SSO Chamber Series: Russian at Heart

RUSSIAN AT HEART

1 April 2018 Victoria Concert Hall

RUSSIAN AT HEART Yang Zheng Yi, artistic administrator Alina Ibragimova, violin Ye Lin, violin Zhang Manchin, viola Gu Bing Jie, viola* Ng Pei-Sian, cello Guennadi Mouzyka, double bass Pan Yun, oboe Li Xin, clarinet Gulnara Mashurova, harp

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY Adagio Molto in E-flat major for String Quartet and Harp 6’00

SERGEI PROKOFIEV Quintet in G minor, Op. 39 22’00 * 1.

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Moderato Andante energico Allegro sostenuto, ma con brio Adagio pesante Allegro precipitato, ma non troppo presto Andantino

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73 33’00 1.

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Allegretto Moderato con moto Allegro non troppo Adagio Moderato

Alina Ibragimova will sign autographs in the stalls foyer after the concert.

ALINA IBRAGIMOVA violin Performing music from Baroque to new commissions on both modern and period instruments, Alina Ibragimova has established a reputation as one of the most accomplished and intriguing violinists of her generation.

Highlights among recent concerto engagements include debuts with the Boston Symphony, Montreal Symphony, Deutsches SymphonieOrchester Berlin, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, returns with the London Symphony, London Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestra of Europe as well as extensive touring in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Tasmania Symphony Orchestras).

Over the next two seasons, concerto engagements will include debuts with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks (Ticciati), Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (Gardiner), RundfunkSinfonieorchester Berlin (Jurowski), Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony, as well as returns with the Montreal Symphony and London Symphony Orchestras, Chamber Orchestra of Europe (Haitink), Swedish Radio Symphony (Harding), Singapore Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Bergen Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic and Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Jurowski). Alina will also return to Australia for a major tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra.

Born in Russia in 1985, Alina studied at the Moscow Gnesin School before moving with her family to the UK in 1995 where she studied at the Yehudi Menuhin School and Royal College of Music. Alina has been the recipient of awards including the Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist Award 2010, the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award 2008, the Classical BRIT Young Performer of the Year Award 2009 and was a member of the BBC New Generation Artists Scheme 2005-2007. She was made an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2016 New Year Honours List. Alina records for Hyperion Records and performs on a c.1775 Anselmo Bellosio violin kindly provided by Georg von Opel.

YE LIN violin SSO violinist Ye Lin graduated from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore in 2007, where she studied with Qian Zhou.

A National Arts Council Conservatory music scholar, she won the First Prize in the Violin Open Category of the 2005 Singapore National Piano and Violin Competition and at the First Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concerto Competition in 2004. Ye Lin started learning the violin when she was five. From 1991 to 2000 she studied at the primary and middle schools attached to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She was a member of the Asian Youth Orchestra from 2001 to 2002. In 2003 she was awarded the Diploma in Music by the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. In 2006 she was selected to study with Victor Danchenko at the Peabody Institute at John Hopkins University under an exchange programme.

ZHANG MANCHIN viola Zhang Manchin is the Principal Violist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She was the first Asian player and youngest member in the history of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) when she was appointed Assistant Principal Viola by Neeme Järvi in 1994. During her tenure at the DSO, she was a resident artist at the Interlochen Center for the Arts, a member of the DSO Chamber Music Ensemble and DSO String Quartet, and also worked with the Detroit Chamber Winds and the Chamber Music Festival at Blue Lake in Great Michigan area.

Born in Hunan, China, Zhang entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the age of 10 and gave her debut performance at the age of 12. After completing her Performance Diploma in Viola with highest honours, she was accepted as a student of Emanuel Vardi at the Manhattan School of Music under full scholarship. In 1991 she was a finalist in the Primrose International Viola Competition. With the Young Shanghai String Quartet, she won 4th prize in the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition (1988) and 3rd prize in the Prague International Competition for String Quartet (1987). Zhang Manchin is Head of Viola Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. She is also a much sought-after chamber musician and active visiting professor.

