Dark Stories – The Debut Recital

Jessie M.
Victoria Concert Hall
March 19, 7.30pm

Prodigious: The Trout & Four Seasons

re:Sound Collective
Victoria Concert Hall
March 20, 7.30pm

Fact: There are more young musical virtuosos in Singapore now than at any other time in history. Two consecutive concerts at Victoria Concert Hall were all the proof one needed.

Jessie M. sounds like one of the Spice Girls, but is the stage name of 17-year-old Jessie Meng Yi Rui Xue, Singapore’s latest and youngest Young Steinway Artist. Winner of multiple age-group piano competitions, her debut recital showed what the fuss was about.

In two Transcendental Etudes by Franz Liszt, she demonstrated an astonishing adroitness coupled with nuanced responses to technically demanding music.

Fast, furious octaves and outsized chords in Wilde Jagd (Wild Hunt), and stampeding runs of Mazeppa seemed like child’s play. Poetry and lyricism were never in short supply, evident in the “simple” measures of Liszt’s Consolation No. 2 and melancholic Russian song of Mily Balakirev’s highly filigreed transcription of Mikhail Glinka’s The Lark.

Two modern American composers provided more display of her versatility. William Bolcom’s ragtime novelties showcased graceful insouciance in Last Rag and terminal velocity in The Serpent’s Kiss, the latter including foot stomps, knuckles rapping on the piano’s fallboard, tongue-clicking and even a spot of whistling.

For two of Lowell Liebermann’s Gargoyles, she delighted in haunting music-box effects and relentless percussiveness.

Best of all was Jessie’s hair-raising account of Maurice Ravel’s La Valse, an intoxicating celebration of the Viennese waltz built upon seemingly unending waves of vertiginous whirling.

Here was high-stakes risk-taking with a true sense of danger courted at every turn. Cataclysm being averted, there could only be a final triumph, which the encore of Jack Fina’s Bumble Boogie – in her own edition with multitudes of added notes – duly confirmed.

Some 16 years older but still young is Berlin-based Shaun Choo, who joined members of the Concordia Quartet – violinist Edward Tan, violist Martin Peh and cellist Lin Juan – with bassist Julian Li in a sparkling performance of Franz Schubert’s Piano Quintet In A Major, popularly known as the Trout Quintet.

This is Hausmusik, music for domestic consumption, usually shared by close friends over hearty meals and imbibed spirits.

The camaraderie developed by the players all through its five movements was infectious, best exemplified in the fourth movement’s variations on the song Die Forelle (The Trout, hence its nickname). It was just fun to see the ever-busy Choo slaving away on the keyboard while his string partners took turns to luxuriate in the melody.

All this congeniality scarcely prepared one for Antonio Vivaldi’s perennial favourite The Four Seasons, performed by re:Sound and featuring mere children as soloists. One wondered whether child labour laws applied when youngsters do adults’ work with equal authority and conviction.

Spring was the domain of Yuto Lim, 12, whose confident demeanour suggested he was the boss, but he blended perfectly with leader Yang Shuxiang and Kim Kyu Ri’s violins for the birdcalls.

Sophia Fang, 11, was a little self-conscious in the opening of Summer, but once the Allegro got under way, she became a total natural. Helming the music’s portrayal of a pelting rainstorm, she mastered arguably the most demanding season of all.

Autumn saw the most mature soloist in Jacob Cheng, 15, who physically towered over the others.

His was the most personal of performances, showing individuality but working very well with cellist Lin. The most diminutive performer was Mark Chia, 11, who gave the edgiest performance of all in Winter, contrasting an icy chill with the warmth of a fireplace.

Shut your eyes, and one could imagine both concerts being helmed by performing adults.