Debussy and Dvořák

SSO subscription concert

Debussy and Dvoล รกk 5 May 2017 FRI | ESPLANADE concert hall Performing Home of the SSO

LAN SHUI Music Director

5 MAY 2017 | FRI

Debussy and Dvořák Singapore Symphony Orchestra Lan Shui, conductor

CLAUDE DEBUSSY Marche écossaise sur un thème populaire

7’00

Danse sacrée et danse profane for harp and strings

9’00

Gulnara Mashurova, harp Printemps

15’00

1. Très modéré 2. Modéré

Intermission 20’00

ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

40’00

1. Allegro 2. Adagio ma non troppo 3. Finale: Allegro moderato Wang Jian, cello

Concert duration: 1 hr 45 mins Let’s go green. Digital programme booklets are available on www.sso.org.sg.

Scan the QR code in the foyer to view a copy.

Singapore Symphony Orchestra 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 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.

“A fine display of orchestral bravado for the SSO and Shui” The Guardian

Lan 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 SymphonieOrchester 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.

SUPERCHARGED SUNDAYS AT OSCAR’S Supercharge your afternoons at Oscar’s Sunday Brunch, from freshly shucked oysters, Boston lobsters, to premium roast London duck and free flow champagne. Balance all that indulgence at the 4 metre-long salad bar, chilled shakes and organic pastas prepared by chefs at the theatrical stations.

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WANG JIAN

cello

Wang Jian began to study the cello with his father when he was four. While still a student at the Shanghai Conservatoire, he was featured in the celebrated documentary film From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. Stern’s support paved the way for him to study at the Yale School of Music with Aldo Parisot.

Recent and future highlights include concerts with the Munich Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Toronto Symphony and Swedish Chamber Orchestras. He has a regular relationship with the Hallé Orchestra with whom he has performed in the UK and China. Wang also performs with the Singapore Symphony and Hong Kong, Seoul and Osaka Philharmonic Orchestras.

Amongst his many high profile concerts in China, he has played for the President and opened the season for the China Philharmonic, Shanghai Symphony and Macau Symphony Orchestras. He has also played with the China National Orchestra, Hangzhou Symphony and performed the complete Bach Cello Suites at the National Centre for Performing Arts in Beijing.

Wang has performed with many of the world’s leading symphony orchestras including New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, Royal Concertgebouw, Zurich Tonhalle, Stockholm Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris and NHK Symphony. He has also played at many festivals, included Verbier (Switzerland), Miyazaki (Japan), the BBC Proms (UK), Tanglewood and Mostly Mozart (USA).

He has an extensive discography with Deutsche Grammophon, including the Bach Cello Suites. His instrument is graciously loaned to him by the family of the late Mr Sau-Wing Lam.

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 1991–1993 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. Mashurova can be heard on recordings with the New York Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, The Silk Road Ensemble, NHK Japan and the Absolute Ensemble. She has appeared as a soloist with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Flagstaff Symphony and the Thailand Philharmonic.

In 2006 and 2007 Mashurova travelled to her native Kazakhstan to promote harp repertoire by performing concertos, recitals and chamber music. In 1994 she was a finalist in the World International Harp Competition in Wales, Cardiff. She has participated in the Pacific Music Festival, Norfolk Music Festival, Spoleto Festival, USA and Spoleto Festival, Italy.

In 2003, Mashurova joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as Principal Harpist and is on the faculty of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music.

Mashurova performs on a Lyon and Healy Style 23 harp.