GU BING JIE viola Gu Bing Jie is currently the Fixed Chair Violist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She has toured all over the world performing in the most prestigious concert halls including Berlin’s Philharmonie Hall, London’s Royal Festival Hall, Munich’s Herkulessaal, Beijing’s National Centre for Performing Arts, Shanghai Oriental Concert Hall, and the Esplanade Concert Hall and Victoria Concert Hall in Singapore where the SSO is based. A graduate of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music under Zhang Manchin, Gu Bing Jie was awarded Second Prize at the YST Concerto Competition. In June 2015, she was invited to join London’s Philharmonia Orchestra for an Asian tour under Russian conductor Vladimir Ashkenazy. Gu plays on a viola by Luigi Santamaria, Rome 1948, generously on loan from the Rin Collection.

NG PEI-SIAN cello Ng Pei-Sian was Commonwealth Musician of the Year in 2007, and winner of the Gold Medal and First Prize at the 55th Royal OverSeas League Music Competition held in London. He has performed concertos with the major Australian symphony orchestras, Malaysian Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Estonian National Symphony and Oulu Symphony, among others. Born in Sydney in 1984, Ng began studies in Adelaide with Barbara Yelland and later with Janis Laurs at the Elder Conservatorium of Music before winning the Elder Overseas Scholarship to study under Ralph Kirshbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, where he was awarded the RNCM Gold Medal. In 2014, Ng performed Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Variations with the Orchestra of the Music Makers under Chan Tze Law and Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under Arvo Volmer as part of the 2014 Adelaide International Cello Festival. Ng Pei-Sian is currently Principal Cellist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and faculty member at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. He performs on a 1764 Giovanni Antonio Marchi cello, Bologna.

GUENNADI MOUZYKA double bass Guennadi Mouzyka was born in Vladikavkaz, Russia. He studied double bass in Moscow with well-known teachers: V. Shulepina, M. Fokin, G. Favorsky and E. Kolosov. He started his career as solo bassist for the Moscow Region Chamber Orchestra in 1979.

Upon graduation with Honours from Tchaikovsky Moscow State Conservatoire in 1982 he worked for renowned Russian orchestras - The USSR Ministry Of Culture State Symphony Orchestra under G. Rozhdestvensky and the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was Sub-Principal Double-Bassist. With these orchestras he has performed in many countries in Europe, America and Asia. Guennadi joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 1992.

PAN YUN oboe Pan Yun grew up in a musical family. He began piano lessons at the age of six with his parents who are piano professors at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He started to learn the oboe at the age of 13 with Zhu Dun, followed by oboe studies with Bai Yu at the Central Conservatory of Music, China from 1980 to 1984. He attained the Bachelor’s degree in 1984 and went to Northern Illinois University, USA on full scholarship for a Master’s degree, studying with Carl Sonic.

He joined SSO in 1985 as Associate Principal Oboist.

LI XIN clarinet Li Xin studied music and clarinet performance at the Conservatory of Music in Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore and Switzerland. He was among the first group of six students chosen for the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Fellowship Programme at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, USA, where he received coaching from clarinetists in the Philadelphia Orchestra and professors at The Juilliard School.

In 2007, he continued his studies in Geneva, Zurich and Lyon, and joined the Orchestra of Zurich Opera and the Orchester Musikkollegium Winterthur in Switzerland as a freelance musician.

Li Xin has won prizes at the National Clarinet Competition in Beijing and the “Shanghai Spring” International Music Festival in 2001, at age 16. He has performed with conservatory orchestras in China, Singapore and the USA, as well as the Asian Youth Orchestra, CISMA Festival Orchestra, Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and Macao Orchestra.

Li Xin is also active with Clarinet Concord, his own clarinet quartet formed in Singapore in 2013.

