SSO In Your Community: Southwest Singapore - Gil Shaham Plays Tchaikovsky

Singa pore Sy mphon y orchestra

SSO IN YOUR COMMUNITY: SOUTHWEST SINGAPORE

GIL SHAHAM PLAYS TCHAIKOVSKY 30 JUNE 2018 Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music Concert Hall

HE L LO F ROM THE SINGAPORE S YMPHONY ORCHE S TRA Founded in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is Singapore’s flagship orchestra, currently led by our Music Director Lan Shui. We play a hundred concerts a year showcasing a wide range of music: from classic favourites by Mozart and Tchaikovsky, to orchestral masterpieces by Stravinsky and Ravel, and cutting-edge world-premieres by contemporary composers Singaporean and international. These are some of the highlights you can expect in our 2018/19 season - our 40th year of music-making.

The SSO has also made a name internationally, having performed to acclaim in Europe, Asia and the USA, including at the Dresden Music Festival, the Berlin Philharmonie and the BBC Proms in London. Some of the great artistes we have collaborated with include renowned conductors Vladimir Ashkenazy and Lorin Maazel, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Lang Lang, soprano Diana Damrau, and violinists Janine Jansen and Gil Shaham.

‘A fine display of orchestral bravado for the SSO and Shui’ The Guardian

The SSO is most often heard in our performing home, the 1,800-seat Esplanade Concert Hall. For a more intimate experience, we return to the place of our beginnings, the 673-seat Victoria Concert Hall – the home of the SSO. The VCH is also where our popular Children’s and Family Concerts are held. In addition, the SSO travels to various outreach locations in Singapore for our community and outdoor performances, like this one. Through the beauty of classical music, we aim to touch the hearts and lives of everyone, regardless of age, culture or background.

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 Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hrSinfonieorchester, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, RadioSinfonieorchester 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.

L a n Shui conductor

G il Sh a h a m violin

Gil Shaham is one of the foremost violinists of our time; his flawless technique combined with his inimitable warmth and generosity of spirit has solidified his renown as an American master. Highlights of recent seasons include performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, New World Symphony, Singapore Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, residencies with the Montreal Symphony and Carolina Performing Arts, and on an extensive North American tour with The Knights, to celebrate the release of Violin Concertos of the 1930s, Vol. 2. Shaham has also toured Bach’s complete unaccompanied sonatas and partitas to London’s Wigmore Hall and key North American venues in a special multimedia collaboration with photographer/video artist David Michalek.

Shaham already has more than two dozen concerto and solo CDs to his name, including bestsellers that have ascended the charts in the U.S. and abroad. These recordings have earned multiple Grammys, a Grand Prix du Disque, Diapason d’Or, and Gramophone Editor’s Choice. His recent recordings are issued his own Canary Classics label, which he founded in 2004, and include J.S. Bach: Sonatas & Partitas for Violin; Nigunim: Hebrew Melodies; Sarasate: Virtuoso Violin Works; Elgar’s Violin Concerto with the Chicago Symphony; and Bach’s complete works for solo violin. A passionate advocate for new music, Shaham has also premiered works by composers including William Bolcom, David Bruce, Avner Dorman, Julian Milone, and Bright Sheng.

Shaham was awarded an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 1990, and in 2008 he received the coveted Avery Fisher Prize. He plays the 1699 “Countess Polignac” Stradivarius, and lives in New York City with his wife, violinist Adele Anthony, and their three children.

RICHAR D S TRAU S S (18 6 4 – 1949) Macbeth 20’00

Richard Strauss (not to be confused with the Johann Strauss of waltz fame) was a German composer-conductor who straddled the late Romantic and early 20th century periods, well known for his tone poems and operas, and as a master of orchestration. His tone poems - orchestral essays which depict a story, picture or even a mood - are among his most famous works. That opening sunrise music from 2001: A Space Odyssey? That’s by Richard Strauss.

Macbeth is one of Richard Strauss’ earliest tone poems, and shows the composer at the beginning of his developmental journey as a tone poet. It opens in a mood of dark heroism, a picture of kingly power. Shortly after, listen for musical moods of questioning, prophecy and Lady Macbeth’s sensuous urging, as she persuades Macbeth to murder King Duncan. The orchestra exclaims in horror as the deed is done, then switches to a heroic tone as Macbeth is crowned, heralded by a proud, noble march. The new king’s triumph is short-lived, as guilt, fear and madness gradually take over, culminating in his death by Macduff’s hand. Strauss takes a moment to remind us of the danger of ambition and greatness by recalling musical themes from the beginning. The story’s conclusion is gloomily muted and grim, as the orchestra closes the classic Shakespearean tale with a cautionary, dramatic flourish.

should not perspire when conducting: “ 2. You only the audience should get warm. ” – Richard Strauss, Ten Golden Rules of Conducting, 1922

PIOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOV SK Y (18 4 0 – 18 93) Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 35’00 1. Allegro moderato 2. Canzonetta: Andante 3. Finale: Allegro vivacissimo

One of the most beloved composers of all time, Tchaikovsky is famous for his ballet music for The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, as well as the festive 1812 Overture and Piano Concerto. The Russian composer is one for whom the outpouring of instantly appealing melody seems effortless and endless. Such was his gift that almost any of his pieces would impress with its wonderfully warm, lyrical tunes and rich orchestral textures.

His Violin Concerto from 1878 is no exception, and is one of the most popular in the repertoire. Its 35-minute span is full of Tchaikovsky’s fervent melody and expression. The first movement takes up half the entire work, with many opportunities for the soloist to show off his technical skills, rousing straight-to-the-heart feelings of grandeur, nostalgia and heroism together with the orchestra. You will also see the soloist perform a cadenza, an unaccompanied showcase of individual finesse. A reprise with the orchestra leads to a satisfying close (but don’t clap just yet!).

The slow movement is titled “Canzonetta” or “little song”. This is music of sunset serenity and heartfelt melancholy. The solo violin floats dreamily in song over the strings - listen in particular for the beautifully pensive moment together with clarinet and flute.

The finale erupts suddenly without a break. Marked “Allegro vivacissimo”, thus “fast and lively” is this movement, with distinctively Russian folk tunes and dance rhythms, carried by jubilant pyrotechnics from the violin soloist. It will take ten minutes to finish, but no need to count, because orchestra and soloist will tell you, with vigor and élan, as it cascades triumphantly into its brilliant conclusion.

“My heart is full. It thirsts to pour itself out in music.”

– Tchaikovsky, 1877

Programme notes by Leon Chia

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