lynettetan blogs

Watching her get physical, was magic…

First, it was Xanadu. Then suddenly, the duet.

She looks just as I’d remembered her from the warm, summer nights more than 30 years ago – Sandy Olsen from Grease (1978).

Her sweet innocence and demeanor was so captivating. If there’s such a thing as a “girl-crush”, I had that.

I wanted so much to tell her “You’re the one that I want and I honestly love you.”

But then, there was Sam. (“And please Mr please… If you love me let me know…” I found myself singing along)

30 years on…I never imagined that I would ever get to see her again…live in concert singing all my favourite songs.

And you know what’s amazing about her? She’s not gonna give into it, even though she’s weathered some of the worst storms of life. And she sings of nothing but love, grace and gratitude.

Oliver Newton-John, or ONJ as my colleagues at GOLD90FM would say, I’m hopelessly devoted to you…

So it was a weekend of concerts. It was Mozart’s the Magic Flute on Saturday and Victoria Concert Hall Closing Gala Concert (VCH) on Sunday. The more significant date to remember? 25th July 2010. The final concert at the VCH. She was going to be closed for a 3-year refurbishment. What would she look like afterward? Will it ever be the same? Where’s the organ gonna go? These were real questions that nobody had a definite answer to, as yet, but were thoughts I found myself ruminating on.  Afterall, was this not the place where I once spent a great deal of time twiddling my thumbs, a little bright-eyed girl in a blue pinafore, waiting for rehearsals to start?

For as long as I was with Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC), that was how I spent my Monday evenings. I became so familiar with every nook and cranny of VCH that even the echoes in the hallways resounded with much familiarity. So, to be in the same concert hall for the very last time before it went for its facelift was, for lack of a better word, gratifying.

As I was mulling over the fate of the organ, the concert opened with Margaret Chen climbing sheepishly out from a little door in the wall of the organ and Bach’s hauntingly beautiful Toccata and Fugue in D minor. That wasn’t always the way organists at VCH take to the stage but since this was a closing gala concert, who’s going to begrudge the comical wit with which Margaret did her opening?

Lynnette Seah and Gulnara Mushurova’s were next in their collaborative repertoire of  Massenet’s Thais Meditation and Elgar’s Salut da’mour which added to the thick of bittersweet farewells and memories of a glorious heyday, taking the audience on what seemed like a journey back in time to the days of Victorian Revivalism.

The high point of the closing gala concert had to be Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture where the 3 choruses (SSC, Singapore Bible College Chorale and The Philharmonic Chamber Chorus) joined forces to bring the event to a rapturous high, prompting camera flashes, resounding encores and thunderous applause from a delighted audience, ending an otherwise-ordinary Sunday afternoon on a high note – pun intended.

It will be a long while before such hullabaloo will ever be witnessed again in this place.

Fare thee well, Victoria Concert Hall!

If there is any phrase to describe the Singapore Dance Theatre’s rendition of this two-act ballet, it has to be hauntingly romantic. Rosa Park, who played Giselle, portrayed the character really well and won several “bravos” from members of the audience.

The Sunday afternoon matinee was nothing short of a family affair, with kids as young as six or seven squirming in their seats, bearing out the entire performance while parents sat enthralled by the amazing display of great footwork set against a gorgeous backdrop of the Rhineland in the Middle Ages.

The entire sequence was further enhanced by the atmosphere at the old Victoria Theatre. Old, nostalgic, full of memories of the old bustling days of theatre performances, the venue felt like a perfect fit for the unfolding of a haunting tale of undying love. Whether the choice was deliberate or not, I must salute SDT for staging this wonderful performance in this monumental location. There was definitely something in the air that could neither be found nor replicated in the chic but cold atmosphere of the Esplanade.

Perhaps more than just good choreography and structural resonance of the theatre, it was the moral of the story that moved me the most. True love, displaying itself in unconditional forgiveness, always prevails against the easier option of hatred and vengeance. I found myself in tears over and over, amazed at how deeply Giselle had loved Albrecht to the point of defending him from Myrtha, the Queen of the Wilis despite knowing that he was originally intent only on philandering.

I knew he was famous. I mean, who wouldn’t have heard of Kitaro, the man responsible for bringing new age music onto the world stage? But I wasn’t quite expecting such a huge turn out for his one-night only concert in Singapore. After all, the New Age music scene is already so well-dominated with the likes of Vangelis and Enya.

A good half hour before his grand appearance, the carparks at the Singapore Indoor Stadium were already full. My hubby and I had to park a distance away, join a queue that snaked its way slowly into the concert hall, the atmosphere thick with anticipation.

The stadium was half-filled by the time we got there, the stage set with an elaborate display of synthesisers, the instrument of choice for the man behind such popular tunes as the Silk Road and Matsuri.

As with most bigshot superstars, the concert didn’t start on time. I suppose the waiting was deliberate, to keep everyone waiting on the edge of our seats. I must admit that it was worth the wait though. For me, the sight of Kitaro live in person was a rare treat, much more so since I had the privilege of viewing the concert from five rows away. Up close and personal to the master musician himself. How lucky can one get? 

The lights went out, the smoke spewing all over for effect, the master musician still in his legendary long hair took centre- stage and started weaving his magic into a tapestry of electronic sounds punctuated by the pounding of the taiko drums.

I heard a candid remark from two seats away: “He can make music out of anything”. Indeed. That’s why he’s the legend.

Of course there were moments when I thought the music and the drumming were a little out of sync, especially at the start and the end of the concert. It’s probably no fault of his since there was such a huge group of drummers. There was also a Chinese song that stood out like a sore thumb for me but I suppose he was trying to vary his repertoire.

Shrouded in a cloud of mystique and feverish hand-gesturing as though in a trance, he is, on the whole, an excellent entertainer. A master in his own right.

Kitaro Love and Peace Planet Music Tour 2010… were you there? Share your experience with us.