determination of the OMM. It truly roars and rages, yet also brings all the consoling sweetness and tenderness one could wish for in the ensuing Sehr gesangvoll passage.
There are virtually no audible flubs, though one detects here and there a slightly out-of-tune chord in the woodwinds and a few (very few) ragged entrances in the strings. But the thrill of the live performance given on January 3, 2010, (surely the first Mahler First for most if not all of these youngsters) is palpable, and the spirit of adventure infuses every page of the score. In fact, it all sounds as if every member of the orchestra had gone out and purchased a recording so as to become thoroughly familiar with the score beforehand. For most of the time, it is difficult to believe that this is an orchestra of players whose average age is just 20 (considerably less than that of the Mahler Youth Orchestra).
Distinction abounds in nearly every section. Particularly outstanding are the principal bassoon, Jo Anne Sukumaran; principal horn, Chakrit Songtorsrisakun; principal double bass, Dennis Khoo; and the entire percussion section, which adds considerable heft to the band’s already beefy sound.
Singaporean conductor Tze Law Chan obviously has the pulse of the Mahler idiom and is fully in control at all times, demanding and obtaining from his forces everysforzando, dynamic bulge, and subito forte and piano . One would need to search hard to find an orchestra that gives more. Chan’s tempos are traditional except for the Scherzo, which seems more sluggish than rustic, but it is rendered with enough conviction that it just might win you over.
Kudos also to the engineers who recorded this performance in Victoria Concert Hall, a handsome old colonial building but severely lacking in proper acoustics. At concerts I have heard there the sound tends to remain stuck on stage, but this handicap is nowhere in evidence on the CD. The acoustical setting is more in keeping with a good seat midway back on the floor of a fine concert hall—vibrant, reverberant, with all forces well balanced and natural. Good program notes and a list or orchestra personnel are included. Robert Markow
Feature Article about OMM in Fanfare Magazine
Singapore’s Orchestra of the Music Makers
Robert Markow
“ … a world’s local bank of prodigious musical talent on our very doorstep.” (Tou Liang Chang, The Straits Times, Singapore)
Imagine for a moment that you are about to graduate from high school. You have enjoyed playing in a good school orchestra for two or three years, but now you’re moving on in life. You’re set to pursue a career in medicine (or nanotechnology or communications or whatever) but you desperately want to continue playing in an orchestra. Where do you go? You go to Singapore.
Welcome to the ranks of Singapore’s newest orchestra (it already has six others), the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM). The slightly cumbersome yet poetic name in fact does come from poetry. Some readers may be familiar with Elgar’s gorgeous but little-known oratorio The Music Makers, set to the eponymous poem by the 19th-century author Arthur O’Shaughnessy. Its opening lines, “We are the music makers, / And we are the dreamers of dreams,” accurately reflect the soul and spirit of the ensemble. Obviously, its members are “music makers.” But more importantly, they are also “the dreamers of dreams,” dreams that actually come true: the dream to form an orchestra of their own, the dream to continue playing after high school, the dream to serve one’s community and to contribute to a progressive society (more on that later), the dream to “build up the world’s great cities” and the dream to pass on to future generations “the glory about us clinging” (additional lines from O’Shaughnessy’s poem).
Singapore already has an official youth orchestra, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO, and a very good one it is), so why another composed of musicians whose average age is just 20? The two orchestras fill very different needs in this supercharged Asian tiger of a city. (While economies in other places sagged, Singapore’s surged to an unprecedented 18-percent growth during the first half of 2010.) The SNYO is a much older organization, going back to the 1960s. It nurtures young talents (average age about 16), all teenagers and most of whom are intending to pursue a career in music. The ranks of the world-class Singapore Symphony Orchestra are filled with former SNYO members. OMM, on the other hand, has few members seeking careers in music; they are headed in other directions, yet they also need an outlet to indulge their craving to play large-scale orchestral masterpieces. OMM’s conductor, Tze Law Chan, says, “This is what I call music-making at the purest level. They make music because they love it.” How OMM came into being is a story in itself, a process bordering on spontaneous combustion.
In 2007, a group of graduating students from several of Singapore’s high schools approached Chan, a well-known, highly regarded Singaporean conductor and associate director of the conservatory there, about the idea of forming an orchestra in which they might continue to express themselves in music while pursuing professional studies in other fields. As he tells it, “I was intrigued when these students approached me with the idea. I advised them to write up a proposal, thinking that nothing would really come of it. (Lofty ideas are one thing; implementing them is something else.) Well, how wrong I was! The initiative they had set in motion was unstoppable. At first, for lack of a better name, they called it The Entity. I now had to take their proposal very seriously. Over the next few months, ideas and concepts were refined as meetings took place with the youngsters. What really struck me was their purity of purpose. They simply wanted the experience of performing large-scale symphonic works, and to that end were quite willing to go through the rigors of forming their own orchestra. With stars in their eyes, they set about a networking process with like-minded high school students all over the country.
“By late 2007, they had drawn up their proposal and identified the main reasons for forming The Entity. They would also continually be exposed to new repertory, thus maintaining interest and engagement with Western art music. In addition, they would, as a result, be building an audience for classical music. It seemed that these highly motivated people really cared for the future of the music that had affected them deeply during their adolescent years. They were clearly privileged in their education and upbringing. Now they wanted to give back! How could I possibly say no to them? As skepticism subsided, I began to guide them in all aspects of building an orchestra. Now the question arose, how was the orchestra going to make its debut? As things turned out, in a unique and unexpected way.
“In Singapore, the HSBC [Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation] had been supporting an annual award called the Youth Excellence Initiative. The initiative rewards enterprising young people and talented young artists with a significant sum of money for professional development purposes. Award recipients are encouraged to contribute to the community through charitable work and fund-raising concerts, and I had been conducting these concerts at the invitation of HSBC for a number of years [with other orchestras]. In 2008, the bank inquired if I would conduct a gala fund-raising concert featuring as soloists several of the bank’s recent award winners. Among them were pianist Clare Yeo, the youngest student from Singapore ever to attend Juilliard, and Gabrial Ng, a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. The President of Singapore would be the guest of honor. Sensing the possibility of a platform for The Entity, I gave the group 48 hours to come up with a list of musicians. They delivered the list to me in a matter of hours. I proposed that HSBC meet representatives from this group, which had not yet given a single concert, but which had the drive and determination that reflect the criteria of youth excellence the bank looks for in individuals. A few days later, over a nice lunch, the young men from The Entity made their pitch and won.”
Now that the group had a gig it needed a name. The pro-tem committee put forward some suggestions, but it was Chan who came up with the words that eventually stuck. “Despite the name not revealing our origins or base,” says Chan, “it was eventually the one name most preferred [and] The Entity made its debut with it. Perhaps if we had had more time, a different name might have emerged. But it is now widely accepted and the orchestra calls itself ‘OMM’ with affection!:
OMM gave its inaugural concert on August 28, 2008. The 90-plus musicians won a glowing report from Singapore’s leading classical music critic, Tou Liang Chang, who wrote in The Straits Times of the orchestra’s “infectious zeal” and its “unanimity of purpose.” A few concerts later, Chang called OMM’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony “Best Classical Concert 2009.” Within a year the band of music makers and dreamers of dreams had won the S$200,000 Youth Excellence Initiative Award from HSBC—about U.S. $150,000—the first time this award had been granted to a group rather than to an individual.
Unlike many other awards, which are simply cash handouts, the Youth Excellence Award carries with it the core philosophy of Singapore’s policy of investment for the future, the very seeds from which this city-state of 4.2 million has grown so rapidly and successfully in a mere 45 years of existence. The funds are held in trust by Singapore’s National Arts Council and disbursed as needed in conjunction with the winner’s career development.
