HITS OF 1904 - MAHLER'S SEVENTH SYMPHONY
Lan Shui - conductor
Li Chuan Yun - violin

GLAZUNOV: Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82
MAHLER: Symphony No. 7 in E minor



The first thing that strikes me as discomfort is that the hall is only half-filled or so. There are many empty seats: the front few rows of the stalls, and the sides of the circle. Perhaps most people have come yester night, for this concert runs for two days.

The second weird thing is that there are LOTS OF KIDS. I think it's some music appreciation outing or something. But can they handle Mahler? Because his work is very long - do they have the attention span to sit through the entire concert? Let's not even talk about the Glazunov . . .

The violinist for tonight is Li Chuan Yun, or "Babeli", as written in the programme. The last time I saw him was in 2002, when I went to watch him play the Butterfly Lover's Concerto, and I must say it was one of the best I have heard. At those fiery moments of anguish he cried out the pains of Zhu Ying Tai on his instrument with pure hard drive until the bow hair start flying out, and he spends the orchestra tutti plucking them off.

The opening is reminiscent of Mendelssohn's E minor Violin Concerto: a few accompanying rhythmic figures (this time, triplets in the Clarinets), and the solo violin enters with the theme. Actually the Sibelius Violin Concerto opens somewhat similarly: tremolo figures in the strings, and then the solo violin enters with the first theme. You get the kind of "suddenly" effect: the moment the conductor swipes his baton, you hear "pa-pa-pa, pa-pa-pa" and suddenly the violin just comes in. This work has a greater suddenness quality compared to the Mendelssohn or the Sibelius: the violin on the fourth beat of bar 1. You don't even have the time to settle down to the accompaniment.

I like the triple-time, Andante theme (rehearsal mark 10, page 80, on the score "Great 20th Century Violin Concertos", Dover Publications). It has the quiet, pleasing effect: think of those musicals where the heroine sits alone and contemplates something, and she sings this line.

The rondo could be a mistaken for a scene in "The Polar Express". It has the Christmassy kind of feel to it, particular when the orchestral bells and triangle are included. Glazunov orchestrates the opening tutti of the finale theme to make it sound jubilantly celebratory; perhaps a "ho-ho-ho" from Santa can add more glee. Somehow I feel the balance is not there: the counter-melody in the trumpets overwhelm and block out the main theme in the strings.

During intermission, I happily bring my copy of the score of the concerto, which I have been following during the concert, to Li Chuan Yun for him to sign on it. The poor man is tired - after playing a twenty minute concerto, do you think his hand still has the strength to continue signing autographs for like hundreds of people? He writes, and then lies back onto his chair and sighs in exhaustion, while waiting for the ushers to position another person's programme in front of him.

I spot Maestro Lim Yau milling about the entrance of the concert hall while queuing for Mr Li's autograph. The near-shoulder-length bunch of hair is unmistakable, only that it has grown white in some spots. I wonder if Mrs Lim is with him.

Some of the kids start turning to one another to talk during the cadenza. What the hell. There are irksome looks from members of the audience: I see a Caucasian lady with red hair turning towards the row where they sit and staring at them. Even if they don't appreciate the music the very most they can do is sleep or do something that makes minimal sound, like draw on the feedback forms that they have been given by their teacher, or perhaps read the programme booklet from the back to the front.

After the interval, before the Mahler begins, the teacher berates her students in front of everybody: "I don’t want to hear any more complains from other people, otherwise you'll get it from me on Monday!"

Thereafter, during the Mahler, particularly during the middle movements, some of the kids are seen to nod off in their seats, awaking only during the arousing finale.

Anyway, as usual Mahler either writes extreme sadness or overwhelmed jubilation and happiness. Or he becomes sadistic and sarcastic. This symphony begins with a motif which was inspired by the sound of the oarsman rowing the boat, so-called the "funeral rhythm". The tenor horn, which plays most of the themes in the first movement, has a mournful quality, a mellowed-version of the touching and sad cornet. One feels uneasy already with the opening chords: diminished seventh on G-sharp, in the first inversion. It is simply arresting. Throughout the movement you'll keep hearing the dotted-rhythm motif; when played augmented it just reminds me of the opening theme of the first movement of Dvorak's Cello Concerto.

At one point where the music reaches stunning climax and suddenly dies down, a woman's mobile phone rings. Didn't anybody remind her to turn off all beeping devices, including phones? Oh, I forget. She must have turned it on during the intermission and then forgot to turn it off again. Take note, I should suggest that the "please turn all beeping devices off" announcement ought to be made immediately after the intermission, before the programme begins again. Singaporeans are absent-mindedly forgetful and ironically, they are unaware that they are being a concert hall nuisance.

