//The World Came to Me (6)//

I gotta confess. The only reason that brought me to this concert was the Adagio from Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. I have this CD of clarinetist Robert Marcellus’ 1961 recording with George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra with me for decades. And this recording has always been my savior whenever I desperately need to find some inner peace. Teacher once said, “You will never find an interpretation that matches what you have in your head.” There is an untouchable & out-of-the-world quality to this exquisite piece of music. So with a guarded expectation, I went to this concert.

PROGRAM

Mozart / The Marriage of Figaro Overture, K492
Mozart / Clarinet Concerto in A, K622
Mozart / Serenade No. 10 in B-flat, K361, “Gran Partita”

It was a delight watching Michael Collins’s clarinet dancing and twirling, making Mozart’s music come to live. Teacher was right though. I will probably never see an interpretation that matches what I have in my head. To me, Robert Marcellus’ recording is still the closest version thus far.

The extra bonus I got from that night was the discovery of the oboe. I never really paid much attention to the oboe in the orchestra. But that night when Hong Kong Sinfonietta then-principal oboist Marrie Rose Kim played in the “Gran Partita”, I was like “Wow!”. Her oboe was dancing and fencing with Michael Collins’ clarinet. And it was so beautiful and powerful. Since then I always looked for her on stage in Hong Kong Sinfonietta concerts.

Here’s a review of the concert in South China Morning Post: https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1593158/great-clarinet-concertos-michael-collins-plays-mozart.

And a more recent (2019) performance of the Mozart’s clarinet concert by Michael Collins with the London Mozart Players:

 

//The World Came to Me (5)//

Sometimes I do wonder if it was fate. So, here’s the story. I was trying to figure out how to write this next episode. As I surfed the web to see what this cellist Ka Lap Wong has been up to lately, I came across an interview article on his upcoming concert that will be held in a few days (in 2020)! I immediately jumped into the ticketing site to check the prices and availability. There was a single seat available right in the middle of one of the front rows. But it cost $380! I hesitated. I was not in a good financial state and $380 was a lot of money…

I kept debating with myself that night and the next day. “It’s expensive. But he is going to play Bach Cello Suite No. 5 in a tuned down cello setting. What would be his approach?” The tuned down Bach Cello Suite No. 5 became my favorite Suite after attending British cellist Colin Carr’s Bach Suites concert in 2017. The curiosity was killing me, so I put my foot down and bought the ticket.

Before I get to the 2020 concert, let’s rewind. At the very beginning of my cello learning, Ka Lap Wong was one of the teachers in my group class. In 2014 I went to his concert, also out of curiosity to see how he was doing. The program at the time was quite technically challenging.

2014 PROGRAM

César Franck  / Sonata for Violin and Piano
J.S. Bach  / Cello Suite No. 6
György Ligeti / Sonata for Solo Cello
Frédéric Chopin / Cello Sonata
David Popper / Elfentanz

Five years later, this was the program of the 2020 concert:

2020 PROGRAM

J.S. Bach  / Cello Suite No. 5
Henri Dutilleux / 3 Strophes Sur Le Nom De Sacher
Zoltán Kodály / Sonata for Solo Cello
Ka Lap Wong / Variations Lament for Solo Cello

I am not technically there yet to try the whole Bach Suite myself. So far, I have only played the Sarabande. So at least I am a little more familiar with that. My first reaction to Ka Lap’s interpretation of the Sarabande was “One can do THAT?!”. Then I immediately reminded myself what a lot of masters have said. Everyone has his or her own interpretation of the Bach Suites. And the key thing is whether the player himself or herself is convinced of such interpretation. Just then I relaxed and very much welcomed an opportunity to experience his interpretation. A good lesson learned.

As for the other pieces, I have to confess that I am not a big fan of contemporary music as I find it quite difficult to understand. But surprisingly I didn’t find Ka Lap’s playing boring at all. And his own composition was full of sincerity. Actually, “sincerity” was not a good description. When I looked back at the notes I scribbled on the back page of his 2014 concert program booklet, one of the words I wrote said it all – “Heart”. And this was exactly what I saw in this 2020 concert as well. I noticed a self-acknowledgment gesture of his after completing each piece. My impression over the years was he has worked very hard on what he believes in. It was inspiring and comforting to see a cellist putting his heart and mind into a lifelong soul-searching journey. I am not alone.

//The World Came to Me (3)//

Then I saw another interesting poster in the subway station. “The King’s Singers? This is not the King’s College Choir since these are grown men. Who are they?” Out of curiosity, I bought a ticket.

PROGRAM

John Rutter‘s The Wind in the Willow
Traditional English Folksongs
Triumphs of Oriana and Trionfo di Dori
Cole Porter Songs from The Great American Songbook

I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears during the night of the performance. They were SO good. I had never heard such a mix of voices like that. And how on earth could they sing like this without any instrumental accompaniment? (Yeah. That’s the first time I learned the word “Cappella”) What they created was more than just 6 voices together. So alive. So captivating. They were not doing this just as a job. They really enjoyed sharing the moment with the audience.

This performance review in the South China Morning Post (https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/arts-culture/article/1519679/review-kings-singers) reminded me of the fantastic encore they did for the Hong Kong audience by singing Frances Yip’s Shanghai Beach in Cantonese!!! It was unbelievable!