LAN SHUI Music Director
SSO GALA
JANINE JANSEN 19 October 2017 Esplanade Concert Hall Performing Home of the SSO
Daniel Blendulf, conductor Janine Jansen, violin
19 Oct 2017, Thu
SSO Gala Janine Jansen Singapore Symphony Orchestra Daniel Blendulf, conductor JEAN SIBELIUS
The Swan of Tuonela 10’00
Elaine Yeo, cor anglais
JEAN SIBELIUS
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 31’00
1. Allegro moderato 2. Adagio di molto 3. Allegro ma non tanto Janine Jansen, violin Intermission 20’00 Janine Jansen will autograph CDs in the stalls foyer.
ANTONÍN DVORÁK
Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 34’00
1. Allegro con brio 2. Adagio 3. Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace 4. Allegro ma non troppo
Concert duration: 1 hr 50 mins Go green. Digital programme booklets are available on www.sso.org.sg. Scan the QR code in the foyer to view a copy.
Sing a p ore 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 all-time 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 firstever 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.
DANIE L B L ENDUL F conductor
Daniel Blendulf is Chief Conductor and Artistic Advisor with the Dalasinfoniettan, and elsewhere in Sweden, he collaborates frequently with the Swedish Radio Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Gothenburg Symphony orchestras. As an opera conductor, productions have included Carmen, Don Pasquale, and the world premiere of Eliasson’s chamber opera Karolinas sömn with the Royal Swedish Opera; Carmen with Dalhalla Opera; Gounod’s Faust with Folkoperan; and Berg’s Wozzeck with Norrlandsoperan in Umeå. The 2016/17 season saw Daniel Blendulf make his Japanese debut with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra and US debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Further highlights include the season opening concerts with West Australian Symphony Orchestra as well as concerts with Helsinki Philharmonic, RTÉ Symphony Orchestra, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Het Gelders Orkest and Musikkollegium Winterthur. Recent appearances include BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and the Sydney Symphony, New Zealand Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic and Finnish Radio Symphony orchestras. Blendulf also continues to perform regularly with ensembles such as Zürcher Kammerorchester and the Swedish and Ostrobothnian chamber orchestras.
J ANINE J AN SEN violin
With an enviable international reputation, violinist Janine Jansen works regularly with the world’s most eminent orchestras and conductors. This season she is Perspectives Artist at Carnegie Hall while tours are planned with Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/ Gatti, London Symphony Orchestra (with Michael Tilson Thomas as well as Semyon Bychkov) and Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie/Paavo Järvi. Other highlights this season include engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic (Paavo Järvi), Munich Philharmonic (Zubin Mehta), Staatskapelle Dresden (Antonio Pappano), Philadelphia Orchestra and Rotterdam Philharmonic (Yannick NézetSéguin), Czech Philharmonic (Jakub Hrusa), Oslo Philharmonic and Vienna Symphony (David Afkham), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (Karina Canellakis) and Iceland Symphony (Daniel Blendulf). She will also travel to the Far East and Australia performing with Singapore, Sydney and New Zealand Symphony Orchestras. A devoted chamber musician, Janine joins Mischa Maisky, Martha Argerich, Itamar Golan and Lily Maisky for a major European chamber music tour. She also performs a number of recitals throughout Europe with pianists Alexander Gavrylyuk, Elisabeth Leonskaja and Kathryn Stott. Janine records exclusively for Decca Classics and since recording Vivaldi’s Four Seasons back in 2003 she has been extremely successful in the digital music charts. Her latest release, conducted by Antonio Pappano, features Bartók’s Violin Concerto No. 1 with London Symphony Orchestra and Brahms’ Violin Concerto with the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Janine has won numerous prizes, including four Edison Klassiek Awards, four ECHO Klassik awards and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik. She studied with Coosje Wijzenbeek, Philipp Hirshhorn and Boris Belkin. In 2003 Janine founded the hugely successful International Chamber Music Festival in Utrecht. After 13 years Janine stepped down from her position as Artistic Director in June 2016 and named cellist Harriet Krijgh as her successor. Janine Jansen plays the 1707 Stradivarius “Rivaz - Baron Gutmann” violin kindly on loan from Dextra Musica.
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SSO MU SICIANS 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, The GK Goh Chair 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* Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao 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^ Liu Hang^ Luo Biao Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Janice Tsai^ Yang Shi Li Yeo Jan Wea^ 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 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 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 Hoang Van Hoc^ Kartik Alan Jairamin
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
* 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 rotate their seats on a per programme basis.
