[LJ2ME] The Dread Violin
Soloist Li Chuan Yun's reading of the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto at this evening's SSO concert was the kind you'd find a dime a dozen sprinkled throughout music conservatories the world over. Besides the tendency to overcompensate with brute sawing passing off as technical virtuosity, his artistic liberties during the cadenza were odd, for want of a better description. Of course, the audience went wild both after the first movement and at the end - the local audience is so starved of greatness that they bestow the honorific on the next "best" candidate - but I wasn't impressed.
To further compound matters, he deigned to accord an encore, playing the music from The Red Violin. Pacing or sidestepping is acceptable, staggering and tottering is not. The way he tore through the work like the Devil possessed brought many a furrowed brow to the orchestra members' faces as they followed his manic progress around the stage. Then, he started grunting and smiles gave way to holding back giggles. What took the cake was when he finished the work with a laboured flourish, almost hurling his instrument away in exasperation in the process. As he took his curtain calls, he grabbed his chest with a grimace to turn down requests for another encore, and then crossed himself before making his exit. It was truly surreal and made up for the lacklustre performance earlier.
It didn't help that he was dressed in an Indochine inspired tunic dripping with gold trimmed accents down his bodice, which distracted and subtracted from his performance. I'd understand making a fashion statement if he were dressed by Vivienne Westwood like Jean-Yves Thibaudet. However, his profile in the programme read "Li Chuan Yun's concert attire this evening is sponsored by Fa Tin Textile & Fashion (H.K.) Ltd"...
To further compound matters, he deigned to accord an encore, playing the music from The Red Violin. Pacing or sidestepping is acceptable, staggering and tottering is not. The way he tore through the work like the Devil possessed brought many a furrowed brow to the orchestra members' faces as they followed his manic progress around the stage. Then, he started grunting and smiles gave way to holding back giggles. What took the cake was when he finished the work with a laboured flourish, almost hurling his instrument away in exasperation in the process. As he took his curtain calls, he grabbed his chest with a grimace to turn down requests for another encore, and then crossed himself before making his exit. It was truly surreal and made up for the lacklustre performance earlier.
It didn't help that he was dressed in an Indochine inspired tunic dripping with gold trimmed accents down his bodice, which distracted and subtracted from his performance. I'd understand making a fashion statement if he were dressed by Vivienne Westwood like Jean-Yves Thibaudet. However, his profile in the programme read "Li Chuan Yun's concert attire this evening is sponsored by Fa Tin Textile & Fashion (H.K.) Ltd"...