In a Joyous Mood (Sunday People)

First published in New Straits Times, Sunday People

2 September 2008

In a joyous mood

MAX KOH 

The Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra is 10 years old. MAX KOH goes to the birthday party 

During the economic crisis in 1998, classical music aficionados must have thanked the heavens for it was on August 17 that year that the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO) was born.

Along with the opening of the Dewan Filharmonik Petronas (DFP), classical music was made accessible to all and sundry (as long as they didn’t wear shorts, slippers, jeans or T-shirts for the shows).

Talented sparks from all over the world have since appeared at the hall known for its excellent acoustics. From noted orchestras such as the BBC Symphony and New York Philharmonic to respected soloists such as soprano Kiri Te Kanawa and violinist Sarah Chang and Joshua Bell.

Some of the biggest names in the jazz and world music scenes including James Morrison, the Count Basie Orchestra, The Chieftains and Amjad Ali Khan have played at the DFP.

So the decade was marked with a birthday party, on stage of course. It was a nice, cordial affair with guest conductor George Ellis leading the MPO.

The Australian, known to his fans as Big G, was in a jovial mood and set the party off with a swing with his rousing composition, Celebration Overture.

In the introduction to the next piece, Bizet’s Habanera from Carmen Suite No. 2, Ellis pointed out the importance of dynamics in a song; the varying degrees of loudness and softness in a musical passage.

The Habanera comes from the Carmen opera, where the character Carmen performs a stirring dance to woo the handsome soldier, Don Jose.

“We invite you to pay attention to the orchestra members and join the fun,” Ellis told the audience.

Whenever the musical passage flitted from soft to loud, the members of the orchestra would stand up. Soon enough, the audience joined the orchestra in the movements. It was like a big aerobic class in the balloon-decorated hall.

Now, who said you can’t work out to classical music? Ellis then invited us to clap along as tempo was important in the next piece, Grieg’s In The Hall Of The Mountain King..

A popular tune, most recently used in the film Corpse Bride, it originally tells the story of Peer who sneaked into the Mountain Troll King’s castle. Having insulted the king’s daughters, the angry, evil trolls soon chase Peer.

The three-minute song began eerily with the bassoon, which signified Peer’s careful, slow steps.

The music then soon worked itself up into frenzy as the trolls spotted Peer and gave chase.

As Peer desperately ran out of the cave, the music becames louder and faster; before the crashing cymbals and thumping timpani burst forth to silence the other instruments.

The audience could barely catch their breath as they struggled to keep up with the musical frenzy.

As a restful piece, we then had an old Russian fairy tale — the famous Prokofiev’s Peter And The Wolf.

It tells of the story of Peter who ventures out the garden gates into the countryside and meets a host of characters.

For the orchestra piece, each character was given its own motif played by an instrument. The bird was played by the flute, the cat by the clarinet, and so on.

Eventually, the big bad wolf appeared played by three French horns.

Wonderfully performed by the orchestra, the story was easily conjured to life. Many smiles were lit that evening, both children and adult.

Then came the lovely ballets of Shostakovich, the Polka and the Gallop.

The two movements from the ballet, The Limpid Stream, turned out to be lively romps, with boisterous duets and rattling percussion. They fit the celebratory mood that evening.

Alas, all parties must come to an end. And the MPO gave us a treat with the classic birthday song.

The audience stood up and sang along as a big birthday cake was being wheeled out onstage.

We all got a cupcake each. Aww.

To me, it was way too short a party as it ended in less than an hour. But it was fun, so thank you and best wishes.