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| Conductor Olivier Ochanine and cellist Pei-Sian Ng |
Featuring:
Pei-Sian
Ng, cello
Philippine
Philharmonic Orchestra
Olivier
Ochanine, conductor
Programme:
Béla
Bartók
Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, BB 123
Antonín
Dvořák
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191
Cellist
Pei-Sian Ng dazzled the audience with a heart-tugging performance of Dvořák’s
Cello Concerto that could’ve easily rivaled any show during that Valentine’s
Day weekend.
Earlier
announcements about this concert held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’
Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) had Antonín Dvořák Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191
being performed first. But the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, led by their
principal director and music director Olivier Ochanine, wisely saved this for
the second half and opted to start the concert with Béla Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116, BB 123.
The Bartók’s
piece which was the last work he has completed is not as rhythmically as
complex as his other pieces, and the melodies are more pronounced and not as
folk music sounding as his other ones. As the title suggests, this piece has
principal players playing solo passages that are virtuosic as if they’re doing
a solo concerto. For me, it’s the fourth movement Intermezzo interrotto that I looked forward to the most. Some
accounts say that a passage in here was Bartók’s way of expressing his displeasure
over Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 7
in C major, Op. 60 Leningrad, a highly politicized piece that became
extremely popular at that time. I think I snickered a bit on my sit during the
part with the trills but I guess I was alone in doing so as no one else
would’ve probably gotten Bartók’s not so subtle jab at Shostakovich.
I
tried hard to focus listening to the piece despite this being Bartók’s most
accessible one and pay attention to every principal playing the solo but a
light bulb at the ceiling, almost directly overhead me, constantly flickered
throughout the performance. And this not only bothered me, but also those
seated nearby.
The Dvořák
cello concerto first came to my attention when FILharmoniKA performed it with
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra’s principal cellist Richard Bamping as the
soloist. I was vaguely familiar with the piece at the time but since that
night, I was enamored by it and regularly listened to the piece wondering when
I would see a live performance of it again. There had been many times when I
see a performance of a highly anticipated piece and I end up getting very disappointed.
But Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s principal cellist Pei-Sian Ng certainly
didn’t disappoint with this one.
The Dvořák
of that night was just one of those moments for me when it became more than
just the music. The multiple recordings that I’ve listened to cannot replicate
that time during the final movement when Pei-Sian looked over and connected
with concertmaster Nemesio Iberio as the latter did his violin solo which was
included as an ode to the composer’s lost love in his youth which was his
sister-in-law. And I think I held my breath for a long time during the final
quiet moments before the music swelled to end the piece (then I let out a huge
sigh). What swelled afterwards was the thunderous applause and cheers by the
audience for Pei-Sian Ng and the PPO. For an encore, Pei-Sian took the lead in Gabriel
Fauré’s Élégie, Op. 24 along with
seven members of the orchestra’s cello section.
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| Olivier Ochanine, RAd, and Pei-Sian Ng |
I do
find it hard to look back at the last time when I got really moved by a
concert. I’ve waited almost five years to hear the Dvořák again and it was
definitely worth the wait. Afterwards, I did a quick reflection on how life was
for me during the first time I heard the Dvořák and compared to how things are
right now. And I became more moved (as if I couldn’t be moved more that evening)
to realize that things definitely have gotten a lot better for me since then.
It was just one of those rare moments for me when a concert became more than
just the music and I have to thank the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra,
Olivier Ochanine and Pei-Sian Ng (but definitely not the flickering light bulb)
for that.
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