GULNARA MASHUROVA harp Gulnara Mashurova was born in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She started piano studies at the age of six and by age nine was chosen to study harp at the Pre Moscow Conservatory with Natalia Sibor. From 1991 to 1993 she studied with Vera Dulova at the Moscow Conservatory. Mashurova received a Bachelor and Master’s degree in Harp Performance from The Juilliard School as a Jerome Green full scholarship recipient studying under Nancy Allen, Principal Harpist of the New York Philharmonic.

She received her second Masters in Orchestra Performance with a full scholarship from the Manhattan School of Music studying under Deborah Hoffman, former Principal Harpist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

Mashurova was a regular substitute with the New York Philharmonic both in live performances and recordings and has toured extensively with the orchestra. She has performed with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Suspeso Contemporary Ensemble, Absolute Ensemble, Stamford Symphony, Empire State Opera and the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma. In 2003, Mashurova joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as Principal Harpist and is on the faculty of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 – 1893)

Adagio Molto in E-flat major for String Quartet and Harp 6’00 The 19-year-old Tchaikovsky graduated from the Imperial School of Jurisprudence in St. Petersburg in 1859 and spent three years in the civil service. Around the same time, Anton Rubinstein and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna, Tsar Alexander II’s aunt, set up the Russian Musical Society, which provided the first opportunities in Russia to receive professional training in music. The groundwork carried out by the Society eventually gave rise to the establishment of the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1862, and the Moscow Conservatory in 1866.

Tchaikovsky started attending classes at the Society in 1861 and joined the first class of the St. Petersburg Conservatory the following year. While a student at the Conservatory, he arranged orchestral versions of Beethoven’s Tempest and Kreutzer sonatas, and wrote several works, including this Adagio Molto around 1863-1864.

Scored for string quartet and harp, the Adagio Molto was only published more than a hundred years later in 1967, and remains a curiosity. While just over 5 minutes in length, it points the way forward to Tchaikovsky’s gorgeous orchestra and harp scenes – such as the grand Pas de deux from Act 2 of the Nutcracker – that were to come.

SERGEI PROKOFIEV (1891 – 1953)

Quintet in G minor, Op. 39 22’00 Born in 1891, Prokofiev also enrolled at the St. Petersburg Conservatory in 1904 and spent 10 years there. He travelled extensively in London and Paris, and fled the chaos of the First World War and the Bolshevik Revolution for America in May 1918.

The dancer-choreographer Boris Romanov had been introduced to Prokofiev via Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballet Russes. In 1924, he asked Prokofiev – who was by then based in Paris – to compose music for a ballet depicting scenes in a circus.

Unfortunately, Romanov had almost no money for this project, and thus costly musical resources such as an orchestra were not available. Nevertheless, Prokofiev accepted this, and recounted that he accepted “a commission to compose a ballet for a roving dance troupe which wished to present a program of several short pieces accompanied by five instruments. I proposed a quintet consisting of oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, and double bass. The simple plot, based on circus life, was titled Trapeze.”

Trapeze proved to be too difficult for the dancers, and Prokofiev reworked the material into a quintet. With irregular rhythms and abundant use of polytonal harmonies, it is not surprising that the challenges set out by the music might have seemed unsurmountable to the under-resourced dancers. The music is, however, highly characteristic of Prokofiev’s compositional style at that time – exhibited in the frenzied Second Symphony he had just completed.

Written in six movements, the Quintet opens with a Theme and Variations. The oboe presents a folkish theme with many “wrong notes”, before it morphs into a lullaby and then a quick-fire, fanciful variation with many instrumental effects and glissandi.

The oboe theme brings the movement to a more controlled end.

The double bass opens the second movement before the other instruments join in with a slow, awkward dance. Complicated rhythms come to the forefront in the third movement, with eccentric groupings of beats throughout. Perhaps stung by the difficulty and rejection of Trapeze, Prokofiev provided an alternate version of this movement, with the same music grouped more conventionally, in case the musicians needed some help.

