Meet Singapore’s classical indie recording artists

The term ‘indie acts’ can conjure up images of starving musicians saving every penny to record music that will go on to be ignored by big-name labels. Meet another species: the classical indie recording artist. Not content with displaying their wares through live performances, these musicians, often with high educational pedigrees, have taken the road less travelled to showcase their art.

Albert Tiu, 42, is widely respected both in Singapore and abroad as a pianist and teacher. Loke Hoe Kit, 23, a recent graduate of New York City’s Mannes College of Music, is starting a career as a cellist back home. The Orchestra of Music Makers (OMM), founded in 2008, is a group of amateur musicians whose work onstage has yielded amazing results. What has driven these performers to seek out record deals?

The benefits of recording are obvious: re-takes and dubbing technology ensure a closer step towards that highly coveted ideal of perfection. In a field where such an achievement is highly prized, heading to the studio is a sought-after recourse for those aiming for a level of playing and interpretation that’s seemingly impossible to reproduce in a live context. In addition, since performances of classical music are judged by the same exacting standards internationally, investing in a recording can become a calling-card route for those looking to expand their careers overseas.

Albert Tiu

Tiu’s latest CD Nocturnal Fantasies features works by Chopin and Scriabin, and was recorded in Singapore and released by American independent label Centaur Records. His MO is representative of the classical music industry’s global nature: recording for him is a way to preserve and polish the pieces in his performance programme. ‘Performing live has so much more room for spontaneity, but it is susceptible to that very human condition of imperfection. In a recording, it is expected that it is rendered as “perfect” as possible, since people are going to listen to CDs again and again. But even with today’s amazing technology, it is still better sometimes to leave things be, as long as the spirit of the music is captured. Listeners will note that I have left in some imperfections, because I don’t want to give people the wrong impression that I’m a note-perfect pianist.’

Tiu is also enthusiastic about using recordings for self-development. ‘It is a healthy evolving process for a performer to record himself or herself regularly, so that there is constant feedback and awareness between intention and execution. Very often I am shocked to find out that what I thought I played is not what I hear on the recording, but the recording does not lie.’ Fortunately for us, album launches will still provide the opportunity to soak in the scores live.

Albert Tiu’s Nocturnal Fantasies is available at Music Essentials (#02-70 Meridien Shopping Centre) and www.centaurrecords.com.

Loke Hoe Kit

Coming from a more experimental perspective is Loke’s self-produced album A Double Life, a programme of double cello pieces by Menotti and Handel featuring his own playing in both parts. Loke, who also works as a studio musician, was intrigued by the possibilities offered by studio technology: ‘I was spurred to attempt something that I couldn’t do in a live performance, and the concept of partnering oneself in playing duets has always intrigued me. Jascha Heifetz’s 1946 recording of Bach’s double concerto, in which he overdubbed himself, served as an inspiration. Admittedly, overdubbing per se isn’t uncommon, but it is rarely attempted for “serious” classical music, and I was game for the artistic challenges that came along with creating a classical recording of this nature.’

Loke Hoe Kit’s A Double Life is available on his website (www.lokehoekit.com)

OMM

Then there is the rare occasion when an underdog scores such a triumph onstage that a recorded souvenir is the next logical step. On 10 July 2010, OMM gave a performance of Mahler’s second ‘Resurrection’ symphony. Screams of jubilation soon followed from international critics, with the American Fanfare Magazine enthusing: ‘Never in half a century of hearing dozens of this symphony’s performances have I experienced such terror at that moment in the finale when drums make their agonising crescendo from the merest rumble to a deafening roar.’ Those who missed the event will be glad to know that the performance has been preserved in an album available for sale.
Conductor Chan Tze Law, who waved the baton that night, confesses he had no idea the concert would be such a resounding success, and heralds the musicians’ initiative in starting the project: ‘A very small number of members had the ambition to perform this great work, and they worked the ground tirelessly to garner support from the orchestra members and myself. It must be said that the final result was inspirational.’

Mahler 2: Resurrection is the second release from OMM’s in-house label. Is it important for members that the orchestra’s performances are made available on recordings? For maestro Chan, the answer is emphatically ‘yes’. ‘I think it’s important for both the individual musicians and the orchestra collectively. Since the vast majority of OMM members are not career musicians, a successful recording becomes a valuable keepsake. For the orchestra, it is a means to gauge its own progress and share it with the world.’ Email sales@orchestra.sg for OMM’s Mahler 2: Resurrection ($10)

This story first appeared as 'Perfect track records' (Sep 2011).