The HSBC launched its Youth Excellence Initiative in 2000. A statement issued by the bank reflects Singapore’s own unstinting commitment to education as the key to success: “We believe that Education [sic] is the best investment for the future. … In helping individuals unlock and realize their full potential, education becomes a powerful key to community success and sustainable economies. This is why we are committed to recognizing and developing the immense potential of our young people. The HSBC Youth Excellence Initiative is designed to serve precisely this purpose by providing support and opening doors of opportunity for outstanding young talent to hone their skills and capabilities, in the hope that they will serve as catalysts to promote the pursuit of excellence in the community as a whole. … Our 2009 Youth Excellence Award recipient, the Orchestra of the Music Makers, is a sterling example of a group of outstanding and passionate young volunteer musicians who, brought together by a collective desire to perform and hone their music, have chosen to channel their time and talent to make a concrete and positive contribution to the lives of disadvantaged children in our midst.”
The notion of giving back to the community runs deep in the veins of Singaporeans, and in particular in members of the OMM. Each concert it gives is also a fund-raising event for charity. In less than two years, the orchestra has raised more than S$160,000 for various causes. Typical of the attitude fostered by its members is that of trumpet player Jia Hua Low, who now divides his time between arts administration, corporate development, and playing in a brass quintet: “My ambition is to make a difference to the arts scene in Singapore at whatever level I can. I want to develop audiences here because I love music.”
To learn more about this noble venture, I requested a short interview with the man who was responsible for initiating and spearheading the Youth Excellence Initiative program. I arrived at Kong Aik Goh’s office on the 19th floor of the HSBC headquarters in Singapore, one of the many sleek, elegant skyscrapers that define the city’s waterfront skyline. Expecting to conduct a short, typical interview with Goh, I had prepared questions for this quiet, unassuming man. But little in Singapore is “typical.” Characteristic of the vitality, energy, and focused vision that inform his country as a whole, Goh launched into a nearly two-hour exposition on how and why this award exists. In the course of things he answered all my questions, even though I never got a chance to ask them.
Goh’s official title is Head, Group Communications and Corporate Sustainability (“too long!” he quips). In less elevated language, he is basically responsible for the bank’s dispersal of funds for community outreach programs in two basic areas: the environment and education. “Singapore’s single greatest asset,” he says, “its real natural resource, if you will, is its people. Education is the engine of growth and progress, and the HSBC is keen to contribute to this nurturing.” The “sustainability” of Goh’s title comes into play as follows:
For a potential recipient to receive the bank’s award, he or she must display a strong sense of commitment. Candidates do not fill out application forms. Instead, they are closely watched by knowledgeable associates and specialists in the field. They are also invited in for interviews. The annual winner is required to give back to the community in the form of concerts designed for charitable causes. “We look for responsible citizens,” says Goh. “Giving a big award to a brilliant violinist or pianist is not what we are about. We are about finding the giving artist, one who is prepared to plough back into society what society has given to him or her, thus creating a cycle of giving.”
It is not art in and of itself that HSBC is sustaining. It is the value of art—what it can do for society. “A quick-fix prize of X number of dollars such as other organizations bestow is all very well and good,” observes Goh, “but what we’re looking at is the long-term value of the money we award—how it develops talent, builds audiences, and sustains a community and contributes to a more progressive society. We want people who will look beyond their personal success and use their skills to benefit the community, in particular the needy and disadvantaged.”
OMM’s most ambitious undertaking to date was the concert I attended on July 10 in the concert hall of Singapore’s iconic performing arts complex, Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay. With their performance of the Mahler First Symphony six months behind them (now available on CD—see below), the musicians, with Chan’s blessing, chose to tackle the same composer’s Second Symphony (it is Mahler year, after all, and OMM, being self-governing, chooses its own repertoire, subject to Chan’s veto if he deems a choice inappropriate or impractical). The fully professional Singapore Symphony waited 15 years after its founding (in 1979) to play this symphony. Call it youthful impatience, if you will, but OMM waited less than two years. For most any other orchestra, this would have been the program—nothing more. But once again, we were reminded that Singapore is a nation of superachievers, so the OMM served as an “appetizer” Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the orchestra’s concertmaster, Ian Ike See (a Curtis student), as soloist.
The opening notes of Mahler’s symphony set the tone for the entire work—startling contrasts of dynamics, rhythmic precision, controlled balance of forces and a pervasive spirit of driving energy. 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 drums make their agonizingly slow crescendo from the merest rumble to a deafening roar. Also in the finale, the initial presentation of the “resurrection” chorale in the brass was as close to perfection as I have heard anywhere. As a measure of the total dedication they had put into their preparation, several individuals of the orchestra not only approached Chan to request sectional rehearsals but had themselves already identified the precise passages they wanted him to work on with them.
A chorus of 200 consisting of the Singapore Festival Chorus and the Queensland Festival Chorus from Brisbane, superbly trained by Australian Alison Rogers, made an equally impressive contribution. For the chorus, there was an additional element of drama in an already highly dramatic composition: At the moment of the seismic eruption that opens the finale, the chorus, hitherto sitting somewhat in the shadows, was suddenly flooded with light—an inspired and riveting effect.
Tze Law Chan maintained a clear sense of purpose and direction throughout. Momentum never flagged, his approach had sensitivity without sentimentality, and there were numerous moments to relish in many of his exaggerated rubatos and dynamic contrasts. The sense of security and confidence shown by the orchestra belied the fact that probably not one member had ever played the Mahler Second before, yet it sounded as if it were in their blood. Critic Tou Liang Chang wrote in The Straits Times, “Tonight they have conquered the world. Goodness only knows what these sonic youth will accomplish in 10 years’ time.”
Robert Markow
“ … a world’s local bank of prodigious musical talent on our very doorstep.” (Tou Liang Chang, The Straits Times, Singapore)
Imagine for a moment that you are about to graduate from high school. You have enjoyed playing in a good school orchestra for two or three years, but now you’re moving on in life. You’re set to pursue a career in medicine (or nanotechnology or communications or whatever) but you desperately want to continue playing in an orchestra. Where do you go? You go to Singapore.
Welcome to the ranks of Singapore’s newest orchestra (it already has six others), the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM). The slightly cumbersome yet poetic name in fact does come from poetry. Some readers may be familiar with Elgar’s gorgeous but little-known oratorio The Music Makers, set to the eponymous poem by the 19th-century author Arthur O’Shaughnessy. Its opening lines, “We are the music makers, / And we are the dreamers of dreams,” accurately reflect the soul and spirit of the ensemble. Obviously, its members are “music makers.” But more importantly, they are also “the dreamers of dreams,” dreams that actually come true: the dream to form an orchestra of their own, the dream to continue playing after high school, the dream to serve one’s community and to contribute to a progressive society (more on that later), the dream to “build up the world’s great cities” and the dream to pass on to future generations “the glory about us clinging” (additional lines from O’Shaughnessy’s poem).
Singapore already has an official youth orchestra, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO, and a very good one it is), so why another composed of musicians whose average age is just 20? The two orchestras fill very different needs in this supercharged Asian tiger of a city. (While economies in other places sagged, Singapore’s surged to an unprecedented 18-percent growth during the first half of 2010.) The SNYO is a much older organization, going back to the 1960s. It nurtures young talents (average age about 16), all teenagers and most of whom are intending to pursue a career in music. The ranks of the world-class Singapore Symphony Orchestra are filled with former SNYO members. OMM, on the other hand, has few members seeking careers in music; they are headed in other directions, yet they also need an outlet to indulge their craving to play large-scale orchestral masterpieces. OMM’s conductor, Tze Law Chan, says, “This is what I call music-making at the purest level. They make music because they love it.” How OMM came into being is a story in itself, a process bordering on spontaneous combustion.
In 2007, a group of graduating students from several of Singapore’s high schools approached Chan, a well-known, highly regarded Singaporean conductor and associate director of the conservatory there, about the idea of forming an orchestra in which they might continue to express themselves in music while pursuing professional studies in other fields. As he tells it, “I was intrigued when these students approached me with the idea. I advised them to write up a proposal, thinking that nothing would really come of it. (Lofty ideas are one thing; implementing them is something else.) Well, how wrong I was! The initiative they had set in motion was unstoppable. At first, for lack of a better name, they called it The Entity. I now had to take their proposal very seriously. Over the next few months, ideas and concepts were refined as meetings took place with the youngsters. What really struck me was their purity of purpose. They simply wanted the experience of performing large-scale symphonic works, and to that end were quite willing to go through the rigors of forming their own orchestra. With stars in their eyes, they set about a networking process with like-minded high school students all over the country.
