CONCERT PROGRAMME FEBRUARY–MARCH 2022
SSO-FRCS JOINT FUNDRAISING CONCERT: SERENADES WITH ANDREW LITTON AND CHLOË HANSLIP ANDREW LITTON AND CHLOË HANSLIP
FUNDRAISING PARTNER
Feb-Mar 2022 SSO-FRCS JOINT FUNDRAISING CONCERT: SERENADES WITH ANDREW LITTON AND CHLOË HANSLIP
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25 & 26 Feb 2022, Fri & Sat Victoria Concert Hall
ANDREW LITTON AND CHLOË HANSLIP 4 & 5 Mar 2022, Fri & Sat Victoria Concert Hall
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T Pre-concert Talk on our Facebook page and YouTube channel
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. In 2021, the SSO clinched third place in the prestigious Orchestra of the Year Award by Gramophone. 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. 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 second performance at the Berlin Philharmonie. 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 2020, the SSO appointed renowned Austrian conductor Hans Graf as its Chief Conductor. In a time greatly disrupted by COVID-19, the SSO continued to keep music alive and lift spirits up through a multitude of digital concerts and videos, which crossed a million views in six months. The SSO has released more than 50 recordings in its 40-year history, with more than 30 on the BIS label. The most recent critically acclaimed albums include a Rachmaninoff box set (2021), Richard Strauss’ “Rosenkavalier and Other Works” (2020), and three Debussy discs “La Mer”, “Jeux” and “Nocturnes”. The orchestra has also released albums of contemporary works linked to East Asia, including works by Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Bright Sheng, Alexander Tcherepnin, and others. 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.
H ANS G RAF Chief Conductor The SSO is part of the Singapore Symphony Group, which also manages the Singapore Symphony Choruses, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, and the VCHpresents chamber music series, the Singapore International Piano Festival and the biennial National Piano & Violin Competition. 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.
ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 4 & 5 MAR
© DOMINIC PHUA
SER ENA D ES W ITH A N D R E W LI T TO N A ND C HL O Ë HAN SL IP | 2 5 & 26 F E B 2022 20 2 2
Litton was Principal Conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony from 1988–1994. As Music Director of the Dallas Symphony from 1994–2006, he hired over one third of the players, led the orchestra on three major European tours, and appeared four times at Carnegie Hall. His discography boasts over 135 recordings.
ANDREW LITTON Principal Guest Conductor Andrew Litton is Music Director of the New York City Ballet, Principal Guest Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Conductor Laureate of Britain’s Bournemouth Symphony and Music Director Laureate of Norway’s Bergen Philharmonic. Under Litton’s leadership the Bergen Philharmonic gained international recognition through extensive recording and touring. For his efforts, Norway’s King Harald V knighted Litton with the Norwegian Royal Order of Merit. His many honours also include Yale’s Sanford Medal, the Elgar Society Medal, and an honorary Doctorate from the University of Bournemouth.
This season, Litton returns to the Bournemouth and Singapore Symphony Orchestras. He has recently conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales at the 2021 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, and will be making appearances with NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, among others. An avid opera conductor with a keen theatrical sense, Litton has led major opera companies such as the Metropolitan Opera, The Royal Opera Covent Garden, Opera Australia and Deutsche Oper Berlin. In Norway, he was key to founding the Bergen National Opera, where he led numerous acclaimed performances. An accomplished pianist, Litton often performs as a soloist, conducting from the keyboard. He is also an acknowledged expert on and performer of Gershwin’s music and serves as Advisor to the University of Michigan Gershwin Archives.
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Prodigiously talented, Chloë Hanslip (b. 1987) made her BBC Proms debut at 14 and her US concerto debut at 15 and has performed at major venues in the UK and Europe as well as Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Arts Space in Tokyo and the Seoul Arts Centre.
© KAUPO KIKKAS
Hanslip’s extensive discography includes albums on Warner Classics and Hyperion, as well as Rubicon Classics, where she released the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas in three volumes with Danny Driver. Hanslip studied for ten years with the Russian pedagogue Zakhar Bron and has also worked with Christian Tetzlaff, Robert Masters, Ida Haendel, Salvatore Accardo, and Gerhard Schulz. She plays a Nicolo Amati violin kindly loaned to her through the Beare’s International Violin Society by a generous sponsor.
