LAN SHUI Music Director
subscription concert
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE 26 January 2018 Esplanade Concert Hall Performing Home of the SSO
Kazushi Ono, conductor Zhang Manchin, viola
26 Jan 2018, Fri
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE Singapore Symphony Orchestra Kazushi Ono, conductor
WILLIAM WALTON
Viola Concerto (1962 version) 27’00
1. Andante comodo 2. Vivo, con molto preciso 3. Allegro moderato
Zhang Manchin, viola
Intermission 20’00
Zhang Manchin will sign autographs in the stalls foyer
HECTOR BERLIOZ
Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14 49’00
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Rêveries, Passions A Ball Scene in the Country March to the Scaffold Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath
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 “Seascapes” album, two Debussy discs “La Mer” and “Jeux”, 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, Diana Damrau, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham.
K a z u shi Ono conductor
Kazushi Ono cherishes music’s power to bring people together. His manner in rehearsal, quiet and calm, exudes qualities of openness and receptivity. The conductor conveys complex messages in performance with effortless expressive gestures and a wisdom informed by his inexhaustible passion for making and exploring music with others. It is in his nature to unwind after conducting by playing through passages from the evening’s programme at the piano. Music, in short, has supplied the essential spirit of life since childhood. Kazushi Ono is Music Director of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Orquestra Simfònica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya. In 2016 he became Artistic Advisor to the New National Theatre Tokyo, a position that he will hold until September 2018, after which he will become the Theatre’s Artistic Director. From 2008 to 2017, Kazushi Ono maintained his position as Principal Conductor of Opéra National de Lyon, during which he attracted international critical acclaim with landmark performances of works such as Prokofiev’s The Gamblers, Berg’s Lulu and Wagner’s Parsifal, thus reinforcing the company’s reputation for creating a series of new productions, including the compelling double bill of Dallapiccola’s Il prigioniero and Schoenberg’s Erwartung (2013); Beethoven’s Fidelio, in Lyon and at the Edinburgh International Festival (2013); Britten’s Peter Grimes and The Turn of the Screw (2014); Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, Berlioz’s La Damnation de Faust (2015), and Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (2016). Following his tenure as Principal Conductor in Lyon, he was awarded the distinguished title of ‘Officier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres’ by French cultural minister Françoise Nyssen, adding to the prestigious Asahi Prize, given in January 2015, for his contribution to Japanese society. This award recognises individuals who have greatly contributed to the development and progress of Japanese culture and society at large. www.kazushiono.com
ZHANG MANCHIN viola
Zhang Manchin is Principal Violist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). In 1994, she was appointed Assistant Principal Viola of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra by Neeme Järvi, becoming its first Asian player and youngest member in its history. Zhang has worked closely with conductors and soloists such as Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Simon Rattle, Isaac Stern, Yo-Yo Ma and Pinchas Zukerman, amongst many others. She has been appointed Guest Principal Viola in orchestras in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Macau and has also played as soloist with the Xiamen, Shenzhen and Sichuan orchestras. A much sought-after chamber musician, Zhang performs regularly in chamber music concerts with SSO musicians and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music faculty. Born in Hunan, China, Zhang started her violin lessons at the age of five and entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at ten. She made her debut performance at 12, and in 1991, was a finalist in the Primrose International Viola Competition. As a violist of the Young Shanghai String Quartet, she won the 4th prize in the Portsmouth International String Quartet Competition in 1988. She completed her performance diploma in viola with highest honours at the Shanghai Conservatory and later accepted a full scholarship to work with Emanuel Vardi at the Manhattan School of Music. As an active visiting professor, Zhang has conducted masterclasses in major musical institutions in Asia. Zhang is also the Head of Viola Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Many of her students have won in international viola competitions and a number of them have been appointed positions in professional orchestras.
