Beethoven’s Ode to Joy
25 & 26 Jul 2024
Esplanade Concert Hall
BEETHOVEN’S ODE TO JOY BRAHMS DOUBLE CONCERTO
Thu & Fri, 25 & 26 Jul 2024
Esplanade Concert Hall
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Singapore Symphony Chorus
Singapore Symphony Youth Choir
SBC voX
Hans Graf Music Director
Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director
Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster
BRAHMS BEETHOVEN
Chloe Chua violin*
Ng Pei-Sian cello / The HEAD Foundation Chair*
Johanna Falkinger soprano
Anita Monserrat mezzo-soprano
Seungwoo Yang tenor
Liam James Karai bass
Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102*
Intermission
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 “Choral”
Post-Concert Survey (Held on 26 Jul only)
(including 20 mins intermission)
To help us improve your concert experience, we invite you to participate in our survey. After the concert, be the first 120 to show proof of survey completion at the foyer, level 1, to receive a gift.
For the enjoyment of all patrons during the concert:
• Please switch off or silence all electronic devices.
• Please minimise noises during performance. If unavoidable, wait for a loud section in the music.
• No photography, video or audio recording is allowed when artists are performing.
• Non-flash photography is allowed only during bows and applause when no performance is taking place.
Go green. Digital programme books are available on www.sso.org.sg.
Photographs and videos will be taken at these events, in which you may appear. These may be published on the SSO’s publicity channels and materials. By attending the event, you consent to the use of these photographs and videos for the foregoing purposes. Cover photo: Jack Yam
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 with its 44-week calendar of events.
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 through its school programmes. The SSO has also earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings. In 2021, the SSO clinched third place in the prestigious Orchestra of the Year Award by Gramophone. In 2022, BBC Music Magazine named the SSO as one of the 23 best orchestras in the world.
In July 2022, the SSO appointed renowned Austrian conductor Hans Graf as its Music Director, the third in the orchestra’s history after Lan Shui (1997-2019) and Choo Hoey (1979-1996). Prior to this, Hans Graf served as Chief Conductor from 2020.
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. 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 673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, the Home of the SSO.
Beyond Singapore, 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 second performance at the Berlin Philharmonie. In 2014, the SSO’s debut at the 120th BBC Proms in London received praise in major UK newspapers The Guardian and The Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions. In the 2024/25 season, the SSO will perform in Kyoto as part of the Asia Orchestra Week, as well as a three-city tour of Australia.
The SSO has released more than 50 recordings, with over 30 on the BIS label. Recent critically acclaimed albums include Herrmann’s Wuthering Heights (Chandos) and Scriabin – Poems of Ecstasy and Fire (BIS). With Singaporean violinist Chloe Chua, the SSO has recorded the Four Seasons, as well as the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, and a Mozart Violin Concerto cycle with Hans Graf to be released by Pentatone Records in the 2024/25 season. The SSO also leads the revival and recording of significant works such as Kozłowski’s Requiem, Ogerman’s Symbiosis (after Bill Evans) and violin concertos by Robert Russell Bennett and Vernon Duke.
The SSO has collaborated with such great artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Joe Hisaishi, Neeme Järvi, Hannu Lintu, Lorin Maazel, Martha Argerich, Diana Damrau, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Mischa Maisky, Gil Shaham and Krystian Zimerman.
The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, the Singapore International Piano Festival and the biennial National Piano & Violin Competition
Our Story
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
The Group’s vision is to be a leading arts organisation that engages, inspires and reflects Singapore through musical excellence. Our mission 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 Orchestra
HANS GRAF
Music Director
RODOLFO BARRÁEZ
Associate Conductor
CHOO HOEY
Conductor Emeritus
LAN SHUI
Conductor Laureate
EUDENICE PALARUAN
Choral Director
WONG LAI FOON
Choirmaster
ELLISSA SAYAMPANATHAN
Assistant Choral Conductor
FIRST VIOLIN
(Position vacant) Concertmaster,
GK Goh Chair
David Coucheron
Co-Principal Guest Concertmaster
Kevin Lin
Co-Principal Guest Concertmaster
Kong Zhao Hui1
Associate Concertmaster
Chan Yoong-Han2
Fixed Chair
Cao Can*
Duan Yu Ling
Foo Say Ming
Jin Li