Highlights of the 2021/22 season include concerto performances with the Philhamonia and Hallé Orchestras, the Russian Philharmonic of Novosibirsk, the Orquestra National de Bogota, the Singapore and Aalborg Symphony Orchestras. She will be Artist-in-Residence at the Lammermuir Festival and will perform at the Wigmore Hall alongside regular duo partner Danny Driver. 5
AN DR E W LI T TO N A ND C HL O Ë H AN SL IP | 4 & 5 MAR
Hanslip’s wide-ranging repertoire spans concertos by Britten, Prokofiev, Beethoven, Brahms, Korngold, Shostakovich, Barber, Bernstein, Delius, Mendelssohn, Bruch, Elgar, Tchaikovsky, Walton and Sibelius. With a particular passion for contemporary repertoire, she has championed works by Adams, Glass, Corigliano, Nyman, Huw Watkins, Michael Berkeley, Peter Maxwell Davies and Brett Dean. A committed chamber musician, she is a regular participant at festivals across Europe. Alongside her performing career, Chloë is a Visiting Professor at The Royal Academy of Music, in London and an ambassador for the charity Future Talent.
S EREN A D ES W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 26 F E B 2022
C HLO Ë H AN SL I P violin
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SEC O N D V IOL IN
T HE ORC HE S T R A HANS GRAF Chief Conductor ANDREW LITTON Principal Guest Conductor CHOO HOEY Conductor Emeritus LAN SHUI Conductor Laureate EUDENICE PALARUAN Choral Director WONG LAI FOON Choirmaster
Michael Loh Associate Principal Nikolai Koval* Hai-Won Kwok Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Wu Man Yun* Xu Jueyi* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhao Tian* VIO L A Manchin Zhang Principal Guan Qi Associate Principal Gu Bing Jie* Fixed Chair Marietta Ku Luo Biao Julia Park Shui Bing Janice Tsai Dandan Wang Yang Shi Li
FIRS T VI OL I N
C EL L O
(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*
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 Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er D O U B LE BAS S Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal Karen Yeo Fixed Chair Olga Alexandrova Jacek Mirucki Guennadi Mouzyka Wang Xu
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 TR O M B O N E
PICCOLO 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 COR ANGL AI S Elaine Yeo Associate Principal CLARINET Ma Yue Principal Li Xin Associate Principal Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping BAS S CL AR I NE T Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal BAS S OON
B A SS T R O MBONE Wang Wei Assistant Principal TU B A Tomoki Natsume Principal TIM P A N I Christian Schiøler Principal P ER CU SSIO N Jonathan Fox Principal Mark Suter Associate Principal Mario Choo Lim Meng Keh H A RP Gulnara Mashurova Principal
Liu Chang Associate Principal Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue 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, courtesy of Mr G K Goh. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.
Musicians SER EN A D ES W IT H A N D RE W L I T T ON A ND CHL OË HA NS L I P | 25 & 26 F E B 2022
FIRST VIOLIN Chan Yoong-Han Acting Concertmaster /Fixed Chair Cao Can Foo Say Ming Jin Li Cindy Lee Karen Tan Kong Xianlong Zhang Si Jing SECOND VIOLIN Xu Jueyi Hai-Won Kwok Chikako Sasaki Nikolai Koval Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan
TIMPANI Christian Schiøler PERCUSSION Jonathan Fox Mark Suter Mario Choo Lim Meng Keh Tan Pei Jie * HARP Gulnara Mashurova
VIOLA Manchin Zhang Gu Bing Jie Julia Park Dandan Wang CELLO Ng Pei-Sian Jamshid Saydikarimov Wang Yan DOUBLE BASS Karen Yeo Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu
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ANDREW LIT T O N A N D CHL OË HA NS L I P | 4 & 5 M A R
FIRST VIOLIN Kong Zhao Hui Acting Concertmaster /Associate Concertmaster Duan Yu Ling Jin Li Kong Xianlong Cindy Lee Zhang Si Jing William Tan Wei Zhe
DOUBLE BASS Yang Zheng Yi Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu PERCUSSION Jonathan Fox
SECOND VIOLIN Ye Lin Nikolai Koval Hai-Won Kwok Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Wu Man Yun Yeo Teow Meng Zhao Tian VIOLA Manchin Zhang Guan Qi Luo Biao Shui Bing Janice Tsai Yang Shi Li CELLO Yu Jing Guo Hao Chan Wei Shing Jamshid Saydikarimov Song Woon Teng Zhao Yu Er
