Category: Reviews

Macao Orchestra brings warmth to ‘relatively static’ city through music

(Sourced from Macao Post 2022.07.20 By  William Chan) https://www.macaupostdaily.com/article14874.html The Macao Orchestra (MO) has been sharing their music performances on … Continue reading “Macao Orchestra brings warmth to ‘relatively static’ city through music”

(Sourced from Macao Post 2022.07.20 By  William Chan)
https://www.macaupostdaily.com/article14874.html

The Macao Orchestra (MO) has been sharing their music performances on YouTube and Facebook since the beginning of the current outbreak, in the hope of brightening the city’s atmosphere during the city’s “relatively static” movement of people, according to a statement by the orchestra this week.

The statement said that currently the Macao Orchestra has over 17,000 followers on their Facebook page, and the orchestra has been sharing music videos and music-related information about its activities on the social platform.

The statement noted that the government special COVID-19 prevention and control measures have resulted in the temporary closure of most businesses and imposed restrictions on people’s movements, including performing venues and musicians. Therefore, besides uploading music performances, some orchestra members have been holding online performances, with the aim of encouraging residents to overcome the pandemic.

According to the statement, on June 27 the orchestra posted online their performance of the Third Symphony of Beethoven (Eroica) conducted by Huang Yi. The statement said that the symphony, one of the most celebrated works of the legendary composer which he originally intended to dedicate to his “hero” Napoléon. Through the performance, the statement added, the orchestra wanted to express their gratitude to Macau’s frontline “heroes” battling the pandemic.

In addition, on June 28, Beethoven’s Egmont Overture was posted online, the statement said, adding that the overture was a narrative of General Egmont fighting bravely for his country. The statement said that the orchestra hoped to send positive energy to local residents through the music.

The statement also said that the orchestra’s string orchestral principles presented the performance of “The Same Song” through its “Cloud Ensemble” on the internet.

“Performances need not be limited to face-to-face nowadays, thanks to technology artists can now even play ensemble music to let beautiful melodies interweave on the cloud and transcend geographical restrictions,” the statement said.

Besides performances, the orchestra’s conductor Francis Kan also interviewed its members about their musical perspectives and experiences.

All the events can be viewed on their Facebook and YouTube pages, and the statement pointed out that more performances and interviews will be uploaded soon. For more information, visit:

www.facebook.com/MacaoOrchestra/ & www.youtube.com/user/macaoorchestra/.

2020-21 Season Opening Concert Pre-concert Talk

Speaker ：Lu Jia

Macao orchestra 2020-21 concert season will open soon. If you want to listen to the background stories about two Beethoven symphonies, and would like to interact with musicians before the concert, don’t miss Pre-concert Talk!

Date：2020/10/20 (二/Tue)
Time：19:00-19:30
Venue：Macao Cultural Center Conference Room
Language：Mandarin

Speaker: Lu Jia

Registration

Artist Salon – Meet with Maestro Lü Shao-Chia

Speaker: Lü Shao-Chia

Macao Orchestra X Mandarin Oriental, Macau
Meet with Maestro Lü Shao-Chia

An artist salon with world famous Maestro Lü Shao-Chia is going to held on 10 Jan 2020.
The Taiwan-born Lü Shao-Chia studied music in Taipei, later at the Indiana University in Bloomington, USA, and also at the College of Music Vienna. His training was topped off with three important first prizes at renowned international conductor competitions: Besancon (France), Pedrotti (Italy) and Kondrashin (the Netherlands). Lü Shao-Chia took over the position of General Music Director of both the Staatsorchester Rheinische Philharmonie Koblenz （1998-2004）and the Koblenz Theatre（2001-2006）, and he has been Music Director of the Taiwan Philharmonic since 2010 August.
In this coming artist salon, Maestro Lü will share his unforgettable conductor experience in Europe and Asia, as well as will explain the programmes of the concert ” In Dialogue with Cello”. Music aficionado Don’t miss it!

Date：10-01-2020
Time：18:30
Venue：Mandarin Oriental, Macau – Lobby Lounge
Number of guests：20 px
Price：MOP 148 / px *
Includes a glass of sparkling, red or white wine, cocktail or mocktail and a selection of canapes.

For reservations, please contact +853 8805 8938 | [email protected]
* Price is subject to 10% service charge and 5% government tourism tax

澳門「玫瑰堂」聆樂記

藝評：澳門「玫瑰堂」聆樂記

文：默泉

在古老教堂聽音樂會，令人回味的往往不是音樂本身，而是獨一無二的聆樂經驗。記得多年前曾在愛丁堡一小教堂聽「馬勒四」現場演出，我坐在第一排右側位置，跟低音大提琴手相距僅一個身位。於是整場演出，我都聽到走了調的低音大提琴在耳畔隆隆作響，比正常音量放大好幾倍。但這扭曲了的馬勒四，卻成了我早年的馬勒音樂記憶，當時仿若「被捲進音樂旋渦」的震撼，至今難忘。