Kong Xianlong
Cindy Lee
Karen Tan
William Tan
Wei Zhe
Ye Lin*
Zhang Si Jing
SECOND VIOLIN
Nikolai Koval*
Sayuri Kuru
Hai-Won Kwok
Margit Saur
Shao Tao Tao
Tseng Chieh-An
Wu Man Yun*
Xu Jueyi*
Yin Shu Zhan*
Zhao Tian
VIOLA
Manchin Zhang Principal, Tan Jiew Cheng Chair
Guan Qi Associate Principal
Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair
Marietta Ku
Luo Biao
Julia Park
Shui Bing
Janice Tsai
Dandan Wang
Yang Shi Li
CELLO
Ng Pei-Sian Principal, The HEAD Foundation Chair
Yu Jing
Associate Principal
Guo Hao Fixed Chair
Chan Wei Shing
Christopher Mui
Jamshid Saydikarimov
Song Woon Teng
Wang Yan
Wu Dai Dai
Zhao Yu Er
DOUBLE BASS
Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal
Karen Yeo Fixed Chair
Jacek Mirucki
Guennadi Mouzyka
Wang Xu
FLUTE
Jin Ta Principal, Stephen Riady Chair
Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal
Roberto Alvarez
Miao Shanshan
PICCOLO
Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
OBOE
Rachel Walker Principal
Pan Yun Associate Principal
Carolyn Hollier
Elaine Yeo
COR ANGLAIS
Elaine Yeo Associate Principal
CLARINET
Ma Yue Principal
Li Xin Associate Principal
Liu Yoko
Tang Xiao Ping
BASS CLARINET
Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal
BASSOON
Marcelo Padilla^ Principal
Liu Chang Associate Principal
Christoph Wichert
Zhao Ying Xue
CONTRABASSOON
Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal
HORN
Austin Larson Principal
Gao Jian Associate Principal
Jamie Hersch Associate Principal
Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal
Bryan Chong^
Hoang Van Hoc
TRUMPET
Jon Paul Dante Principal
David Smith Associate Principal
Lau Wen Rong
Nuttakamon Supattranont
TROMBONE
Allen Meek Principal
Damian Patti Associate Principal
Samuel Armstrong
BASS TROMBONE
Wang Wei Assistant Principal
TUBA
Tomoki Natsume Principal
TIMPANI
Christian Schiøler Principal
Mario Choo
PERCUSSION
Jonathan Fox Principal
Mark Suter Associate Principal
Mario Choo
Lim Meng Keh
HARP
Gulnara Mashurova Principal
With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. Musician on temporary contract
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.
Chan Yoong-Han performs on a David Tecchler, Fecit Roma An. D. 1700, courtesy of Mr G K Goh. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.
Guest Musicians
BEETHOVEN’S ODE TO JOY | 25 & 26 JUL 2024
FIRST VIOLIN
Markus Tomasi Guest Concertmaster
Wilford Goh
Yew Shan
SECOND VIOLIN
Yvonne Lee
Chikako Sasaki
Ikuko Takahashi
Tian Ye
VIOLA
Joelle Hsu
Yeo Jan Wea
CELLO
Ng Pei-Jee Guest Principal
DOUBLE BASS
Olga Alexandrova
Julian Li
Hibiki Otomo
Tan Si Pei
HORN
Lee Hui-Yi
FOR A CARING & RESILIENTSingap ore
HANS GRAF
Music Director
Armed with a spirit of musical curiosity and discovery, creative programming and his commanding presence on stage, Austrian conductor Hans Graf has raised orchestras to new heights while winning audiences young and old alike. With Hans Graf, “a brave new world of music-making under inspired direction” (The Straits Times) began at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, as Chief Conductor in the 2020/21 season, and Music Director since the 2022/23 season.
Graf was formerly Music Director of the Houston Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Orchestre National Bordeaux Aquitaine,
Basque National Orchestra and the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg. He is a frequent guest with major orchestras worldwide including the orchestras of Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Vienna, Leipzig Gewandhaus, DSO Berlin, Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw, Oslo, Hallé, London, Royal Philharmonic, Budapest Festival, St Petersburg, Russian National, Melbourne, Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and the Bavarian, Danish and Netherlands Radio Symphony Orchestras. Graf has led operas in the Vienna State Opera, Munich, Berlin, Paris, Strasbourg, Rome and Zurich. In 2014 he was awarded the Österreichischer Musiktheaterpreis for Strauss’s Die Feuersnot at the famed Vienna Volksoper, where he returned in 2021 to lead Rosenkavalier.
Hans Graf’s extensive discography includes all symphonies of Mozart and Schubert, the complete orchestral works of Dutilleux, and the world-premiere recording of Zemlinsky’s Es war einmal. Graf’s recording of Berg’s Wozzeck with the Houston Symphony won the GRAMMY and ECHO Klassik awards for best opera recording. With the Singapore Symphony, Graf has recorded the music of Paul von Klenau, Józef Kozłowski’s Requiem, an upcoming Mozart Violin Concerto cycle with Chloe Chua, and Stravinsky Concertos with violinist He Ziyu and pianist Alexei Volodin.
Hans Graf is Professor Emeritus for Orchestral Conducting at the Universität Mozarteum, Salzburg. For his services to music, he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur by the French government, and the Grand Decoration of Honour of the Republic of Austria.
© BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
EUDENICE PALARUAN
Choral
Director
Eudenice Palaruan studied at the University of the Philippines College of Music, majoring in composition and choral conducting. He took further training in choral conducting at the Berliner Kirchenmusikschule, Germany. He graduated doctor of musical arts at St. Paul University Manila.
He was a singer, resident composer/ arranger, and assistant choirmaster of the Philippine Madrigal Singers. In addition, he performed with the Berlin Spandauer Kantorei, the World Youth Choir, and sang countertenor with the Berlin Monteverdichor. In addition, he was the principal conductor of the San Miguel Master Chorale. For years, he has been the resident conductor of the International Bamboo Organ Festival, where he performed and recorded significant selections of Latin-American baroque music. With his active involvement in the choralization of Philippine and other Asian indigenous music, he premiered a substantial volume of new Asian choral works. In addition, he was often invited to give lectures on non-Western vocal aesthetics.
Eudenice also arranges for the SSO choruses and the SSC community outreach programmes. In addition, the SSO choruses have premiered new choral works written by local composers and arrangers in Singapore under his direction.
He taught composition and choral conducting in institutions such as the University of the Philippines College of Music, the Asian Institute for Liturgy and Music, and St. Paul University College of Music and the Performing Arts. In addition, he teaches at the Singapore Bible College School of Church Music and directs the SBC Chorale. Eudenice is often invited to adjudicate in international composition competitions and give masterclasses in choral conducting.
© MICHELLE TNG
WONG LAI FOON Choirmaster
Wong Lai Foon has been a driving force behind the development and growth of the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir (SSCC) since its inception in 2006. Appointed Choirmaster in 2015 and armed with a mission to nurture young voices and inspire choral excellence, she led in the expansion of the SSCC’s training programme to include six preparatory ensembles, as well as the formation of the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir in 2016.
With repertoire ranging from Baroque to opera to contemporary and popular music,
she has directed the SSCC and SSYC in a wide array of concerts, often receiving praise for the choirs’ beautiful tone and sensitivity. She has prepared the choirs in collaborations with renowned conductors and performers such as Stephen Layton, The King’s Singers, and Sofi Jeanin and la Maîtrise de Radio France. The SSCC has also had the distinction of being invited to perform at state functions.
Wong has commissioned and premiered treble choir works by local composers and has also arranged for the SSCC and SSYC. Her efforts to educate and inspire singers extend into the community through workshops, talks, as well as adjudicator, chorus-master and guest-conductor roles. Some ensembles that she has worked with include The Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Singapore Symphony Chorus, Singapore Lyric Opera, Hallelujah Singers, and Methodist Festival Choir. She holds a master’s degree in choral conducting from Westminster Choir College, USA.
© MICHELLE TNG
SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUS
Celebrating Choral Excellence
For over four decades, the Singapore Symphony Chorus (SSC) has been bringing together passionate and talented choristers from all walks of life to celebrate the best of symphonic music-making, and to create music that moves, transcending language and culture.
More than just a choir, the SSC is a warm and vibrant community for lifelong social connections beyond the stage. Seasoned performers at the Victoria Concert Hall and the Esplanade, the chorus’s committed group of singers come together week after week to hone their artistry and volunteer their time to deliver some of the most challenging choral classics to the highest standards.
Led by world-class conductors including Okko Kamu, Lan Shui, Lim Yau, Masaaki Suzuki and Sofi Jeannin, the chorus has amassed an impressive repertoire such as Tippett’s A Child of Our Time, Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum, Britten’s War Requiem, and Bach’s St John Passion, amongst others, since its founding in 1980.
With their dedication towards presenting outstanding performances, the SSC is the pinnacle of choral excellence in Singapore and a testament to the power of music and how it connects people across cultures and generations.
Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director Shane Thio rehearsal pianist
© MICHELLE TNG YING
SINGAPORE SYMPHONY YOUTH CHOIR
Inspiring Choral Passion
Energetic and full of dynamism, the Singapore Symphony Youth Choir (SSYC)’s choristers embody a zeal for artistic growth that inspires and pushes boundaries.
Comprised of a myriad of vibrant personalities aged between 17 and 28, the cool collective welcomes like-minded singers to share their journey of youthful passion for symphonic choral music-making, alongside the national orchestra! Performing regularly at the Victoria Concert Hall and the Esplanade, the SSYC is a group of dedicated singers who enjoy coming together to explore some of the most challenging and beloved choral works across styles and genres.
Since 2016, SSYC has had the privilege of performing under the baton of renowned conductors such as Lan Shui, Hans Graf, and Stephen Layton. Their repertoire boasts of musical highlights including Scriabin’s Prometheus, Puccini’s La Bohème, Tallis’s Why Fumeth in Fight, Faure’s Requiem and recordings of Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2.