* Guest musician 11
SE R E N AD E S W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 2 6 FE B 2 0 2 2
SSO-FRCS J O I N T F U NDRAI S I N G C O N C E R T : SE RENA DE S WI TH ANDREW L I T T O N AN D CHLOË H AN SLI P FOR TH E L O V E O F M U S I C 25 & 26 Feb 2022, Fri & Sat Victoria Concert Hall Singapore Symphony Orchestra Andrew Litton Principal Guest Conductor Chloë Hanslip violin*
ELG AR
Serenade for Strings
12 mins
B ER N ST E I N
Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium*
30 mins
M O ZART
Eine kleine Nachtmusik
16 mins Concert Duration: approximately 1 hr 15 mins (with no intermission)
Fundraising Partner
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S EREN A D ES W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 26 F E B 2022
M ES SAG E F RO M OUR FU N D RAI SI N G PAR TNE R Dear Benefactors As the first major event of 2022 for the Foundation of Rotary Clubs Singapore (FRCS), it is our pleasure to welcome you to our Joint Fundraising Concert with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. This event is in conjunction with World Peace and Understanding Day commemorated by Rotarians around the world. We are thankful to have Guest of Honour, the Mayor of South West District, Ms Low Yen Ling, grace our inaugural concert with the SSO. This collaboration marks our first foray into the arts and music scene in Singapore. The arts and social service sectors have always worked towards a common goal – To serve the community at large. This is a much-needed step towards increasing our presence in the community and helping the less privileged. Proceeds from the concert’s special fundraising seats will be allocated equally to FRCS and SSO. Funds received by FRCS will be directed to our newly set up FRCS Eldercare & Caregivers Centre (FRCS ECC) in Bukit Batok Avenue 5. It aims to serve 2,500 senior residents within the area, through the provision of a customised space for them to interact, socialise, and gain a sense of belonging within the community.
Finally, I would like to thank you; our benefactors for your support in attending this concert. Please enjoy the wonderful musical experience with the SSO.
Yours sincerely
This collaboration is made possible thanks to several key members. Mr Heinrich Grafe, for being the bridge between SSO and FRCS. Our board members, Dr Gong Ing San (Fundraising Chair), Mr Wong Kwai Wah (Honorary Secretary) and the FRCS secretariat for the great assistance.
Mr Chew Ghim Bok JP, BBM Chairman Foundation of Rotary Clubs (Singapore) Ltd 13
SE R E N AD E S W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 2 6 FE B 2 0 2 2
EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934) Serenade for Strings (1892) I II III
Allegro piacevole Larghetto Allegretto
Elgar’s string serenade can be considered an “early” work, written in 1892 when he was at the ripe age of 35. He came to his craft with lots of hard work, and before the Serenade exploded in popularity, he was not earning much as a composer. It took four more years for the piece to be publicly premiered, and his intuition promised it would be a success – he wrote to a friend that it was the first piece he was happy with. Critics have commented that Elgar wrote little of great value before the famous Enigma Variations of 1899, though this piece certainly shines out as a gem from those early compositional years. While this piece is largely overshadowed, both by Elgar’s own later work and his stature as Britain’s greatest composer, and by the far better string serenades from across the English Channel (especially from the Slavs), the work remains an extremely popular teaching piece for string ensembles. It has a few moments reminiscent of Mahler and Brahms, especially in the use of viola, while retaining an entirely English pastoral air.
Engraving of a bust of Plato from the 17th century Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
The second movement in particular features some of Elgar’s best melodic writing, while the first movement is a lively jig. The finale is a particularly fine piece of Germanic counterpoint that ties the work together by bringing back the opening melody for a satisfying coda.