“By late 2007, they had drawn up their proposal and identified the main reasons for forming The Entity. They would also continually be exposed to new repertory, thus maintaining interest and engagement with Western art music. In addition, they would, as a result, be building an audience for classical music. It seemed that these highly motivated people really cared for the future of the music that had affected them deeply during their adolescent years. They were clearly privileged in their education and upbringing. Now they wanted to give back! How could I possibly say no to them? As skepticism subsided, I began to guide them in all aspects of building an orchestra. Now the question arose, how was the orchestra going to make its debut? As things turned out, in a unique and unexpected way.
“In Singapore, the HSBC [Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation] had been supporting an annual award called the Youth Excellence Initiative. The initiative rewards enterprising young people and talented young artists with a significant sum of money for professional development purposes. Award recipients are encouraged to contribute to the community through charitable work and fund-raising concerts, and I had been conducting these concerts at the invitation of HSBC for a number of years [with other orchestras]. In 2008, the bank inquired if I would conduct a gala fund-raising concert featuring as soloists several of the bank’s recent award winners. Among them were pianist Clare Yeo, the youngest student from Singapore ever to attend Juilliard, and Gabrial Ng, a student at the Yehudi Menuhin School in London. The President of Singapore would be the guest of honor. Sensing the possibility of a platform for The Entity, I gave the group 48 hours to come up with a list of musicians. They delivered the list to me in a matter of hours. I proposed that HSBC meet representatives from this group, which had not yet given a single concert, but which had the drive and determination that reflect the criteria of youth excellence the bank looks for in individuals. A few days later, over a nice lunch, the young men from The Entity made their pitch and won.”
Now that the group had a gig it needed a name. The pro-tem committee put forward some suggestions, but it was Chan who came up with the words that eventually stuck. “Despite the name not revealing our origins or base,” says Chan, “it was eventually the one name most preferred [and] The Entity made its debut with it. Perhaps if we had had more time, a different name might have emerged. But it is now widely accepted and the orchestra calls itself ‘OMM’ with affection!:
OMM gave its inaugural concert on August 28, 2008. The 90-plus musicians won a glowing report from Singapore’s leading classical music critic, Tou Liang Chang, who wrote in The Straits Times of the orchestra’s “infectious zeal” and its “unanimity of purpose.” A few concerts later, Chang called OMM’s performance of Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony “Best Classical Concert 2009.” Within a year the band of music makers and dreamers of dreams had won the S$200,000 Youth Excellence Initiative Award from HSBC—about U.S. $150,000—the first time this award had been granted to a group rather than to an individual.
Unlike many other awards, which are simply cash handouts, the Youth Excellence Award carries with it the core philosophy of Singapore’s policy of investment for the future, the very seeds from which this city-state of 4.2 million has grown so rapidly and successfully in a mere 45 years of existence. The funds are held in trust by Singapore’s National Arts Council and disbursed as needed in conjunction with the winner’s career development.
The HSBC launched its Youth Excellence Initiative in 2000. A statement issued by the bank reflects Singapore’s own unstinting commitment to education as the key to success: “We believe that Education [sic] is the best investment for the future. … In helping individuals unlock and realize their full potential, education becomes a powerful key to community success and sustainable economies. This is why we are committed to recognizing and developing the immense potential of our young people. The HSBC Youth Excellence Initiative is designed to serve precisely this purpose by providing support and opening doors of opportunity for outstanding young talent to hone their skills and capabilities, in the hope that they will serve as catalysts to promote the pursuit of excellence in the community as a whole. … Our 2009 Youth Excellence Award recipient, the Orchestra of the Music Makers, is a sterling example of a group of outstanding and passionate young volunteer musicians who, brought together by a collective desire to perform and hone their music, have chosen to channel their time and talent to make a concrete and positive contribution to the lives of disadvantaged children in our midst.”
The notion of giving back to the community runs deep in the veins of Singaporeans, and in particular in members of the OMM. Each concert it gives is also a fund-raising event for charity. In less than two years, the orchestra has raised more than S$160,000 for various causes. Typical of the attitude fostered by its members is that of trumpet player Jia Hua Low, who now divides his time between arts administration, corporate development, and playing in a brass quintet: “My ambition is to make a difference to the arts scene in Singapore at whatever level I can. I want to develop audiences here because I love music.”
To learn more about this noble venture, I requested a short interview with the man who was responsible for initiating and spearheading the Youth Excellence Initiative program. I arrived at Kong Aik Goh’s office on the 19th floor of the HSBC headquarters in Singapore, one of the many sleek, elegant skyscrapers that define the city’s waterfront skyline. Expecting to conduct a short, typical interview with Goh, I had prepared questions for this quiet, unassuming man. But little in Singapore is “typical.” Characteristic of the vitality, energy, and focused vision that inform his country as a whole, Goh launched into a nearly two-hour exposition on how and why this award exists. In the course of things he answered all my questions, even though I never got a chance to ask them.
Goh’s official title is Head, Group Communications and Corporate Sustainability (“too long!” he quips). In less elevated language, he is basically responsible for the bank’s dispersal of funds for community outreach programs in two basic areas: the environment and education. “Singapore’s single greatest asset,” he says, “its real natural resource, if you will, is its people. Education is the engine of growth and progress, and the HSBC is keen to contribute to this nurturing.” The “sustainability” of Goh’s title comes into play as follows:
For a potential recipient to receive the bank’s award, he or she must display a strong sense of commitment. Candidates do not fill out application forms. Instead, they are closely watched by knowledgeable associates and specialists in the field. They are also invited in for interviews. The annual winner is required to give back to the community in the form of concerts designed for charitable causes. “We look for responsible citizens,” says Goh. “Giving a big award to a brilliant violinist or pianist is not what we are about. We are about finding the giving artist, one who is prepared to plough back into society what society has given to him or her, thus creating a cycle of giving.”
It is not art in and of itself that HSBC is sustaining. It is the value of art—what it can do for society. “A quick-fix prize of X number of dollars such as other organizations bestow is all very well and good,” observes Goh, “but what we’re looking at is the long-term value of the money we award—how it develops talent, builds audiences, and sustains a community and contributes to a more progressive society. We want people who will look beyond their personal success and use their skills to benefit the community, in particular the needy and disadvantaged.”
OMM’s most ambitious undertaking to date was the concert I attended on July 10 in the concert hall of Singapore’s iconic performing arts complex, Esplanade, Theatres on the Bay. With their performance of the Mahler First Symphony six months behind them (now available on CD—see below), the musicians, with Chan’s blessing, chose to tackle the same composer’s Second Symphony (it is Mahler year, after all, and OMM, being self-governing, chooses its own repertoire, subject to Chan’s veto if he deems a choice inappropriate or impractical). The fully professional Singapore Symphony waited 15 years after its founding (in 1979) to play this symphony. Call it youthful impatience, if you will, but OMM waited less than two years. For most any other orchestra, this would have been the program—nothing more. But once again, we were reminded that Singapore is a nation of superachievers, so the OMM served as an “appetizer” Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with the orchestra’s concertmaster, Ian Ike See (a Curtis student), as soloist.
The opening notes of Mahler’s symphony set the tone for the entire work—startling contrasts of dynamics, rhythmic precision, controlled balance of forces and a pervasive spirit of driving energy. 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 drums make their agonizingly slow crescendo from the merest rumble to a deafening roar. Also in the finale, the initial presentation of the “resurrection” chorale in the brass was as close to perfection as I have heard anywhere. As a measure of the total dedication they had put into their preparation, several individuals of the orchestra not only approached Chan to request sectional rehearsals but had themselves already identified the precise passages they wanted him to work on with them.
