The Butterfly Lovers

THE BUTTERFLY LOVERS 梁祝小提琴协奏曲 4 & 5 NOV 2021 ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL

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T H E B U T T ERFL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 NOV 2021

T H E BUTTER F LY LO V ER S 梁 祝小提琴协奏曲 4 & 5 Nov 2021 Esplanade Concert Hall Singapore Symphony Orchestra Joshua Tan conductor Loh Jun Hong violin* Chan Yoong-Han violin Ng Pei-Sian cello, The HEAD Foundation Chair

LEO N G Y O O N PI N

Largo and Vivace SSO PREMIERE

C HEN G AN G & H E ZH AN H AO

The Butterfly Lovers – Violin Concerto*

26 mins

HO CHEE KONG

There And Back – Concerto for Violin and Cello SSO PREMIERE

18 mins

7 mins

Concert Duration: 1 hr 10 mins (with no intermission) T Watch our online 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.

TH E BU TTER FL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 N O V 2 0 2 1

Joshua has conducted orchestras all around the world. He has studied with various eminent conductors —James DePreist, Charles Dutoit, David Zinman and Kurt Masur — and worked with many others, such as Michael Tilson Thomas, Ingo Metzmacher and George Manahan.

A graduate of The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music, Joshua Tan was Second Prize winner of the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition and an awardee of numerous scholarships and awards, including the Young Artist Award – Singapore, Bruno Walter Memorial Foundation Award, NAC-Shell Scholarship, and the SSO/MOE Scholarship. He was the first conductor to be presented the Charles Schiff prize from The Juilliard School. His performances of Bernstein’s Mass and the opera Don Pasquale were selected as the best classical concerts of the year 2018 and 2019 by The Straits Times.

Presently Principal Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and Director of the Asia Virtuosi, he has served successful stints as Resident Conductor of the National Center for the Performing Arts (China) Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Season 21/22 sees return engagements with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and Singapore Dance Theatre as well as debuts with the Gunma Symphony and a new opera premiere in Hong Kong.

© JOSHUA SIM

J O S H U A T AN conductor

A versatile conductor, Joshua is at home with symphonic, operatic and ballet works. His repertoire for opera includes La Traviata, Rigoletto, Der Fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, Così fan tutte, and Turandot. He is equally adept with music for ballet, film and multimedia, having worked for Disney’s Fantasia and Pixar, BBC’s Blue Planet series, West Side Story, Jurassic Park and more.

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T H E B U T T ERFL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 NOV 2021

LO H J U N H O N G violin Singaporean violinist Loh Jun Hong is a co-founder of “More than Music”; a concert series dedicated to presenting engaging and intimate concerts for audiences. With the series, he recorded the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas in its project featuring six top musicians in Singapore. He also served as the co-Artistic Director of the Singapore International Festival of Music in 2015.

A graduate of the Juilliard School and the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, NUS, Jun Hong’s performance track record ranges from performances in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, New York, to solo recitals in Germany, New Zealand, Hong Kong, China, South East Asia and Washington, to tours in UK, France, and USA, to leading the Verbier Festival Orchestra as concertmaster and associate concertmaster, in Switzerland, under the baton of Charles Dutoit, Daniel Harding, Valery Gergiev and Gianandrea Noseda.

Singapore National Piano and Violin Competition (Senior), Third Prize at the 13th Andrea Postacchini International Competition held in Fermo, Italy, Fifth Prize at the Canetti International Violin Competition held in Turkey.

He has two solo CDs under his belt, Utopia Symphony with London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Jurowski at Abbey Road Studios and the other, an EP featuring Spanish and Brazilian works with guitarist Kevin Loh.

He has won numerous awards, including notably the Top Outstanding Young Person Award for Cultural Achievement by Junior Chamber International, First Prize at Gisborne International Music Competition, First Prize and Audience award at the Atlantic Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition in Boston, First Prize at the

He is a part-time lecturer at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music and plays on a 1726 Mezzadri on generous loan to him from the Rin Collection.

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TH E BU TTER FL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 N O V 2 0 2 1

© BRYAN VAN DER BEEK

in concertos by Dvořák, Lalo, Berg, John Williams, Mozart, Martinů, Lutosławski, Wieniawski and Sibelius. He was invited to perform as soloist in the 2003 SSO President’s Young Performers Concert as well as the 1999 President’s Charity Concert.

C HA N Y O O N G -H A N violin Chan Yoong-Han is currently the Fixed Chair first violinist in the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. A graduate of Rice University and the University of Massachussetts in Amherst, his principal teachers include Chan Yong Shing, Beryl Kimber, Sergiu Luca, Charles Treger, David Cerone, Kurt Sassmannshaus and Dorothy Delay.

As concertmaster he has led the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Festival Orchestra (SFO), Metropolitan Festival Orchestra (MFO), Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) and The Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO). As part of Singapore’s Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2015, YoongHan was concertmaster of the MFO for the Sing50 concert in the National Stadium, as well as concertmaster of the OMM in its performance of Mahler’s Eighth Symphony.

