Cellist Pei-Sian Ng’s dazzling Dvořák

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.

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.