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music i a n c h a ir s
igor yuzefovich Concertmaster The GK Goh Chair The GK Goh Chair is endowed by the Family and Friends of Mr Goh Geok Khim
GUO HAO Fixed Chair Cello The Fixed Chair Cello is supported by
CORPORATE SEAT S The Singapore Symphony Orchestra appreciates the support of companies in our Corporate Seats scheme. The scheme supports the Orchestra through regular attendance of subscription concerts. $20,000 and above Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (Pte) Ltd
Up to $10,000 Hong Leong Foundation Nomura Asset Management Singapore Ltd Prima Limited Santa Lucia Asset Management Stephen Riady Group of Foundations
This list is for donations from 1 Jun 2016 to 25 Aug 2017. For more information or to make a donation, please contact the Development & Sponsorship Team at 6602 4238 / 6602 4237 or peggykek@sso.org.sg.
he a r t f e lt t h a nk s to t he fa mily a nd F RIENDS of mr g oh g eok k him In appreciation of a major gift from the Family and Friends of Mr Goh Geok Khim on the occasion of his 85th birthday on 17 July 2017, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra is pleased to announce the naming of the SSO Concertmaster position, the GK Goh Chair.
Igor Yuzefovich Concertmaster The GK Goh Chair Endowed by the Family and Friends of Mr Goh Geok Khim
upcoming concerts
27 October 2017
Fri | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall
Subscription Concert
THE RING – AN ORCHESTRAL ADVENTURE KRISTJAN JÄRVI ShANgHAi Wonder (Singapore Premiere) SAINT-SAËNS Piano Concerto No. 5 in F major, Op. 103 “The Egyptian” WAGNER The Ring – An Orchestral Adventure (arr. Henk De Vlieger) Kristjan Järvi, conductor Jean-Yves Thibaudet, piano Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm | library@esplanade
Photo Credit: Pavel Baleff (Joerg Bongartz) Jürgen Frank (Diana Damrau) Nicolas Testé (Nicolas Testé)
1 November 2017
Wed | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall
SSO GALA • DIANA DAMRAU A Night At The Opera HIGHLIGHTS: ROSSINI “Una voce poco fa” from The Barber of Seville MEYERBEER “Nobles seigneurs” from Les Huguenots “Ombre légère” from Dinorah VERDI “Elle ne m’aime pas” from Don Carlo GOUNOD “Amour, ranime mon courage” from Romeo & Juliet BELLINI “O rendetemi la speme” from I puritani Pavel Baleff, conductor Diana Damrau, soprano Nicolas Testé, bass-baritone Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm | Esplanade Concert Hall Foyer
A S ta nding Ovat ion to our Donor s a nd sp ons or s PATRON SPONSOR
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Jean Sibelius ( 1865 - 1957 ) The Swan of Tuonela 10’00 The Finnish composer was named at birth Johan Christian Julius and called Janne. Upon seeing the business card of seafaring uncle that bore the French form of his name, the young man followed suit, and thus became known to the world as Jean Sibelius. His was not an easy childhood, as his father died of typhoid fever during a period of famine when he was not yet three. He had few memories of the man, but could recall sitting on his father’s lap looking at a picture of a swan. Sibelius originally conceived the music for The Swan of Tuonela as the overture to an opera based on the Kalevala, a 19th-century work of epic poetry drawn from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. The opera was never completed, but four of the poems became the basis for the Lemminkäinen Suite. The Swan of Tuonela was the first of the suite’s four tone poems to be completed, but was revised several times, with the final version dating from 1900. The suite had its premiere on 13 April 1896 with the composer conducting the Helsinki Philharmonic. The tone poem depicts a mythical place, which in the composer’s words is “Tuonela, the land of death, the hell of Finnish mythology, is surrounded by a large river of black waters and a rapid current, in which The Swan of Tuonela glides majestically, singing.” It begins with muted strings playing a series of A-minor chords, which then divide into as many as 17 different musical lines spanning over four octaves. The swan is portrayed by the cor anglais. A harp flourish in C major signifies a brief glimpse of sunlight, before the swan flies off into the darkness over the quiet beating of a drum to the accompaniment of string tremolos.
Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 31’00 Alex Ross, in The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century, wrote that “Sibelius was not merely the most famous composer Finland ever produced but the country’s chief celebrity in any field”. When asked to characterise their culture, Finns invariably mention, along with such national treasures as the lakeside sauna, Fiskars scissors, and Nokia cell phones, “our Sibelius”. Sibelius’ earliest compositions date from 1880 and a year later he began taking violin lessons. His ambition was to become a violin virtuoso, but such a late start on the instrument, together with his stage fright, thwarted these ambitions. Still, he was proficient enough to play in the Vienna Conservatory’s orchestra as a student, however an unsuccessful audition with the Vienna Philharmonic closed that door.
