Concert Review: Celebrating 60 years of S’pore-German diplomacy with Bach extravaganza

Straits Times, 7 September 2025

Red Dot Baroque (RDB), led by violinist and Young Artist Award recipient Alan Choo, is Singapore's only professional group playing period instruments.

In 2023, it performed all six of Johann Sebastian Bach's Brandenburg Concertos in a single sitting. Its latest
concert, celebrating SG60 and marking 60 years of Singapore-Germany diplomacy, featured four favourite concertos of the German baroque master.
Opening the show was the Concerto For Violin And Oboe In C Minor (BWV. 1060) with soloists Placida Ho (violin) and Veda Lin (oboe). Both played as members of the ensemble before assuming their solo parts and standing out with piquant tones.

There were few moments as beautiful as the slow central movement's duet, before a flurry of counterpoints completed the fast finale.

The title of Orchestral Suite No. 2 In B Minor (BWV. 1067) may seem a misnomer, as there were just six players partnering Rachel Ho on traverso (baroque flute) for the set in seven movements. Partita or Overture might have been more apt titles for this, but Ho's lovely tone presided over the dances, including a rondeau,
sarabande, bourree, polonaise and menuet.

The audience's erratic response of applauding between some
movements may have distracted the ensemble, leading to a false start for the badinerie. However, playful bantering among players was the idea of this mercurial finale, closing the work on an irrepressible high.

After the interval, a rare performance of Harpsichord Concerto In
A Major (BWV.1055) featured Mervyn Lee as soloist. His understated but crystal-clear articulation was the highlight in this forerunner of the piano concerto, with brooding and emoting in the larghetto slow movement, before breaking free of fetters in the fast outer movements.

Closing the matinee was the popular Concerto For Two Violins In D Minor (BWV. 1043) with leader Choo and Gabriel Lee in the spotlight. The unspoken chemistry between the two founding members shone through, despite them having quite different stage demeanours - Choo's animated movements versus Lee's steadfast stance. The performance, true to form, exuded joy.

Inserted between the concertos in each half was the Asian premiere of Rainforest Refrains (2025), composed for RDB's Italian tour earlier in 2025 by Young Artist Award recipient Chen Zhangyi. This is a modern update of the multi-movement baroque suite or partita. With narration and delightful singing by soprano Teng Xiang Ting, this could pass off as a neo-baroque cantata.

Tropical flora and fauna were the subjects in its nine movements.
Burung Hamba Kera (The Monkey's Servant Bird), a reimagina-tion of the Malay song Burung Ka-kak Tua, contrasted with Pangolin Passacaglia, a doleful lament.

The lively finale became a play on the Chinese words "liu lian", which mean to linger, and are also the name of the thorny but
aromatic king of fruit.

The encore of Singapore composer Phang Kok Jun's A Barojak Suite (2020) comprised four dance movements which were settings of local songs in the form of antique dances: the allemande, corrente, sarabande and gigue. Commissioned out of pure fun, one has not lived without having heard Munnaeru Vaalibaa or linkli Nona played on baroque instruments.