Flurry of the Flute

F LURRY OF TH E FL U TE 1 0 A P R 2021 E S P L A NA D E C O N C E R T H A L L

This concert is dedicated to all healthcare workers in Singapore, as we mark the first anniversary of the circuit breaker.

SPARKLE & SERENITY BEETHOVEN AND MOZART FRI 16 APR 2021 8PM

WATCH THE STREAM ONLINE ON SISTIC LIVE

ALBERT TIU PIANO MUSICIANS OF THE SSO

Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet is one of the most heartwarming treasures of our musical legacy, evoking a haven of rapturous beauty and serenity. Beethoven’s Piano Quartet No. 3 rings clearly of the influence and sparkle of Mozart, and it will only surprise you a little to learn that he wrote them when he was just 15, in 1785. Join the musicians of the SSO in these two gems of the late 18th century, there’s not a single note you won’t enjoy.

TICKETS FROM $8 MOZART CLARINET QUINTET IN A MAJOR, K.581 BEETHOVEN PIANO QUARTET NO. 3 IN C MAJOR, WOO 36

FLURRY OF TH E F LU TE 10 Apr 2021 Esplanade Concert Hall Singapore Symphony Orchestra Hans Graf Chief Conductor Jin Ta flute

H A YD N

Symphony No. 95 in C minor, Hob.I:95 SSO PREMIERE

22 mins

IB ER T

Flute Concerto

18 mins

MEN DE L SSO H N

Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11

32 mins Concert Duration: 1 hr 15 mins

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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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FL U R R Y OF TH E FL U TE | 1 0 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.

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F LU RRY O F T H E FL U TE | 10 A PR 2021

J IN TA flute Flutist, educator and composer, Jin Ta has been in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) as Principal Flute since 1998. © LERTKIAT CHONGJIRAJITRA

In 1991, after completing his studies at the Central Music Conservatory (Beijing) with Professor Zhu Tong De, he entered the University of Michigan on a full-scholarship.

In 1995, he studied with Professor Fenwick Smith at the New England Conservatory of Music and was selected as an Artist Diploma candidate in 1997. During the eight years he spent in the US, Jin Ta won numerous flute competitions including the Silver Prize in the National Flute Talk Competition and NFA Young Artist Competition (1995), First Prize in the James Pappoutsakis Memorial Flute Competition (1996), Israel Haifa International Flute Competition (2001), among many others.

in China, Taiwan and Korea. Jin Ta is also a self-taught composer and has published a number of works such as his First Flute Sonata, and Second Sonata, “Mongol”. He frequently gives talks and masterclasses in China, Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea.

During the COVID-19 circuit breaker period, he and his wife Yu Jing (SSO Associate Principal Cello) created a flute education WeChat channel “Lumino’s art of flute” (小 鲁仔长笛艺术). This channel focusses on contributing free online flute lessons for both college level students and young flutists, and musical stories for children.

Besides performing with the SSO, Jin Ta is dedicated to teaching. He has taught at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) and LaSalle College of the Arts. He is also a founding faculty member of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore). His students are now working in many professional orchestras 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

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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.

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FL U R R Y OF TH E FL U TE | 1 0 APR 2 0 2 1

Musicians F LU R RY O F THE FLUT E | 1 0 A P R 2 0 2 1

FLUTE Evgueni Brokmiller Roberto Alvarez

CONDUCTOR Hans Graf SOLO FLUTE Jin Ta

OBOE Pan Yun Elaine Yeo

FIRST VIOLIN Chan Yoong-Han Acting Concertmaster /Fixed Chair Karen Tan Duan Yu Ling William Tan

CLARINET Ma Yue Tang Xiao Ping BASSOON Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue

SECOND VIOLIN Zhao Tian Margit Saur Yin Shu Zhan Yeo Teow Meng

HORN Marc-Antoine Robillard Hoang Van Hoc

VIOLA Guan Qi Yang Shi Li Luo Biao

TRUMPET Jon Paul Dante Sergey Tyuteykin TIMPANI Christian Schiøler

CELLO Yu Jing Jamshid Saydikarimov Wang Yan DOUBLE BASS Karen Yeo Wang Xu

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FL U R R Y OF TH E FL U TE | 1 0 APR 2 0 2 1

JOSEPH HAYDN (1732–1809) Symphony No. 95 in C minor, Hob.I:95 (1791) SSO PREMIERE I II III IV

Allegro Andante Menuetto & Trio Finale. Vivace

London proved to be a fruitful stage in Haydn’s career, and, with decades of service to the Esterházy family ended by the death of Nikolaus Esterházy I, he was finally enticed there by the concert promoter Johann Salomon. The first works to spring from Haydn’s quill came to be known as the London Symphonies, and No. 95 comes from the first series of six.

The key of C minor and the forceful opening immediately signal that the work belongs to the Sturm und Drang movement.

Translated as “Storm and Stress” in English, the heightened emotional force of the opening is emphasised by the choice of a (then-unusual) modulation to C major for the ending of the movement, almost as a positive conclusion to the turbulence of the past few minutes.