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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, 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 Ike See^ Principal Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair Kong Xianlong^ Nikolai Koval*
Lee Shi Mei^ 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 Linda Garrett^ Marietta Ku Luo Biao Julia Park Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Janice Tsai Wei Jun-Ting^ Yang Shi Li Yeo Jan Wea^ CELLO Ng Pei-Sian Principal Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Lin Juan^ Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er DOUBLE BASS Guennadi Mouzyka Principal Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Julian Li^ Ma Li Ming^ Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu
FLUTE
HORN
Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan
Han Chang Chou Principal Wu Tianxia^ Principal Gao Jian Associate Principal Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal Kartik Alan Jairamin
PICCOLO Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
TRUMPET OBOE Rachel Walker Principal Chi Yuen Cheng^ Principal Pan Yun Associate Principal Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo
Jon Paul Dante Principal David Smith Associate Principal Lau Wen Rong Sergey Tyuteykin TROMBONE
Elaine Yeo Associate Principal
Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong
CLARINET
BASS TROMBONE
Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping
Wang Wei Assistant Principal
COR ANGLAIS
BASS CLARINET
TUBA Hidehiro Fujita Principal Brett Stemple^
Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal
TIMPANI
BASSOON
Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal
Liu Chang Associate Principal Cheung King Lun^ Tamotsu Fujita^ Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue CONTRA BASSOON Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal
PERCUSSION Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Lim Meng Keh Zhu Zheng Yi HARP Gulnara Mashurova Principal Huang Yu Hsin^
*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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mu s ic 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
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2017 A nnu a l A p p e a l Donor s Special thanks to everyone who responded to our 2017 Annual Appeal. With your generous donations, we are able to subsidise more student tickets and continue to stage free public performances to share the love of music. $10,000 Prof Chan Heng Chee Devika and Sanjiv Misra Anonymous $2,000 to $5,000 Lionel Choi Dr AndrĂŠ Klein Eric Wong Chng Hak-Peng Prof Arnoud De Meyer Paterson Lau & Pauline Tan $1,000 Michelle Loh Igor Yuzefovich Aloha Dental Pte Ltd Pauline Ang Prof Kanti Bajpai Sally Chy Elizabeth Fong Guy Hentsch William Hernstadt Peggy Kek
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u p comi n g con c ert s
3 February 2018
Sat | 7.30pm Esplanade Concert Hall SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT
SHOSTAKOVICH CELLO CONCERTO NARONG PRANGCHAROEN Phenomenon SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 2 in G major, Op. 126 DVORÁK Symphony No. 6 in D major, Op. 60 Carlos Kalmar, conductor Jan Vogler, cello
2 March 2018
Fri | 7.30pm Victoria Concert Hall SUBSCRIPTION CONCERT
A IS FOR AIYAH MYSTERIES OF THE MACABRE DIANA SOH A is for Aiyah from ä bug i da (World Premiere) WEBERN Passacaglia, Op. 1 MAHLER Rückert-Lieder STRAVINSKY Symphony in Three Movements LIGETI Mysteries of the Macabre Jason Lai, conductor Élise Chauvin, soprano POST-CONCERT SYMPHONY CHAT
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W ILLIAM WALTON (19 0 2-19 8 3) Viola Concerto (1962 version)
27’00
For nearly two centuries, from the death of Henry Purcell in 1695 to the arrival on the scene of Edward Elgar in the late nineteenth century, England produced no native-born composer of note. Then suddenly, as if to make amends for this dearth, a veritable mountain range of exceptional talents appeared in a steady line strung out across the entire twentieth century. One of the towering peaks of this range was Sir William Walton (knighted in 1951), who lived nearly to the age of 81 and became known as something of a prophet in his own country, a composer “who inspired in the British public not just admiration or affection but real love” (Edward Greenfield, in his Gramophone obituary). Walton’s reputation outside of his homeland rests on the splendorous oratorio Belshazzar’s Feast, the witty Façade for chamber ensemble accompanying abstract poems of Edith Sitwell, and a handful of orchestral works including two symphonies and one concerto each for violin, viola and cello. To the British, he is also renowned for some of the best film scores ever written (Hamlet, Richard III, Henry V) and some overtly patriotic pieces like Crown Imperial and Orb and Sceptre (both coronation marches). Walton’s music is characterised by sensuous lyricism, a tonal orientation spiked with dissonance, steely brilliance, a fondness for major/minor ambiguities, and rhythmic virility sometimes tinged with jazz. He never associated with any school, esthetic cult or “ism”, nor could he be termed a radical or pioneer. Like all great composers, his music has an immediately identifiable quality that marks it unmistakably and exclusively his own. The Viola Concerto is representative of Walton at his best. It was composed in 1929, and marked his emergence from a promising young composer of bright, clever, vivacious music like Façade and Portsmouth Point Overture to mature artist. Here, for the first time, we find the unique blend of romantic melancholy, sardonic humour and nervous energy that became the Walton trademark. The first performance of the Concerto took place at a Promenade Concert in London on 3 October 1929, with Paul Hindemith as soloist and the composer conducting. In 1961, Walton revised the scoring, pairing down woodwinds from three to two and eliminating tuba and contrabassoon but adding an important part for harp.
