NUS Genus

Argh, still angry about missing the Luthier workshop this very afternoon, just before the concert. Yet, the fact that it costed 10 bucks kinda consoled me and my empty-gonna-be pocket.

But there was no excuse for missing the concert. Seriously. For those who deliberately or unfortunately did not go for it, you had just made yourself a big loss. That's why I hate school and exams so much. They always come in the wrong time when festivals are bombarding the island. Or must it be the other way around?.

Without further ado, I shall proceed to the main part of this post: commenting and rating the concert.

The rating system would be
1 star: Weak, technically and emotionally
2 stars: Technically ok but both expression and interpretation were poor
3 stars: Nice, but there was still ample room for improvement
4 stars: Well done, the closest to perfection
5 stars: OMG, can you just frigging play that again?

Warning: Comments heavily dependes on my memory and impression the pieces have left in me. They are also subjective and might not be justified by any professional standard at all, but rather personal viewpoint and sentimental reactions

Golliwog's Cake Walk: 1 star
The piece was a standard classic number for a guitar ensemble. However, the fact that it was composed by Debussy and also the opening piece of theconcert somehow set a great expection from audience, or at least me. Yet, it turned out quite disappointing, especially in the middle section where the mood changed suddenly. Transition was problematic too. But oh well, I guess it must be a hell of anxiety and stress up there. On the other hand, unlike women, guitar ensemble isn't born with mood-switching ability. It must be aquired from pain-staking practice which must have been compromisingly shared with other pieces of no less importance . So it was forgiveable. Thanks goodness, they got into the right mood and the song started to sound the way it was supposed to be soon after that. 1 star might be too harsh. It must be because I forgot how it sounded like.

Grand solo: 3 stars
Finally and quickly, Genus had played in its best unison. What a pity, the mike for soloist was not working as well as it should have been. Once again, it was obvious that sound technicians would contribute 50% to the outcome of any concert. The piece reeked of classical style. So yeah, it did not leave much impression in me either. Oh well, all I could say was that Genus guitarists have reached a considerably proficient level of mastery of this 6-stringed instrument.

Kansalesa's Bones: 5 stars
Who could have thought a simple strumming piece accompanied by modern percussion and effect-heavy guitar would sound this exciting, yet, sotisphicated? This piece proved that modern percussion could work the magic on monotonous single down-stroke and breath new life into the rhythm The Indian guy (I WANNA MARRY HIM!) looked damn cool and pro when playing his strange-sounding guitar which at some point sounds more like flutes or keyboard rather than string instruments, yet, it blended well with the rest of the ensemble. This should have been the last piece to maximize impact of a grand ending.

Verde Alma (Solo): 5 stars
Flawless performance from a guitar geek. OMG, I think girls would line up on his doorstep, waiting to be picked by this nerdy-looking maestro. What could be more wonderful compared to being serenaded by such perfect hands. The skill makes up for the look man. Good for you!

Little Fugue in E minor (Quartet): 3 stars
Could not remember how it sounded like. So it must be average, not too bad or too good to forget. But I am damn sure that the performance lacked up emotional maturity. Bach's pieces are not demanding in term of technique but to get the mood right mattered the most. I'm pretty confident that if they were given more time, that should have sounded way much better.

Cavatina (Duet): 4 stars
2 players were nervous so they made some taboo screech in the first half. The second half was good enough to redeem those taboos. Song choice and arrangement were nice though. Highly recommend for those who relax by listening to classical guitar music.

Blue Rondo Ala Turk: 4 stars
It was an EXCEPTIONAL COMPOSITION that was able to capture the essence of intrinsic jazz/blue while refreshing the experience of listeners with some tricky mood swing. Maybe it was too tricky that the Quintet failed to execute most of those Jazz-Classical hybrid transition. However when the song totally inclined towards blue/jazz, they soon got back to the right groove and awed the audiences with that classy coolness of jazz

Music from THE INCREDIBLES: 3 stars
Alumni's piece. Mission Impossible theme alike. TOo Bandish as Shanshan told me. But it was cool. At least it showed how versatile the guitar would be, especially in cooperation with percussion. Distortion guitar was quite weak though. It was corny and out of place. The guy worked his hand so hard yet nothing came out concretely.

Final Fantasy VII Medley: 3 stars
Grandest arrangement for FF music which got a bad reputation of being abusively played too often. BUT, this arrangement was of so much bigger scale that it nearly ate up the whole concert hall...oh well, in the end it only ate up like third of the whole concert which was already gigantic. At some points, I nearly clinged on to my chair, praying for the piece to end soon for the sake of my blader that threated to explode in any minute. I bet the performers felt the same way too. That explained why they screwed up real bad.

Concerto fo 4 Harpsishords: 3 stars
Baroque music (Did I spell it right?). Very very complex. Very very hard. Result: Very very average.

Libertango: 4 stars
What a pity, the bass was too soft to bring up the tango-ness of the song.

Cadiz: 4 stars
Too good of the elegance...I was zzzzz....just closed my eye and enjoyed to the most.

Gelato con Caffe: 4 stars.
Uhm, I'm biased towards Japanese composition.

End.

Despite all the mistakes and criticism above, Genus concert this year was a real inspiring eye-opener. This has successfully lured me into joining Genus if I ever got to NUS. I want to touch those expensive Niborii guitars one day and more importantly, to make music with those pricey quality-guaranteed instruments. Classical guitar is too graceful to drop.