Instrumentation strings World Premiere 1892, Worcester, UK (private performance) First performed by SSO 11 Mar 2007 14
I II III IV V
Phaedrus; Pausanias (Lento; Allegro marcato) Aristophanes (Allegretto) Eryximachus (Presto) Agathon (Adagio) Socrates; Alcibiades (Molto tenuto; Allegro molto vivace)
Bernstein’s Serenade is a very different beast. A violin concerto in all but name, the accompanying string orchestra is augmented by a rather large battery of percussion instruments and a harp. The combination of different tone colours complements Bernstein’s quasi-tonal language very well, and the composer himself thought of it his best “serious” composition. However, unlike his symphonies and his Mass entering the concert canon, this piece has never quite attained the same level of popularity.
of the fourth movement (complete with cadenza) to the frantic dove-tailing rush of the third. It is more productive to think of the music as an encapsulation of Bernstein’s attitude towards music in the post-war era: after a time of intense fragmentation, he draws influences and ideas from traditions as disparate as his Jewish background, jazz, and modernist classical music into an eclectic whole that is purely his.
It could be due to the fact that the unusual instrumentation means it is hard to programme. Should the winds and brass disappear for half an hour from a concert, or, like tonight, have percussion and harp make guest entries? Added to this problem is the fact that the solo violin part is hugely difficult, and that Bernstein had actually forgotten about the deadline of this commission and recycled material from two earlier piano pieces.
Instrumentation timpani, percussion (side drum, tenor drum, bass drum, triangle, suspended cymbal, xylophone, glockenspiel, chimes, Chinese blocks, tambourine) harp, strings
But the result speaks for itself, and this fivemovement work with a red-herring title and genre is one of the great violin works of the middle of the 20th century. The movement titles, all names of Greek philosophers, have little to do with the music, as does “after Plato’s Symposium”. Instead, Bernstein uses them as signposts for emotional areas, ranging from the Shostakovich-like elegy
World Premiere 9 Sep 1954, Venice (Isaac Stern, violin; Leonard Bernstein, conductor) First performed by SSO 17 Jan 2004 (Kam Ning, violin) 15
S EREN A D ES W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 26 F E B 2022
LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918–1990) Serenade, after Plato’s Symposium (1954)
SE R E N AD E S W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 2 6 FE B 2 0 2 2
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791) Eine kleine Nachtmusik (1787) I II III IV
Allegro Romanze: Andante Menuetto. Allegretto Rondo: Allegro
No introduction is needed for the famous G major arpeggio that begins Eine kleine Nachtmusik, nor the famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart himself. This tune is famous enough that one would be hard pressed to find anyone at all on the street that doesn’t recognise it. Written in 1787 for string quartet with added double bass, it is far more often performed these days with string orchestra, even though it was never intended for serious appreciation. Mozart’s many divertimenti and serenades were often written on commission, though there is no record that one was the reason for him breaking off in the middle of Don Giovanni to write such a light and happy piece.
having picked up the instrument himself. It is especially audible in the slow movement, a gorgeous slow gavotte that is swatted aside by the spring-in-a-step uprightness of the Minuet. And, to finish with a great time, the finale is a rondo stuffed full of light and colour, showing off Mozart at his effusive best. Programme notes by Thomas Ang
The piece is structured as a symphony on a tiny scale, with four movements, though the most interesting piece of trivia about this ubiquitous work is Mozart’s own movement listing, which has another Minuet and Trio between the first movement and the very tender Romance. That movement has never been discovered, and it is not known whether it was played at the premiere (nor, indeed, when or where the premiere happened at all). Instrumentation strings
With a piece as universally loved as this, the less said the better: Mozart’s genius is wonderful enough by itself. In his mature period, he was especially predisposed to give the viola additional fragments of melody that weave in and out of focus,
World Premiere Unknown First performed by SSO 21 May 1979 16
TC HA I K O V S K Y AN D S H O S T A K O V I C H 4 & 5 Mar 2022, Fri & Sat Victoria Concert Hall Singapore Symphony Orchestra Andrew Litton Principal Guest Conductor Chloë Hanslip violin*
S HO ST AK O V I CH
Sonata for Violin, Percussion and String Orchestra, Op. 134* (arr. M. Zinman and A. Pushkarev) SSO PREMIERE
33 mins
T C H A I K O V SK Y
Souvenirs de Florence (arr. L. Drew)
35 mins Concert Duration: approximately 1 hr 25 mins (with no intermission)
T Watch our online Pre-Concert Talk on our Facebook page and YouTube channel.