With the unique opportunity to learn from world renowned musicians and be part of a community that inspires passion, all while creating a professional sound, SSYC is a social journey to reimagine classical music and choral excellence.
Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster
Evelyn Handrisanto rehearsal pianist
© MICHELLE TNG YING
SINGAPORE BIBLE COLLEGE COMMUNITY CHOIR
Noting the impact of Singapore Bible College Chorale’s community concerts on the congregational needs of the church, the School of Church Music decided to expand the Chorale’s student membership core to include auditioned College Alumni, faculty and staff, and choristers of the Singaporean evangelical church community. voX (Voice Of Christ), formerly known as “Canticorum,” has been this notable community choir for almost ten years. Its mission is to integrate performance artistry, congregational worship and witness, corporate prayer, and community spirit. Through robust collaborations with renowned instrumentalists, theologians, scholars, visual artists, and dancers, the choir has since crafted contextualized hymn festivals, psalm festivals, services for church seasons, and traditional sacred music concerts. The choir holds only two main presentations every concert season, performing music from early chant, motets, cantatas, the great choral-orchestral masterworks, anthems and spirituals, contemporary congregational songs, and global hymnody.
voX is currently led by Dr. Eudenice Palaruan, a Lecturer and Associate Professor of Music at the School of Church Music of Singapore Bible College (SBC).
voX
The Chorus
SOPRANO
Karen Aw
Josephine Budiana
Janice Chee
Serene Cheong
Chew Jia Yin
Chin Phaik Sue
Grace Goh
Goh Chen Xi
Vivien Heng
Abigail Ho
Grace Hwang
Rachel Lam
Liang Xinyu
Giselle Lim
Loh Chung Sian
Serene Loi
Ng Bee Kay
Pang E-Chin
Sarah Santhana
Desiree Seng
Navya Singh
Andrea Yenny Sjah
Nelia Soelistia
Carine Tan
Christabelle Tan
Janelle Tan
Sarah Tang
Angela Tang
Sachiko Tomimori
Gladys Torrado
Jasmine Towndrow
Shirlyn Tsang
Jessica-Ann Vendawall
Stacey Wang Espera
Wang Yu-Ann
Raeanne Wong
Wong Kae Chee
Zefanya Angelica
*Choral Associate
Conducting Fellow
ALTO
Pauline Ang
Grace Angel
Chng Xin Bei
Nicolette Foo^
Megan Fung
Hillary Goh
Kristy Goh
Adeline Heng
Truly Hutapea
Jennifer Joy
Suzannah Kewley
Trinetra Kumarasan
Susan Kurniawati
Dorothy Lee-Teh
Zachary Lim
Lin Wei
Loo Seow Hua
Shoumin Low
Sharon Low
Joanne Low
Ng Beng Choo
Ng Sheh Feng*
Priscilla Pan
Ratna Sutantio
Elsie Tan
Tan Seow Yen
Tan Yuqing
Tan Yulin
Avery Teo
Nadine Yap
Lynda Yap
Elizabeth Yeo
Yew Wai See
Yuan Chia Lei
TENOR
Jean-Michel Bardin
John Borja
Jesse Cai
Hann Lyang
Chong Wei Sheng
Jeff Chua
Alfonso Cortez
Paul Dominique Galvez
Jeroven Marquez
Joshua C Nathanael
Seifer Ong
Ronald Ooi
Jovan Paul
Samuel Pažický
Rac Roldan
Ian Tan
Titus Teo
Ben Wong
Yek Kwan
BASS
Ang Jian Zhong
Leonard Buescher
Chai Chang Kai
Matthew Chiang
Benjamin Chong
Winsen Citra
Arthur Davis
Kentaro Hirama
Andy Jatmiko
Ethan Jerzak
Paul Kitamura
Lalsiamkima
Justin Lee
Loy Sheng Rui
Isaiah Osmond
Joshua Sei Wee
Tan Hee
Joshua Tan
Benlee Tan
Tin Siong
Felix Tiong
Wong Yang Kai*
Wong Zhen Wei
Yan Yim Tong
The SSCC Experience
A fun-filled day of singing workshops!
Discover a day in the life of an SSCC chorister through our one-day programme of music-making, learning the basics of rhythm, solfeggio and choral techniques.
Workshop participants will get to conclude their experience with an early evening concert at the iconic Victoria Concert Hall, featuring material learnt, and choristers of the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir.
Suitable for children aged 8 (born 2016) to 12. We welcome all including music beginners!
