BO M S ORI K IM PL AYS MOZ ART THE SOUND OF SPRING 1 7 A P R 2021 E S P L A NA D E C O N C E R T H A L L
A GIFT TO THE UNIVERSE CELEBRATING BACH III FRI 21 MAY 2021 8PM
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CHLOE CHUA VIOLIN YE LIN VIOLIN DARRELL ANG CONDUCTOR SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Some 22 billion kilometres away in space, Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 lies among other earthly sounds and music on the Golden Record, carried by the Voyager space probes since they left Earth in 1977. Bach’s legacy is humanity’s future. Likewise, Singapore’s young shining star of the violin, Chloe Chua. See her on stage with SSO violinist Ye Lin in the universally loved Double Violin Concerto. A present from a small, distant world, a token of our music, thoughts and feelings – a gift of music to the universe. This concert was recorded at the Esplanade Concert Hall on 4 Feb 2021. J.S. BACH BRANDENBURG CONCERTO NO. 2 IN F MAJOR, BWV 1047 CONCERTO IN D MINOR FOR TWO VIOLINS AND ORCHESTRA, BWV 1043 BRANDENBURG CONCERTO NO. 4 IN G MAJOR, BWV 1049
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This concert is dedicated to the late Dr. Goh Keng Swee, founding patron of the SSO
B OMS ORI K I M PLAY S M O ZA R T THE SOUND OF SPRING 17 Apr 2021 Esplanade Concert Hall Singapore Symphony Orchestra Hans Graf Chief Conductor Bomsori Kim violin
P A U L V O N K L E N AU Symphony No. 8 “In Olden Style” WORLD PREMIERE
14 mins
MO ZART
Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K.207
21 mins
S C H U B E RT
Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D.485
27 mins Concert Duration: 1 hr
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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, as well as outreach and community performances take place at the 673seat Victoria Concert Hall, the home of the SSO. The orchestra performs over 60 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. Under the Music Directorship of Lan Shui from 1997 to 2019, 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 The Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions.
In the 2020/21 concert season, the SSO welcomes renowned maestro Hans Graf as its Chief Conductor. Notable SSO releases on the BIS label include a Rachmaninoff series, a “Seascapes” album, three Debussy discs “La Mer”, “Jeux” and “Nocturnes”, 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, Gustavo Dudamel, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Diana Damrau, Martha Argerich, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham. The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, and the Singapore National Youth Orchestra. The mission of the Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich our diverse communities.
H ANS G RAF Chief Conductor
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BOM SOR I K IM PL AYS M OZ AR T | 1 7 APR 2 0 2 1
HA N S G RAF Chief Conductor
Hans Graf is a frequent guest with major orchestras around the world including with the Boston Symphony, the Cleveland and Philadelphia Orchestras, the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestras, the London Symphony Orchestra, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Sydney and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, the Seoul, Hong Kong and Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestras. Hans Graf’s discography includes all symphonies of Mozart and Schubert, the complete orchestral works by Henri Dutilleux and the world premiere recording of Zemlinsky’s opera Es war einmal. His recording of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony won the ECHO Klassik 2017 award and the Grammy 2018 for Best Opera Recording.
The Austrian conductor Hans Graf is the Chief Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from the 2020/21 concert season. He held the role of Music Director of the Houston Symphony Orchestra 2001–2013, making him the longest-serving Music Director in the orchestra’s 100 year history. Prior to this, he was Music Director of the Calgary Philharmonic and of the Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine. He has also held the post of Music Director at the Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg and the Basque National Orchestra.
Hans Graf has been made Chevalier de l’Ordre de la Légion d’Honneur by the French Government (2002) and was awarded the Grand Decoration of Honour of the Republic of Austria (2007). He is also Professor Emeritus for Orchestral Conducting at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. 6
B O MS O RI KI M PL AYS M OZ AR T | 17 A PR 2021
B O M SO RI K I M violin Bomsori’s expressive and personal communication with the audience through her interpretations has been recognized by the world’s finest orchestras and eminent conductors.
© KYUNTAI SHIM
In the 2020-2021 season, Bomsori returns to the Rheingau Music Festival as focus artist in seven concerts, and to the Gstaad Menuhin Festival as Menuhin’s Heritage Artist. Bomsori also makes her debuts at the Philharmonie Essen, Festspielhaus BadenBaden and the Philharmonie in Cologne, and in Asia, she will perform with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Singapore Symphony and Tokyo Symphony Orchestras.
and orchestras. She made her New York Philharmonic debut in February 2019, performing the US Premiere of Tan Dun’s violin concerto, Fire Ritual.