Like his Violin and Cello Concertos, this one opens with the slowest of the three movements. In the first movement, both principal themes are introduced by the soloist, and both are melancholic and marked espressivo, though the second is somewhat more animated. Just before the second arrives, the soloist presents an important motif in parallel sixths, a motif that will return in numerous guises throughout all three movements. Walton exploits the soloist’s warmly romantic and richly expressive lower range, but also sends the instrument scampering about several octaves higher as well. The second movement is witty, brilliant, full of hard-edged rhythms, spiky dissonances and an almost jazzy spring. The soloist gets to indulge in some unabashed virtuosity, including triple and quadruple stops (three and four notes played simultaneously), moto perpetuo passages and rollercoaster scales. After the virtuosity of the central movement, the finale brings with it a feeling of composure and relaxation, though not without a continuing strain of playfulness. The jaunty opening theme, as announced first by solo bassoon, then solo viola, is a case in point. The second principal theme (viola in parallel sixths accompanied by harp and bassoon) is more lyrical and pensive. The movement proceeds through a development of both ideas, culminating in a virtuosic display for full orchestra. The last word goes to the soloist. In a quiet epilogue of haunting beauty, melodic strands from both outer movements are combined in Walton’s characteristic meshing of major and minor tonalities. The viola breathes its final sighs to the all-important sequence of parallel sixths.
RECOMMENDED LISTENING 1) Britten: Violin Concerto / Walton: Viola Concerto Maxim Vengerov, Mstislav Rostropovich and London Symphony Orchestra (EMI, 2003)
www.singaporeviolincompetition.com
SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION 2018 Asia’s Grand Prix for the World’s Best Emerging Violinists 28 January – 8 February 2018 YONG SIEW TOH CONSERVATORY CONCERT HALL First Round Semi-Finals
28-30 January 1-3 February
DISTINGUISHED ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE: SHLOMO MINTZ Recital
31 January
VICTORIA CONCERT HALL
Finals 5-6 February Featuring Conservatory Orchestra conducted by Shlomo Mintz
ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL
Grand Final 8 February Featuring Singapore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Joshua Tan
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HECTOR B ERLIOZ (18 0 3 -18 6 9) Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
49’00
1. Rêveries, Passions – Largo; Allegro agitato e appassionato assai 2. A Ball – Waltz: Allegro non troppo 3. Scene in the Country – Adagio 4. March to the Scaffold – Allegretto non troppo 5. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath – Larghetto; Allegro “All modern programmists have built upon him – Liszt, Richard Strauss and Tchaikovsky. Wagner felt his influence. … He is the real beginner of that interpenetration of music and poetic idea which has transformed modern art.” Thus did Ernest Newman eulogise Hector Berlioz, whose Symphonie fantastique stands at the pinnacle of the genre known as the “programme symphony.” By the composer’s own admission, Goethe’s Faust contributed to the inspiration that produced the Symphonie fantastique. According to biographer Jacques Barzun, Faust represented to the impressionable young composer “genius in all its greatness”. The power and originality of Beethoven’s symphonies, especially the Eroica, and the depth of vision embodied in the Shakespeare plays also fed Berlioz’s emotional and psychic appetite. But by far the strongest and most direct influence on the composition of the symphony was a young Shakespearean actress, Harriet Smithson, who appeared in Paris as Ophelia and Juliet in productions by a touring company from England. When Berlioz first saw her on stage on 11 September 1827, he was so overwhelmed and consumed with passion for her that he became like a man possessed. His physical and mental turmoil are extravagantly expressed in numerous letters, from which the following excerpt is characteristic: “I am again plunged in the anguish of an interminable and inextinguishable passion, without motive, without cause. … I hear my heart beating, and its pulsations shake me as the piston strokes of a steam engine. Each muscle of my body shudders with pain. In vain! ‘Tis terrible! Oh unhappy one!” All this, three years after he had first laid eyes on Harriet, and Berlioz still hadn’t met her face to face!