SSO Musicians Lan Shui

Jason Lai

Joshua Tan

Choo Hoey

Okko Kamu

Lim Yau

MUSIC DIRECTOR

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

CONDUCTOR EMERITUS

PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR

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 Ikuko Takahashi^ Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe

Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Tong Yi Ping Janice Tsai^ Yang Shi Li Zhao Yu^

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

SECOND VIOLIN Sha Katsouris^ Principal Michael Loh Associate Principal Hai-Won Kwok Fixed Chair Nikolai Koval* Priscilla Neo 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*

DOUBLE BASS Guennadi Mouzyka Principal Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Raffael Bietenhader^ Ma Li Ming^ Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu

FLUTE Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan

VIOLA

PICCOLO

Zhang Manchin Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Ho Ying Ying^ Marietta Ku Luo Biao

Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal

OBOE Rachel Walker Principal Pan Yun Associate Principal Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo

COR ANGLAIS

TROMBONE

Elaine Yeo Associate Principal

Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong

CLARINET Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping

BASS CLARINET

BASS TROMBONE Wang Wei Assistant Principal

TUBA Hidehiro Fujita Principal

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

TIMPANI Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal

PERCUSSION Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Mark De Souza Lim Meng Keh Zhu Zheng Yi

HARP Gulnara Mashurova Principal

PIANO Shane Thio^ Principal Aya Sakou^

TRUMPET Jon Paul Dante Principal David Smith Associate Principal Lertkiat Chongjirajitra^ Sergey Tyuteykin

* 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.

Supporting the Local Arts and Cultural Scene Partner of SSO since 1978 NSL is a long-standing sponsor for Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). We have been instrumental in helping the Orchestra reach out to the community-at-large as SSO brings music to the world.

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Musicians’ Chair The Singapore Symphony Orchestra thanks the following organisations for supporting our Musicians’ Chair Programme. The programme supports artistic excellence initiatives in the orchestra’s annual operations.

Principal Cello

Ng Pei-Sian

FIXED CHAIR, Cello

Guo Hao

CORPORATE SEATS 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 Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Singapore $10,000 and above Hong Leong Foundation Stephen Riady Group of Foundations Nomura Asset Management Singapore Ltd Prima Limited

1979 FUND The Singapore Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following corporations and individuals for their contributions towards the 1979 Fund.

The 1979 Fund is a campaign for contribution to the SSO Endowment Fund.

Allen & Gledhill LLP Stephen Riady Group of Foundations United Overseas Bank Limited Mrs Odile Benjamin Ms Cham Gee Len Prof Cham Tao Soon Mr Chng Hak-Peng Mr Chng Kai Jin Mr Goh Yew Lin Mr Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh Ms Liew Wei Li Prof Arnoud De Meyer Mr S R Nathan Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao Dr Tan Chin Nam Ms Tan Choo Leng Mr Wong Nang Jang Prof Chan Heng Chee Anonymous For more information or to make a donation, please contact the Development & Sponsorship Team at 6602 4238 / 6602 4237 or peggykek@sso.org.sg.

U P COM ING CONCERT S

19 & 20 May 17 | FRI & SAT, 7.30pm VICTORIA Concert Hall

SSO Gala: Beethoven Violin Concerto • Crusell Sinfonia Concertante Lan Shui conductor Frank Peter Zimmermann violin Ma Yue clarinet Han Chang Chou horn Zhang Jin Min bassoon SSO brings its spectacular season to a close with Beethoven’s crown jewel, the Violin Concerto in D major performed in the capable hands of Frank Peter Zimmermann, and the delightful triple concerto by Finnish-Swedish composer Bernhard Crusell featuring old friends Ma Yue, Han Chang Chou and Zhang Jin Min, who will step down as Principal Bassoon after this season. The concert opens with music by Singaporean composer Jeremiah Li. ”Gorgeously ripe tone, easy swagger and intoxicating range of colour“ – Gramophone on Frank Peter Zimmermann

JEREMIAH LI Senbonzakura Gossamer Shrouds the Tal (commissioned by the SSO)

CRUSELL Sinfonia concertante in B-flat major, Op. 3 BEETHOVEN Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61

Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm-7pm I VCH Music Studio @ L3 Post-Concert Symphony Chat Sat, 20 May 2017 I Victoria Concert Hall, stalls level

SSChi l dr ens Choi r

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CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862-1918)

Marche écossaise sur un thème populaire

7’00

One could attend symphony concerts for a lifetime and never hear the Marche écossaise sur un thème populaire (”Scottish March on a Popular Theme“). The strange little piece that opens tonight’s program sounds only remotely like the Debussy we are familiar with through works like La Mer, Images, or the Nocturnes. Drone-like effects suggest Scottish bagpipes. The only clue that it might be by Debussy is the constantly changing orchestration, not generally a characteristic of marches.