And I have grudges against people who like to put their phones inside their bags. In fact, they hide it deep into their bags that their fingers have to play divers on a treasure hunt to the Titanic. My mother does that; I become irate when I call her and she doesn't answer the phone because either she cannot hear it when it's down under, or she takes such a long time to fish it out that the voice mail is already activated. Most of the time I have a reason to believe that it's the first reason, because despite calling back a couple of times she still doesn't pick up the phone. Anyway, this lady took a bloody long time to find her phone, and you can see the usher's face turning sour as the minutes pass. And the bloody device keeps beeping on and on throughout the quiet moments of the work.

One of the themes - can't remember which movement, though - has a favourite harmonic progression: a major chord followed by a minor one. In this case:

C - Bbm/C

Unfortunately I can't remember where it is in the score - it's an excuse to want to listen to that work again.

Majestic and forbidding, that's what I call it, especially when played by the brasses with sweeping string accompaniment. It's hell of a beautiful.

Then there are cowbells, hung on a stand and swiped across by the player's hand: "dang-dang-dang-dang-dang . . ." At one point the cow bells just dangle freely, as if they are not part of the music.

In the fourth movement, Mahler includes the guitar and mandolin. According to the commentary: to create some orchestral colour. But I don't really think they play much significance: they have no melodic parts, merely a few quaver notes here and there, and most of the time they get drowned out by the orchestra. We're not talking about Rodrigo's light scoring in his guitar concerto; here are forces that are powerful and electrifying. I shall remember not to score guitar with brass, or an orchestral tutti.

Shittification . . . the Eulenberg score that I borrow has no glossary of German terms, which is something that makes me like the Dover ones sometimes. At the start of the movement, the tempo marking, Langsam, has a bracketed translation of its Italian equivalent (Adagio). No wonder Percy Grainger was adamant about using English words to mark his scores, rather than Italian or German or whatsoever language. Many composers use their own tongue to mark their scores: Debussy used French; Tchaikovsky used Russian; Mahler used German; the Chinese composers mark in Chinese; although Italian was and is still the main language used for scores.

* * *

As I leave the concert hall, I hear the kids remarking to one another: "I fell asleep at the so-and-so movement . . ."

No prizes for guessing, but I think the concert might have been a traumatic experience for them. Perhaps they'll just stick to their good old pop music, simply and hummable, forever interesting because there is a never-dying drum rhythm that passions the senses. This is, I believe, the best way to reduce audience figures for concerts, and kill the number of art music lovers. Pop music will live forever. And now pop music has the failings of a physical attraction where sight is more important than music. Lousily-written songs, when backed with deft-defying stunts and pretty female backup dancers, can win fans from the audience. I am sorry that I wish to show discrimination towards most pieces in the pop repertoire, that they hardly have much musical value in them, except for tunefulness and sometimes skilful orchestration. Yet, orchestrations are more often than not done by other people, not the songwriters themselves. So sometimes, but a stroke of luck, good orchestration may actually save the song.

Or, ironically, the orchestration and the music kills it.

There is an English techno song that I really hate because of its irritating high-pitched musical motif that appears time and again on the record. The singing is intelligible . . . the only thing one can notice is the heavy drum beat and that screeching motif. Then someone tells me that the lyrics write about someone feeling low after his lover has left him, and they are very meaningful. I think: how can words like this have such unfitting music? Surely it doesn't do justice to the text.

Back to the topic: I have to admit it, pop music is here to stay, even how I despise it. Art music is spurned by the new generation, save for a minority. Sometimes music education backfires, like this trip to the concert, where they are bored by music they cannot appreciate, make a nuisance, get screwed by their teacher and build a dislike of watching art music concerts because, unlike pop or rock music concerts, they have to sit still and keep quiet, whereas in the latter they can scream and shout and communicate with the music physically and vocally. Best still, they can relate to the music, and the music can relate to them. Only the loud bits of the score excite them.

Perhaps there should be a new approach to how music ought to be taught to kids. Perhaps it should be merely about playing excerpts on the CD, then getting their reactions towards the music. Then again, the teacher could have done that, the students loved it and wanted to come and listen to the work in full, only to realise they'd somewhat been "cheated".

Or should we go back to playing popular classics instead, before unleashing the great hidden treasures of the music world to them? Or must Maksim or Bond take Mahler's works and "revolutionise" and "modernise" them before they are accepted on the pedestal of popular art music such as Beethoven's Fifth and Mozart's Fortieth?

* * *

Anecdotes from the programme booklet:

Is Glazunov really that bad? Does he lack in ethics?

"Glazunov almost single-handedly ended the composing career of Sergei Rachmaninov. He was invited to conduct the premiere of Rachmaninov's First Symphony, but was so ill-prepared and - according to many - drunk, that the performance was an utter disaster. So devastated was Rachmaninov that he considered suicide.