In a heroic gesture designed to attract her attention to his burning love, this most romantic of Romantics wrote his Fantastic Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist to prove to her that he too was a dramatic artist. The performance took place on 5 December 1830, though Harriett apparently was unaware of the event. Two years later, Berlioz revised the symphony and created a long sequel, Lélio, or The Return to Life, preceded by an extended spoken monologue. He mounted a production of this triple bill, contriving through friends to have Harriet in attendance this time. This event took place on 9 December 1832. The ruse worked: Berlioz eventually met Harriet and married her a few months later, but it was not a happy union, and they separated after a decade, by which time Berlioz already had a mistress. The most prominent autobiographical element of the score is the use of the idée fixe (“fixed idea”), a melody that recurs throughout each of the five movements in varying guises – fervent, beatific, distant, restless, diabolical, etc., depending on the changing scene. This idée fixe (a term borrowed not from music but from the then-new science of psychology) actually operates on two levels, for it can also be regarded as a quasi-psychological fixation which possesses the music as it possesses the thoughts of the artist of the programme. The drug-induced fantasy world of the symphony is only one of its unusual and original aspects. Not just the content, but the degree of detail Berlioz provided paved the way for the tone poems of Liszt and Strauss. Another novelty was the use of the orchestra as a giant virtuoso instrument for the conductor to play upon. (The concept of conducting as a role apart from instrumental participation was still in its infancy.) But above all, it is the myriad examples of orchestral effects and tonal colours that make this work so endlessly fascinating: the otherworldly wisps of sound high in the violins in the slow introduction; the distant, plaintive oboe and English horn calls, and the threatening thunderstorm heard on four differently-tuned timpani in the third movement; the terrifying brass and drum effects in the March; the grisly scrapings and twitterings in the introduction of the last movement, followed by the diabolical parody of the idée fixe in the high E-flat clarinet accompanied by a galloping figure on four bassoons; then comes the Dies irae theme in the tubas, accompanied by deep bells …the list could go on and on …
Programme notes by Robert Markow
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Ms Michelle Yeo (Head) Ms Erin Tan
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 Md Fariz bin Samsuri Mr Radin Sulaiman bin Ali LIBRARY Mr Lim Lip Hua Ms Priscilla Neo PROGRAMMES (SSO) Ms Kua Li Leng (Head) Ms Teo Chew Yen Ms Jolene Yeo Community Outreach Ms Kathleen Tan Ms Vanessa Lee Choral Programmes Ms Regina Lee Ms Whitney Tan
DEVELOPMENT & PARTNERSHIPS Ms Peggy Kek (Head) Corporate Communications Ms Leong Wenshan Development & Sponsorship Mr Anthony Chng Ms Nikki Chuang Mr Chris Yong MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Ms Cindy Lim (Head) Mr Chia Han-Leon Ms Myrtle Lee Ms Jana Loh Ms Hong Shu Hui Ms Melissa Tan Ms Cheryl Pek Ms Khairani Basman Ms Dacia Cheang Ms Nur Shafiqah bte Othman CORPORATE SERVICES Mr Rick Ong (Head) Mr Alan Ong (Finance) Ms Goh Hoey Fen (Finance) Mr Md Zailani bin Md Said
HUMAN RESOURCES & ADMINISTRATION Mr Desmen Low Ms Melissa Lee Ms Evelyn Siew 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
SUPPORTED BY
PATRON SPONSOR
Tote Board Group
OFFICIAL AIRLINE
OFFICIAL HOTEL
OFFICIAL TRAINING PARTNER
OFFICIAL RADIO STATION
OFFICIAL OUTDOOR MEDIA PARTNER
OFFICIAL POSTAGE SPONSOR
SPONSORS
LEE FOUNDATION
The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee and registered under the Charities Act.
SSO.ORG.SG