I defended MPO in The Sun.

Bloody hell, you think they didn't bother after almost three weks they published it. Better than nothing I guess:

http://sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=22929

Youth orchestra trained by MPO members

I was appalled to read that Lim Guan Eng had described the Petronas-funded Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra as a waste of money in a recent Parliament debate. Apart from the figures he pulled out, his argument holds little merit, and Guan Eng should attend a few concerts before shooting off his mouth. The cheapest tickets cost the same as cinema tickets (or twice the sum for a symphonic concert), so one cannot say the average Malaysian cannot afford it.

One also gets more than a bang for the buck since he can listen to the work of Mahler, Shostakovich, Bartok, Stravinsky or Ravel, which other local ensembles cannot play due to their high technical demands, and which thus can only be tackled by an orchestra of MPO’s calibre. Compared with other orchestras in Asia, MPO stands on top of the heap and can even be called Asia’s finest.

Guan Eng said the MPO has not benefited local musicians. That’s laughable, since he forgets the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra consists entirely of local talents trained by members of the MPO. Other local musicians have benefited from training under MPO musicians via the Encounter programme, not to mention numerous workshops and masterclasses which are open to the public.

We cannot deny that a lot of money has been spent on this orchestra – half a billion ringgit in 10 years since its inception. However Malaysians have no qualms about paying RM1000 for a Celine Dion concert or some pop act performing here. No prize for guessing how much of our local currency flew out when they performed.
MPO musicians are trained under rigorous conditions at music conservatoires and universities, not from some American Idol reality show.

If Guan Eng still insists MPO is a waste of money, how about also disbanding FAM and other sports organisations that have wasted millions of our taxpayers’ money? After all, money is better used to build hospitals, schools or fund food subsidies for the people, right?
There is a reason governments spend considerable sums of money on preserving and promoting the arts and culture. Virtually every big city in the world has its own world class orchestra, and Berlin alone has taxpayers funding four symphonic orchestras (including the world famous Berlin Philharmonic) and two opera houses. It would be shameful if KL has the Twins Towers and Formula 1 but no world-class orchestra to boast. The biggest shame of all if the MPO is gone is where do classical music lovers go? An Akademi Fantasia concert?


Sow Yoong Wai
Kuala Lumpur

Hannu Lintu leads Malaysian Philharmonic in Haydn 103 and Mahler 10

Haydn: Symphony no. 103 in E flat "Drumroll"

Mahler: Symphony no. 10 (Cooke edition)

Being a Mahler nut, I attended two concerts consecutively on Saturday and Sunday. The audience attendences are a little odd, with virtually full house on Saturday and 70% filled hall on Sunday. Saturday had "backup" audiences in form of a battalion of Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra(MPYO) members chartering their own bus for the performance. I doubt they're called by MPO management to fill up the seats because even the very-frontal seats which is a little too close to stage is filled with brim, so yeah they forked out their own cash for the bus rental and tickets.

Now first with Haydn. Maestro Lintu gave a very immaculate performance of the "Drumroll" symphony. Wah brother, u sure with that word ah? Of course it wasn't totally spotless, with some minor glitches here and there (especially some delays and slips by the winds). Maybe it doesn't help that this is my first time listening the symphony (listen to knives sharpened). I thought Haydn symphonies are a bore compared with Mozart (or classical style Beethoven of 1 & 2) but this strucks out as my favourite Haydn symphony (period duh). No wonder Haydn has always been known as a "wicked" composer with humour especially the idea of long timpani roll opening the first movement. In his notes, Marc Rochester wrote that the timpani roll mimics the longtime tradition of announcement of monarch's arrival and playing of national anthem. Of course the English audiences were thoroughly owned when they realise it was just Haydn's gimmick of "attention-whoring" (dodges knives). I find it fascinating also that the first four notes of opening Adagio matches the "Dies Irae" chant before the movements goes to typical happy skipping of Allegro tune and the first two movements has ambigous keys moving between C minor and E flat major. It is one of those few tonal works where you can't bloody tell whether the piece is obviously major or minor in mood. It is a little similar to Mozart's 40th symphony in G minor in terms of its melancholic mood and harmony. The orchestra is a little too large for a classical work but then on the day of premiere there was 60 performers performing the symphony so it ain't much of a big deal. Maestro Lintu does an excellent job managing the contrast of dynamics, careful phrasing of nuances and some observation on HIP playing.

The Mahler was painful to sit initially in the Adagio on Saturday. Violins were very patchy as if they haven't played for days, phrasing was flat and tension especially dynamics were nonexistent. I felt as I regretted buying two tickets for two friends I was going to invite and one for myself. Things were catching up in the next Scherzo, despite the horns collapsed out of tune a few minutes into entry. Despite odd changes of metre which foretells Stravinsky, the MPO managed to play everything into order, not as Cleveland-laser perfect but good enough not to collapse into heap of noise. Yes, the brasses especially horns are struggling to get in tune but there is much character in their playing so credit to them. The following Purgatorio had a sinister air in its mood followed by raucous intrusion by the brasses and playful winds. Lintu whips the orchestra straight into the following Scherzo without respite and he manages to convey the dualistic conflict and increasing frustration of Mahler's state of mind, piling up demonic scherzo with a light-hearted waltz on top of another with the scherzo getting increasingly violent in every turn culminating in a collapse that leads into a ghostly procession leading us into the Finale.

History tells that the movement was inspired by Mahler observing a funeral procession of a New York fireman which the drum beat was heard. The air was initially filled with death and nihilism as Brett Stemple's tuba solo was heard, interuptted by a loud twack from the bass drum a few times. It leads to ethereal flute solo, played beautifully by Hristo Dobinov which brings peace and gradual modulation to B major and climax before being cut by the same drum twack (reminds me of Mahler 6th). A nervous Allegro follows after the darkness but only I notice during the performance the "death" motif heard persistently everywhere to almost a point of parody. Even the harsh climax that came seems rushed, but then this is a unfinished work. A long, traquil, hymn-like melody follows in what seems like a period of reflection before leading to a final climax of reconciliation and longing for Alma, one of most heartful and moving passages in history of music. All the MPO players need to do was to wear the music to their sleeve and they did a pretty fine job, and my bit of gripe is the lacking extra tension in the strings. Despite flaws, the MPO was showered with appreciative applause by the audiences and a foreign patron remarked to me "That was the most beautiful piece of music I've ever heard".

The MPO improved on the following day with the Adagio properly shaped in phrasings and nuance and the Finale played a little bit more movingly that previous night. I think its a pity Kees Bakels did not get to conduct this work since he did indicate he wanted to conduct it with MPO, but credit to maestro Lintu for still a remarkable job, especially the middle Scherzos. If you observe the player roster, there are quite a number of substitute players flown in (especially this female clarinettist whom my eyes were fixated for some number of times, hehe). The cor anglais solo player looked like as if he belonged in a rock band, but credit for his terrific solos. I cannot figure out what Mahler MPO will play next season as they will either rehash or premiere the momentous 3rd symphony for next season.