This obscure, rarely-heard March was originally composed for piano duet in 1891 upon commission from one General John Meredith Read. Read was American, but was descended from the Scottish Ross clan. He was appointed consul-general to France in 1869. Read wanted a march based on the traditional melody of the Ross clan, the melody played by the Band of Pipers on festive occasions and in battle, but this is hardly what Debussy gave him.

The march tune is present most of the time, but what Debussy does with it is scarcely march-like in spirit until near the end. The title could have more appropriately been “Adventures and Transformations of a March Tune”. The central section marked Calme might seem at first to introduce new material, but no, it consists of still more transformations of the march melody. The final section has a march-like swagger, but even here Debussy thwarts our preconception of what a march should be by replacing the traditional march meter of 2/4 and its associated “um-pah um-pah” with something different: 6/8 (two groups of three).

Debussy orchestrated the March in 1908, at which point the title became simply Marche écossaise, but he waited until 1913 to hear it played at a rehearsal conducted by Désiré-Emile Inghelbrecht.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Danse sacrée et danse profane for harp and strings

9’00

The harp one sees on the concert stage today is known as the double-action pedal harp, invented around 1810 by the Parisian piano firm of Érard. Unlike the piano, which has a string for every note of the chromatic scale, the harp’s strings are tuned only to the notes of the diatonic major scale (the equivalent of all the white notes on the piano); to reach additional notes, the harpist must rely on the seven pedals, each of which can be set in two different notches (hence, “double-action”), raising the pitch of a string by either a semitone or a full tone.

In 1897, another Parisian piano maker, Pleyel, sought to simplify this system by introducing a “chromatic harp” consisting of a separate string for every pitch and no pedals. The strings of the chromatic harp were arranged in two overlapping rows, one for each hand. In 1904, Pleyel commissioned Debussy to write a test piece for students of this instrument at the Brussels Conservatoire.

Debussy responded with the Danse sacrée et danse profane (”Sacred and Secular Dances“).

The chromatic harp was not deemed a success, and it became obsolete within two decades. But the exquisite Danse sacrée et danse profane has survived, and is now a repertory favourite played on the standard pedal harp. The first performance was given in Paris on 6 November 1904 at the Concerts Colonne with Lucille Wurmser-Delcourt as the soloist. The dedication went to Gustave Lyon, the actual designer of the chromatic harp.

After a brief introduction by strings, the harp presents a chordal theme which is then developed and decked out with chromatic touches for the Danse sacrée. Lines for both harp and strings move mostly stepwise throughout, evoking images of ritual chant and incantations. The Danse profane moves to a somewhat quicker pace in waltz rhythm. Strings steal in with a gently undulating theme that recurs periodically. The harp writing is more varied and adventurous here, but the solo instrument never plays a full presentation of the theme; instead it weaves gentle arabesques around it and invents decorations of gossamer delicacy.

CLAUDE DEBUSSY

Printemps

15’00

Early in 1885, having won the coveted Prix de Rome, 23-year-old Debussy left Paris to take up residency at the Villa Medici. But he quickly became profoundly disillusioned with the terms of the Prix. Living conditions were uncomfortable, petty rivalry was rife among the other residents, and worst of all, he was expected to send periodically back to Paris samples of academically correct work (envois). He managed to send one envoi, and then decided to terminate his Roman sojourn after the second year. To assuage the authorities, he hastily composed a second envoi, which was Printemps (”Spring“), his earliest completed orchestral work.

Debussy professed that his intent in Printemps was “somehow to express the slow, agonising birth of beings and of objects in nature, then the gradual blossoming, and finally an outburst of joy at being reborn to a new life”. This sounds remarkably similar to Stravinsky’s description of the genesis of his Sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring), written 26 years later. Presumably, however, Debussy’s inspiration really came from a totally benign source, Botticelli’s famous painting Primavera. In any case, Debussy’s Printemps has nothing to do with a musical depiction of a season or nature. The title merely alludes to the general concept of growth, the growth of an initial theme (played in the opening bars by flute and piano) as it flowers throughout the orchestra in different colours, rhythms, moods and melodic shapes.