Yoong-Han has participated and performed in the Aspen Music Festival, Singapore Arts Festival, Adelaide Bach Festival, The Singapore Encore (Brussels) and Cascade Head Music Festival, amongst others.

In Singapore Yoong-Han is the recipient of the 2000 Shell-NAC Arts Scholarship and the 2004 NAC Young Artist Award. He is also a member of the Board of re:SOUND Collective. Yoong-Han performs on a David Tecchler, Fecit Roma An. D. 1700 donated

by Mr Goh Yew Lin.

Yoong-Han has performed solo with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Szeged Symphony of Hungary, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Youth Orchestra, Orchestra of the Music Makers, SAF Chinese Orchestra and Braddell Heights Symphony 6

T H E B U T T ERF L Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 NOV 2021

N G P E I -SI AN cello The HEAD Foundation Chair

© TIMOTHY TEO

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.

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 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.

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 is currently Principal Cellist of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and a faculty member at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Singapore. He performs on a 1764 Giovanni Antonio Marchi cello, Bologna.

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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 donated by Mr Goh Yew Lin. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.

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TH E BUTT ERFLY LO VERS | 4 & 5 NOV 2 0 2 1

FIRST VIOLIN Kong Zhao Hui Acting Concertmaster/ Associate Concertmaster Cao Can Duan Yu Ling Karen Tan William Tan

FLUTE Evgueni Brokmiller

SECOND VIOLIN Zhao Tian Chikako Sasaki Shao Tao Tao Yin Shu Zhan

BASSOON Christoph Wichert

VIOLA Manchin Zhang Julia Park Shui Bing

TRUMPET David Smith

CELLO Yu Jing Guo Hao

OBOE Pan Yun CLARINET Li Xin

HORN Gao Jian

TROMBONE Damian Patti TUBA Tomoki Natsume

DOUBLE BASS Karen Yeo

* Guest musician 11

PERCUSSION Jonathan Fox Mark Suter Mario Choo PIANO Shane Thio*

T H E B U T T ERFL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 NOV 2021

Musicians

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A Standing Ovation To Our Donor Patrons We would like to express our deepest appreciation to the following individuals and organisations who support our mission to create memorable shared experiences with music in the past year.

Without your support, it would be impossible for the SSO to continue to strive for artistic excellence and touch the hearts of audiences.

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TH E BU TTER FL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 N O V 2 0 2 1

LEONG YOON PIN (1931–2011) Largo and Vivace (1982) SSO PREMIERE Leong Yoon Pin’s Largo and Vivace for string orchestra was written in 1982, the year he was awarded the Cultural Medallion, Singapore’s highest accolade for the arts.

As the title suggests, it is in two distinct sections, with the Largo taking up nearly six out of the eight-minute span.

“Largo is based on a tone row alternately sung by the first and second violins. Having appeared in its inversion, the original row reappears in the lower strings,” writes the composer. The music is filled with pensive, probing rhetoric. Although Leong acknowledges it has an “atonal effect”, he adds that it is intended to convey “a soothing feeling”. Indeed the Largo, if foreboding in atmosphere, never truly becomes jarring, and finally reveals a glimpse of peace at the end.

About the composer: Leong Yoon Pin (1931–2011) is one of the most important figures in classical music in Singapore. He was a composer, conductor and educator best known for his choral compositions who went on to become the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s first composer-in-residence in the year 2000.

The Vivace channels the same sense of urgency from the preceding Largo, at a faster pace. According to Leong, its basic rhythm is taken from a Fujian folk song, prominently showcased on pizzicato, before the rest of this short segment insistently chugs to its purposeful end.

Leong was born in Singapore in 1931 and was a self-taught musician until he began lessons in his 20s with Noreen Stokes. He went on to study music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London before studying with the legendary Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1966–1967.

The work was recorded in 1993 by the SSO and Lim Yau for the album, “Leong Yoon Pin – Symphonic Works of Singapore”, a documentation project of the National Arts Council. It receives its first SSO public performance tonight.

Leong also worked as a conductor, founding the Rediffusion Youth Choir in 1953, the Metro Philharmonic Society in 1959 and the Singapore City String Orchestra in the 1970s.

Programme note by Chia Han-Leon

18

Instrumentation strings (no double bass)

In 1982 he was awarded the Cultural Medallion for his contributions to music in Singapore.