In addition to winning the 62nd ARD International Music Competition, Bomsori has won prizes at the Tchaikovsky International Competition, Queen Elisabeth Competition, International Jean Sibelius Violin Competition, Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition Hannover, Montreal International Musical Competition, and Sendai International Music Competition. Bomsori won Second Prize, Critic’s Prize, and nine additional special prizes at the 15th International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition.
In 2017, Warner Classics released Bomsori’s debut album featuring Wieniawski’s Violin Concerto No. 2 and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Her second album with pianist Rafał Blechacz, featuring works by Fauré, Debussy, Szymanowski and Chopin, was released in February 2019 by Deutsche Grammophon, with whom she has signed an exclusive recording contract in 2021. With the support of Kumho Asiana Cultural Foundation, she currently plays on a 1774 violin by Joannes Baptista Guadagnini.
As a soloist, Bomsori has appeared at numerous venues worldwide, and performed with a multitude of illustrious conductors 7
SEC O N D V IOL IN
T HE ORC HE S T R A
Michael Loh Associate Principal Nikolai Koval* Hai-Won Kwok Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Wu Man Yun* Xu Jue Yi* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhao Tian*
HANS GRAF Chief Conductor JOSHUA TAN Associate Conductor ANDREW LITTON Principal Guest Conductor
VIO L A
CHOO HOEY Conductor Emeritus
Zhang Manchin Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Marietta Ku Luo Biao Julia Park Shui Bing Janice Tsai Wang Dandan Yang Shi Li
LAN SHUI Conductor Laureate EUDENICE PALARUAN Choral Director WONG LAI FOON Choirmaster
C EL L O Ng Pei-Sian Principal, The HEAD Foundation Chair Yu Jing Associate Principal Guo Hao Fixed Chair Chan Wei Shing Jamshid Saydikarimov* Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er
FIRS T VI OL I N (Position vacant) Concertmaster, GK Goh Chair Kong Zhao Hui1 Associate Concertmaster Chan Yoong-Han2 Fixed Chair Cao Can* Chen Da Wei Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Jin Li Kong Xianlong Cindy Lee Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe Ye Lin* Zhang Si Jing*
D O U B LE BAS S Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Jacek Mirucki Guennadi Mouzyka Wang Xu
8
FLUTE
TR U M P ET
Jin Ta Principal Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan
Jon Paul Dante Principal David Smith Associate Principal Lau Wen Rong Sergey Tyuteykin
PICCOLO
TR O M B O N E
Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
Allen Meek Principal Damian Patti Associate Principal Samuel Armstrong
OBOE Rachel Walker Principal Pan Yun Associate Principal Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo
B A SS T R O MBONE Wang Wei Assistant Principal TU B A
COR ANGL AI S
Tomoki Natsume Principal
Elaine Yeo Associate Principal TIM P A N I CLARINET
Christian Schiøler Principal Jonathan Fox Associate Principal
Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping
P ER CU SSIO N
Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal
Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Mario Choo Lim Meng Keh
BAS S OON
H A RP
Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue
Gulnara Mashurova Principal
BAS S CL AR I NE T
CONTRAB AS S OON Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal HORN Gao Jian Associate Principal Jamie Hersch Associate Principal Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal Hoang Van Hoc
* With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. 1 Kong Zhao Hui performs on a J.B. Guadagnini of Milan, c. 1750, donated by the National Arts Council, Singapore, with the support of Far East Organization and Lee Foundation. 2 Chan Yoong-Han performs on a David Tecchler, Fecit Roma An. D. 1700 donated by Mr Goh Yew Lin. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis. 9
BOM SOR I K IM PL AYS M OZ AR T | 1 7 APR 2 0 2 1
Musicians BOMS O RI KIM P LA YS M OZA RT | 1 7 A P R 2 0 2 1
FLUTE Jin Ta Miao Shanshan
CONDUCTOR Hans Graf FIRST VIOLIN Kong Zhao Hui Acting Concertmaster /Associate Concertmaster Zhang Si Jing Cao Can Kong Xianlong
OBOE Rachel Walker Carolyn Hollier CLARINET Ma Yue Tang Xiao Ping
SECOND VIOLIN Xu Jue Yi Wu Man Yun Shao Tao Tao Nikolai Koval
BASSOON Liu Chang Zhao Ying Xue
VIOLA Zhang Manchin Gu Bing Jie Janice Tsai
HORN Jamie Hersch Marc-Antoine Robillard Gao Jian
CELLO Ng Pei-Sian Yu Jing Wang Zihao
TRUMPET Jon Paul Dante Lau Wen Rong TIMPANI Christian Schiøler
DOUBLE BASS Yang Zheng Yi Jacek Mirucki
10
2020/21 Season Patrons Our story began just over four decades ago when we played our first concert in January 1979. This journey would not have been possible without patrons who believe in sharing the gift of music. Thank you for your generosity.