Details:
Date & Time: 2 & 3 Sep 2024, 9am-6pm
Venue: Victoria Concert Hall
Fee: $118 per participant
Registration closes: 23 Aug 2024
Learn more: sso.org.sg/sscc-experience
© JOEL LOW
CHLOE CHUA violin
Chloe Chua (b. 2007) shot to international stardom after winning the joint 1st Prize at the 2018 Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists. The young Singaporean star has also won top accolades at the Andrea Postacchini, Zhuhai International Mozart, Thailand International Strings and the Singapore National Piano & Violin Competitions.
Her stunning musicality despite her young age has captured the hearts of audiences around the world, and her performances have taken her to concert halls and orchestras across the U.S.A., U.K., Italy, Germany, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, China, Thailand and Singapore.
Called “one of the most promising young musicians in the world” by PBS’s Great Performances, America’s preeminent multi award-winning performing arts television series, Chloe starred in its season 51 episode Now Hear This – Rising Stars, broadcast in April 2024.
Chloe was Artist-In-Residence of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) during their 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons – the youngest ever to be appointed to this role. Her debut album of The Four Seasons and Locatelli’s Harmonic Labyrinth on the award-winning Pentatone label garnered 1.6 million Spotify streams in its first year. Chloe’s sophomore album Butterfly Lovers and Paganini Violin Concertos is released in 2024, with her complete Mozart Violin Concertos with SSO Music Director Hans Graf set to follow.
At age 4, Chloe began her violin studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) School of Young Talents, honing her skills under the tutelage of Yin Ke.
Chloe performs on a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Milan, 1753, on generous loan from the Rin Collection.
NG PEI-SIAN
cello, The HEAD Foundation Chair
Ng Pei-Sian was Commonwealth Musician of the Year in 2007, winner of the Gold Medal and First Prize at the 55th Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition held in London. He has performed concertos with the major Australian symphony orchestras, Singapore Symphony (SSO), Malaysian Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Estonian National Symphony, Oulu Symphony, Sinfonia ViVA, City of Southampton Orchestra, Philippine Philharmonic and the Orchestra of the Music Makers and performed around the world in venues including Royal Festival Hall, Wigmore Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Purcell Room, Konzerthaus (Berlin), Lincoln Centre and Carnegie Hall.
Born in Sydney in 1984, he began studies in Adelaide with Barbara Yelland and later with Janis Laurs at the Elder Conservatorium of Music before winning the prestigious Elder Overseas Scholarship to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. Pei-Sian completed his studies under Ralph Kirshbaum during which he was awarded the RNCM Gold Medal, the highest prize given by the college.
Pei-Sian has had appearances in important music festivals including the Brighton, Edinburgh, Manchester International Cello Festival, Kronberg Academy, MecklenburgVorpormmern Festival and Adelaide International Cello Festival. He performed
© TIMOTHY TEO
Tan Dun’s Crouching Tiger Cello Concerto with The Festival Orchestra under the baton of the Academy Award-winning composer and also performed with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, Cho-Liang Lin and Renaud Capuçon. In the 2023/24 season, Pei-Sian performed Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote with the SSO.
Pei-Sian is currently Principal Cellist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and performs on a 2020 Paolo Vettori “David” cello, Florence.
JOHANNA FALKINGER
soprano
Johanna Rosa Falkinger (Soprano, Austria) recently finished her master studies for early music singing with Roberta Invernizzi at MUK (Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna) and for voice pedagogy at MDW (University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna) with Tanya Aspelmeier. With her clear, bright voice she is a great interpreter of early music and has won several prizes at international competitions such as Concours Corneille (FR), Aria Borealis (NO) and the H. Schmelzer Competition (AT).
In 2023 she was part of the Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival as leading actress in Ravel’s L'enfant et les sortileges. Other engagements include, at Oper Wuppertal (Monteverdi/Poppea/Drusilla, Virtú), Potsdam Music Festival (Bernasconi/L´Huomo/ Incosia), Herrenhausen Barock (Blow/Venus & Adonis/Cupid), styriarte Graz (Monteverdi/ L´Orfeo/La Musica, Euridice), Bayreuth Baroque Opera Festival, Handel Festival Halle, Theater an der Wien and Musikverein Vienna. Further collaborations include, with Jordi Savall, Dorothee Oberlinger, Christina Pluhar, Concentus Musicus Vienna, Lautten Compagney Berlin, the Nordic Baroque Scene, L´Orfeo Baroqueorchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the vocal group Company of Music and many others.
© MARKUS SANDNER
ANITA MONSERRAT
mezzo-soprano
British mezzo-soprano Anita Monserrat recently won both First Prize and Orchesterpreis der Deutschen Radio Philharmonie at the 2024 SWR Junge Opernstars Competition. In 2023, Anita was a semifinalist at the 30th edition of the Operalia competition and was a member of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburger Festspiele, performing in Ravel’s L’Enfant et les Sortilèges. Recent engagements also include ‘Christmas in Vienna’ at the Wiener Konzerthaus, performing alongside Joyce DiDonato and Lawrence Brownlee. Anita was a finalist in both the 2023 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the 2022 Handel Singing Competition. In September, Anita will join the Wiener Staatsoper Opernstudio for the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.