CHEN GANG (b. 1935) & HE ZHAN HAO (b. 1933) The Butterfly Lovers – Violin Concerto (1958) I II III IV V VI VII

Adagio cantabile Allegro Adagio assai doloroso Pesante – Piu mosso – Duramente Lagrimoso Presto resoluto Adagio cantabile

Most classical musical works on Chinese themes, such as Puccini’s Turandot, perhaps unavoidably, due to their origins in Europe, have played up the exotic and orientalising aspects. A notable exception is The Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto by Chen Gang and He Zhan Hao, based on the story of the Butterfly Lovers, often called the Romeo & Juliet of China.

greatest surprise discovers his sworn brother is really a girl. Liang asks to marry Zhu, but she is already betrothed and to break that would bring shame upon the family. Liang becomes a county magistrate and dies of a broken heart and, at his request, is buried by the road outside the village of Zhu’s fiancé, so the lady would pass it by on her wedding day.

Who were the Butterfly Lovers? Zhu Yingtai is the daughter of a wealthy merchant who allowed her an education – she disguises herself as a boy to join classes undetected.

Her best friend in school is the poor scholar Liang Shanbo; they are attracted to each other and become sworn brothers in a sexually ambiguous romance. Zhu’s father eventually recalls her home for marriage to a wealthy merchant. Liang pays Zhu a surprise visit at her family mansion and to his

When the appointed day arrives, Zhu is escorted to her fiancé’s house to complete the wedding ceremony. A storm breaks out, and the procession has no choice but to stop by Liang’s grave. The lady steps out of the litter to mourn her lover, richly dressed in her red bridal dress and jewels. Seeing that the tombs opens at her coming, the lady throws herself in without hesitation.

The sky soon clears, and the sun shines again, but to the amazement of those 19

T H E B U T T ERFL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 NOV 2021

His work includes the tone poem Episodes in Journey to the West, the choral work Street Calls and the concert overture Dayong Sampan which became the first work by a local composer performed by the SSO.

TH E BU TTER FL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 N O V 2 0 2 1

A lively and detailed painting of butterflies,

by Zhao Chang of Song Dynasty. source: kknews.cc/culture/knj658v.html

present, the bride is no more. Instead, a pair of butterflies are seen fluttering around the grave before they disappear into the distance.

Composed in 1958 while Chen and He were students at the Shanghai Conservatory, the concerto utilises traditional melodies and themes of Yue opera, the traditional opera of the Wu-speaking areas of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, juxtaposing pentatonic melodies with a Western harmonic support.

The work was to mark the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, and what better way than with a popular folk tale, where backward feudal views about marriage caused the destruction of two bright futures? Thus, with this work, we come full circle – viewing a Chinese theme, through the medium of a Western orchestra, from a distinctly Chinese perspective.

Instrumentation flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano, strings World Premiere 27 May 1959, Shanghai First performed by SSO 25 Oct 1979 (Takako Nishizaki, violin)

Programme note by Edward C. Yong 20

Though the work is not related to the essay (归去来兮辞) by Tao Yuan Ming, who was one of the greatest poets during the six dynasties period, I do find references from the music corresponding with some parts of the essay. There and Back was conceived with the violin and cello having an evocative and close dialogue with each other and with the orchestra, mirroring our conversations, thoughts and struggles within and outside of ourselves; Being There but here, or being Back here but there. For all the instrumental exchanges within the orchestra, the drum is the one consistent instrument throughout the piece. It is like we can try to work out and rationalize our decisions and choices, but in the end time (the drum) always wins.

About the composer:

The work was commissioned by the Singapore Chinese Orchestra and received its world premiere under the baton of Mr Tsung Yeh featuring Siow Lee Chin and Qin Li-Wei. Immense gratitude to Choo Thiam Siew and Phang Kok Jun for their insights.

And special thanks to Kok Jun for all of his research and feedback.

Ho Chee Kong is Associate Professor and one of the founding faculty members and founding head of Composition at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. He has written works for both Western and Chinese ensembles which have been performed at festivals and concerts in Asia, Europe, the Americas and Oceania. His music has been described as “evocative and lyrical”, “distinguished by a strong power of the narrative and exotic instrumental colours” and “exuding a distinct impression of Asian sounds”.

Programme note by Ho Chee Kong

His other interests include cultivating university residential learning, pedagogical strategies in music composition, and cultural issues related to Asian music in modern society. He is the founding president of the Composers Society of Singapore and serves on committees and boards locally 21

T H E B U T T ERF L Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 NOV 2021

HO CHEE KONG (b. 1963) There And Back – Concerto for Violin and Cello (2019) SSO PREMIERE

TH E BU TTER FL Y L OV ER S | 4 & 5 N O V 2 0 2 1

and internationally. He is currently the Vice-Dean for Academic Programmes and Quality Enhancements, the Co-Coordinator for the MS (Music and Society)/MCP (Music, Collaboration and Production) majors programme, and Master of Tembusu Residential College.

Instrumentation flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, 3 percussions: bass drums, 5 paigus, vibraphone, dagu, bangu, xiaogu, 2 suspended cymbals, wood blocks, low tom-tom Prepared piano, strings World Premiere 27 Apr 2019 (original version for Chinese Orchestra)

22

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