LAN SHUI Music Director
subscription concert
Chopin Piano Concerto 2 • Poem Of Ecstasy 14 July 2017 Esplanade Concert Hall Performing Home of the SSO
Lan Shui, conductor Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano
14 Jul 2017, Fri
Chopin Piano Concerto 2 • Poem Of Ecstasy Singapore Symphony Orchestra Lan Shui, conductor
RICHARD YARDUMIAN FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN
Armenian Suite (arr. Ofer Ben-Amots) 18’00 1. Introduction: “Harvest” 2. Song: “Reminiscences of a song from childhood” 3. Lullaby 4. Dance I: “Love Song” 5. Interlude: “The bells rang out good morning” 6. Dance II 7. Finale Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 32’00
1. Maestoso 2. Larghetto 3. Allegro vivace Charles Richard-Hamelin, piano
Intermission 20’00
Charles Richard-Hamelin will autograph CDs in the stalls foyer.
ANATOL LIADOV
The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62 6’00
ALEXANDER SCRIABIN
The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54 22’00
Concert duration: 1 hr 55 mins Go green. Digital programme booklets are available on www.sso.org.sg. Scan the QR code in the foyer to view a copy.
S ing a p or e S y mp hon y Or c he s t r a ‘A fine display of orchestral bravado for the SSO and Shui’ The Guardian
Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singapore’s flagship orchestra, touching lives through classical music and providing the heartbeat of the cultural scene in the cosmopolitan city-state. In addition to its subscription series concerts, the orchestra is well-loved for its outdoor and community appearances, and its significant role educating the young people of Singapore. The SSO has also earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings. The SSO makes its performing home at the 1,800-seat state-of-the-art Esplanade Concert Hall. More intimate works and all outreach and community performances take place at the
673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, the home of the SSO. The orchestra performs 100 concerts a year, and its versatile repertoire spans alltime favourites and orchestral masterpieces to exciting cutting-edge premieres. Bridging the musical traditions of East and West, Singaporean and Asian musicians and composers are regularly showcased in the concert season. This has been a core of the SSO’s programming philosophy from the very beginning under Choo Hoey, who was Music Director from 1979 to 1996. Since Lan Shui assumed the position of Music Director in 1997, the SSO has performed in Europe, Asia and the United States. In May 2016 the SSO was invited to perform at the Dresden Music Festival and the Prague Spring International Music Festival. This successful five‑city tour of
Germany and Prague also included the SSO’s return to the Berlin Philharmonie after six years. In 2014 the SSO’s debut at the 120th BBC Proms in London received critical acclaim in the major UK newspapers The Guardian and Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions. Notable SSO releases under BIS include a Rachmaninov series, a Debussy disc, “Seascapes” featuring sea-themed music by Debussy, Frank Bridge, Glazunov and Zhou Long, and the first-ever cycle of Tcherepnin’s piano concertos and symphonies. The SSO has also collaborated with such great artists as Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham.
L a n SHui conductor
Lan Shui is renowned for his abilities as an orchestral builder and for his passion in commissioning, premiering and recording new works by leading Asian composers. As Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra since 1997, American Record Review noted that Shui has “turned a good regional orchestra into a world-class ensemble that plays its heart out at every concert”. Together they have made several acclaimed tours to Europe, Asia and the United States and appeared for the first time at the BBC Proms in September 2014. Lan Shui held the position of Chief Conductor of the Copenhagen Phil from 2007 to 2015, and from 2016 he became their Conductor Laureate. He recently concluded a four-year period as Artistic Advisor of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. As a guest conductor, Shui has worked with many orchestras. In the United States he has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and Baltimore and Detroit symphony orchestras. In Europe he has performed with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Gothenburg Symphony, Tampere Philharmonic and Orchestre National de Lille. In Asia he has conducted the Hong Kong, Malaysian and Japan Philharmonic orchestras and maintains a close relationship with the China Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony. Since 1998 Shui has recorded over 20 CDs for BIS – including a Rachmaninov series, a “Seascapes” disc and the first-ever complete cycle of Tcherepnin’s symphonies with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra – and also music by Arnold and Hindemith with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, which has received two Grammy nominations.