Recent concert highlights include Bach’s St John Passion at the Barbican with Britten Sinfonia, soloist for ‘Easter at King’s’ as seen on BBC2, Handel’s Messiah with Laurence Cummings and the London Handel Festival and Bach’s St John Passion with Philippe Herreweghe. Anita has participated in many public masterclasses with artists such as KS Neil Shicoff, Malcolm Martineau, Catherine Wyn-Rogers and Mary Bevan.
Anita began singing as chorister and head chorister of Salisbury Cathedral Girls Choir. She held a choral scholarship at Trinity College, Cambridge, where she read music. She then studied at the Royal Academy of Music, under the tutelage of Alex Ashworth and Catherine Wyn-Rogers, and graduated with distinction. She then went on to study for an MA in Opera at the University for Music and Performing Arts (MDW) in Vienna, under the tutelage of KS Michael Schade and Laura Aikin.
© HELENA COOKE PHOTOGRAPHY
SEUNGWOO YANG tenor
Seungwoo Simon Yang was born in South Korea in 1997. Since October 2018, he has been studying with Carolyn James at Hamburg’s University of Music and Theatre. From the 2020/21 to the 2022/23 season, he was a member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera, and in 2022 summer, he was a member of the Young Singers Project Salzburger Festspiele. Since the start of the 2023/24 season, he has been a member of the Fest Ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera.
Seungwoo Yang has won numerous prizes in competitions in South Korea and Germany. These include first prizes in the 2014 Ewha Kyunghyang Music Competition, the Shin Youngok Singing Competition and the Shinhan Music Awards. In 2018 he won the second prize at the Maritime Music Awards; in 2020 he was awarded the first prize at the Mozart Prize Awards at Hamburg’s University of Music and Theatre; in 2022, he was a finalist in the Neue Stimmen Competition.
Born in Hong Kong, Liam James Karai is a bass-baritone of Scottish, Irish and Indian descent who has just finished his Opera Studio at Staatsoper Hamburg. He was previously a young artist at Salzburg Festspiele as well as a finalist of the 41st International Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition. In the 2023/24 season at the Staatsoper Hamburg, his roles included Angelotti (Tosca), Hobson (Peter Grimes), Zaretsky (Eugine Onegin) and Il Conte di Ceprano (Rigoletto). Outside of Hamburg, Liam debuted Escamillo (Carmen) at Staatstheater Mainz & Oper Frankfurt, as well as the roles of Verwalter & Wächter (Lady Macbeth von Mzensk) at Oper Leipzig. His upcoming season 2024/25 includes house debuts in Polish National opera, Teatro di San Carlo, Erl Tiroler Festspiele and more, with roles such as Escamillo, Schaunard and Angelotti.
Alongside his operatic career, Liam is a keen concert soloist and has regularly performed in concerts around the world. Upcoming concerts include his Elbphilharmonie Großer Saal debut singing as the bass soloist in Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy with the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Kent Nagano.
Liam completed a Postgraduate Diploma on a full scholarship as well as a Master of Music degree in Performance at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) under the tutelage of Quentin Hayes. During his time at the RNCM, Liam was awarded the Sir John Tomlinson Scholarship and the Andrew Lloyd Webber Scholarship, and was the winner of the 2021 Frederic Cox Award, the RNCM Silver Medal and the Joaninha Trust Award competition.
© CAROLINE WINNICKER
LIAM JAMES KARAI bass
JOHANNES BRAHMS (1833–1897)
Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102 (1887)
Allegro Andante Vivace non
troppo
When composers write their works, they usually have a specific sound in their minds, whether it be for a certain voice/instrument, or combination of instruments and/or voices. Sometimes, a composer conceives an idea that a single existing instrument cannot adequately cover, and so it was with Brahms’s Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102. Much like how individual robots in Japanese anime join to make a giant super-robot with increased powers, Brahms seems to imagine the violin and violoncello merging musically to form a single super-instrument, with a massive fiveoctave range.
This work was Brahms’s last orchestral work after his Fourth Symphony in 1885, and he was not to write any more till his death in 1897. The catalyst for this work appears to have been an 1887 request from Robert Hausmann to write a cello concerto. Now, Hausmann was cellist in a string quartet with Brahms’s longtime friend and collaborator Joseph Joachim, but Brahms had fallen out with Joachim in 1884. Joachim had initiated divorce proceedings from his wife Amalie for suspected adultery, and Brahms, who was friends with both, had written a letter to Amalie stating his belief that she was innocent. This letter became evidence in the court proceedings and caused a rift between the two men. Brahms saw the request from Hausmann as a chance to repair the damaged friendship and produced a double concerto for violin and violoncello.