A chorus of 200 consisting of the Singapore Festival Chorus and the Queensland Festival Chorus from Brisbane, superbly trained by Australian Alison Rogers, made an equally impressive contribution. For the chorus, there was an additional element of drama in an already highly dramatic composition: At the moment of the seismic eruption that opens the finale, the chorus, hitherto sitting somewhat in the shadows, was suddenly flooded with light—an inspired and riveting effect.
Tze Law Chan maintained a clear sense of purpose and direction throughout. Momentum never flagged, his approach had sensitivity without sentimentality, and there were numerous moments to relish in many of his exaggerated rubatos and dynamic contrasts. The sense of security and confidence shown by the orchestra belied the fact that probably not one member had ever played the Mahler Second before, yet it sounded as if it were in their blood. Critic Tou Liang Chang wrote in The Straits Times, “Tonight they have conquered the world. Goodness only knows what these sonic youth will accomplish in 10 years’ time.”
Press and Reviews
TODAY feature article - 10 Dec 2010
Concert review - Mahler 2: Resurrection
------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times LIFE!
Monday, 12 July 2010
(c) 2010 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Mahler 2 - Resurrection
Concert Date: 10 July 2010
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloists: Jeong Ae Ree (Soprano), Rebecca Chellapah (mezzo-soprano), See Ian Ike (Violin)
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Youth Olympic Games may be a month away, but the euphoric flush of youth has arrived, vociferously delivered by 350 young musicians and singers at the Esplanade. Never has there been a greater display of musical audacity, shored up by stoutest of hearts and truest of intentions.
Putting things into perspective, it took the Singapore Symphony Orchestra 15 years before giving the Singapore premiere of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Second Symphony in 1994. Two years was all that was needed for the Orchestra of Music Makers (OMM) and its guiding light Chan Tze Law to pull off that same Olympian feat, and with some to spare.
Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto opened the concert, with young Singaporean See Ian Ike, soon headed for Philadelphia’s famed Curtis Institute, as soloist. Innate confidence, warmth and purity of tone, with unfailing musicality distinguished his playing, running the full gamut of this popular showpiece. A natural and unforced virtuosity, as opposed to making a meal of vacuous gestures, was why this young man stood out. His rock-steady showing will forever put into the shade the recent travesty in the same work by “superstar” Sarah Chang, ice maiden of heartless pyrotechnics.
Fireworks lit up Marina Bay during the intermission, but sparks of a different kind soon ignited in Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. When stirring tremolos and low strings forcefully opened accounts, it was apparent this was to be a reading of no half-measures. Mahler once proclaimed that “the symphony must embrace everything”, and so OMM plumbed the depths and scaled the peaks.
While the funereal first movement could have benefited from a tauter rein, the force of intent was palpable. The tragedy was for real. Massive climaxes rocked the foundations while excellent solos from flautist Cheryl Lim and concertmaster Edward Tan set the tone for instrumental finery to come.
The leisurely Ländler lilt of the slow movement unfolded with gentle insouciance, contrasted with a manic streak in the Scherzo, adapted from one of Mahler’s more surreal songs. The brief fourth movement showcased mezzo-soprano Rebecca Chellapah’s reassuring tones in Urlicht (Primal Light), a nascent calm before the cataclysmic finale.
The latter provided the tour de force of the evening, a hell-for-leather ride that skirted the abyss before the final choral apotheosis. Brass, on and off the stage, worked overtime and brilliantly. The 220-strong chorus’ collective whisper was rapt and mysterious, blending beautifully with soprano Jeong Ae Ree’s ethereal melismata. When they took to their feet for the valedictory proclamation of “Auferstehen” (Resurrection), it was to spine-tingling effect.
Tonight they have conquered the world. Goodness only knows what our sonic youth will accomplish in ten years’ time.
The Straits Times LIFE!
Monday, 12 July 2010
(c) 2010 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Mahler 2 - Resurrection
Concert Date: 10 July 2010
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloists: Jeong Ae Ree (Soprano), Rebecca Chellapah (mezzo-soprano), See Ian Ike (Violin)
-------------------------------------------------------------
The Youth Olympic Games may be a month away, but the euphoric flush of youth has arrived, vociferously delivered by 350 young musicians and singers at the Esplanade. Never has there been a greater display of musical audacity, shored up by stoutest of hearts and truest of intentions.
Putting things into perspective, it took the Singapore Symphony Orchestra 15 years before giving the Singapore premiere of Gustav Mahler’s monumental Second Symphony in 1994. Two years was all that was needed for the Orchestra of Music Makers (OMM) and its guiding light Chan Tze Law to pull off that same Olympian feat, and with some to spare.
Max Bruch’s First Violin Concerto opened the concert, with young Singaporean See Ian Ike, soon headed for Philadelphia’s famed Curtis Institute, as soloist. Innate confidence, warmth and purity of tone, with unfailing musicality distinguished his playing, running the full gamut of this popular showpiece. A natural and unforced virtuosity, as opposed to making a meal of vacuous gestures, was why this young man stood out. His rock-steady showing will forever put into the shade the recent travesty in the same work by “superstar” Sarah Chang, ice maiden of heartless pyrotechnics.
Fireworks lit up Marina Bay during the intermission, but sparks of a different kind soon ignited in Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony. When stirring tremolos and low strings forcefully opened accounts, it was apparent this was to be a reading of no half-measures. Mahler once proclaimed that “the symphony must embrace everything”, and so OMM plumbed the depths and scaled the peaks.
While the funereal first movement could have benefited from a tauter rein, the force of intent was palpable. The tragedy was for real. Massive climaxes rocked the foundations while excellent solos from flautist Cheryl Lim and concertmaster Edward Tan set the tone for instrumental finery to come.
The leisurely Ländler lilt of the slow movement unfolded with gentle insouciance, contrasted with a manic streak in the Scherzo, adapted from one of Mahler’s more surreal songs. The brief fourth movement showcased mezzo-soprano Rebecca Chellapah’s reassuring tones in Urlicht (Primal Light), a nascent calm before the cataclysmic finale.
The latter provided the tour de force of the evening, a hell-for-leather ride that skirted the abyss before the final choral apotheosis. Brass, on and off the stage, worked overtime and brilliantly. The 220-strong chorus’ collective whisper was rapt and mysterious, blending beautifully with soprano Jeong Ae Ree’s ethereal melismata. When they took to their feet for the valedictory proclamation of “Auferstehen” (Resurrection), it was to spine-tingling effect.
Tonight they have conquered the world. Goodness only knows what our sonic youth will accomplish in ten years’ time.
Press: Concert Review - Russian Revolution
------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times LIFE!
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
(c) 2010 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Russian Revolution
Concert Date: 21 March 2010
Venue: Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloists: Lim Yan (piano)
-------------------------------------------------------------
One abiding mission of a young orchestra is to build repertoire, and none has succeeded with such ambition and speed as the Orchestra of the Music Makers. Having lofty ideas of programming is one thing, but execution is another. Despite the odds of not having the luxury of adequate rehearsal space and time, the orchestra's all-Russian programme displayed the length, breadth and depth of its prowess.
Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture began on a very deliberate tempo, but this escalated with Montagues and Capulets feuding with requisite bloodlust. The luscious strings ushered in the famous 'love theme', bringing a stirring climax to this musical advernture-cum-tragedy.
More drama ensued in Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, which saw busy Singaporean pianist Lim Yan treat this warhorse not as a purely display piece but as a clearly thought-out essay pitting piano and orchestra.Excellent horns heralded its famous opening fanfare, while the pianist's majestically punched out chords rang out his intent in a non-histrionic and unfussy manner. With clarity in every phrase, the octave passages and treacherous first movement cadenza were delivered with immaculate aplomb. Orchestral support was big in gesture yet sensitive throughout.
There were some rough patches for soloist and band alike, but none that so plagued and derailed Li Yundi's in famous outing with the SSO last year.
