The Straits Times is having some problems finding space for classical music reviews, so this one only appeared online last Friday. Here it is for those who do nto subscribe to the Straits Times online edition;
Happy
Days – Favourite TV Themes
Singapore
Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Salonga (conductor)
Esplanade
Concert Hall
Wednesday
(7 November)
Marc
Rochester
It seems odd to fill
a two-hour formal concert by a symphony orchestra with TV theme tunes. Culled from American and British shows
screened, not originally in Singapore, over the past 50 years, these ranged
from the sixties hit show Hawaii-Five-O, to the cult cartoon of our own time,
The Simpsons.
But what might
have seemed like a nostalgic indulgence for the few expat over-60s in the
audience who’d spent their adolescence in front of the telly, was actually
powerfully engaging for an audience largely made up of young Singaporean families
and empty seats.
TV themes are of
necessity very short, and to bulk them up, all were presented in arrangements
which often added so much baggage that it was not always easy to know what the original
theme was. Dallas sounded more like an out-take
from West Side Story, while it took almost 10 minutes of atmospheric rambling
before Trekkies got their fix of the iconic Star Trek theme.
Three things transformed
this concert into two hours of sheer fun.
The first was the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, clearly having a real
ball in repertory they don’t usually encounter (with some awesome percussion
playing for Sex and the City). The
second was a quintet of local vocalists who added informality to the
proceedings. And thirdly, and most
importantly, Gerard Salonga who, making his conducting debut with the SSO, had clearly
won the hearts of the orchestra and established such an easy rapport with the
audience, that he seemed more like an old friend than an unfamiliar guest.
Salonga had
devised the programme so well that it all ran like a well-oiled machine, but double-act
Jack and Rai were on hand to smooth down the few lumpy joins with some easy
banter. They also joined in the singing
of the theme song from Friends, along with three other vocalists – Hazrul
Nizam, Benjamin Chow and Alemay Fernandez – who had individually added their
voices to other theme tunes.
Excellent as the
male vocalists were, all were eclipsed physically, aurally and visually (she
positively dazzled in a generously-sequined white gown) by Fernandez whose personal
command of the stage and of the audience showed us all what real star quality is
all about.
The production
staff had done their bit to transform the concert hall into a TV studio,
bathing the stage in a veritable rainbow of coloured lights, so it seemed unfortunate
that the conductor and orchestra were all dressed in their formal white tie and
tails (which Salonga cheekily suggested was their “smart causal”). All became clear in the second half with one
of the TV themes they played. They were
not dressed as formal musicians at all, but extras on the set of Britain’s much-loved
period drama, Downton Abbey.
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