The Allegro begins in dramatic fashion, with the cello solo setting the scene before the violin enters and almost merges with the cello, offering chordal combinations and smoothly passing phrases to the other, showing that the combined instruments made for a true super-instrument. It is not hard to see Brahms expressing in music his desire for reconciliation. Extensive use of the A-E-F motif may be explained by it being a permutation of F-A-E, Joseph Joachim's personal motto Frei aber einsam (“Free but lonely”). As Joachim and Hausmann were the soloists at the premiere, the former could not have missed these clues. Here, the violin and violoncello work together, sometimes playing in tandem, sometimes in counterpoint, completing each other’s phrases, but always as a team against the orchestra.
The Andante slow movement is in ABA form, with the first theme introduced by the soloists playing in unison octaves, the purest expression of unity. Warmth, nostalgia, and ease in D major are tinged with a touch of melancholy, giving us one of Brahms’s most moving melodies. Joachim and Hausmann were consulted extensively during the creative process, as Brahms played neither instrument. Clara Schumann wrote in her diary, “The Concerto is a work of reconciliation. Joachim and Brahms have spoken to one another again.”
A rather exotic Hungarian-style melody starts the final movement, a rondo finale that runs through a wide range of moods. Perhaps the Hungarian mood was the result of diffusion — at the time of its composition, Brahms was concurrently writing a set of 11 Zigeunerlieder (Gypsy Songs) for vocal quartet and piano. After much drama, the work ends with a rather unexpected touch — a Tierce de Picardie — an A major chord, illustrating happy reconciliation.
Audience and public reception were lukewarm, and this resulted in Brahms throwing away the sketches he had prepared for a second double concerto, a loss for the world of music. Nevertheless, the concerto had restored a broken friendship, and is now widely recognised as one of the greatest of the genre.
Instrumentation
solo violin, solo cello, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings
World Premiere 18 Oct 1887, Cologne
First performed by SSO 2 Mar 1984
(The Music Group of London, Ensemble)
The Joachim Quartet with Joseph Joachim on the left and Robert Hausmann on cello
LUDWIG
VAN BEETHOVEN
(1770–1827)
Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 “Choral” (1824)
Allegro ma non troppo, un poco maestoso
Molto vivace
Adagio molto e cantabile
Presto – Allegro assai – Allegro assai vivace
If Joseph Haydn was the father of the symphony, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was his mischievous childhood best friend, Ludwig van Beethoven was the one who took him out for his first legal beer and introduced him to edgy social causes. Before, the symphony was a purely musical form, but it was Beethoven who pioneered the idea of using it as a means of expressing social and cultural concerns, starting with the dedication of his Third Symphony, the “Eroica” to Napoleon Bonaparte, and ending with the Ninth Symphony with its choral text extolling universal brotherhood.
What was going on in the world at the time? Revolutionary struggle — Beethoven’s lifetime saw the American and French revolutions, as well as those of European holdings in South and Central America. The flurry of global social upheaval was disturbing to some, yet exhilarating to others, and the ensuing chaos was believed to be a necessary precursor to establishing newer, fairer, more egalitarian orders, ushering in an age of world peace and brotherhood.
Perhaps the most commented-upon piece of music in history, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, the Choral Symphony, is also home to one of the most recognisable musical themes. It all began with German poet Friedrich Schiller’s 1785 poem An die Freude (Ode to Joy), which
moved Beethoven to include it in an 1817 commission for a choral symphony by the Philharmonic Society of London. Beethoven produced some sketches that year, but composition did not begin in earnest till 1822, and the work was only completed in February 1824. By the time of its premiere in Vienna on 7 May 1824, Beethoven was profoundly deaf but insisted on conducting it. A famous anecdote recounts that Caroline Unger, who sang the contralto solo at the premiere, gently turned the oblivious and still-conducting composer around at the end – to face the applause.
The scherzo is distinctly dance-like, with melodies reminiscent of country dances — was Beethoven summoning the spirit of the common man?
While Schiller’s text appears only in the final movement, it generated additional plotlines for the earlier movements. The first movement, Allegro ma non troppo, begins with dissonance, tension-building, and swirls of primordial energy. Chaos begins to be put into order sweepingly, but we slip back into disarray a few times — clearly this is a massive effort of creation.
The second movement of symphonies is usually a slow movement but Beethoven gives us the Scherzo first, perhaps so that a calm third movement would provide a better prelude to the choral finale. The scherzo is distinctly dance-like, with melodies reminiscent of country dances — was Beethoven summoning the spirit of the common man? It ends with a hymn-like melody that foreshadows the joy of the last movement.