So is Lim a better musician and pianist than Li? Unequivocally yes.
Arguably the best performance of the night was reserved for Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, a product of wartime privations. Its message of the 'unquenchable spirit of man' reeks of Socialist Realist claptrap without disguising the well-crafted work that it is. Throughout the 45 minutes of the piece, conductor Chan Tze Law coaxed an admirable performance that eloquently brought out the Russian modernist's appealing blend of deliberate cacophony and long-held melody.
With the spectre of tragedy ever looming, there was biting irony, dark humour and even unabashed sentimentality. What kept this behemoth going was its sheer pace, aided by excellent brass and the ever-dependable Vincent Goh on solo clarinet. With engines, pistons and turbines in overdrive, it seemed this exhausting performance would never run out of steam, such was the fervour and drive of the young musicians.
After 2 1/2 hours, there was even time for an encore, Shostakovich's genial Waltz from the Second Jazz Suite. Revelations, Russian or otherwise, never seem to cease with this group.
The Straits Times LIFE!
Tuesday, 23 March 2010
(c) 2010 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Russian Revolution
Concert Date: 21 March 2010
Venue: Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloists: Lim Yan (piano)
-------------------------------------------------------------
One abiding mission of a young orchestra is to build repertoire, and none has succeeded with such ambition and speed as the Orchestra of the Music Makers. Having lofty ideas of programming is one thing, but execution is another. Despite the odds of not having the luxury of adequate rehearsal space and time, the orchestra's all-Russian programme displayed the length, breadth and depth of its prowess.
Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Overture began on a very deliberate tempo, but this escalated with Montagues and Capulets feuding with requisite bloodlust. The luscious strings ushered in the famous 'love theme', bringing a stirring climax to this musical advernture-cum-tragedy.
More drama ensued in Tchaikovsky's First Piano Concerto, which saw busy Singaporean pianist Lim Yan treat this warhorse not as a purely display piece but as a clearly thought-out essay pitting piano and orchestra.Excellent horns heralded its famous opening fanfare, while the pianist's majestically punched out chords rang out his intent in a non-histrionic and unfussy manner. With clarity in every phrase, the octave passages and treacherous first movement cadenza were delivered with immaculate aplomb. Orchestral support was big in gesture yet sensitive throughout.
There were some rough patches for soloist and band alike, but none that so plagued and derailed Li Yundi's in famous outing with the SSO last year.
So is Lim a better musician and pianist than Li? Unequivocally yes.
Arguably the best performance of the night was reserved for Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony, a product of wartime privations. Its message of the 'unquenchable spirit of man' reeks of Socialist Realist claptrap without disguising the well-crafted work that it is. Throughout the 45 minutes of the piece, conductor Chan Tze Law coaxed an admirable performance that eloquently brought out the Russian modernist's appealing blend of deliberate cacophony and long-held melody.
With the spectre of tragedy ever looming, there was biting irony, dark humour and even unabashed sentimentality. What kept this behemoth going was its sheer pace, aided by excellent brass and the ever-dependable Vincent Goh on solo clarinet. With engines, pistons and turbines in overdrive, it seemed this exhausting performance would never run out of steam, such was the fervour and drive of the young musicians.
After 2 1/2 hours, there was even time for an encore, Shostakovich's genial Waltz from the Second Jazz Suite. Revelations, Russian or otherwise, never seem to cease with this group.
Press: Concert Review - Mahler 1: Memories of Youth
------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times LIFE!
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Mahler 1: Memories of Youth
Concert Date: 3 January 2010
Venue: Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloists: Cheryl Lim (flute), Laura Peh (harp)
-------------------------------------------------------------
After a year of over-achieving, the Orchestra of the Music Makers has hit the ground running in the new decade. In what resembles a promising beginning to a Mahler symphony cycle, the young musicians put on a show of instrumental prowess that beggared belief.
The evening began in the manner which the Vienna Philharmonic closes its New Year Concerts, with Johann Strauss the Younger's Blue Danube Waltz. Gossamer light tremolo strings ushered in the opening horn solo, which unfortunately did not have the mythical quality of sounding from afar. The brass chorale also lacked subtlety, making for a bumpy first half-minute. However, as soon as the waltz rhythm got underway, it was plain sailing, even affording the luxury of several tantalising rubatos.
The Viennese theme continued with Mozart's lovely Concerto in C major (K.299) for flute and harp. A work of exquisite craftsmanship rather than inspirational genius, it showcased two young ladies who were also members of OMM. Cheryl Lim was the more confident, projecting a tone of crystal-like clarity and seamlessness throughout. Harpist Laura Peh, a tender 16, had several awkward moments with wrong notes, but held her own with composure and grace. Together, the music alternated between lyrical beauty and scintillation, ably supported by the unobtrusive orchestra.
The test of the pudding was surely in Gustav Mahler's First Symphony, nicknamed The Titan. Its opening pianissimo hum of nature was a feat of control from the strings, and woodwind solos also distinguished, notably clarinetist Vincent Goh's cuckoo impressions. While the solo French horn had issues with flubbed passages, the massed group of eight horns was a force to behold.
It was this selfsame unity of spirit that galvanised the ensemble as a whole, rendering an invigorating performance that was greater than the sum of its disparate parts. The dance and funeral march of the middle movements were suitably earthy and raw, nuances that so coloured Mahler's world of banalities, skillfully brought out by conductor Chan Tze Law.
If there were moments that simply blew one away, these would be the finale's agonising "cry from the wounded heart", a 20-minute journey from tragedy to final triumph. These youngsters, for whom nothing is impossible, certainly know the meaning of "titanic".
The Straits Times LIFE!
Tuesday, 5 January 2010
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Mahler 1: Memories of Youth
Concert Date: 3 January 2010
Venue: Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Soloists: Cheryl Lim (flute), Laura Peh (harp)
-------------------------------------------------------------
After a year of over-achieving, the Orchestra of the Music Makers has hit the ground running in the new decade. In what resembles a promising beginning to a Mahler symphony cycle, the young musicians put on a show of instrumental prowess that beggared belief.
The evening began in the manner which the Vienna Philharmonic closes its New Year Concerts, with Johann Strauss the Younger's Blue Danube Waltz. Gossamer light tremolo strings ushered in the opening horn solo, which unfortunately did not have the mythical quality of sounding from afar. The brass chorale also lacked subtlety, making for a bumpy first half-minute. However, as soon as the waltz rhythm got underway, it was plain sailing, even affording the luxury of several tantalising rubatos.
The Viennese theme continued with Mozart's lovely Concerto in C major (K.299) for flute and harp. A work of exquisite craftsmanship rather than inspirational genius, it showcased two young ladies who were also members of OMM. Cheryl Lim was the more confident, projecting a tone of crystal-like clarity and seamlessness throughout. Harpist Laura Peh, a tender 16, had several awkward moments with wrong notes, but held her own with composure and grace. Together, the music alternated between lyrical beauty and scintillation, ably supported by the unobtrusive orchestra.
The test of the pudding was surely in Gustav Mahler's First Symphony, nicknamed The Titan. Its opening pianissimo hum of nature was a feat of control from the strings, and woodwind solos also distinguished, notably clarinetist Vincent Goh's cuckoo impressions. While the solo French horn had issues with flubbed passages, the massed group of eight horns was a force to behold.
It was this selfsame unity of spirit that galvanised the ensemble as a whole, rendering an invigorating performance that was greater than the sum of its disparate parts. The dance and funeral march of the middle movements were suitably earthy and raw, nuances that so coloured Mahler's world of banalities, skillfully brought out by conductor Chan Tze Law.
If there were moments that simply blew one away, these would be the finale's agonising "cry from the wounded heart", a 20-minute journey from tragedy to final triumph. These youngsters, for whom nothing is impossible, certainly know the meaning of "titanic".
Press: Concert Review - WAYO/OMM: When Heavens Collide
------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times LIFE!