澳門文化局近年積極開拓另類場地（或因太缺正規音樂廳吧），「教堂音樂會」、「大炮台音樂會」等特色音樂會已成澳門音樂節賣點。玫瑰堂是最常舉行音樂會的澳門教堂。12 月初，我在此聽了澳門樂團的「拉丁隨想曲」音樂會，擔任獨奏小提琴的，是澳門樂團首席保羅‧莫連拿（Paolo Morena），指揮是羅伯特‧賈諾拉（Roberto Gianola）。雖然是免費音樂會，但節目內容毫不馬虎，約一小時的曲目包括：巴卡羅夫（Bacalov）「小提琴協奏曲」、柴可夫斯基「意大利隨想曲」（Capriccio Italien），和林姆斯基‧高沙可夫「西班牙隨想曲」（Capriccio espagnol）。

玫瑰堂有著鮮黃色漂亮立面，位於議事亭和大三巴之間，路過旅人如過江之鯽，是理想另類演出場地。旅客們逛累了，可隨興取票走進此文化遺產（門票通常在開場前一小時派發），聽聽音樂，同時觀賞聖壇和雕像。如此精彩的免費活動，怎愁沒捧場客？實在欣賞澳門當局懂得將古典音樂置於城市裡最煩囂處，讓一般人與它不期而遇——因為這正是普及古典樂的不二法門。

說回音樂會。古典樂迷或會對阿根廷出生的意大利作曲家巴卡羅夫感到陌生，因他主要活躍於電影配樂界，作品包括 The Gospel According to St. Matthew（柏索里尼執導）和 The Postman（Michael Radford 執導），後者曾獲奧斯卡最佳原創配樂獎。巴卡羅夫風格多樣化，尤愛在作品中融進阿根廷探戈音樂，是次演出的「小提琴協奏曲」亦不例外。據場刊介紹，此曲是他專為莫連拿所寫。第一樂章由帶點詭異感的獨特短促節奏展開，獨奏小提琴隨後加入，旋律並非悅耳一類，卻自有一股魔力。最初的短促節奏多番浮現，串起整個樂章，而近尾聲時單簧管與小提琴唱和，則甚為動聽。

莫連拿的琴音溫暖渾厚，高音純如清泉，我最喜歡他一流的音樂感；就算只是數個音符，亦能奏出豐沛情感，確把此曲拉得生氣盎然。美中不足是他的琴聲略為單薄，無法投射得太遠（我坐在第五排，亦覺聲音太細），後排觀眾恐怕聽得不太清楚。

澳門樂團於「教堂音樂會」選奏此曲，實在相當進取，因此曲的旋律多屬片段式，著重氣氛渲染，並非易「入口」之作。坐在我旁邊的兩位中年街坊便不太受落，一曲既畢頻頻交換意見。幸好接著是人見人愛的柴可夫斯基「意大利隨想曲」。

樂曲甫開始，小號吹起嘹亮簡潔的軍樂旋律——這是作曲家在意大利旅行時，每早於旅館聽到的軍樂聲。澳門樂團的銅管部向來不錯，今年 5 月聽呂嘉指揮的蕭斯塔科維奇第五交響曲，已印象極佳。清脆小號先聲奪人後，其他銅管便陸續加入，吹得金光燦然，滿室生輝，觀眾的精神亦為之抖擻起來。有趣的是，恢宏的銅管聲，跟教堂本有的靜穆兩相碰撞，頗有魔幻現實之感。樂團在演奏前一首樂曲時一直拘謹抑壓著的音量（估計是為免掩蓋獨奏小提琴家的琴音），於此時的「fortissimo」（ff）終於全面爆發，氣場銳不可擋。以前我常以為教堂的聲效太過「離散」，演奏大音量樂段效果或許欠佳，但原來並不一定。

銅器之後隱身於低音域三連音節奏中，由弦樂部奏出內斂旋律，主題逐漸發展，最後活潑輕快的意大利舞曲「塔蘭泰拉」上場，將氣氛推至高潮。指揮賈諾拉的肢體動作平實，但有效地控制各聲部平衡，應記一功。縱然寫此曲時柴可夫斯基跟妻子關係搞得並不愉快，但「旋律大師」於旅途中仍不忘發掘好聽的民謠和街頭音樂，並有技巧地融入作品中，使「意大利隨想曲」聽得人輕快愉悅，甚欲狂歌起舞。

隨後的「西班牙隨想曲」，歡快熱鬧如嘉年華的舞曲，在毫無預兆下傾瀉而出，妙不可言。單簧管與小提琴獨奏部分，與豐富的樂團音色構成強烈對比。第二樂章是變奏曲，吹奏主題旋律的圓號有點朦朧，但由不同樂器聲部擔當主角的五段變奏卻相當吸引。事實上，一邊聽著結構簡明的變奏曲，一邊欣賞擁有 400 多年歷史的教堂古蹟，是一大樂事。至第三樂章，客席樂團首席梁大南獨挑大樑，奏出兩段跳躍輕快旋律，可惜拉得拘謹，節奏亦不夠穩健，影響了樂章的灑脫美感。幸好最後兩樂章，吉卜賽的狂歡節奏感染力非凡，為音樂會劃上美好句號。一個小時轉瞬即逝，走出教堂，議事亭前地的聖誕燈飾閃爍，如在延續熱血沸騰的音樂氣氛。