The third movement Adagio molto e cantabile provides a welcome respite from the intensity of the previous movements. We are led through pastoral landscapes in elaborate variations that draw us to ever greater longing for a brighter future.
The finale recapitulates the sentiments of the preceding movements while never quite making direct quotations: the swirling primordial chaos of the first movement and its sweeping attempts to bring order, the determined onward march of the second, and the bucolic calm of the third. Then, the famous theme appears, first tentatively and fragmented in the lower strings, but this gains courage and is taken up by the strings and then the whole orchestra. In the midst of all this, the baritone electrifyingly calls out for new melodies more pleasing and joyful, giving words to the melody, which dominates the rest of the movement in various variations and combinations of solo voices and chorus, moving inexorably and irresistibly toward the exhilarating conclusion.
An interesting academic speculation is that Schiller originally wrote his poem as an An die Freiheit (Ode to Freedom), with freude (joy) as a code for freiheit (freedom) in
Autograph manuscript of
An die Freude (c. 1785) by Friedrich Schiller
order to circumvent the censors of his time. Whether plausible or not, this prompted the symphony to be performed with this changed text by Leonard Bernstein and in Berlin on Christmas 1989 after the Fall of the Berlin Wall. This sentiment that the music is associated with freedom has led to its being played at various protests, such as the 1989 Tiananmen Square Demonstrations and the 1980s Chilean protests against the military dictatorship. In other places, the Ode to Joy theme has found a home as the European Union’s Anthem of Europe as well as the hymn Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee.
The scale and influence of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony has led other composers to ascribe a sort of mystical significance to their own ninth symphonies, often making them choral symphonies, and contributing to the superstition called the “Curse of the Ninth”, a belief that the ninth symphony is supposed to be a composer’s last, and that the composer is fated to die before, during, or shortly after completing it.
Beethoven, who lived another three years, and who had a sense of humour despite his stern image, would have marvelled at how his work has continued to have a life of its own 200 years after its 1824 premiere, and how it continues to spur hope in our troubled times.
Programme notes by Edward C. Yong
Instrumentation
solo voices, chorus, 2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, contrabassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, triangle, cymbals, bass drum, strings
World Premiere 7 May 1824, Vienna
First performed by SSO 8 Dec 1995
An die Freude
O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen, und freudenvollere!
Freude, Freude!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken, Tochter aus Elysium, Wir betreten feuertrunken, Himmlische, dein Heiligtum. Deine Zauber binden wieder, Was die Mode streng geteilt; Alle Menschen werden Brüder, Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen, Eines Freundes Freund zu sein, Wer ein holdes Weib errungen, Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer's nie gekonnt, der stehle Weinend sich aus diesem Bund!
Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brüsten der Natur; Alle Guten, alle Bösen Folgen ihrer Rosenspur. Küsse gab sie uns und Reben, Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod; Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben, Und der Cherub steht vor Gott.
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen, Durch das Himmels prächt’gen Plan, Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn, Freudig wie ein Held zum Siegen.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen!
Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt! Brüder! Über’m Sternenzelt Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such’ ihn überm Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muss er wohnen.
Ode to Joy
Oh friends, not these tones! Rather let us sing more cheerful and more joyful ones.
Joy! Joy!
Joy, beautiful spark of the gods, Daughter of Elysium, We enter fire-drunk, Heavenly One, your shrine.
Your magic reunites What custom sternly divides; All people become brothers Where your gentle wing alights.
Whoever succeeds in the great attempt To be a friend of a friend, Whoever has won a lovely woman, Let him add his jubilation! Yes, whoever calls even one soul His own on the earth’s globe! And he who never has, let him steal, Weeping, away from this gathering.
All creatures drink joy At Nature’s breast; All the good, all the evil Follow her rosy path. Kisses she gave us, and wine, A friend, proven unto death; Pleasure was given to the worm, And the cherub stands before God.
Happy, as his suns fly Across Heaven’s glorious map, Run, brothers, your race, Joyfully, as a hero to victory.
Be embraced, you millions! This kiss is for the whole world! Brothers! Beyond the star-canopy Must a loving Father dwell.
Do you bow down, you millions? Do you know your Creator, world? Seek Him beyond the star-canopy! Beyond the stars must He dwell.
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BOTTICELLIANO
TCHAIKOVSKY SYMPHONY NO. 6 "PATHÉTIQUE"
The vision of the Singapore Symphony Group is to be a leading arts organisation that engages, inspires and reflects Singapore through musical excellence. Our mission 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
SEASO N P A R T N E R S
SEASO N P A T R ON S MAJ
Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin
Estate of Tan Jiew Cheng
Official
Official Air line
Official Outdoor Media Par tner
Official Community Par tner
Official Hotel
Stephen Riady Group of Foundations