A Musical Concoction 6

I managed to procure tickets for RV's latest concert yesterday, held at Victoria Concert Hall. I'd thought that with the Esplanade's opening, no one would want to go to VCH anymore, but I suppose it's now a budget location since they've probably slashed prices to compete with the former.

It was rather embarassing, since I saw a lot of the people 3 years my junior whose names I could not remember even though I recognised their faces. It's been a long 4 years since we parted company, and I was never very good at names, especially not with people I worked with for only a few months.

TBS had invited 2 of his other choirs to perform as guests - Evil Cult (RJ Chorale) and St Hilda's Secondary School (over whom the row of girls behind me were gushing over). He really should have gotten some conducted by other people, for variety. I was disappointed to learn that he didn't let the Sec 4s, those who have the most experience and who in fact came up with the idea for the concert, perform, not even in one or two pieces, or for a batch song. Looks like he's still as evil as ever.

For some reason, it seemed that the majority of the audience were secondary school girls (you can speculate for yourself why this is so, but suffice to say that we can suppose that RV still isn't a very popular ECA in RI). This caused me some modicum of distress, and as expected, I wrinkled my nose in distaste when I was pushing through a throng of them. Worse, a majority of them were shrill and anorexic and a few - god forbid - spoke in chinese. I was afforded no respite, for a majority of the males were spiky haired ah bengs. What is this generation coming to?

I was interested to see how RV would perform under TBS, especially since I hadn't seen him conduct since his return from overseas studies so many years ago. They sound pretty much the same as last time, which probably says more about my ear than their sound (which is why nowadays I revert to my speciality of making semi-snide comments), but his hand movements seem to have become more exaggerated.

The alumni item wasn't bad (because I wasn't performing), except that, where usually the alumni choir's item is ahead of the current choir's item by leaps and bounds, in this case it was about as good. Whether that says something about the current choir, or about the alumni, I will not judge ;)

RV was competent during their first appearance, but after they adjourned for other groups to perform, they began to falter. The sops started straining while hitting high notes, and belted them out without restraint instead of attaining them gracefully. At other times, they sounded extremely muffled. That's the problem when you get previously untrained Sec 1s boys to work at the higher levels of their soprano ranges. [Ed: I paid little attention to the other sections because they rarely sung the melody lines (so sue me, I'm shallow) and also because I was never in them and am less familiar with them] After the interval they became even worse, and by the end of the concert, they were terrible, with flaws so egregious they would be audible to the untrained ear. The songs second and third from the end - Angel's Carol and Do You Hear What I Hear - were the pits (perhaps they sounded abysmal only because I am intimately familiar with the scores), and were much worse than when we did them in our day. Hell, I think even in my current state, I can sing better than they did yesterday. They were that bad.

BEATS did not perform at all. Maybe it's been disbanded, to be replaced with small groups formed from members of the same level ala RGS. The small group which did perform - "Viva" - wasn't bad, though they introduced themselves with the ever-popular: "We all like to make music, so we formed an acapella group". Argh, don't they know that they should avoid cliches like the plague? They performed but one song - All I Ask Of You from Phantom of the Opera. I rather liked the rendition, except that both Raoul and Christine's parts were sung in falsetto and "Christine" sang with a constipated look and hand movements reminiscent of a female Chinese Opera star. The torment this caused me is indescribable, unless they were adapting the song for a lesbian couple :)

Later, TBS came onstage with 11 choir members and started singing "The Christmas Song" in his operatic voice while conducting the 11 of them (a double faux pas). It was so spine-chilling, it almost raised my goosebumps. I wonder why he thinks all songs can be sung in an operatic voice. Or maybe his normal singing voice isn't very good. At least he didn't mangle "The Music's Always There With You" (since it wasn't performed), like he did at his "get lost" (not my invention) concert, and bring down the chandelier.

The repertoire has certainly expanded since the Wu Yi (Wu Jie) days. That is certainly a good thing, but the moves by most choirs that consider themselves to be in the top league to deliberately exclude more common and well known pieces is, I feel a mistake. It is good to perform a wide range of songs, but surely a sprinkling of audience favourites can't hurt. In fact, the move towards esoteric, dischordant avant garde and plain weird pieces (eg all of Goh Toh Chai's compositions) that some are making can only serve to further diminish the popularity of choral music, and we'll end up with either small ensembles that have an audience smaller than their numbers or crossover/pops choirs that sing muzak. Or maybe I can't appreciate modern music, just like I can't appreciate modern art made by splashing a bucket of paint on canvas.

I also had the feeling that too many Asian songs were performed. This wasn't really the case, but I don't like Asian music, so. Anyway, just because we are Asian does not mean we have to sing many asian songs, just like how ethnic Chinese don't need to speak Chinese, Muslim Women don't have to wear tudungs, Sikhs don't have to wear their turbans and Germans don't have to drink beer. I also think that a judicious sprinkling of songs with accompaniment can add variety to a performance, since sometimes the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts. Sad, for it's all because judges like these things (avant garde, asian and acapella music).

According to Tim, Durufle's Ubi Caritas is a favourite piece of TBS' which he does every concert, and he did not disappoint. Bah. At least he didn't prepare an encore piece, unlike a previous RJ concert where he had 2 encore items and pretended that he had not prepared for the second encore.

I miss some things about the Wu Jie days (the stories he told that no one but Jasper understood are not one of them). He made us perform too many songs with accompaniment, partly due to the fact that we weren't very good and would go sharp of flat at the drop of a pin, but I am left with a lingering fondness for hearing such songs, a fondness which I rarely have the opportunity to indulge with live performances. He let us sing more popular music than is fashionable - pieces from operas, oratorios and other classics, but that is how I first heard of The Creation, Messiah or Ave Maria. Maybe performing songs reminiscent of the croaking of frogs being culled turns some people on, but I am not such a person and I do not think I would be the dilettante that I am today without him.

I think MCs should be banned from using the word "enjoy" to end off their interludes.

Mr Ong was there as always, and he was wearing blue SAF New Balance shoes. I think New Balance must have hooked a large fish, seeing how many civilians wear their line of SAF PT Shoes.

Many idiots were taking pictures with their flashes. Good luck for their pictures.

"I don't want to be seen next to you. It's embarassing" - I don't think it's as embarassing as it used to be.

Amusing quote from the past:
Someone (I forgot who): When *** conducts, you give 'A' grade singing. When *** conducts, you give 'B' grade singing. When *** conducts, you give 'C' grade singing.
Me: Maybe that is because *** is a 'A' grade conductor, *** is a 'B' grade conductor and *** is a 'C' grade conductor.

Amusing quote from the present:
Me to the guy next to me: Excuse me, you're alumni also? What year are you free?
Him: Sec 4. You're Gabriel right.
Me: Eh? How do you know?
Him: Your infamous webpage.
Me: *Buries head in hand and shakes it vigorously*

Since my page is so popular, I think I should add a shameless Paypal donation box. I can also capitalise on my notoriety as the person people love to hate by selling dartboards with my face as the bullseye and toilet seat covers with me on them.

The token negroes in Master and Commander rather irked me, for I am pretty sure that in the early 19th Century, blacks did not go to sea as common sailors. If they want to be so politically correct, they might as well include a Korean crew member as well as a blind, albino hermaphrodite.


My Very First Time - Nigel's blog. He makes it sound like he just got deflowered.