PATR ON SPONSOR Tote Board Group (Tote Board, Singapore Pools & Singapore Turf Club)
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BOM SOR I K IM PL AYS M OZ AR T | 1 7 APR 2 0 2 1
PAUL VON KLENAU (1883–1946) Symphony No. 8 “In Olden Style” (1942) WORLD PREMIERE I II III IV
Allegro vivace Andante grazioso Menuet Rondo. Allegro molto vivace.
Born Danish, for most of his life Paul von Klenau worked in Germany and Austria. After nearly four decades, Klenau returned to Copenhagen in 1940 and remained there until his death in 1946, aged 63. In his lifetime, he never achieved recognition as a composer from his native Denmark, and his music was largely forgotten after his passing.
Eighth is short and much simpler. Titled Im alten Stil ("In Olden Style") it is music styled in the traditions of the Baroque and Classical period, with nods to sonata form, the minuet and the rondo. The score survives only in Klenau’s own autograph, and was published in 2020 for performance. Tonight’s performance by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra under Chief Conductor Hans Graf is its world premiere. This will be followed by a recording with the Piano Concerto and Violin Concerto for a future release under the Danish Dacapo label.
Although musicologists often speak of Klenau’s advocacy for Schoenberg and his twelve-tone technique, his music has also been described as influenced by the likes of Bruckner, Mahler and Richard Strauss. It was music for the stage that interested Klenau the most, writing seven operas from 1913 to 1940. Of his surviving nine symphonies, the first three come from his early years in Germany from 1903-1910, and the remaining six in his final years from 1938 to 1945. Klenau also write a piano concerto, a violin concerto, two ballets, three string quartets, among other works. Many of his late-life scores never saw the light of day outside of his desk drawer at home. They remained unknown until they were passed to the Royal Danish Library in 2005, six decades after his death, where a revival is now taking place.
Photo of Klenau by Trude Fleischmann, 1928. Source: The Royal Library, Copenhagen
Klenau’s Eighth Symphony was written in 1942. Compared to his final, Ninth Symphony – a huge affair for orchestra, chorus and soloists, clearly a Beethovenian gesture from the aging composer – his
Instrumentation 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings 16
I II III
Allegro moderato Adagio Presto
Mozart’s reputation as a child prodigy is well known, yet Mozart’s earlier music is comparatively neglected and rarely performed. Unsurprisingly for a lad who started harpsichord at three, his earliest works were for keyboard. His father Leopold, deputy kapellmeister for the court orchestra of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg and author of a treatise on playing the violin, presumably gave the young Mozart his first violin lessons.
solo introduces a poignant theme supported by strings and winds. Mozart tended to use E-flat major for expressiveness, and a mood of restfulness quiet pervades the entire movement. The concerto ends with a presto rondo full of opportunities for the soloist to flex musical athleticism, yet symmetry of structure is maintained and expression never becomes empty melodrama. One is reminded of Artur Schnabel’s evaluation of Mozart’s piano sonatas, that they are ‘too easy for children, and too difficult for artists’.
Despite first compositions at five, and first symphony at nine, he was 17 before writing his first concerto – for violin and orchestra – in 1773. For whom was it written? Possibly for his friend Gaetano Brunetti, star violinist at the archbishop’s orchestra.
Instrumentation 2 oboes, 2 horns, strings, solo violin
It begins allegro moderato – loud, cheerful, confident, and sprightly, the very picture of Mozart at the verge of adulthood, full of dreams and promise, when life was still good. The soloist begins with the orchestra in a spirited opening that conjures up galloping dances, giving us the standard double exposition. Despite fast semiquavers and leaps in the solo part, the conversation with the orchestra develops, never losing the elegant poise of the gilded Austrian courts. In sonata form, the music dips briefly into a minor key (shades of Mozart’s later life?), before the standard recapitulation.
World Premiere Unknown First performed by SSO 5 Jul 2013 (Gabriel Ng, violin)
The adagio shows a flash of Mozart’s mature style, opening with a sustained lyrical melody over undulating textures, before the 17
B O MS O RI KI M PL AYS M OZ AR T | 17 A PR 2021
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Violin Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, K.207 (1773)
BOM SOR I K IM PL AYS M OZ AR T | 1 7 APR 2 0 2 1
FRANZ SCHUBERT (1797–1828) Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, D.485 (1816) I II III IV
Allegro Andante con moto Menuetto. Allegro molto Allegro vivace
‘Those whom the gods love, die young’ – said the Greek playwright Menander. If Mozart died tragically young at 35, so did Schubert at 31. As a student at the institution now known as the Vienna Boys’ Choir, he grew up surrounded by music, playing the viola in the student orchestra. No doubt works by Mozart and Beethoven featured prominently in the repertoire.