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A N D REW LI T TON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 4 & 5 MA R
ANDREW LITTON AND CH LO Ë HA N S L I P
ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 4 & 5 MAR
DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH (1906–1975) Sonata for Violin, Percussion and String Orchestra, Op. 134 (1968) SSO PREMIERE (arr. M. Zinman and A. Pushkarev) I II III
Andante Allegretto Largo
Shostakovich’s music is impossible to discuss without mentioning the run-in he had with the Soviet government over his early opera Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk. Accounts from after the publication of the brutal anonymous review in Pravda paint Shostakovich as terrified for his life, and over the next decades he would seek to rehabilitate his image in the eyes of the Soviet authorities as much as possible, eventually becoming highly-regarded enough to have a direct line with Stalin himself.
“A fiendish violin part swings madly between very Russian elegiac pathos and... sardonic humour”
Dmitri Shostakovich and Irina Antonovna in Riga near Domsky Cathedral. 5 July 1968. source: Dmitri Shostakovich: Pages of His Life in Photographs © Olga Dombrovskaya
musical style never strayed far from the darkness of Lady Macbeth. Despite being called “Muddle Instead of Music” in that fateful editorial, Shostakovich’s music is still largely recognisably tonal, even if painted over by broad strokes of dissonance.
The career of this pianist-turned-composer is easily summarised as such — leaving out vast amounts of nuance, of course — but his music defies easy categorisation, even from the age of “socialist realism”. He was a brilliant-enough pianist to be sent as part of the Soviet contingent to the first-ever Warsaw Chopin Competition in 1927, where he won an honourable mention. But he never wrote music that was Chopinesque (unlike Rachmaninoff), and in real fact, his 18
Shostakovich’s original piano part has been orchestrated by violinist Mikhail Zinman to resemble the opening of the first violin concerto, and Ukrainian percussionist Andrei Pushkarev later added further parts for percussion, lending a brash flavour to the doom-filled march of the second movement. The pizzicato entry of the fugue in the finale sounds out of this world, and the climax in the middle, punctuated by huge bass drum rolls, sounds like the apocalypse. In between all this emotional extremism it is possible to hear tinges of folk melody, even if everything has been subsumed into the pure desperation that is Shostakovich’s music.
“Muddle Instead of Music” the anonymous review in Pravda on 28 Jan 1936 source: twitter.com/madigan_melvyn
Instrumentation Percussion (suspended cymbal, triangle, bass drum, wood blocks, side drum, xylophone, tam-tam), strings World Premiere (Sonata for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 134) 3 May 1969, Moscow 19
A N D REW LI T TON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 4 & 5 MA R
The Violin Sonata, a late work, was written for the 60th birthday of David Oistrakh, but bears many similarities to Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1 of two decades prior. A fiendish violin part swings madly between very Russian elegiac pathos and the sardonic humour most directly exemplified in the middle movement. The opening, mysterious and slow, is given to double bass and violins spanning six octaves in total. The first movement is a kind of strange procession music, full of darkness and foreboding, which suits the arrangement very well.
ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 4 & 5 MAR
PYOTR ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY (1840–1893) Souvenirs de Florence (1890) (arr. L. Drew) I II III IV
Allegro con spirito Adagio cantabile e con moto Allegro moderato Allegro vivace The folksong of the third movement is the true emotional centre of the whole work, with a viola melody placed in the spotlight. The gradual increase in intensity throughout explodes into the exuberance of the finale, and the intertwining parts dance solos, duets, and trios in balletic fashion, coming together for a huge Presto finish.
Souvenir de Florence is a very intimate title for a work that really has very little to do with Italy beyond being written in the country. Tchaikovsky was working on his opera The Queen of Spades while in Florence, and one of the themes he sketched out made its way into this work instead, providing the “memory of Florence”. It is typical Tchaikovsky: symphonically conceived, but wholly chamber music, almost like a larger version of his first string quartet.
Programme notes by Thomas Ang
The first two movements are classically academic in nature: the first is a sonata, as if Tchaikovsky were starting a symphony, and demands all players give their fullest. The waltz of the second is reminiscent of the many lovely waltzes from Tchaikovsky’s famous ballets, and exploits Tchaikovsky’s greater harmonic skill at the height of his powers. The key of D major gives it a warm glow and harks back to the beautiful central moment of the Elegy in the great String Serenade. In fact, despite his fondness for Italy, where he wintered away from the harsh cold of his Saint Petersburg-Moscow life, he wrote that he would not be seduced by the “enjoyments of life” and would “ever be faithful to my Russia”. A brave repudiation, and one that works its way into the music, with the last two movements being far more clearly Eastern Slavic than Italianate.
