Orchestra of The Music Makers - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

The critical reception of the new Orchestra by the press was warm and largely positive. A Straits Times review of the August 2008 HSBC concert praised the Orchestra for its 'instrumental prowess' and 'infectious zeal', as well as for having a 'unanimity of purpose' in its performance of Dvořák's Carnival Overture. A separate critical article in the January 2009 concert commended the Orchestra's interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade as 'impressive', and also remarked on the quality of its soloists:

The pace also flexed ever so supplely, allowing wonderful solos by guest concertmaster Chan Yoong Han (violin) and Laura Peh (harp) - depicting the seductive storyteller - to shine through.

Chang Tou Liang, 'New Orchestra Living its Dream', The Straits Times, 5 January 2009

The maturing Orchestra's stature has been further confirmed by its receipt of the 2009 HSBC Youth Excellence Award, an honor created to recognize and support 'outstanding young Singaporeans' and 'serve as a catalyst to promote the pursuit of excellence'. The HSBC Awards Ceremony Gala concert in which the Orchestra performed next was noted for its high level of technical precision by a reviewer from the Times, the national newspaper: 'gain, it was the precision of execution and sheer passion that impressed.' Concurrently, Chwee Seng Lim, a director at the National Arts Council of Singapore, has also approbated the Orchestra for having 'plug the leakage of music talent by providing a platform to sustain the passion of young musicians', demonstrating its success in achieving one of its major goals.

The Orchestra has also received critical acclaim from international classical music reviewers. An article written by Dr. Marc Rochester, one of the co-authors of the annual Good CD Guide and has long been associated with the Gramophone magazine as a music critic lauded the Orchestra's performance of Mahler's 2nd Symphony:

I don’t recall ever having heard those great percussion crescendos so vividly delivered, the “Last Trump” and the “Nightingale” so potently evoked or, indeed, that one final magnificent chord so sublimely sustained. And as for the off-stage brass and the various players dotted around the hall, that was a moment of pure, unadulterated magic. This was, truly, an epic performance.

Dr. Marc Rochester, Mahler Mania, 11 July 2010

More recently, continuing a trend of critically acclaimed performances of Mahler's symphonies, the performance of the 5th Symphony was regarded as "being characterised by force of will and an overall sweep that was totally captivating" and "a totally absorbing and at times electrifying performance...the famous Adagietto floated along ethereally, completely devoid of excess pathos...and among the more memorable live performances I have attended in my time have been those from Horenstein and Bernstein, neither of which, I can honestly say, quite matched what Chan produced with his dedicated bunch of amateurs."

The Orchestra's debut CD release of Mahler's 1st Symphony was praised in the international press,

With somewhere around a hundred recordings of Mahler’s First Symphony on the market ...this Mahler First can stand up to nearly any of them in brilliance, enthusiasm, and sheer visceral excitement.

...One senses this is going to be a performance worthy of attention right from the opening bar, played truly softly (seldom the case in other performances). The first three movements are very well done, but it is the finale that really glows with excellence, unfolding in a seamless arc of controlled intensity. Seldom have I heard an orchestra tear into that finale with the fierce determination of the OMM. It truly roars and rages, yet also brings all the consoling sweetness and tenderness one could wish for in the ensuing Sehr gesangvoll passage.

...Singaporean conductor Tze Law Chan obviously has the pulse of the Mahler idiom and is fully in control at all times, demanding and obtaining from his forces every sforzando, dynamic bulge, and subito forte and piano. One would need to search hard to find an orchestra that gives more.

Robert Markow, Review of MAHLER Symphony No. 1 • Tze Law Chan, cond; Orchestra of the Music Makers • OMM Live!, Fanfare Magazine Issue 34:2 (Nov/Dec 2010)

Furthermore, its landmark release of Mahler's 2nd Symphony garnered the following comments,

The very first bars serve notice that this is going to be a performance radiating fierce energy and laser-like intensity. Those opening salvos from the cellos and basses, tossed off with technical bravado, strike a note of sheer terror that does not abate until the sublime second theme arrives. Throughout, conductor Chan paces the climaxes so adroitly that, when they arrive, the listener is nearly swept out of the room on tidal waves of sound. The percussion section, though never out of control, is so powerful that I can recall no other, even from the greatest orchestras, that makes a more magnificent contribution to this symphony. Never, in half a century listening to dozens of performances of this work, have I heard that long, agonizing crescendo from the percussion in the finale build to such a deafening roar.

...there is nothing to suggest that OMM is not a full-time professional orchestra. Ensemble is tight, balances are well judged, rhythms are precise.

This “Resurrection” can stack up to any other on disc you care to name. It has virtually everything going for it: technical perfection, unstinting energy, assured musicians not afraid of dynamic extremes, a percussion section that gives new meaning to the word “awesome,” a conductor with the full measure of the Mahlerian idiom securely in hand and, above all, the thrill of a live performance brought vividly to life.

Robert Markow, Review of MAHLER Symphony No. 2 • Tze Law Chan, cond; Orchestra of the Music Makers • OMM Live!, Fanfare Magazine Issue 34:5 (May/June 2011)