Lan Shui is the recipient of several international awards from the Beijing Arts Festival and the New York Tcherepnin Society, the 37th Besançon Conductors’ Competition in France and Boston University (Distinguished Alumni Award) as well as the Cultural Medallion – Singapore’s highest accolade in the arts. Born in Hangzhou, China, Shui studied composition at the Shanghai Conservatory and graduated from The Beijing Central Conservatory. He continued his graduate studies at Boston University while at the same time working closely with Leonard Bernstein at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He has worked together with David Zinman as Conducting Affiliate of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, as Associate Conductor to Neeme Järvi at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and with Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic and Pierre Boulez at The Cleveland Orchestra.
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C h a r l e s R ic h a r d - H a me l in piano
Silver medalist and laureate of the Krystian-Zimerman Prize for the best sonata at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2015, winner of the 2011 Prix d’Europe, Charles Richard-Hamelin is one of the most important pianists of his generation. He won the second prize at the Montreal International Music Competition and the third prize and special award for the best performance of a Beethoven sonata at the Seoul International Music Competition. In April 2015, Charles was awarded the prestigious Career Development Award granted by the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto. As a soloist, Hamelin has performed with various orchestras including the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, Korean Symphony Orchestra, I Musici de Montréal and all major orchestras in Canada. Hamelin studied with Paul Surdulescu, Sara Laimon and Boris Berman. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in performance from McGill University in 2011 and a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music in 2013 and received full scholarships from both institutions. He also completed an Artist Diploma programme at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and currently works with pianist Jean Saulnier. His first solo CD featuring late works by Chopin was released on the Analekta label in September 2015. A second album, recorded at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City in May 2016, was released in September 2016 under the same label. He presents works of Chopin, Beethoven and Enescu. Over 40 recitals and more than 25 orchestral concerts in Canada, Japan and Europe are confirmed for the upcoming season.
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SSO MU S ICIAN S Lan Shui Music Director joshua tan Associate Conductor jason lai Associate Conductor andrew litton Principal Guest Conductor Choo Hoey Conductor Emeritus Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director
FIRST VIOLIN Igor Yuzefovich° Concertmaster Lynnette Seah Co-Concertmaster Kong Zhao Hui* Associate Concertmaster Chan Yoong-Han Fixed Chair Cao Can* Chen Da Wei Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Gu Wen Li Jin Li Cindy Lee Sui Jing Jing Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe SECOND VIOLIN Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair Nikolai Koval* Lee Shi Mei^
Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Tan Ka Ming^ Sherwin Thia^ Lillian Wang Wu Man Yun* Xu Jue Yi* Ye Lin* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhang Si Jing* VIOLA Zhang Manchin Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Marietta Ku Lim Chun^ Luo Biao Julia Park^ Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Janice Tsai^ Yang Shi Li CELLO Ng Pei-Sian Principal Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Peter Wilson Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er DOUBLE BASS Guennadi Mouzyka Principal Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Foo Yin Hong^ Ma Li Ming^ Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu
FLUTE Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan PICCOLO Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal OBOE Rachel Walker Principal Pan Yun Associate Principal Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo COR ANGLAIS Elaine Yeo Associate Principal CLARINET Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping BASS CLARINET Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal BASSOON Zhang Jin Min^ Principal Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue CONTRA BASSOON Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal HORN Han Chang Chou Principal Gao Jian Associate Principal Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal
Kartik Alan Jairamin Alexander Oon^ Wang Chizong^ Wang Min^ TRUMPET Jon Paul Dante Principal David Smith Associate Principal Lau Wen Rong Sergey Tyuteykin TROMBONE Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong BASS TROMBONE Wang Wei Assistant Principal TUBA Hidehiro Fujita Principal TIMPANI Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal PERCUSSION Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Lim Meng Keh Zhu Zheng Yi HARP Gulnara Mashurova Principal CELESTE Shane Thio^ Principal ORGAN Joanna Paul^
*With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. °Igor Yuzefovich plays an instrument generously loaned by Mr & Mrs G K Goh ^Musician on temporary contract Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.