“I have got wonderful themes for the violin concerto.” He wrote to his wife Aino in 1899. It was a difficult time for the composer and his family, as his health was compromised by heavy drinking and smoking. In 1904, however, Aino could report that he was making progress. “He stays awake all night, plays incredibly beautifully, cannot tear himself away from the delightful melodies – he has so many ideas that it is hard to believe it. And all the themes are so capable of development, full of life.” The work was conceived with the German virtuoso Willy Burmester in mind as the soloist; Sibelius even considered dedicating it to him, but subsequent events ruled that out. Burmester was excited about the concerto. “Wonderful! Masterly!” he wrote. “Only once before have I spoken in such terms to a composer, and that was when Tchaikovsky showed me his concerto!” Financial pressures however dictated that the concerto be premiered as soon as possible, and Burmester was not available to perform it. The premiere on 8 February 1904 with Viktor Novácek as the soloist and the composer conducting was a disaster, with two subsequent performances faring little better. An influential critic and longtime supporter of the composer wrote that the concerto was a “mistake”. Burmester offered to perform the concerto, confident that his fame and skills would insure success, but Sibelius demurred, deciding that he need to rework it. His publisher arranged to have it performed the next year in Berlin under the baton of Richard Strauss, and Burmester was again passed over in favour of another violinist. Slighted twice, Burmester never performed the work. The concerto slowly gained in popularity, becoming world-famous when Jascha Heifetz recorded it with Thomas Beecham conducting the London Philharmonic in 1935. It is a notoriously difficult work for the violinist, even though in revising it, Sibelius simplified the solo part. He also condensed the score and toned down the ruggedness of the original version (which his wife preferred), in favour of a more lyrical quality. In the dark, brooding first movement, Sibelius wastes no time in introducing the solo violin, which launches into an expressive theme. The violin cadenza serves as the movement’s development section. In the original version, there was a second and even more difficult cadenza. Sibelius made few revisions to the slow, second movement. The stark, “mercifully beautiful” main theme is introduced by the solo violin and then repeated by the full orchestra. It is almost impossible to write of the third movement without invoking Donald Francis Tovey's description of it as “a polonaise for polar bears”. It is a fantastic dance pulsating with exciting and aggressive rhythms, all the while making extraordinary technical demands on the solo violinist. The concerto ends victoriously with the violin soaring into the heavens and a final chord from the orchestra.
Antonín DvoRák ( 1841 - 1904 ) Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 34’00 By the time Dvorák began to work on his Symphony No. 8 in the summer of 1889, he had suffered both great personal losses and achieved international fame. In 1873, he married Anna Cermáková and they would have nine children together, however within a very short period of time between 1875 and 1877 the three eldest died. Devastated by their deaths, Dvorák poured his grief into the Stabat Mater, the oratorio composed in 1880 which contributed greatly to his international renown in the ensuing years. His music was performed in the major music centres of Europe, including Vienna, Budapest, Leipzig, Berlin and especially London, where he was very popular. Dvorák would journey to Great Britain nine times, conducting the premiere of his sombre Symphony No. 7 with the Philharmonic Society in London in 1885. In 1891 he led a performance of the Stabat Mater and the Eighth Symphony at the University of Cambridge, when he was there to receive an honorary doctorate. Dvorák began work on his Eight Symphony during the summer of 1889 and finished it in a matter of weeks. Most of it was composed at his summer residence in Vysoka. There he was content to be with his family and as he stated at the time, the “melodies simply poured out of me”. The music also reflects his love of the natural beauty of the region and his deep affection for Czech folk music. It is all the more ironic then that this symphony has been referred to as his “English” symphony, but that has nothing to do with the music. Dvorák’s publisher, Simrock had paid him 3,000 marks for his Seventh Symphony but offered him just one-third of that amount for his next one. This reflected the economic reality that large-scale works were more expensive to publish and harder to market, as opposed to smaller-scaled ones such as piano collections and song. Dvorák was nonetheless insulted and wrote to Simrock stating “I shall simply do what beloved God tells me to do. That will surely be the best thing”. Apparently God told him to have the symphony published by Novello in London for much more money. Returning to the genre after four years, Dvorák was eager to compose something different from his other symphonies with the “individual thoughts worked out in a new way”. The first movement opens unexpectedly in G minor with a beautiful melody played on the cellos and winds that reoccurs throughout the movement. Tension builds as the theme develops, until it is released in a stormy climax played by blazing trumpets to the accompaniment of chromatic scales in the strings. Although the second movement opens solemnly, the movement grows in strength and grandeur to a magnificent climax. A brief dark, stormy passage is quickly dispelled by the return of the opening theme in the woodwinds. The third movement is an elegant intermezzo, which begins with a waltz in the violins and flute, followed by a folk-like tune in the oboe and bassoon. The rustic dance also serves as the basis for the coda, which ends in a sweet, cheerful note.
A trumpet fanfare announces the final movement. The cellos introduce the main theme, as they did in the opening movement. A series of variations follow in moods that range from sadly reflective to wildly exuberant. The composer yielded to audience expectations however, as the symphony ends with an exuberant coda brimming with energy. Dvorรกk conducted the premiere of his Eight Symphony in Prague on 2 February 1890. Two years later, he would depart for the New World.
Programme notes by Rick Perdian
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