Beethoven's Choral Symphony, the concert

Last night, I attended the concert by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the concert was titled Singapore Symphony Chorus' 25th Anniversary: Beethoven's Choral Symphony.

The programme was as follow:

• Ludwig van Beethoven - Choral Fantasy
• Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral"
  

One of good friends was nice enough to be my company for the evening. I heard she was pretty busy at the workplace, but she managed to find time out for the concert last night.

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On the first page of the programme booklet, there was a print that reads "This concert is dedicated to the memory of Dr Wee Kim Wee, a people's President, a caring man who has profoundly touched the lives of many Singaporeans." Before the start of the concert, everyone was asked to observe one minute of silence.

Dr Wee Kim Wee is certainly deserving in commanding the respect and love of Singaporeans. Here's an eulogy for Dr Wee Kim Wee by Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong.

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Back to the topic, there was quite a good turn-out for last night's concert.

The first programme for the concert was the Choral Fantasy. I find the form of this work less appealing compared to many of Beethoven's other works. This is what my ears told me. Of course, I must admit I am myself not a master in analysing the forms of music.

The programme notes read that:

Beethoven had hoped to invite the great and good of Vienna to a concert showcasing his latest works. To conclude the event, Beethoven was determined to compose "a brilliant closing piece" and he chose to combine the four main strands of the programme - his piano playing, the orchestra, solo voices and choir - in the Fantasy in C minor for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra.

The Choral Fantasy was about 20 minutes long in duration, and afterwhich, there was an intermission.

The work that was played after the intermission was Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. It was alright, though it was not any way near excellence. My friend commented that there were a few points in time where she felt nervous for the orchestra, fearing that it may fall apart, because the players weren't quite exactly playing together as an orchestra.

I might have fully agreed with her if my ears were listening to the orchestra, but I realised that I concentrated on listening to and watching the double bass section. There are several challenging sections in the Ninth Symphony for the double bass, so I did not want to miss listening to the double bass section. I think the double bass' section, especially the first desk, was good. I was impressed by the fingerings adopted by the principal. I thought the fingerings were economical and musical too. Possibly, my ears could have also unconsciously realised that the orchestra in general was just alright but not appealing enough, so my ears had decided to focus on the double bass section.

As for the solo singers, I felt the bass, Johanne Mannov, deserves some credits. He sang quite his solo parts pretty well, and that had made me interested to listen to the rest of the fourth movement. Yet, perhaps it was that I had been critical, the rest of the soloists (the soprano, mezzo-soprano, and tenor) were alright but their singing were not appealing to my ears.

The chorus deserved an applause for their commendable efforts. I would think many of them sing in the chorus outside their full-time commitments. Good work, chorus.

That's for now.