Engineering in Sin: Brahms at the Esplanade

Last night I played my first concert in Singapore. It consisted of Brahms' First Symphony, and that was it.

Before any of you develop strange ideas, this was not a case of a strange Asian ritual where the spread a 45 minute piece over two halves of a concert - more of an educational concert consisting of excerpts first, and full performance second.

In the UK a concert such as this would spell disaster. Some complete unknown who couldn't speak English would read some unpenetrable guff, and 40 of the 50 people in the audience would leave before we got the chance to play the piece in full. Consequently it was with distinct aprehension that I turned up for the first rehearsal in a sports centre near the other end of the island.

The conductor, Lim Yao, has a reputation for being rather strict. In fact, he takes strictness to a level that an amateur orchestra would not accept in the UK. Firstly, there were no breaks. We played straight through for 150 minutes. He wasn't shy to criticise either - 'you're the lead cello, you can't just sit back as if you were back desk and not lead' or 'oboe - each week equally out of tune - why? can you not afford an oboe that can play in tune? You went to an expensive school surely you can afford an oboe?'

But, Mr Lim did always know what he wanted. And had both the time and resolution to get what he wanted. It's a long time since I've paid so much attention to a single piece of music - ironically enough, also Brahms.

The concert, held in the Esplanade, which is Singapore's version of Symphony Hall was successful - we had plenty of audience (certainly high hundreds), and the presenter was pretty good, the audience even participated - and ONLY when invited to. The full play through also went well.

Afterwards the Dodgess and I meandered over to one of Singapore's top hotels. Why? One of her colleagues does a jazz night there each Thursday. So we popped in for half a session and a very chilled out fruit tea - one of the best ways I've ever come across to relax after a concert!

Here are some photos of the Esplanade (not actually from last night, but when I went to the opera the Dodgess played in during January. It is a really nice hall to play in - reminiscent of Symphony Hall, but a bit warmer. Incidently, designed by the same architect, but he gave up on the orange in favour of a green.