Termination of Life!
I was supposed to have gotten a "Life!"... You weren't supposed to have read this review
The evening was one flush with promise and potential from the programmed offering of familiar favourites to tantalise the senses. In the fortnight leading up to the SSO's tour of China and Taiwan, the orchestra under Maestro Lan Shui served up an aural treat that left the audience clamouring for more.
Grieg's pair of Peer Gynt Suites was first up on the menu where the SSO eased into the ubiquitous "Morning Mood" of the first suite. Expectations are seldom raised so high at the start of a concert, but with the familiar opening melody ingrained in the minds of many, this dawn was slow to break, achieving a serene resolution only after a murky start. The crowd-pleaser that is "In the Hall of the Mountain King" was a white-knuckle ride of demonic fervour as Lan Shui whipped the orchestral forces into an exhilarating vortex of increasing speed and sound. Grieg may have detested the piece for being "full of cow pats" but in this instance, it was not something to be sidestepped.
The more introspective second suite had its highlight in the strong showing by the strings singing out the poignant theme of "Solveig's Song", the bitter-sweet sorrow heart-rending in their execution replete with melancholic reflection. Elsewhere in the suite, Grieg's orchestra colours and textures were brought to life in an involved performance with special mention to the insistent percussion and incisive attack of the strings in "A Stormy Evening on the Coast".
The piece-de-resistance of the evening was the First Piano Concerto of Brahms with Stephen Hough at the ivories. In order to fully appreciate the masterpiece, the genesis of the work has to be taken into consideration. From its origins as a two-piano sonata which limited Brahms' scope, to a full symphony which overwhelmed the composer still in Beethoven's shadow, the work in concerto form as we know it today is one that provided for the best of both worlds. This was a collaborative union of soloist and musicians where the orchestra didn't just play an accompanying role to the piano and where the solo part wasn't one that hinged solely on pyrotechnics to steal the show.
In this vein, Hough took a backseat as the SSO tore into the introduction, heavy on the histrionics with its insistent timpani rolls and urgent violin passages underlining the pessimistic theme of the movement. When the soloist finally enters after the extended orchestral introduction, Hough was magnetic in his stage presence as he teased out the opening with a reined-in intensity that boded well for what was to follow. In what has become his trademark, his playing exuded clarity of conviction, honed by an artistry of inspired intelligence coupled with visceral virtuosity.
Following the tempestuous and turbulent close to the first movement with the commanding authority of his cascading chords and octave runs, Hough drew the audience into his private sanctuary with the delicacy of his phrasing in the romantic and tender paen of love to Clara Schumann in the sublime second movement. In his hands, the beautiful Adagio was crafted with tremulous hesitancy, the delivery all the more poignant and tender.
Hough came into his own in the brief cadenza of the last movement, and playing to a hushed audience, the acoustics of the concert hall delivering every nuance of the Steinway which bent to his commanding finesse and flair in the wealth of the material. The work was brought to resolution by the white-hot trinity of soloist, orchestra and conductor as they rush headlong into the optimistic finale, a turn of events and a breath of fresh air from the drama and pathos of the earlier movements.
When taking his curtain calls, Hough deigned to play an encore, bringing us "back to Norway" with a Nocturne by Grieg. The sepulchral silence of the audience as they basked in his treat was akin to him playing in the intimacy of a salon instead of a cavernous concert hall. Stephen Hough won the audience over with his charm and good humour and his is an arresting presence indeed, and not only because of the emerald green pair of loafers he was wearing.
So much for that olive branch extended... Cock-tease!
The evening was one flush with promise and potential from the programmed offering of familiar favourites to tantalise the senses. In the fortnight leading up to the SSO's tour of China and Taiwan, the orchestra under Maestro Lan Shui served up an aural treat that left the audience clamouring for more.
Grieg's pair of Peer Gynt Suites was first up on the menu where the SSO eased into the ubiquitous "Morning Mood" of the first suite. Expectations are seldom raised so high at the start of a concert, but with the familiar opening melody ingrained in the minds of many, this dawn was slow to break, achieving a serene resolution only after a murky start. The crowd-pleaser that is "In the Hall of the Mountain King" was a white-knuckle ride of demonic fervour as Lan Shui whipped the orchestral forces into an exhilarating vortex of increasing speed and sound. Grieg may have detested the piece for being "full of cow pats" but in this instance, it was not something to be sidestepped.
The more introspective second suite had its highlight in the strong showing by the strings singing out the poignant theme of "Solveig's Song", the bitter-sweet sorrow heart-rending in their execution replete with melancholic reflection. Elsewhere in the suite, Grieg's orchestra colours and textures were brought to life in an involved performance with special mention to the insistent percussion and incisive attack of the strings in "A Stormy Evening on the Coast".
The piece-de-resistance of the evening was the First Piano Concerto of Brahms with Stephen Hough at the ivories. In order to fully appreciate the masterpiece, the genesis of the work has to be taken into consideration. From its origins as a two-piano sonata which limited Brahms' scope, to a full symphony which overwhelmed the composer still in Beethoven's shadow, the work in concerto form as we know it today is one that provided for the best of both worlds. This was a collaborative union of soloist and musicians where the orchestra didn't just play an accompanying role to the piano and where the solo part wasn't one that hinged solely on pyrotechnics to steal the show.
In this vein, Hough took a backseat as the SSO tore into the introduction, heavy on the histrionics with its insistent timpani rolls and urgent violin passages underlining the pessimistic theme of the movement. When the soloist finally enters after the extended orchestral introduction, Hough was magnetic in his stage presence as he teased out the opening with a reined-in intensity that boded well for what was to follow. In what has become his trademark, his playing exuded clarity of conviction, honed by an artistry of inspired intelligence coupled with visceral virtuosity.
Following the tempestuous and turbulent close to the first movement with the commanding authority of his cascading chords and octave runs, Hough drew the audience into his private sanctuary with the delicacy of his phrasing in the romantic and tender paen of love to Clara Schumann in the sublime second movement. In his hands, the beautiful Adagio was crafted with tremulous hesitancy, the delivery all the more poignant and tender.
Hough came into his own in the brief cadenza of the last movement, and playing to a hushed audience, the acoustics of the concert hall delivering every nuance of the Steinway which bent to his commanding finesse and flair in the wealth of the material. The work was brought to resolution by the white-hot trinity of soloist, orchestra and conductor as they rush headlong into the optimistic finale, a turn of events and a breath of fresh air from the drama and pathos of the earlier movements.
When taking his curtain calls, Hough deigned to play an encore, bringing us "back to Norway" with a Nocturne by Grieg. The sepulchral silence of the audience as they basked in his treat was akin to him playing in the intimacy of a salon instead of a cavernous concert hall. Stephen Hough won the audience over with his charm and good humour and his is an arresting presence indeed, and not only because of the emerald green pair of loafers he was wearing.
So much for that olive branch extended... Cock-tease!