Instrumentation strings World Premiere (Original version) 10 Dec 1890, St. Petersburg First performed by SSO 14 Feb 2015 20
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Meng Esmé Parish & Martin Edwards Ian & Freda Rickword Charles Robertson Dr June & Peter Sheren Ron & Janet Stride Tibor Szabady Christopher SC Tan Tan Seow Yen Aileen Tang Anthony Tay Oliver Trianto The Sohn Yong Family Dr Dang Vu & Ms Oanh Nguyen Wicky Wong Anonymous (9)
P R EL U D E PAT RONS Miki A. Marcelo Viccario Achoa Aloha Dental Pte Ltd Kaiyan Asplund & Family Dr Taige Cao Chan Ah Khim Vivian P J Chandran Chang Chee Pey Jeanie Cheah Alex Chee Dr Christopher Chen Cheng Eng Aun Cheng Wei Dr Peter Chew Dr Faith Chia Bobby Chin Pamela Chong Jennie Chua Chor Siew Chun Sally Chy Pierre Colignon Creative Eateries Pte Ltd
YQ Dong Jeremy Ee Fergus Evans Elizabeth Fong Paul Foo Grace Fu Gao Wei Gan Yit Koon Goh Chiu Gak Cynthia Goh Jerry Gwee Goh Keng Hoong Goh Shin Ping Chiraporn Vivien Goh Richard Hartung Dr Guy J P Hentsch Ho Jin Yong Kelvin Ho The Kauffman-Yeoh Family Ernest Khoo Khor Cheng Kian
Belinda Koh Yuh Ling Koh Han Wei Helen Koh In Memory of Timothy Kok Tse En Colin Lang Lau Soo Lui Mr & Mrs Winson Lay Lee Jek Suen Kristen Lee Minsouk Lee Lee Mun Ping Dr Norman Lee Dr Lee Suan Yew Douglas Leong Wendy Leong Marnyi Dr Bettina Lieske Edith & Sean Lim Lim Shue Churn Candice Ling Firenze Loh Low Boon Hon Low Hong Kuan Alwyn Loy Andre Maniam Megan, Raeanne & Gwyneth Francoise Mei Dr Agnes Ng Ngiam Shih Chun Monique Ong Julia Park Audrey Phua Preetha Pillai Raymond Quah Gilbert R Dr Julia Raiskin Robert Khan & Co Pte Ltd Audrey Ruyters Danai Sae-Han
Omar Slim Marcel Smit & Hanneke Verbeek Alex Soh & Jimmy Koh Soh Leng Wan Veiter Soo Casey Tan Khai Hee Tan Cheng Guan Gillian & Daniel Tan Gordon HL Tan Joanne Tan Tan Lian Yok Tan Pei Jie Tan Yee Deng Tang See Chim Tee Linda David Teng Valerie Thean Toby & Margit Manju & Arudra Vangal Nicole Wang Remes Jinny Wong Ivan Yeo Lillian Yin Yong Seow Kin The Yong Family Yasmin Zahid Anonymous (41)
This list reflects donations that were made from 1 Jan 2021 to 31 Dec 2021. We would like to express our sincere thanks to donors whose names were inadvertently left out at print time. The Singapore Symphony Group is a charity and a not-for-profit organisation. Singapore tax-payers may qualify for 250% tax deduction for donations made. You can support us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate or www.giving.sg/sso.
S UP P O RT T H E SS O
Music is Essential Music is Life “Thank you (SSO) for your service. I believe in the power of music.”
Please help Singapore Symphony Orchestra and our affiliated performing groups play on; bringing hope and joy to Singapore through many more memorable shared musical experiences!
“The current pandemic is truly unforeseeable. Please keep safe and healthy and play on to spread the love for music.”
How can you help? The SSO is an arts charity and depends on your donations. If you are in a position to do so, please consider making a donation to support your orchestra – Build the future by giving in the present.