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28 July 2017
Fri | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall Subscription Concert
MENDELSSOHN PIANO CONCERTO 1 • BRAHMS SYMPHONIES Music to transform your soul R. Strauss Tod und Verklärung (“Death and Transfiguration”), Op. 24 Mendelssohn Piano Concerto No. 1 in G minor, Op. 25 Brahms Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90 Lan Shui, conductor Melvyn Tan, piano Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm | library@esplanade Friends’ Concert Friends of the SSO enjoy 50% off Cat 1-3 tickets
19 August 2017
Sat | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall Subscription Concert
WHEN IN ROME Sounds So Romantic Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37 Respighi Fountains of Rome Respighi Pines of Rome Michal Nesterowicz, conductor Anna Tsybuleva, piano Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm | library@esplanade OPEN REHEARSAL 19 Aug, 9.30am - 12pm | Esplanade Concert Hall | For Friends of the SSO and ticket holders
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RICHARD YARDUMIAN (1917-198 5) Armenian Suite (arr. Ofer Ben-Amots)
18’00
Richard Yardumian was one of the most important classical composers of Armenian descent, yet his music is still little known outside the Armenian community. He was the tenth and youngest child of Armenian parents who had fled the persecutions in Armenia in the early twentieth century and landed in Philadelphia. Here Richard was born and spent his entire life, siring thirteen children, teaching, directing choirs at various churches, and enjoying a long and close relationship with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra, which performed and recorded ten of his orchestral compositions, beginning with Desolate City in 1945 and including the work on tonight’s programme. Quite predictably, Armenian traditional music was an important influence on Yardumian’s style, but so was an American sound as found in composers like Howard Hanson, Walter Piston and Leonard Bernstein. And in the richness of his scoring and romantic sweep of his melodies, Yardumian can be compared to Erich Korngold. He also devised a twelve-tone system differently organised than that of Schoenberg, with alternating white-key and black-key intervals of a third. Yardumian began working on the first version of his Armenian Suite in 1937 when he was just nineteen. He had yet to undergo formal musical training, but he had already absorbed much from his mother (an organist), and from his older brother Elijah, who was studying piano at the Curtis Institute. Ormandy conducted the Philadelphia Orchestra in the world premiere on 5 March, 1954. In 1992, the Israeli-American composer Ofer Ben-Amots (b. 1955) arranged the Armenian Suite for a smaller orchestra, the version performed at this concert which the SSO has recorded on the BIS label, along with the Violin Concerto and Second Symphony. In the notes for this recording, Eugene Darianathan writes that “the various movements of the suite, some (wildly) festive, some meditative to the point of melancholy, combine Armenian influences – all the folksongs included in the suite are genuinely Armenian – with seemingly Middle Eastern melodic elements as well as various Western musical influences. The results variously tear at the heartstrings and give rise to a sense of elation.” The SSO calls renewed attention to Richard Yardumian in the centenary year of his birth in programming the work by which he is best remembered today.
FR É DÉ RIC CHOPIN (1810 -18 49) Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21
32’00
In July of 1829, the 19-year-old Chopin spent three weeks in Vienna. The publisher Haslinger encouraged him to give a recital, which was so wellreceived that a second was quickly arranged, and proved equally successful. Upon returning to Poland, Chopin realised that if he was going to pursue a career as a concert pianist (a career move he soon abandoned), he would need some major display pieces of his own in his repertory. To this end he soon set about writing the F-minor concerto, which he premiered in Warsaw on 17 March, 1830 to great acclaim. Hence, Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor, the so-called No. 2, was actually his first, preceding the E-minor concerto by about a year. The reversal in numbering came about because the orchestral parts of the F-minor concerto were lost before it was published, and by the time they were recopied, the E-minor concerto had been published. The enduring appeal of a Chopin concerto lies in the piano writing – sweetly lyrical melodies, a quality of intimacy, the expressive nuances of colour and dynamics, the improvisatory character provided by such techniques as rubato, arpeggios and delicate ornamentation of the melodic lines. The first movement’s two main themes are stated in the opening orchestral exposition – a strongly rhythmic idea with a quasi-military flavour (a rhythm also found in so many Italian operas of the period) and a more lyrical, bel canto subject announced by the woodwind choir, the first of several felicitous uses of woodwind colour in this concerto. The second movement is a nocturne of heavenly beauty and midnight poetry. The central episode of this ternary form (ABA) movement momentarily disturbs the placid waters, but the mood of quiet reverie is restored well before the movement ends. The finale is a rondo imbued with the spirit and rhythm of the mazurka, a Polish country dance in triple meter with a characteristic accent on the third beat.