Tuesday, 16 December 2009
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: When Heavens Collide
Concert Date: 14 December 2009
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductors: Peter Moore, Chan Tze Law
Western Australian Youth Orchestra
Orchestra of the Music Makers
Queensland Festival Chorus
-------------------------------------------------------------
When heavens collide, a big bang usually results. That was the intention of this joint concert that paired the best young musical outfits from Singapore and Perth, Western Australia. The storm of high decibels began with Mars, The Bringer of War, first movement from The Planets by Gustav Holst.
Led by master orchestra-builder Chan Tze Law, the gauntlet was thrown, with confident brass issuing the call to arms over an insistent rhythmic thrust that never let up. It was in impressive start that got even better with the quicksilver reflexes of Mercury, The Winged Messenger and the hymn-like countenance of Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity.
Only in the slower movements was the large orchestra really challenged. Venus, The Bringer of Peace could have been a tad more tender, while Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age ached a little from its arthritic pace. However, the solos shone, including concertmaster See Ian Ike's little melodies on the violin and many others too numerous to name.
The infectious swagger of Uranus, the Magician then made way for ethereal in Neptune, The Mystic, when voices from the Queensland Festival Chorus wafted like ghostly apparitions through the trellises behind the gallery. Perhaps a more mysterious pianissimo could have been coaxed, but the idea of extreme remoteness and an icy chill was achieved.
Peter Moore, better known as Uncle Peter of Babies Proms fame, led the orchestra on two battlefronts. The former was an exuberant reading of the Symphonic Dances from Bernstein's West Side Story, one with two robust shouts of Mambo! that put the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's usually tepid attempts into the shade. Most impressive was the beautiful string sound that brought out the true pathos of the hit number Somewhere.
The latter was the much-anticipated Star Wars Suite, where John Williams' artful depictions of celestial feuds and escapades became a little game of "spot the influence". On the evidence of this totally enthusiastic and often entrancing performance, one may safely conclude that these young musicians will do great things with the music of Wagner, Richard Strauss, Korngold, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Walton.
Two rousing encores, a delightfully frothy transcription of Waltzing Matilda (conducted by Moore), and Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 (conducted by Chan), ensured that the big bangs continued late into the evening.
The Straits Times LIFE!
Tuesday, 16 December 2009
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: When Heavens Collide
Concert Date: 14 December 2009
Venue: Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductors: Peter Moore, Chan Tze Law
Western Australian Youth Orchestra
Orchestra of the Music Makers
Queensland Festival Chorus
-------------------------------------------------------------
When heavens collide, a big bang usually results. That was the intention of this joint concert that paired the best young musical outfits from Singapore and Perth, Western Australia. The storm of high decibels began with Mars, The Bringer of War, first movement from The Planets by Gustav Holst.
Led by master orchestra-builder Chan Tze Law, the gauntlet was thrown, with confident brass issuing the call to arms over an insistent rhythmic thrust that never let up. It was in impressive start that got even better with the quicksilver reflexes of Mercury, The Winged Messenger and the hymn-like countenance of Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity.
Only in the slower movements was the large orchestra really challenged. Venus, The Bringer of Peace could have been a tad more tender, while Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age ached a little from its arthritic pace. However, the solos shone, including concertmaster See Ian Ike's little melodies on the violin and many others too numerous to name.
The infectious swagger of Uranus, the Magician then made way for ethereal in Neptune, The Mystic, when voices from the Queensland Festival Chorus wafted like ghostly apparitions through the trellises behind the gallery. Perhaps a more mysterious pianissimo could have been coaxed, but the idea of extreme remoteness and an icy chill was achieved.
Peter Moore, better known as Uncle Peter of Babies Proms fame, led the orchestra on two battlefronts. The former was an exuberant reading of the Symphonic Dances from Bernstein's West Side Story, one with two robust shouts of Mambo! that put the Singapore Symphony Orchestra's usually tepid attempts into the shade. Most impressive was the beautiful string sound that brought out the true pathos of the hit number Somewhere.
The latter was the much-anticipated Star Wars Suite, where John Williams' artful depictions of celestial feuds and escapades became a little game of "spot the influence". On the evidence of this totally enthusiastic and often entrancing performance, one may safely conclude that these young musicians will do great things with the music of Wagner, Richard Strauss, Korngold, Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Walton.
Two rousing encores, a delightfully frothy transcription of Waltzing Matilda (conducted by Moore), and Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 (conducted by Chan), ensured that the big bangs continued late into the evening.
Press: Concert Review - 2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Awards Concert
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times LIFE!, Page C5
Thursday, 27 August 2009
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: HSBC Youth Excellence Gala
Concert Date: 21 August 2009
Venue: Esplanade Theatre, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Violin soloists: Janell Yeo, Gabriel Ng
-------------------------------------------------------------
This year’s recipient of the HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Music was not an individual as in previous years, but an outstanding group of individuals – the barely one-year-old Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM). It was on this very platform accompanying past awardees in concert that the OMM was founded.
Four concerts later, the 90-strong ensemble led by conductor Chan Tze Law had not only found its feet, but has begun to soar. Its depth of repertoire is ambitious, playing works way more advanced than their collective ages suggests, and performing at such a high level as to challenge the professionals. Shostakovich’s Festive Overture appropriately kicked off the concert, and even if the trumpets cracked on the opening fanfare, there was no stopping the outpouring of spirit and exuberance.
Its commitment to local music sealed a sympathetic performance of young award-winning composer Wang Chen Wei’s The Sisters’ Islands. This enjoyable tone poem featured solos on the guzheng and recorder, while marrying Indonesian-flavoured themes with an orchestration that assimilated influences from Sibelius and Tan Chan Boon.
Two former HSBC laureates, violinists Janell Yeo (15 years old) and Gabriel Ng (14 years old), joined the OMM in showy concertante works. The former lit up the stage in Saint-Saëns’ lilting Havanaise, displaying a sweet ingratiating tone, while the former blazed a brilliant path through the finale of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1 almost effortlessly To prove he was not just all fingers, Ng’s opening phrase and solo in Beethoven’s Romance No.1 in G major (Op.40) was so warm as to melt the iciest of hearts.
Reprising the past week’s Rachmaninov revelry, OMM brought out the heavy artillery in the finale of the Russian romantic’s Second Symphony. Again, it was the precision of execution and sheer passion that impressed. The strings was just gorgeous, treading the fine line between sentimentality and schmaltz, coupled with the winds and brass in top form capped yet another memorable outing.
As a parting gift to the President and First Lady of Singapore, Elgar’s Nimrod from the Enigma Variations brought out the most subtle and noble of crescendos, rising to a glorious high before gently receding. This is virtuosity at its purest, not just efficiently delivering the notes but to sincerely convey what mere words cannot express.
The Straits Times LIFE!, Page C5
Thursday, 27 August 2009
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: HSBC Youth Excellence Gala
Concert Date: 21 August 2009
Venue: Esplanade Theatre, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Violin soloists: Janell Yeo, Gabriel Ng
-------------------------------------------------------------
This year’s recipient of the HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Music was not an individual as in previous years, but an outstanding group of individuals – the barely one-year-old Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM). It was on this very platform accompanying past awardees in concert that the OMM was founded.
Four concerts later, the 90-strong ensemble led by conductor Chan Tze Law had not only found its feet, but has begun to soar. Its depth of repertoire is ambitious, playing works way more advanced than their collective ages suggests, and performing at such a high level as to challenge the professionals. Shostakovich’s Festive Overture appropriately kicked off the concert, and even if the trumpets cracked on the opening fanfare, there was no stopping the outpouring of spirit and exuberance.
Its commitment to local music sealed a sympathetic performance of young award-winning composer Wang Chen Wei’s The Sisters’ Islands. This enjoyable tone poem featured solos on the guzheng and recorder, while marrying Indonesian-flavoured themes with an orchestration that assimilated influences from Sibelius and Tan Chan Boon.