In 1816, he attended a concert, after which he wrote in his diary ‘the magic notes of Mozart’s music still gently haunts me… They show us in the darkness of this life a light, clear and lovely, for which we may constantly hope’. Schubert’s Fifth Symphony in 1817 is an expression of that ‘light, clear and lovely, for which we may constantly hope’, radiating youthful optimism in the cheerful, hopeful, and reflective key of B-flat major, using a scaled-down ensemble: one flute and no clarinets, two horns and no other brass, and no timpani.
“the magic notes of Mozart’s music still gently haunts me… They show us in the darkness of this life a light, clear and lovely, for which we may constantly hope.”
It opens brisk and light, like an opera overture, and in the eager allegro one almost sees the stage curtain about to lift. No mere Mozartean pastiche, Schubert sprinkles the movement with his signature chromaticism. The andante con moto displays Schubert’s genius for writing singing melodies, here in a mood of gentle reflective melancholy. Chromatic unease and emotion emerge occasionally, perhaps an early indicator of the depression that was to mark Schubert’s later life, but are soothed by the gentle flow.
Family pressure forced him to follow in his father’s footsteps as a schoolteacher. Three years of teaching were misery, as he hated the classroom, so composition seems to have been his coping mechanism. Happily for music lovers, those years before he left teaching were prolific and productive.
The menuetto is a dance, and like a dancer, Schubert obeys the laws of gravity – upward sweeps are followed by gentle but definite landings. Again, shadows pop up 18
B O MS O RI KI M PL AYS M OZ AR T | 17 A PR 2021
Schubert at the Piano, 1899. Painting by Gustav Klmt. Schubert is said to be Klimt's favorite composer. Painted during Klimt's "Golden Phase", this painting was commissioned by Franz Matsch.
Instrumentation flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, strings
unexpectedly, but are driven away by the fresh sweetness of the central trio section. The allegro vivace continues the dancing mood, bouncing with carefree abandon, without forgetting to notice unexpected chromatic and harmonic landmarks along the way, until the air is cleared for good. Given how Schubert’s short and tragic life was filled with sickness, suffering and disappointment, the lightness of this work represents an amazingly optimistic and whimsical moment, and it is remarkable he captured such a slice of cheerfulness.
World Premiere 17 Oct 1841, Vienna (first public performance) First performed by SSO 2 Nov 1979
Programme notes by Chia Han-Leon (Klenau) and Edward C. Yong (Mozart, Schubert) 19
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Programmes (VCH) Ms Erin Tan Ms Lynnette Chng
Development Ms Chelsea Zhao Ms Nikki Chuang Ms Charmaine Fong Ms Fang Xiao Min
ORCHESTR A MANAGEMENT Mr Ernest Khoo (Head) Orchestra Mr Chia Jit Min Ms Karis Ong Concert Operations Ms Chin Rosherna Ms Fenella Ng Mr Ramayah Elango Mr Mazlan bin Ali Library Mr Lim Lip Hua Ms Wong Yi Wen Mr Avik Chari
MARKE TING C O M M U N I C AT I O N S Ms Cindy Lim (Head) Mr Chia Han-Leon Ms Myrtle Lee Ms Jana Loh Ms Hong Shu Hui Ms Sherilyn Lim Ms Melissa Tan D I G I TA L S S O Ms Cindy Lim (Lead) Mr Chia Jit Min (Asst Lead) Mr Jason Siriwardene (Digital Producer) Mr Chia Han-Leon Mr Hans Sørensen
Human Resources & Administration Mr Desmen Low Ms Melissa Lee Ms Evelyn Siew Legal Mr Edward Loh S I N G A P O R E N AT I O N A L YOUTH ORCHES TR A Ms Pang Siu Yuin (Head) Ms Yani Saaban Ms Tang Ya Yun Ms Tan Sing Yee ABRSM Ms Hay Su-San (Head) Ms Patricia Yee Ms Lai Li-Yng Mr Joong Siow Chong C O V I D -1 9 R E S P O N S E C O O R D I N AT I O N Ms Lillian Yin (Lead) Mr Rick Ong (Asst Lead)
S UPPOR T E D BY
PATRO N S P ON S OR
MATCHE D BY
M A JO R D ON OR S
Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin
S E A S O N PA R TN E R S Official Radio Station
Official Community Partner
Official Outdoor Media Partner
Official Airline
S EA S O N PATRO NS
The mission of the Singapore Symphony Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated performing groups, we spread the love for music, nurture talent and enrich our diverse communities. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a charity and not-for-profit organisation. You can support us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate.