I had the privilege of seeing Murray Perahia in concert. He is probably one of the outstanding living pianists still plying their trade today, and one of my personal favourites (along with Martha Argerich). His program included Bach's second partita for keyboard, Beethoven's Appasionata Sonata, Chopin's Ballades Nos 3 and 4 and assorted other works by Chopin.
I was especially looking forward to the all-Chopin post intermission portion of the programme, and it did not disappoint. One of Perahia's most popular recordings is his wonderful rendition of the four ballades, and he did not disappoint in his live performance of the latter two. He also performed an assortment of other Bach pieces (Mazurkas, Waltzes, Preludes) with aplomb.
More disappointing, in my opinion, was his rendition of the Bach partita, which is somewhat surprising given that Bach is a major part of his oevre. Perahia's recording of the Goldberg Variations remains one of my favourites to date, and he has recorded Bach extensively, but his performance lacked the crispness and clarity of his CD recordings.
It was inevitable that Perahia received a massive ovation at the end of what was a relatively short performance. He came back for three curtain calls, performing parts of two of Schubert's impromptus, and a Chopin piece that I could not identify. All in all, a wonderful concert by a world reknown pianist that everyone was more than thrilled to see
Showing posts with label Concert. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Concert. Show all posts
24 October 2008
20 June 2007
Singapore's King of Swing
I was privileged to catch Jeremy Monteiro at the Esplanade in a concert celebrating his thirty years as a jazz entertainer. Jeremy Monteiro performed with "jazz luminaries" Jay Anderson (bass), Bob Shepard (saxophone and clarinet), Jimmy Cobb (drums) and Roberta Gambarini (vocals). The programme itself featured arrangements and compositions from Jeremy and his guests.
All in all it was a great evening of jazz. It was especially a pleasure and honour to see Jimmy Cobb, a true jazz legend, in action. Cobb has recorded with many of the greats of Jazz, most famously as part of the Miles Davis quintet that recorded Kind of Blue. He belied his age with some strenuous and energetic drumming. Gambarini only came on stage for the second half of the concert and proved a very technically skilled singer, particular in terms of her scat singing (which often formed the majority of her vocals during any given song). I wasn't certain enamored with her overall tone though, but there is no denying she is very talented and skilled.
I last saw Jeremy when he performed with the legendary late Toots Thielmans in 2005 and Singapore is truly privileged to have such a reknown proponent of jazz in our midst especially when he is able to lure such talent to our shores to perform with him. It's been 30 years since he started out, but I am sure I am not alone in the conviction that Jeremy is still Singapore's King of Swing and that there is much more to come from him in the years ahead.
All in all it was a great evening of jazz. It was especially a pleasure and honour to see Jimmy Cobb, a true jazz legend, in action. Cobb has recorded with many of the greats of Jazz, most famously as part of the Miles Davis quintet that recorded Kind of Blue. He belied his age with some strenuous and energetic drumming. Gambarini only came on stage for the second half of the concert and proved a very technically skilled singer, particular in terms of her scat singing (which often formed the majority of her vocals during any given song). I wasn't certain enamored with her overall tone though, but there is no denying she is very talented and skilled.
I last saw Jeremy when he performed with the legendary late Toots Thielmans in 2005 and Singapore is truly privileged to have such a reknown proponent of jazz in our midst especially when he is able to lure such talent to our shores to perform with him. It's been 30 years since he started out, but I am sure I am not alone in the conviction that Jeremy is still Singapore's King of Swing and that there is much more to come from him in the years ahead.
16 June 2007
Play: A Video Game Symphony
It was with great anticipation that I attended the concert Play, featuring music from a number of well-known computer games such as Elder Scrolls IV, World of Warcraft, Halo, Final Fantasy, Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario Brothers. I was lucky to get tickets - I happened to be browsing a newly released Singapore Arts Festival booklet and booked tickets on the spot more than two months in advance. By then, almost the entire concert hall had been sold out and I had to settle for seats with a restricted view.
It was definitely wonderful to hear some of this fantastic and under appreciated music being performed by a full orchestra and choir. It was definitely a chance to relive parts of my childhood through Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog and, especially, the encore piece from Shinobi. You could hear the laughter and delight of the audience as they flashed scenes from the various video games on three large screens above the orchestra. There were many retro scenes from the original Super Mario Brothers and Sonic games that definitely brought back memories.
The themes I enjoyed the most were from Halo and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, probably because I have played those games. Final Fantasy VII: One Winged Angel was also a fantastic piece complete with full orchestra, choir and pipe organ. Admittedly, you sometimes did feel that it was a bit of a stretch converting video game scores for full orchestra when they had often been written for guitar, drums and synthesizer.
Still, the reaction of the crowd and the ticket sales attest to the mass appeal that this music has and it is not hard to see why. It clearly has an immediacy that classical music once had, but now lacks. This is the same with cinema music with movie themes such as Star Wars and Harry Potter almost instantaneously recognizable. As a fan of both video game and cinema music, I hope there will be many more concerts like Play in the future.
It was definitely wonderful to hear some of this fantastic and under appreciated music being performed by a full orchestra and choir. It was definitely a chance to relive parts of my childhood through Super Mario Brothers, Sonic the Hedgehog and, especially, the encore piece from Shinobi. You could hear the laughter and delight of the audience as they flashed scenes from the various video games on three large screens above the orchestra. There were many retro scenes from the original Super Mario Brothers and Sonic games that definitely brought back memories.
The themes I enjoyed the most were from Halo and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, probably because I have played those games. Final Fantasy VII: One Winged Angel was also a fantastic piece complete with full orchestra, choir and pipe organ. Admittedly, you sometimes did feel that it was a bit of a stretch converting video game scores for full orchestra when they had often been written for guitar, drums and synthesizer.
Still, the reaction of the crowd and the ticket sales attest to the mass appeal that this music has and it is not hard to see why. It clearly has an immediacy that classical music once had, but now lacks. This is the same with cinema music with movie themes such as Star Wars and Harry Potter almost instantaneously recognizable. As a fan of both video game and cinema music, I hope there will be many more concerts like Play in the future.
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