Two former HSBC laureates, violinists Janell Yeo (15 years old) and Gabriel Ng (14 years old), joined the OMM in showy concertante works. The former lit up the stage in Saint-Saëns’ lilting Havanaise, displaying a sweet ingratiating tone, while the former blazed a brilliant path through the finale of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1 almost effortlessly To prove he was not just all fingers, Ng’s opening phrase and solo in Beethoven’s Romance No.1 in G major (Op.40) was so warm as to melt the iciest of hearts.
Reprising the past week’s Rachmaninov revelry, OMM brought out the heavy artillery in the finale of the Russian romantic’s Second Symphony. Again, it was the precision of execution and sheer passion that impressed. The strings was just gorgeous, treading the fine line between sentimentality and schmaltz, coupled with the winds and brass in top form capped yet another memorable outing.
As a parting gift to the President and First Lady of Singapore, Elgar’s Nimrod from the Enigma Variations brought out the most subtle and noble of crescendos, rising to a glorious high before gently receding. This is virtuosity at its purest, not just efficiently delivering the notes but to sincerely convey what mere words cannot express.
Press: Youth-oriented orchestra lauded for 'making music happen'
The Straits Times, Home section page B5
25th August 2009
By Wee Junkai
(c) Singapore Press Holdings 2009
Youth-oriented orchestra lauded for 'making music happen'
THOUGH just a year old, the Orchestra of the Music Makers has made such great strides that it will receive the 2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Musical Excellence from President S R Nathan tonight.
The orchestra debuted in August last year as a musical backdrop to the ceremony for the same awards, but with three sold-out concerts under its belt since then, it has become a deserved recipient in its own right.
Formed by alumni of various youth and school music groups, it was intended to be an avenue for volunteer musicians to make symphonic music.
The 95 musicians in their teens and early 20s now make up the orchestra's roster. They are led by conductor Chan Tze Law, who is associate director of Singapore's Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and music director of the Singapore Festival Orchestra.
Everything from funding, rehearsal venues, promotional posters and the orchestra website were sourced and produced by the enterprising young people.
Maestro Chan said: 'The youths did not just make music, but they made music happen.'
Though doing everything themselves helped to cut costs, the group often found it a tough balancing act to keep things going.
Founding member and chairman Lee Guan Wei, 22, said: 'Our concerts have cost us between $17,000 and $30,000 each, with money going to the hiring of technical trainers, the renting of percussion instruments, rehearsal and concert venues.'
The orchestra hopes to use its musical talent for philanthropy - something HSBC and its $200,000 donation to the group, held in trust by the National Arts Council, will set in motion.
It is the first group to win the youth award for musical excellence. Past winners have been individuals, such as pianist Clare Yeo.
After the award ceremony, the orchestra will play in a charity concert which has raised $150,000 for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.
The HSBC awards were launched in 2001, and provide recipients with opportunities as well as funding support to develop their potential.
Receiving the HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Leadership and Community Service is Mr Daniel Tan Tai Leng, 27, for his work with the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds), as the leader of its youth volunteer group.
25th August 2009
By Wee Junkai
(c) Singapore Press Holdings 2009
Youth-oriented orchestra lauded for 'making music happen'
THOUGH just a year old, the Orchestra of the Music Makers has made such great strides that it will receive the 2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Musical Excellence from President S R Nathan tonight.
The orchestra debuted in August last year as a musical backdrop to the ceremony for the same awards, but with three sold-out concerts under its belt since then, it has become a deserved recipient in its own right.
Formed by alumni of various youth and school music groups, it was intended to be an avenue for volunteer musicians to make symphonic music.
The 95 musicians in their teens and early 20s now make up the orchestra's roster. They are led by conductor Chan Tze Law, who is associate director of Singapore's Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and music director of the Singapore Festival Orchestra.
Everything from funding, rehearsal venues, promotional posters and the orchestra website were sourced and produced by the enterprising young people.
Maestro Chan said: 'The youths did not just make music, but they made music happen.'
Though doing everything themselves helped to cut costs, the group often found it a tough balancing act to keep things going.
Founding member and chairman Lee Guan Wei, 22, said: 'Our concerts have cost us between $17,000 and $30,000 each, with money going to the hiring of technical trainers, the renting of percussion instruments, rehearsal and concert venues.'
The orchestra hopes to use its musical talent for philanthropy - something HSBC and its $200,000 donation to the group, held in trust by the National Arts Council, will set in motion.
It is the first group to win the youth award for musical excellence. Past winners have been individuals, such as pianist Clare Yeo.
After the award ceremony, the orchestra will play in a charity concert which has raised $150,000 for The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund.
The HSBC awards were launched in 2001, and provide recipients with opportunities as well as funding support to develop their potential.
Receiving the HSBC Youth Excellence Award for Leadership and Community Service is Mr Daniel Tan Tai Leng, 27, for his work with the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore (Minds), as the leader of its youth volunteer group.
Press: Concert Review - Brilliant Music Makers
--------------------------------------------------------------
The Straits Times LIFE!, Page C7
Monday, 24 August 2009
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Rach^2
Concert Date: 21 August 2009
Venue: Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Piano soloist: John Chen
-------------------------------------------------------------
The title says it all. For music-lovers, it is merely the abbreviation of Russian Romantic composer Serge Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto or Second Symphony. In this case, both landmark works featured in an exhausting programme that marked a new high for the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM).
A sign that the music scene in Singapore has progressed inexorably, this was the third performance of the demanding hour-long symphony by an orchestra of young musicians in just six months. It was also the best by a country mile. This performance had the recipe that made for utterly compelling listening: excellence of execution, an acute urgency to communicate, and the temerity to take all kinds of risks.
Under conductor Chan Tze Law’s firm guiding hands, the music soared from the word go. Pride of place goes to the strings, which drew a sonorous collective sigh before launching skyward into lyrical heaven. This is the stuff of dreams, of reliving nostalgia without resorting to sentimental portamenti (slides and slurs) or other swooning effects.
The incisiveness of attack was most keenly felt in the 2nd movement scherzo, its tumultuous fugal section erupting with genuine Tchaikovskian hysteria. Vincent Goh’s clarinet solo in the slow movement was a joy to behold, as were concertmaster See Ian Ike’s contributions and numerous other solos. The finale’s surging wave after wave of sound was matched by the orchestra’s irrepressible momentum, which rode the epic crest till its brilliant and breathless conclusion.
All this took place after the orchestra played collaborator to New Zealander John Chen’s warm-hearted and totally musical account of the concerto. Unlike certain big-name pianists of his generation, Chen is incapable of making an ugly sound. Beyond the flash and dash of Rachmaninov’s extroverted pages, he also ably brought out the melancholy and angst that distinguished this music.
While he could have emoted more in the slow movement, there was little to be further desired in the sizzling cadenzas of the finale, its rapturously heartrending climaxes and grandstand finish. Two Rachmaninov Études-tableaux (from Op.33) as encores also showcased a crisp and clear-as-a-bell technique.
For those fearing for the future of classical music, look no further. Soloist and ensemble alike, these youths with a mission are set to conquer the world.
The Straits Times LIFE!, Page C7
Monday, 24 August 2009
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings
Reviewer: Chang Tou Liang
-------------------------------------------------------------
Concert: Rach^2
Concert Date: 21 August 2009
Venue: Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore
Conductor: Chan Tze Law
Piano soloist: John Chen
-------------------------------------------------------------
The title says it all. For music-lovers, it is merely the abbreviation of Russian Romantic composer Serge Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto or Second Symphony. In this case, both landmark works featured in an exhausting programme that marked a new high for the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM).
A sign that the music scene in Singapore has progressed inexorably, this was the third performance of the demanding hour-long symphony by an orchestra of young musicians in just six months. It was also the best by a country mile. This performance had the recipe that made for utterly compelling listening: excellence of execution, an acute urgency to communicate, and the temerity to take all kinds of risks.
Under conductor Chan Tze Law’s firm guiding hands, the music soared from the word go. Pride of place goes to the strings, which drew a sonorous collective sigh before launching skyward into lyrical heaven. This is the stuff of dreams, of reliving nostalgia without resorting to sentimental portamenti (slides and slurs) or other swooning effects.
