Sunday, November 07, 2004

Tekong, US Election and Concerts

It's been nearly a week since my last post. How's everyone getting along?

The week's been so busy, particularly the later half of the week from Thursday. The band went over to Pulau Tekong to support the graduation parade of the Advanced Section Leader Course at the School of Infantry SPECialists (SISPEC).

It sucks to wake up in camp at 5.30 am, I haven't really done that since my BMT days. Well, the landscape of Tekong had changed a lot since I last went there last year. They are over-reclaiming! What used to be a "lovely seaside resort" had morphed into something with an extended beach with all the land claiming going on.

Tekong is actually quite a nice place despite being a militarized island. The amount of stars you could see on a clear is incomparable to what we get in on the mainland. The sunrise at sea was also one of my unforgettable moments from my days on the island.

Now? You can't even see much of the sea with all the reclaiming going on!

***

I'm not going to rant about dumb Americans like some of my friends. The results are final anyway; no amount of ranting can change it. Do we actually want another recount like Florida 2000?

President Bush is still President Bush. Senator Kerry stays as Senator Kerry.

It's very apparent that America is almost equally divided between the Bush and Kerry camps. Throw a rock in the street and you have a fair chance of hitting a Bush supporter and ricocheting off to hit a Kerry supporter (The writer does not assume any reliability for physical injuries to anyone sustained from flying rocks).

I can't help but wonder why so many would vote for someone who puts the national budget into debt, caused the death of thousands through a war in which the original objective wasn't achieved (finding WMDs), created negative jobs... the list goes on and on.

Let's just hope President Bush cleans up his act and really accomplish what he has started on. Things like REALLY finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and REALLY getting Osama bin Laden. He will only REALLY become a war president if he does all that and more.

Like it or not, America remains the most powerful and influential nation in the world. She's the one nation who is likely to intervene in any conflicts. Put it in another way, she?s just chao kay-po (busybody).

Let's just see what will happen in 2008. For all you know, we might witness history being made. Hint: Senator Hillary Clinton.

***

It's concert weekend!

I started off on Thursday with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra.

The programme was pretty interesting, starting off with Dvorak's Carnival Overture and Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 in D. I think Ye Lin did a pretty good job on it despite her concentration lapses in the third movement. I don't really know the concerto very well to make a fair comment. Who plays Paganini frequently these days anyway? I hear Tchaikovsky and Beethoven all the time, with the odd Butterfly lovers at the SSO. Is anyone from the SSO management looking at this?

Beethoven 7th was just not good enough. There's this obvious lack of character in the music. Allegretto could have been played with more feeling. Everything was just so dead.

I think YST should really consider getting a better conductor. Chan Tze Law's conducting skills are really mediocre. The orchestra needs a better conductor to bring out the true skill and spirit in the musicians.

George Cleve is one example of a good conductor. He conducted the SSO on Saturday night with Danjulo Ishizaka on cello.

The Schumann Cello Concerto was good! Ishizaka played with total conviction, with the full character of the concerto brought out through his energetic playing.

Cleve was, in every sense, an outstanding conductor. He belongs to the minimal school of conducting, unlike Lan Shui, who is far more flamboyant. The Beethoven 1st under him was just pleasing, a welcomed change from the Beethoven 7th from just 2 days ago.

Speaking of Beethoven, why are there so many Beethoven in the SSO season next year?

I think the SSO really needs programmes which attracts more audience. The concert goer in Singapore is more attracted by popular programmes. But how many Butterfly Concertos can the SSO play in a season? They had played it at least once a year for the past few years.

I remember reading an article lamenting how William Hung can attract a full house at the Esplanade whereas SSO can only repeat the same feat by playing huge works like the Mahler 8?

Singaporeans really have no taste at times, just look at what's going on in Singapore Idol.

Although the SSO might not be very good when compared to other orchestras, it's still the best orchestra in the land. I don't have much of a choice, do I?

Next up! James Galway on Tuesday performing Mozart Flute Concerto in D (transposed from the Oboe Concerto in C)! Here's my chance to hear the Man with the Golden Flute "live" and find out exactly why he's so popular.

I'm still tired from the early mornings, see you people later!
fjozn at 1:02 PM