The oboe, clarinet, and violin take turns singing a melancholic melody in the fourth movement, before the sarcastic fifth movement interrupts, replete with instrumental effects and mocking interjections throughout. The final movement, which comprises a slow minuet and a faster jig, concludes in an eccentric rush to the end.

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906 – 1975)

String Quartet No. 3 in F major, Op. 73 33”00 After the Bolshevik Revolution, the 13-year-old Shostakovich, who was 15 years Prokofiev’s junior, enrolled in the St. Petersburg – which by then had been renamed Petrograd – Conservatory in 1919. The city was to endure remarkable hardship in subsequent decades, culminating in the calamitous Siege of Leningrad (to which the city had been renamed in 1924) between 1941 and 1944, which was immortalised in Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony.

After the Second World War, Shostakovich wrote just one piece in 1946 – his Third String Quartet. Like the Ninth Symphony of 1945, the Third String Quartet is in five movements, for which Shostakovich originally provided evocative subtitles.

Again, like the Ninth Symphony, the Quartet’s first movement opens with a light, classically styled theme, which someone like Haydn may have written. Shostakovich requested that the movement be played tenderly and not with force. While there are brief moments of unease, the movement nonetheless evokes “calm unawareness of the future cataclysm”, as Shostakovich observes a formal sonata form, complete with double fugue in the development section. The uneasy feeling is given more definition in the menacing viola ostinato of the second movement, as “rumblings of unrest and anticipation” begin.

Shostakovich’s biting scherzo tells us that “the forces of war are unleashed”.

Opening with an intense statement over several vehement interjections, this seems to prefigure the scherzo of the Tenth Symphony. A viola-led statement provides sarcastic side commentary to the violence unleashed.

Marked “Adagio”, a despairing passacaglia (a series of variations over a recurring bass line) pays “homage to the dead”, with the strings lamenting the senseless loss of lives, and paints a despondent and hopeless picture. A mysteriously searching cello melody opens the finale. The violin sings an ambivalent tune and some of the humour of the first movement is recalled in a lighter moment. All these mixed feelings fade away as the tragic lamentation of the passacaglia reappears, and Shostakovich asks “the eternal question: why and to what purpose?” The opening themes reappear, bereft of joviality, and merge into a subdued threnody.

Programme notes by Christopher Cheong

UPCOMING CONCERTS AT THE VICTORIA CONCERT HALL 8 April 2018, 4pm

In Every Corner Sing Partake in Vaughan Williams’ Five Mystical Songs and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms with the Singapore Bible College Community Choir conducted by Joel Navarro and accompanied by Margaret Chen on the organ. Joining them are Eudenice Palaruan (baritone), Mikey Robinson (boy soprano), Katryna Tan (harp) and Lim Meng Keh (percussion).

FREE ADMISSION

12 May 2018, 7.30pm | 13 May 2018, 4pm

La Voix Humaine La Voix Humaine by Francis Poulenc – based on Jean Cocteau’s play – is a heartwrenching one-act opera about a woman’s telephone conversation with her exlover. Directed by Cultural Medallion winner Ivan Heng, and performed by soprano Jennifer Lien and pianist Shane Thio, with multimedia artist Brian Gothong Tan – this is a thrilling theatrical event that’s not to be missed.

TICKETS FROM $28

18 & 19 May 2018, 7.30pm

The Glory of Baroque From Gabrieli to Handel, take a trip with UK period instrument violinist Peter Hanson through the elegance and riches of the Baroque greats, whose genius is displayed in their rich writing for voice and instrument. Also featured are concerti grosso, arias and lively dance-operas, works that deserve your listening ear.

TICKETS AT $20

16 June 2018, 4pm

Celestial Pipes Join sand artist Lawrence Koh as he animates The Planets by Gustav Holst in a celestial collaboration with organist Winfried Bönig. Winfried Bönig will also captivate you with works by J.S. Bach and Charles-Marie Widor!

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