The incisiveness of attack was most keenly felt in the 2nd movement scherzo, its tumultuous fugal section erupting with genuine Tchaikovskian hysteria. Vincent Goh’s clarinet solo in the slow movement was a joy to behold, as were concertmaster See Ian Ike’s contributions and numerous other solos. The finale’s surging wave after wave of sound was matched by the orchestra’s irrepressible momentum, which rode the epic crest till its brilliant and breathless conclusion.
All this took place after the orchestra played collaborator to New Zealander John Chen’s warm-hearted and totally musical account of the concerto. Unlike certain big-name pianists of his generation, Chen is incapable of making an ugly sound. Beyond the flash and dash of Rachmaninov’s extroverted pages, he also ably brought out the melancholy and angst that distinguished this music.
While he could have emoted more in the slow movement, there was little to be further desired in the sizzling cadenzas of the finale, its rapturously heartrending climaxes and grandstand finish. Two Rachmaninov Études-tableaux (from Op.33) as encores also showcased a crisp and clear-as-a-bell technique.
For those fearing for the future of classical music, look no further. Soloist and ensemble alike, these youths with a mission are set to conquer the world.
NEW ORCHESTRA LIVING ITS DREAM
Chang Tou Liang
5 January 2009
The Straits Times - Life!
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
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Concert review
TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Orchestra of the Music Makers
Chan Tze Law, Conductor
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
3 January 2009
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'We are the music-makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams.'
The first lines of Arthur O'Shaughnessy's Ode is the inspiration for Singapore's latest symphony orchestra, the Orchestra of the Music Makers. Formed by music students and alumni of local youth and school orchestras, this amateur ensemble could not have had a more ambitious opening act. Its 'soft launch' in August last year, accompanying HSBC Youth Excellence awardees in concert, had fired the first warning shots. This encounter showed a full-scale campaign of symphonic endeavour underway, with a demanding season extending till August.
It took some three minutes for the orchestra to fully warm up. Wagner's rousing Prelude To Act Three Of Lohengrin was hampered by hesitant woodwinds and over-exuberant brass. A big noise was the overall effect. But that was merely a sign of young people straining at the leash and raring to go.
By the opening tutti of Dvorak's Cello Concerto, much of the initial jitters had calmed as the group took to the task of partnering prize-winning cellist Zhou Mi. Zhou is an unusually sensitive musician, one whose conception of the warhorse was born of blood, sweat, toil and tears. Outwardly confident yet intimate in sound, the music has rarely yielded more tragic vistas than this. The orchestra, under master orchestra-builder Chan Tze Law, followed her every nuance and gesture, complementing each passionate phrase with riveting ripostes of its own, which made for an invigorating and almost exhausting outing.
Even more impressive was the orchestra's delivery of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, which began imposingly and maintained its tautly driven narrative throughout. The pace also flexed ever so supplely, allowing wonderful solos by guest concertmaster Chan Yoong Han (violin) and Laura Peh (harp) - depicting the seductive storyteller - to shine through. The rich and colourful score saw the lush strings on a field day. Dotted with many more tricky solos, further shows of virtuosity from individual musicians were on show - just too many to name.
This was a bona fide concert showing befitting professionals, not merely an amateur run-through. Its fair share of rough spots may be ironed out with time and experience, but its spirit of joie de vivre is irreplaceable.
Chang Tou Liang
5 January 2009
The Straits Times - Life!
(c) 2009 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
---------------------------------------------------
Concert review
TALES FROM THE ARABIAN NIGHTS
Orchestra of the Music Makers
Chan Tze Law, Conductor
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall
3 January 2009
----------------------------------------------
'We are the music-makers. And we are the dreamers of dreams.'
The first lines of Arthur O'Shaughnessy's Ode is the inspiration for Singapore's latest symphony orchestra, the Orchestra of the Music Makers. Formed by music students and alumni of local youth and school orchestras, this amateur ensemble could not have had a more ambitious opening act. Its 'soft launch' in August last year, accompanying HSBC Youth Excellence awardees in concert, had fired the first warning shots. This encounter showed a full-scale campaign of symphonic endeavour underway, with a demanding season extending till August.
It took some three minutes for the orchestra to fully warm up. Wagner's rousing Prelude To Act Three Of Lohengrin was hampered by hesitant woodwinds and over-exuberant brass. A big noise was the overall effect. But that was merely a sign of young people straining at the leash and raring to go.
By the opening tutti of Dvorak's Cello Concerto, much of the initial jitters had calmed as the group took to the task of partnering prize-winning cellist Zhou Mi. Zhou is an unusually sensitive musician, one whose conception of the warhorse was born of blood, sweat, toil and tears. Outwardly confident yet intimate in sound, the music has rarely yielded more tragic vistas than this. The orchestra, under master orchestra-builder Chan Tze Law, followed her every nuance and gesture, complementing each passionate phrase with riveting ripostes of its own, which made for an invigorating and almost exhausting outing.
Even more impressive was the orchestra's delivery of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, which began imposingly and maintained its tautly driven narrative throughout. The pace also flexed ever so supplely, allowing wonderful solos by guest concertmaster Chan Yoong Han (violin) and Laura Peh (harp) - depicting the seductive storyteller - to shine through. The rich and colourful score saw the lush strings on a field day. Dotted with many more tricky solos, further shows of virtuosity from individual musicians were on show - just too many to name.
This was a bona fide concert showing befitting professionals, not merely an amateur run-through. Its fair share of rough spots may be ironed out with time and experience, but its spirit of joie de vivre is irreplaceable.
Tuesday, 30 December 2008
(C) Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
(C) Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.
ROUSING START FOR MUSIC MAKERS
Chang Tou Liang
The Straits Times - Life! - Life News
(c) 2008 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Saturday, 30/08/2008
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Concert Review:
HSBC Youth Excellence Gala
Victoria Concert Hall
Thursday (28/08/08)
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Witnessing the birth throes of a new orchestra is one of the most exciting phenomena for music lovers. The Orchestra of the Music Makers, formed by alumni of various youth and school orchestras in Singapore and led by conductor Chan Tze Law, made the best possible start.
The primary function of its debut was to partner three past recipients of the HSBC Youth Excellence Awards, but it had many minutes of its own to bask in the spotlight. An unanimity of purpose distinguished Dvorak’s rousing Carnival Overture which, despite some roughness around the edges, provided the evening with a high-octane start.
First of the teenage stars was soprano Janani Sridhar, a singer possessed with natural poise and disarming stage presence. Her sweet and expressive agile voice carried four arias from Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte with aplomb.
Combining the virtuous with the coquettish, and a change of evening gowns in between, there was further room to develop a set of lungs and cords that could transcend the orchestra and fill the hall. Her encore, the Laughing Song from Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, sparkled like champagne.
Singapore’s youngest ever student in New York’s Juilliard School, Clare Yeo, was next. Her reading of Gershwin’s Rhapsody In Blue tended to be on the staid side, despite clarinetist Vincent Goh’s best efforts to sound sexy in his opening solo. There was, however, much thought to shape phrases creatively, and with utmost musicality. The coruscating cadenza was also whipped off with great confidence.
Yehudi Menuhin School resident Gabriel Ng seems like the most natural virtuoso of the trio. His effortless take on the first movement of Paganini’s Violin Concerto No.1 has to be heard to be believed.
Allying close to spotless intonation with a fearless disregard for the work’s myriad technical challenges, his showing was the one to marvel at. His encore, Kreisler’s Recitative And Scherzo, was further assurance of his abilities.
All three joined the orchestra for the closing number, the Mexican Arturo Marquez’s Danzon No.2, recently made famous by the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra. The instrumental prowess and infectious zeal transmitted by all on stage was much cause to rejoice in.
Who really needs to journey to Venezuela when there resides a world’s local bank of prodigious musical talent on our very doorstep?