Printemps reveals a composer who has not quite yet found his own voice (the concluding march-like section sounds more like Saint-Saëns than Debussy), but many of Debussy’s fingerprints of style can nevertheless be detected in what was still the spring of his own career. The first performance in the form we hear it tonight (a re-orchestration by Henri Büsser) took place on 18 April 1913 (just five weeks before the premiere of Stravinsky’s Sacre) at a concert of the Société nationale de musique in Paris.

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ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)

Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104

40’00

Dvořák’s Cello Concerto holds a position of honour in being one of the three or four best-known in the repertory. Many listeners consider it the ne plus ultra of cello concertos. Dvořák actually made two attempts at writing a cello concerto. The first was at age 24, at the outset of his career. He never orchestrated this concerto. Thirty years later, when Dvořák was nearing the end of a distinguished career, he reconsidered the medium when he heard Victor Herbert’s Second Cello Concerto in E minor in Brooklyn. At the time, Dvořák was finishing up a three-year stint as Director of the National Conservatory in New York (1892-95), and Herbert (the same Herbert of operetta fame – Babes in Toyland, Naughty Marietta, etc.) was principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. Dvořák was deeply impressed with Herbert’s ability to juxtapose the sound of the solo cello with a large orchestra, and his means of solving the treacherous balance problems. Stimulus to take up the challenge himself came from another source as well, also a cellist. This was Hanuš Wihan, a close friend of Dvořák and the finest cellist in Bohemia.

Dvořák wrote his Cello Concerto for Wihan, who was also to have given the premiere which took place on 19 March 1896 in London with the composer conducting. For many years, it was thought that the reason the honour went to another cellist (Leo Stern) was because Dvořák and Wihan had had a falling out over the matter of inserting a cadenza in the last movement. (There is none, and Dvořák adamantly refused to incorporate one, despite Wihan’s urging.)

Recent research has revealed that it was due rather to a conflict of dates and misunderstanding over scheduling that kept Wihan from the premiere. The concerto’s dedicatee did eventually play the work.

Like many of Dvořák’s best large-scale works, the Cello Concerto brims with melodic invention of the highest calibre. The first movement’s principal theme, announced at the outset by clarinets, proves to be not only memorable in itself, but capable of almost infinite development and transformation by both orchestra and soloist. Dvořák himself said of the second theme, heard initially in the solo horn, that “I am always moved when I play it”, and critic Donald

Tovey thought it was “one of the most beautiful passages ever written for the horn”. Yet when the solo cello plays it sometime later, it seems to embody the very soul of that instrument, and when the orchestra takes over the theme, it again seems perfectly conceived for that medium in full symphonic panoply.

The second movement, in ABA form, is more subdued, though no less replete with exquisite lyricism. Biographer Otakar Šourek describes it as a “hymn of deepest spirituality and amazing beauty”. The central episode has autobiographical significance. When Dvořák learned that Josefina Kaunitzová, a youthful flame of his, was seriously ill, he incorporated into the slow movement one of Josefina’s favourite pieces, a song he had written years before (“Leave me alone”, Op. 82, No. 1). A short, stormy introduction in G minor leads into a melody of ravishing sweetness sung by the solo cello, and decorated with a filigree of arpeggios by the violins.

The strongly rhythmic character of the rondo finale’s principal theme suggests a Bohemian dance. Dvořák considered the concerto complete when he left New York in the summer of 1895. But back in his native land, he revised the finale to include a gentle, autumnal epilogue of some sixty bars that was based largely on the same song he had used in the second movement. Most believe that this was done as a gesture in honour of Josefina, who died on 27 May of that year, but this has not been unequivocally proven. The concerto seems headed for a quietly reflective ending, but with the cello perched on a trill on high B, the clarinet, then muted horn, bring us out of the reverie with a reference to the concerto’s opening moments, and the work moves swiftly to a brilliant conclusion.

Programme notes by Robert Markow

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