As a valued patron of the SSO, you will receive many benefits. Rhapsody
Serenade
Overture
Concerto
Symphony
6 tickets
10 tickets
12 tickets
16 tickets
20 tickets
40 tickets
Gala /Christmas/Pops
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2 tickets
4 tickets
6 tickets
20 tickets
SSO Special Gala Concerts
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2 tickets
4 tickets
Prelude
$1,000 - $2,499 $2,500 - $4,999 $5,000 - $9,999 $10,000 - $24,999 $25,000 - $49,999 $50,000 & above
COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS* Subscription /VCHpresents/ Family /SIPF
DONOR RECOGNITION & PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Concert booklets and website
Patron of the Arts Nomination
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Donors’ Wall at Victoria Concert Hall
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Invitation to social events
Invitation to exclusive events
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OTHER BENEFITS
Donations of $100 and above will entitle you to priority bookings, and discounts on SSG Concerts. For tax residents of Singapore, all donations may be entitled to a tax deduction of 2.5 times the value of your donation. *Complimentary ticket benefits do not apply to supporters who give through a fundraising event. 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.
To find out more, please visit www.sso.org.sg/support-us, or write to Nikki Chuang at nikki@sso.org.sg.
C O R PO RAT E PAT RONAGE
Form a special relationship with Singapore’s national orchestra and increase your name recognition among an influential and growing audience. Our concerts provide impressive entertainment and significant branding opportunities. SSO Corporate Patrons enjoy attractive tax benefits, Patron of the Arts nominations, acknowledgements in key publicity channels, complimentary tickets, and invitations to exclusive SSO events. For more details, please write to Chelsea Zhao at chelsea.zhao@sso.org.sg.
HEA RT F E L T T H ANKS TO OUR C O R PO RAT E PAT RONS Temasek Foundation The HEAD Foundation Yong Hon Kong Foundation John Swire & Sons (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd Lee Foundation The New Eden Charitable Trust
C O R PO RAT E SPO NSOR S SMRT Corporation Symphony 924 Singapore Airlines
Your support makes it possible for us to host world-renowned artists, including the Singapore debut of piano legend Martha Argerich in 2018.
SE R E N AD E S W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 2 6 FE B 2 0 2 2
D O N O RS O F T HE SSO-FR C S JOINT FUNDRAISING CONCERT: S E RE N AD E S WITH ANDR E W L ITTON A ND CH LOË H ANSLIP Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Foundation of Rotary Clubs Singapore (FRCS) thank the generous donors who have adopted our special fundraising seats for the concert. All proceeds will go on to benefit the SSO, and the newly set up FRCS Eldercare & Caregivers Centre aimed to serve 2,500 seniors. To find out more or donate, please visit www.giving.sg/foundation-of-rotary-clubs-s-ltd/frcs-sso-2022.
$20,000 Chew Ghim Bok
$10,000 - $19,99 9 Mr & Mrs Lim Bong Guan
$5,000 - $9,999 Mrs Dorothy Chan Stephen Riady Group of Foundations
$2,500 - $4,999 Dr & Mrs Lee Kay Beng Wong Kwai Wah & Wong Hui Ping
$1,000 - $2,499 Dr Sunny Abraham Chan Kim Ying Vincent Chen Jimmy Cheong Elsie Chua Luis Coronado Gabriele & Heinrich Grafe Sandar Htun Edna Ko Lai Chang Hsiung Ronald Pereira
Edward Quek August Schillo Singapore Precious Metals Exchange Pte Ltd Cynthia Tan Teo Kim Puah Amy Thng KC Tong Woo Chi Jen Yeo Chuen Eng Anonymous (2)
Alex Chan Jeffrey Chan Wah Teck Chen Teck Shing Dr Philbert Chin Dr Gong Ing San Adam Hing John Hing Karl Heinz Jung Dr Kwok Wai Mun Jovina Lau Clara Ng Cho Eng Ng Soo Hwang Ong Yeok Chye Dr Julian Ong Kian Peng Orthopaedic & Traumatic Surgery Pte Ltd Rotary Club of Garden City Manraj Singh Sekhon Henry Tan Anonymous
BE L OW $500 J Heinrich Jessen Nikki Ming Ng Yoke Cheng Chelsea Zhao Lou Mui Ngin
SPE C IAL THANKS TO IN- KIND SPONSOR S
Club of Singapore
Club of Changi
This list reflects donations that were made from 7 January 2022 to 21 February 2022. We would like to express our sincere thanks to donors whose names were inadvertently left out at print time.
