Kam Ning in concert

As support for local artistes and composers, I readily agreed to go along with 2 friends to catch Kam Ning with the SSO (the company helps too). Also, she has gained a standing for herself. She was playing her father, Kam Kee Yong's compositions.

It wasn't the full-force SSO, but nonetheless, it made a different experience and I could more easily see some less familiar faces up front (who were probably hidden previously). The conductor for the evening was Darrell Ang, the Young Associate Conductor for SSO.

I won't say I am an expert in classical music, but I was a little disappointed in the performance for the night. Maybe I expected too much...I was hoping to be inspired/impressed like I was when Hilary Hahn came, the ice princess she may be. Maybe the pieces were too contemporary for me to grasp, so I might not be a good judge, i.e. she could be interpreting it rightly, but I couldn't tell. Let's go piece by piece.
The first piece she played Fantasia of Insects, was from what I saw, possibly a more challenging piece with the busyness of the arpeggios & trills. Her playing was rather soft, probably because the mike was a little too high (which the technician came to adjust subsequently). If I didn't hear wrongly, I think she missed a short high note.
In The Surpassing Beauty, I felt that somehow, the sorrow & resignation of the protagonist of the piece didn't come through very strongly. But technically, I think she did fine.
In A Tranquil Night, it was building up well until the part when there seemed to be some discordance in the solo violin and the cello, as if she was playing off-beat to the cello and orchestra. Maybe it was intentional as the programme notes said "...The melody is recaptured and echoed by the solo cello..." It was a bit jarring in its way, but maybe that's how the piece is meant to be.
I kind of liked the last piece that she played, Lao Jiang Xing (I liked the "swagger" from the brass at parts), until there was yet another discordance in between the orchestra and her. I wasn't sure if it was intended as when the section was repeated, it didn't sound as "off" as the 1st round.

Actually, a friend and I were wondering if it was because of the conductor, as the opening piece The River had sounded a little messy to us. But the 2nd part of the concert, with the orchestra playing Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun by Debussy and Daphnis et Chloe: Suite No. 2 by Ravel was fine. The difference was that he wasn't using a score (and thus no specs) in this segment of the concert. And I liked this part of the concert better. The flutist, Jin Ta (I hope I got it right), was excellent in his solo.

Next up, I hope to catch Midori in April next year...saw the ad in the programme booklet. Upon checking, it happens to be a pure Russian programme, which I'm sure I will like. Hope I won't be away then. And maybe also Renaud Capuçon in Feb. Need to go do some reading up on SSO's concert listings to see what's in store. Haven't been keeping up with them.