But the finale-like first movement jumps the shark somewhat, with a stately slow movement to follow. Elegant and poised, it almost sounds like a slow minuet, and indeed, the movement that follows it (the minuet proper) sounds like it emerges from the same triple-time rhythms of the Andante. In the same way the opening movement moves to the parallel major, the slow movement nods in the direction of the parallel minor, and the minuet casts its lovely Trio in C major, allowing the solo cello to take the spotlight.

View of Hanover Square, where Haydn held his concerts at The Hanover Square Rooms.

Source: Smithsonian Design Museum

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Instrumentation flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings World Premiere Unknown

JACQUES IBERT (1890–1962) Flute Concerto (1932) I II III

Allegro Andante Allegro scherzando The last movement races off the starting blocks with syncopated orchestra hits and strings of fast triplets. Ibert, ever a stylistic chameleon, would have been exposed to American jazz in interbellum Paris, and there are traces of that in the Ravellian harmonies the orchestra uses to support the flute solo.

The lyrical core of this finale is a gentle waltz, which allows the soloist a little respite before the reprise and the virtuosic headlong dash to the finish line.

Ibert’s flute music is probably the best known of his varied output, and it didn’t hurt that he could write for one of the premier virtuosi of his generation: Marcel Moyse. The music shows a different kind of lightness from the earlier Haydn symphony: very transparent orchestration, lots of soft dynamics with the occasional punchy moment, and very twittery flute playing.

Despite its relegation to the fringe of the concert repertoire, Ibert’s music does not lack in complexity and skill. The harmonic chaos of the first movement comes from the rapidly shifting chords and textures typical of early-20th century French music, with the contrasts dialled up by varying the instrumental colours. This activity settles down somewhat into the broad peace of the slow movement, with beautiful harmonic progressions. Even in a long, sustained atmosphere, Ibert was not averse to throwing in some dissonant interruptions, which, when dispersed, allows the soaring violin solo to be illuminated in a clearer light.

Instrumentation solo flute, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, trumpet, timpani, strings World Premiere 25 Feb 1934, Paris First performed by SSO 4 Mar 2017 (Jin Ta, flute) 17

F LU RRY O F T H E FL U TE | 10 A PR 2021

The “real” finale is in C major, Haydn having lampshaded this key repeatedly in the course of the previous movements. Here, the music has shed a lot of its heavy emotional baggage, with a resulting lightness of texture and exuberance of spirit. The cheeky fugal episodes make one think of Mozart’s Jupiter finale from three years earlier, though Haydn does not aim for profundity in this finale, staying bright and cheery throughout.

FL U R R Y OF TH E FL U TE | 1 0 APR 2 0 2 1

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809–1847) Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 11 (1824) I II III IV

Allegro di molto Andante Menuetto. Allegro molto Allegro con fuoco The Menuetto and trio are relatively unremarkable in the grand scheme of the whole symphony, with the exception of Mendelssohn’s through-composed transition from the trio back to the reprise of the Menuetto. His assimilation of older models was already perfect, as can be seen by the opening of his finale sounding like the one from Mozart’s famous G minor symphony.

But the creative spark that would soon result in his Midsummer Night’s Dream comes through in the mysterious passage for plucked strings, and the music takes a wholly different direction from then on. Two very adept fugues follow, and the movement positively bursts with invention — all let out in the sudden swing to C major for a triumphant finish.

The Mendelssohn family were well aware that Felix was a musical talent, but for a 15-year-old to produce a symphony as assured as this one in C minor is an astonishing feat. He had worked up to this piece by writing a dozen very accomplished “string symphonies” over the past few years, and had originally given this the title of “No. 13”, but the greater maturity and scale eventually resulted in a fresh sequence.

With the Beethoven era over, this C minor did not signal brooding darkness like in the late master’s works; Mendelssohn expresses a joyous, bracing energy in this key, with fast, chattering string writing. The sheer driving force of the opening does not let up even in the more lyrical second theme, and the relentless quaver motion carries through into a roaring ending.

Programme notes by Thomas Ang

The second movement is perhaps a little derivative of Weber, especially in the way the winds are treated, but the variation technique is wholly Mendelssohn’s own, including an extremely early turn away from the warmth of E-flat major towards a much darker C-flat major. Chromatic harmonies abound here, all skilfully handled, and the initial calm gains some measure of uneasiness each time the theme comes around as the harmonies get more complex — a perfect set-up for the return to a much more straightforward “plain” C minor in the third movement.

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F LU RRY O F T H E FL U TE | 10 A PR 2021

Mendelssohn's First Symphony was premiered at a private gathering on 14 November 1824 to honor his sister Fanny Mendelssohn's 19th birthday

Instrumentation 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings World Premiere 14 Nov 1824 First performed by SSO 25 Apr 1980 19

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S EA S O N PATRO NS

Aquilus Pte Ltd

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.