It was as romantic a programme as you could get at the recent concert at Merdeka Palace with Miranda Su Lan Harding & Chong Lim Ng.

They performed Schumann’s Fantasiestucke Op. 73, Brahms’s E Minor Sonata Op. 38 and Chopin’s Op. 65 G Minor Sonata.

At first glance at the proposed programme, one’s reaction was that it was going to be an over-rich recital with such heavyweight works and composers from the 19^th century.

But it was one of the best concerts I’d been to for a long time. The 2 musicians had a great rapport going and beautiful sensitive phrasings and nuances.

Chong Lim at the piano never tried to dominate the cello lines, though I did think that in the opening Schumann, the piano was a little muffled, and that he could have actually come out more with the melodic lines in the piano part. But by the 2^nd movement, both had settled in and worked out a better balance. It is always a difficult matter to try and judge the acoustics and balance in any concert hall, let alone a room designed primarily to be a function hall. Miranda’s playing was always very controlled and full of contrasts and her wristwork a joy to watch.

The Brahms was a piece of art. The tiny piano must have been hard work to coax passion and volume out of it, but Chong Lim did well. There was fine effortless playing by both especially in the 2^nd and 3^rd movements. The 2^nd was just yummy. The 3^rd, very intense and rich.

However, by the end of the first half of the concert, the piano was suffering – the lowest octave of the keyboard had all the dampers stuck – a nightmare for any pianist. Nothing could be done, short of changing the second half programme into a solo cello session. So the duo bravely went on and played the Chopin with exquisite poetry despite the pain of the bass buzz from the piano. A real killer with a series of double stops in the cello part was executed with mastery by Miranda.

It just took some time for the audience to warm up which was a shame. But then again, Asian audiences are usually more reticent which can come across as cold and unwelcoming. They don’t even sustain the applause as the musicians walk on stage. It didn’t help that Chong Lim and Miranda did not talk to the audience, nor introduce the pieces they were playing to ease in a connection before the pieces even started. A small matter, but it might have served a bigger purpose.

However, their music spoke volumes. With both of them coming from such a pedigree of achievements, one should have expected such a performance from them. It was wonderful to see such involvement and how they were both so immersed in the inner workings – every reach for the peak of a phrase, every turn of a shape, every breath.

They returned to the stage to do an encore with a slow movement from Rachmaninov, by which time, the audience was happily wallowing in lush! And while it was not as tightly held together as the other 3 pieces, it had passion and lyricism.

A great pity about the piano. Again, when is Kuching going to be able to offer a respectable piano and a suitable concert venue? We have been lucky that so far, the performers who have come in have not thrown any diva-like tantrums over the instruments but it is a shame, that the Sarawak Music Society is doing its best to bring in high caliber performers, and the lack of facilities can cause so much frustration.

But bravo to Miranda and Chong Lim. It’s rare times like this, one re-discovers the location of one’s soul.

review by Yeoh Jun Lin

BACK

SMS Online © Copyright 1998-2003, Sarawak Music Society
weyihui@pc.jaring.my
.