S EREN A D ES W ITH ANDR EW L ITTON AND C H L OË H ANSL IP | 25 & 26 F E B 2022
$500 - $999
BOA RD OF D IRE C T ORS & C OMMI T T E E S CHAIR Goh Yew Lin SSO COUNCIL
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Yong Ying-I (Deputy Chair) Chang Chee Pey Chng Hak-Peng Chng Kai Fong Prof Arnoud De Meyer Warren Fernandez Liew Wei Li Sanjiv Misra Prof Qin Li-Wei Paul Tan Geoffrey Wong Yee Chen Fah Andrew Yeo Khirn Hin Yasmin Zahid
HUMAN RESOURCES COMMITTEE
NOMINATING AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Yee Chen Fah (Chair) Warren Fernandez Lim Mei Jovi Seet
Goh Yew Lin (Chair) Prof Arnoud De Meyer (Treasurer) Paul Tan Geoffrey Wong Yong Ying-I
Yong Ying-I (Chair) Chng Kai Fong Prof Arnoud De Meyer Heinrich Grafe Doris Sohmen-Pao INVESTMENT COMMITTEE Geoffrey Wong (Chair) Sanjiv Misra David Goh Alex Lee AUDIT COMMITTEE
SNYO COMMITTEE Liew Wei Li (Chair) Prof Qin Li-Wei Benjamin Goh Vivien Goh Dr Kee Kirk Chin Clara Lim-Tan
S S O M U S I C I A N S’ C O M M I T T E E Mario Choo Guo Hao David Smith Wang Xu Christoph Wichert Elaine Yeo Zhao Tian
Prof Cham Tao Soon (Honorary Chair) Alan Chan (Chair) Odile Benjamin Prof Chan Heng Chee Choo Chiau Beng Dr Geh Min Heinrich Grafe Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh Lim Mei JY Pillay Dr Stephen Riady Priscylla Shaw Prof Gralf Sieghold Andreas Sohmen-Pao Prof Bernard Tan Dr Tan Chin Nam Tan Choo Leng Tan Soo Nan Wee Ee Cheong
SIN G A P OR E S Y MP HO N Y G ROUP M A N AG E ME N T CHIEF E XECUTIVE OFFICER Chng Hak-Peng ARTISTIC PL ANNING
C O M M U N I T Y I M PA C T
PAT R O N S
Hans Sørensen (Head)
Kok Tse Wei (Head)
Artistic Administration Teo Chew Yen Jodie Chiang Lynnette Chng
Community Engagement Kua Li Leng (Head) Erin Tan Vanessa Lee Terrence Wong Samantha Lim
Development Chelsea Zhao (Ag Head) Anderlin Yeo Nikki Chuang Charmaine Fong
O P E R AT I O N S Ernest Khoo (Head) Library Lim Lip Hua Avik Chari Wong Yi Wen Orchestra Management Chia Jit Min (Head) Karis Ong Peck Xin Hui Production Management Fenella Ng Nurul Ainnie bte Md Sidek Mazlan bin Ali Ramayah Elango D I G I TA L S S O C O O R D I N AT I O N Cindy Lim (Lead) Chia Jit Min (Asst Lead) Chia Han-Leon Hans Sørensen
Choral Programmes Kua Li Leng (Head) Regina Lee Whitney Tan Singapore National Youth Orchestra Pang Siu Yuin (Head) Lai Jun Wei Tang Ya Yun Tan Sing Yee ABRSM Patricia Yee Lai Li-Yng Joong Siow Chong Freddie Loh May Looi William Teo CEO OFFICE Shirin Foo Musriah bte Md Salleh
Marketing Communications Cindy Lim (Head) Chia Han-Leon Sean Tan Hong Shu Hui Jana Loh Myrtle Lee Sherilyn Lim Serena Zhang Customer Experience Randy Teo Dacia Cheang C O R P O R AT E S E R V I C E S Lillian Yin (Head) Finance, IT & Facilities Rick Ong (Head) Alan Ong Goh Hoey Fen Loh Chin Huat Md Zailani bin Md Said
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
Human Resources Valeria Tan (Head) Melissa Lee Evelyn Siew
Lillian Yin (Lead) Rick Ong (Asst Lead)
Legal Edward Loh
SUP P OR T E D BY
PATRO N SP ONSOR
M ATCHE D BY
M A J O R D ON ORS
Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin
SE A SO N PAR T NERS Official Radio Station
Official Community Partner
Official Outdoor Media Partner
Official Airline
SE A SO N PAT RONS
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.