Poet & Peasant

Clock tower of the Victoria Memorial Hall. 

I attended the concert titled Poet & Peasant this evening. I attended the concert with one of my good friends. This is a sold-out concert, so I could say that it has been very received.

Emily and Dinah were playing in this concert too. The Music Director/ Resident Conductor of my orchestra is also the Music Director of the orchestra who is playing this evening's concert.

The orchestra which is playing this evening's concert could be regarded as the premiere national orchestra for young musicians in Singapore. Many of its memebrs come from primary and secondary schools, junior colleges, international schools and tertiary institutions.

If you are interested, here was the programme for this evening's concert:

• Franz Von Suppé Poet and Peasant Overture
• Jean Sibelius Violin Concerto in d minor, Op. 47 (1st movement)
• Franz Joseph Haydn, Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob.VIIb-1 (1st movement)
• Antonín Dvorák Symphony No. 9 in e minor, Op. 95 (From the New World)

The Poet and Peasant Overture was nice. I like the rendition given by and the tone of the brasses when they played the first several bars of the overture. The cello principal was commendable. I like her tone when she played the cello solo passage in the overture. She has reasonably good pitching too. It would be perfect if she could let go of her restraint, and be a little more relaxed and free in her playing.

The Violin Concerto was alright. Acceptable for a youth orchestra. The violinist has a good stage presence. I quite like the conductor's interpretation of the concerto. Yet, somehow I felt the soloist and orchestra as a whole have not been able to have the depth and breath of life's experience to achieve the conductor's vision of the concerto. If I had heard the conductor clearly enough (Yes, before the orchestra played the violin concerto, the conductor turned to face the audience to give a short introduction of the concerto), the concerto has a dark side, yet there is a brighter side to it too.

The Cello Concerto was passable as a whole. The orchestra accompaniment was fairly good. If I had to state my preference, I would still prefer the rendition of this cello concerto that I had heard on a CD earlier this year.

During the interval, almost the entire double bass section of the orchestra went up the stage, had the stage by itself. Guess what they did? They played Saint-Saëns The Elephant. They played it from memory, it seemed. I wonder if they had done so to attract the official photographer to take a photo of them? Anyway, I noticed someone did go near the stage to take a photo of them playing The Elephant.

Dvorak's Symohony No. 9 is lovely. I like the orchestra's rendition of it, I felt it was well interpretated. Strange, but I quite like the way the percussionist played the triangle for the third movement. The tone and volume was just right from where I was sitting. I said it is "strange", for seldom does the triangle please my ears during a concert.

My friend told me at the end of the concert that she liked the Poet and Peasant Overture and Dvorak's Symohony No. 9. I share the same sentiments.

If there is anything to be changed, I would wish that some of the audience who had attended this concert could remain as silent as possible when the orchestra is playing. Perhaps most of them attends concert for their very first time? Those who have talked when the orchestra is playing seemed to believe that no one could hear them if they were to speak softly. Unfortunately, it is not that no one could hear, it is just that we hear and we try our very best to screen their voices out. Certainly, trying to screen their voices out has made it hard for me to listen to the orchestra clearly. I believe these people, being civic-minded, would have tried their very best to remain silent if they were to realise that they could be heard loud and clear even when they were to speak softly while the orchestra is playing.

Next thing, I just wish that some people in the audience won't uncontrollably offer their applause at the inappropriate moments, i.e. between movements. If they could learn not to applaud between movements, they will be rewarded with an appreciation of how the work would sound when it has no unneccessary interruption from audience's applause.

Summing up, the concert could be deemed to be successful. Congratulations to all those who have made it possible, directly and/ or indirectly.

(A disclaimer here. If you don't agree with what I have written, it is just because we perceive things differently.)