"Glazunov also did his best to kill the compositional career of Prokofiev by ostentatiously walking out in the middle of the premiere of Prokofiev's Scythian Suite. It created quite a scandal at the time but did little harm to Prokofiev's subsequent career, which was in any case made of altogether stronger psychological stuff than Rachmaninov."

. . .

"Mahler once described the compositional process thus, 'Do you know how a trumpet is made? One takes a hole and wraps tin around it; that's more or less what composing is'!"

"'I am thrice homeless, as a native of Bohemia in Austria, as an Austrian among Germans, and as a Jew throughout the world. Everywhere an intruder; never welcomed.' - Mahler"


* * *

I can't seem to find the booklet containing the programmes for next year's concert season. All I have is a small brochure that truncates the details, showing only the performers and the works programmed. Here's an overview:

8 JAN SAT
STARS OF ASIA: SSO 26TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT
Lan Shui - conductor
Lee Huei Min - violin

MENDELSSOHN: Ruy Blas Overture
CHEN GANG / HE ZHANHAO: Butterfly Lovers Concerto
BIZET-SARASTE: Carmen Fantasie
R. STRAUSS: Don Juan
R. STRAUSS: Der Rosenkavalier: Suite

14 JAN FRI
STARS OF ASIA: CELLO FANTASY
Lan Shui - conductor
Qin Liwei - cello

JOHN ADAMS: The Chairman Dances
CHEN YI: Ballad, Dance and Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra
DVORAK: Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70

28 JAN FRI
STARS OF ASIA + A SPACE ODYSSEY
Gerard Schwarz - conductor
Jennifer Koh - violin

WAGNER: Overture to Tannhauser
NIELSEN: Violin Concerto, Op. 33
STRAUSS: Also Sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30

4 FEB FRI
SYMPHONIC TREATS: BEETHOVEN'S PASTORAL SYMPHONY
Hubert Soudant - conductor

MENDELSSOHN: The Hebrides, Op. 26 "Fingal's Cave"
SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 3 in D major, D. 200
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 "Pastoral"

9 APR SAT
CHOO HOEY RETURNS!
Choo Hoey - conductor
Kong Zhao Hui - violin

MOZART: Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 "Turkish"
LISZT: A Faust Symphony

15 APR FRI & 16 APR SAT
BEETHOVEN'S EMPEROR CONCERTO
Okko Kamu - conductor
Vladimir Feltsman - piano

IVES: Central Park in the Dark
BEETHOVEN: Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 "Emperor"
SIBELIUS: Symphony No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 82

22 APR FRI
STARS OF ASIA: CELLO WORLD
Okko Kamu - conductor
Ni Hai Ye - cello

WEBERN: Passacaglia, Op. 1
ELGAR: Cello Concerto in E minor, Op. 85
Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Op. 35

30 APR SAT
VIENNA CLASSICS
En Shao - conductor
Angela Hewitt - piano

SCHOENBERG: Verklarte Nacht, Op. 4, for string orchestra
MOZART: Piano Concerto No. 17 in G major, K. 453
BRAHMS: Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90

6 MAY FRI
SSC 25TH ANNIVERSARY: BEETHOVEN'S CHORAL SYMPHONY
Lim Yau - conductor
Lim Yan - piano
Tamara Matthews - soprano
Graciela Araya - mezzo soprano
Christopher Lemmings - tenor
Johannes Mannov - bass
Singapore Symphony Chorus
Singapore Bible College Chorale
The Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Singapore Hallelujah Chorus

BEETHOVEN: Choral Fantasy
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 "Choral"

13 MAY FRI
ALL BEETHOVEN EVENING: SHLOMO MINTZ
Shlomo Mintz - conductor / violin

BEETHOVEN: Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
BEETHOVEN: Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

20 MAY FRI & 21 MAY SAT
GALA CONCERT: HILARY HAHN RETURNS!
Lan Shui - conductor
Hilary Hahn - violin

RAVEL: Mother Goose Suite
PROKOFIEV: Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19
RACHMANINOV: Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27

27 MAY FRI
STEPHEN HOUGH PLAYS RACHMANINOV
Lan Shui - conductor
Stephen Hough - piano

BIZET: Symphony No. 1 in C major
RACHMANINOV: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
ELGAR: Enigma Variations, Op. 36

I've marked out what I want to go and watch, but some of the programmes fall on a Friday instead. Darn. I just hope I can place a medical appointment on that date or, pray for, an off-day on that Friday.

I'm definitely catching Beethoven's Emperor Concerto; at the same time they are also playing Sibelius' Fifth Symphony.

I want to listen to Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" - LIVE on the concert stage. It's sure to be a sonic experience. But darn, it's on a Friday . . . unless I can fix my medical appointment on that day . . . ?

At the same time I don't think I'm going to watch the Butterfly Lovers again, even if it's Lee Huei Min playing . . . oh, for God's sake, why do they keep playing that every year?