Clarinettist Ma Yue delivers beautiful performance of Finzi

After battling a career-threatening illness, Ma Yue — Singapore Symphony Orchestra's (SSO) long-serving principal clarinettist of over 32 years — made a stunning recovery to give a rare performance of English composer Gerald Finzi's Clarinet Concerto In C Minor (1949).

- Chang Tou Liang

CONCERT MOZART AND FINZI - RODOLFO BARRAEZ AND MA YUE Singapore Symphony Orchestra Victoria Concert Hall May 2

Scored with just accompanying strings, this work eschewed all pretence to 20th-century modernity, and aligned itself with the hallowed pastoral tradition of Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar.

Mellowness dominated, with Ma coaxing a velvety singing tone from its opening movement. Unspoken melancholy reflected a toll of tragedy on Finzi, with the loss of three brothers and his first music teacher, all slain in the Great War. The elegiac air continued into the slow movement with muted strings and his long-breathed solo line, beautifully articulated. Despite a stirring outburst from the strings, the clarinet's mourning was resolute.