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NEW NOTES IN THE PIPELINE 6 August 2017 4pm The King of Instruments takes centre stage with new compositions by Singaporean composers Chok Kerong and young contemporaries Chen Zhangyi and Phoon Yu. Disquiet, Chok’s work specially commissioned for the Klais Pipe Organ, will feature organist Margaret Chen with a string ensemble conducted by Ang Shao-wen. Composer-organist Phoon Yu will present an original piece that brings together the thrilling combination of organ and trumpet. Ang Shao-wen, conductor Margaret Chen, organ Phoon Yu, organ Lau Wen Rong, trumpet FREE ADMISSION
Doors open half an hour before the concert. Suitable for ages 5 and above. No admission for infants-in-arms.
VCH Tour: 3pm | Registration: 2.30pm
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ANATOL L IADOV (18 55 -1914) The Enchanted Lake, Op. 62
6’00
The music of Anatol Liadov rarely turns up in symphony concerts. Part of the reason is his own fault. He has gone down in music history as one of the laziest and most dilatory of composers, a character trait he presumably inherited from his father. His teacher Rimsky-Korsakov noted that Anatol’s father, himself a composer as well as conductor of the Imperial Opera, possessed “brilliant gifts [which were] stifled in continuous reveling and carousing. He frittered away his activity as a composer on mere nothings, composing dance music and pieces to order.” Liadov’s output too consists mostly of short pieces, many of them for piano or voice and piano, plus a handful of choral, chamber and orchestral miniatures. Liadov very likely missed his biggest opportunity for world fame in his endless procrastination to Sergei Diaghilev’s request for a ballet score for the Firebird, a commission that ultimately made Stravinsky famous. Three brief but enchanting works, all based on Russian folk tales, keep his name tenuously before the public today: Baba Yaga, The Enchanted Lake and Kikimora. There is no specific programme for The Enchanted Lake aside from the composer’s descriptive subtitle, “a fairy-tale scene”. It is a mood picture in the manner of French musical Impressionism, imbued with a sense of eerie stillness and timelessness, and evocative of a mysterious world remote from any human habitation — somewhere in the vast expanses of southern Siberia, perhaps, with water nymphs playing in the depths of the dark waters. Liadov’s ideal, in his own words, was “to find the unearthly in art. Art is a fairy tale, a phantom. Give me a fairy tale, a dragon, a water sprite, a wood demon — give me something that is unreal, and I am happy.” The orchestration is delicate and subtle, with frequent inflections of harp and celesta, the latter made popular just a few years earlier by Tchaikovsky in his Nutcracker ballet. The premiere was given in St. Petersburg on 21 February, 1909.
A L E X ANDER S CRIA B IN (1872-1915) The Poem of Ecstasy, Op. 54
22’00
The life of Alexander Scriabin was one of the strangest in the history of music. He started out by writing graceful, sensuous little piano pieces in a quasiChopin style and ended up totally, even maniacally, absorbed in mysticism and the occult. Late in life he thought of sound in terms of colours, eroticism and planes of ecstasy. Scriabin’s musical development was fairly even and consistent, but he considered his Third Symphony (The Divine Poem) to be a major turning point in his career. “This was the first time I found light in music, the first time I found this rapture, this soaring flight, this suffocation from Joy!” The Poem of Ecstasy is the logical continuation of The Divine Poem, even to requiring nearly the identical huge orchestra. The first step took the form of a verse poem written by Scriabin himself. “The poem,” writes Hugh Macdonald, “tells of the spirit’s search for ecstasy; its state of longing is threatened by the ‘terrible rhythms of dark presentiment.’ These are triumphantly overcome … and the spirit gives itself to the joys of love.” The Poem of Ecstasy was completed in January of 1908 in Switzerland. The world premiere took place on 10 December in New York City, with the Russian Symphony Society conducted by Scriabin’s friend Modest Altschuler. The Poem of Ecstasy is best listened to as a succession of moods which include languid, playful, erotic, volatile, yearning, assertive, desperate, intoxicated and triumphant. No fewer than eight themes or motifs are presented within the work’s opening pages. The labels are Scriabin’s own: 1) “Longing”, heard by a flute, then violin, in the opening bars; 2) “Dreaming”, a gently lyrical theme for clarinet; 3) “Floating”, a more nervous, upwardly leaping motif given first to the flute, then the oboe; 4) “Engendered Creatures”, for a sweetly expressive solo violin; 5) “Unrest”, a galloping, almost menacing rhythmic figure for horns; this is followed immediately by 6) “Will”, a proud theme for solo trumpet; 7) “Self-assertion” or “Victory”, also for trumpet, consisting of a succession of rising steps which fall back only to rise higher in the theme’s repetition; 8) “Protest”, a motif for muted trombones, characterised by wide leaps. Scriabin develops and combines these themes into a vast sonic mosaic that fairly bursts with creative tension, exultant impulses and iridescent hues. The music rises to several ecstatic climaxes, culminating in an overwhelming blaze of C major. Programme notes by Robert Markow
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Endowment Fund Committee Prof Cham Tao Soon (Chairman) Mr David Goh Mr Paul Supramaniam Mr Anthony Teo
SNYO Committee Ms Liew Wei Li (Chairlady) Mr Ang Chek Meng Ms Vivien Goh Dr Kee Kirk Chin Mrs Valarie Wilson SSO LADIES’ LEAGUE
SSO Council Prof Cham Tao Soon (Chairman) Mr Alan Chan Ms Chew Gek Khim Mr Choo Chiau Beng Dr Geh Min Mr Goh Geok Khim Mr Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh Mr JY Pillay Dr Stephen Riady Ms Priscylla Shaw Dr Gralf Sieghold Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao Dr Tan Chin Nam Ms Tan Choo Leng Mr Tan Soo Nan Mr Wee Ee Cheong Musicians’ Committee Mr Chan Wei Shing Mr Jon Paul Dante Mr Jamie Hersch Mr Ng Pei-Sian Mr Mark Suter Mr Christoph Wichert Mr Yeo Teow Meng
Mrs Odile Benjamin (Chairlady) Mrs Kwan Lui (Deputy Chairlady) Mrs Celeste Basapa Mrs Maisy Beh Mrs Kim Camacho Mrs Rosy Ho Ms Judy Hunt Prof Annie Koh Dr Julie Lo Mrs Clarinda TjiaDharmadi-Martin Ms Paige Parker Ms Kris Tan Ms Manju Vangal Mrs Grace Yeh
MANAGEMENT CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER Mr Chng Hak-Peng
CEO OFFICE
PROGRAMMES (SSO)
CORPORATE SERVICES
Mr Edward Loh Mr Chris Yong
Ms Kua Li Leng (Head) Ms Teo Chew Yen Ms Jolene Yeo
Mr Rick Ong (Head) Mr Alan Ong (Finance) Ms Goh Hoey Fen (Finance) Mr Mohamed Zailani bin Mohd Said
ORCHESTRA MANAGEMENT Mr Ernest Khoo (Head) Mr Chia Jit Min Ms Tan Wei Tian Stage Management Ms Kimberly Kwa (Stage Manager) Ms Chin Rosherna Mr Ramayah Elango Mr Abdul Wahab bin Sakir Mr Mohamed Zailani bin Mohd Said Mr Muhammad Fariz bin Samsuri Mr Radin Sulaiman bin Ali LIBRARY Mr Lim Yeow Siang (Head) Mr Lim Lip Hua Ms Priscilla Neo
Community Outreach Ms Kathleen Tan Ms Vanessa Lee Choral Programmes Ms Regina Lee Ms Whitney Tan PROGRAMMES (VCH) Ms Michelle Yeo (Head) Ms Erin Tan DEVELOPMENT & SPONSORSHIP Ms Peggy Kek (Head) Mr Anthony Chng Ms Nikki Chuang Ms Zhang Jingchao MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Ms Cindy Lim (Head) Mr Chia Han-Leon Ms Myrtle Lee Ms Hong Shu Hui Ms Melissa Tan Ms Cheryl Pek Ms Khairani Basman Ms Dacia Cheang Ms Nur Shafiqah Bte Othman
HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION Mr Desmen Low Ms Shanti Govindasamy SINGAPORE NATIONAL YOUTH ORCHESTRA Ms Pang Siu Yuin (Head) Ms Shirin Foo Mr Tan Yong Qing Ms Tang Ya Yun ABRSM Ms Hay Su-San (Head) Ms Patricia Yee Ms Lai Li-Yng Mr Joong Siow Chong
A S ta nding Ovat ion to o ur c or p or at e Pa r t ne r s Patron Sponsor
Tote Board Group
Corporate Partners Official Airline
Official Hotel
Official training partner
Official Radio Station
Official outdoor media partner
Official Postage Sponsor
Sponsors
LEE FOUNDATION
Supported by various corporate sponsors and individual donors, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and registered under the Charities Order.
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