Is this your
first time
at the
SSO?
WE LCO M E! You’ve begun a richly
rewarding musical journey and we want
you to feel comfortable at the SSO.
If there’s something you’ve always
wanted to ask, check out our FAQ!
WHAT SHOULD I WEAR?
We don’t enforce any dress code. Many
come in business attire or smart casual
outfits, and that’s great.
WHEN SHOULD I CLAP?
Many pieces of music have multiple sections
called movements. E.g. most concertos have
three movements while symphonies usually
have four. Traditionally, applause is only
expected at the end of the entire work,
rather than between each movement.
If you’re unsure, check our programme
booklet, or wait for the conductor to
put down the baton at the end, and
acknowledge the orchestra and audience.
For more FAQs
sso.org.sg/experience/first-timers
CAN I TAKE PHOTOS AND VIDEOS?
Video and photography of any kind are
not permitted when musicians are actively
performing. However, non-flash photography
is allowed during bows and applause. Take
home a musical memory and tag us on
@singaporesymphony!
Apr 2023
THE KOZLOVSKY REQUIEM
7 Apr 2023, Fri
Esplanade Concert Hall
WINDS ABOVE THE SEA –
HANS GRAF AND HE ZIYU
14 Apr 2023, Fri
Esplanade Concert Hall
A
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.
A Autograph session
22
33
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.
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,
leading the SSO in keeping music alive during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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. The SSO launched
its digital concert hall, SSOLOUNGE, in
2021. Bridging the musical traditions of East
and West, Singaporean and Asian musicians
and composers are regularly showcased in
the concert season.
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 critical acclaim in
the major UK newspapers The Guardian and
The Telegraph. The SSO has also performed
in China on multiple occasions.
The SSO has released more than 50
recordings, with over 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”. A Four
Seasons album and a complete Mozart
Violin Concerto cycle with Chloe Chua and
Hans Graf will be released in the near future.
The SSO has also collaborated with
such great artists as Vladimir Ashkenazy,
Gustavo Dudamel, Charles Dutoit, Joe
Hisaishi, Neeme Järvi, Okko Kamu, Hannu
Lintu, Andrew Litton, Lorin Maazel, Martha
Argerich, Ray Chen, Diana Damrau, Stephen
Hough, Janine Jansen, Leonidas Kavakos,
H ANS G RAF
Music Director
Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, 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, 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.
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
HA N S G RAF
Music Director
With the distinguished Austrian conductor
Hans Graf, “a brave new world of musicmaking under inspired direction” (The Straits
Times) began at the Singapore Symphony
Orchestra, where he was appointed Chief
Conductor from the 2020/21 season, and
Music Director from the 2022/23 season.
© BRYAN VAN DER BEEK
Hans Graf's extensive discography includes
all the 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.
Born near Linz in 1949, Graf is Professor
Emeritus for Orchestral Conducting at the
Universität Mozarteum in 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.
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W IN D S AB OV E THE S E A – H A NS GR AF A N D H E Z IY U | 1 4 APR 2 0 23
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
around the world including the orchestras of
Boston, Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York,
Philadelphia, Vienna, Leipzig Gewandhaus,
DSO Berlin, Dresden, Royal Concertgebouw,
Oslo, Hallé, London, Royal Philharmonic,
the Bavarian, Danish and Netherlands Radio
Symphony Orchestras, Budapest Festival,
St Petersburg Philharmonic, Russian
National, and the orchestras of Melbourne,
Sydney, Seoul, Hong Kong and Malaysian
Philharmonic. Graf has led operas in the
opera houses of 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.
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
© DANIIL RABOVSKY
Peretyatko’s uniquely compelling voice and
stage presence allow her to interpret a wide
range of operatic roles from humorous to
tragic. She has collaborated with the most
renowned stage directors and conductors
of our times, such as Kirill Petrenko, Zubin
Mehta, Valery Gergiev, Yury Temirkanov,
Lorin Maazel, Alberto Zedda, Daniel
Barenboim, Dmitry Tcherniakov and Robert
Lepage.
O LGA PE RE T Y AT KO
soprano
One of the world’s most sought-after
sopranos, Olga Peretyatko made her
international breakthrough when she
became a prize-winner at Plácido Domingo’s
prestigious Operalia Competition. Since
then she has been a regular guest at nearly
all important opera houses, concert halls
and festivals, including La Scala, Saatsoper
Berlin, Royal Opera House Covent Garden,
The Bolshoi Theatre, The Metropolitan
Opera, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Berlin
Philharmonic, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées,
Teatro Colón, and many others.
Peretyatko’s performance for the Bastille Day
celebrations has attracted a live audience of
600,000 and an international TV audience
of several million. Her six critically acclaimed
albums on Sony Classical has received
numerous prestigious awards, including
OPUS Klassik (2018), ECHO Klassik (Best
Solo Album, 2015), and Premio Franco
Abbiati della Critica Musicale Italiana. Her
latest album, on Melodiya, is dedicated to
her daughter Maya. It brings together 23
lullabies from different corners of the world,
personally selected by Olga and sung in
their original languages.
Peretyatko was born and raised in St.
Petersburg, Russia and started her musical
journey singing in the children’s choir of
the Mariinsky Theatre. Having earned a
performance degree as a choir conductor,
she went on to study singing at the Hanns
Eisler-Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, the
Opera Studio at the Hamburg State Opera,
and the Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro,
Italy.
6
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
O LES Y A PE T RO V A
mezzo-soprano
© ANDREY REVENKO
The internationally acclaimed Olesya
Petrova is a charismatic mezzo-soprano
with a marvellous stage presence. She has
collaborated with many theatres, concert
halls, orchestras, and chamber ensembles
around the world such renowned conductors
as Giordano Bellincampi, Emmanuel
Villaume, Valery Gergiev, Leo Kremer, Fabio
Mastrangelo, and Vladimir Fedoseev.
Her most recent and future projects include
her signature role as Amneris in Aida at
the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera
House Covent Garden and at Arena di
Verona, as well as Azucena in Il Trovatore,
Ulrica in Un Ballo in maschera, La Frugola
in Il Tabarro and Madelon in Andrea
Chénier at the Metropolitan Opera, Suzuki
in Madama Butterfly at the Royal Opera
House Covent Garden, Jezibaba in Rusalka
at Opera de Wallonie, Sorceress in The Fiery
Angel at Teatro Real, Ulrica at Teatro de la
Maestranza and at Deutsche Oper Berlin,
Azucena in a concert version of Il Trovatore
and Verdi’s Requiem with Auckland
Philharmonic, Verdi’s Requiem at NHK Tokyo
opera among others.
Olesya Petrova is a prize-winner at the II
Paris Opera Competition (2012; 1st prize
and Audience Award) and a Finalist at
the BBC Singer of the World competition
(Cardiff, 2011).
Since 2016 Olesya Petrova has been a
soloist at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, where
she performs the roles of Ulrica, Santuzza
in Cavalleria rusticana, and the Countess in
The Queen of Spades among others.
7
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
© ALEXEY KOVALEV
Edmondo in Puccini’s Manon Lescaut,
Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the
stage of Mikhailovsky Theatre St. Petersburg,
where he is an ensemble member.
B O R I S ST E PAN OV
tenor
Born 1986 in Leningrad, Boris Stepanov
graduated from the Glinka Choral School
in 2005 and from the St. Petersburg State
Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatoire in 2010. He
has worked with such renowned orchestras
as Bach Collegium Japan, Orchestra of
the Age of Enlightenment, Orchestre de la
Suisse Romande, Gothenburg Symphony
Orchestra and Moscow Soloists.
Stepanov’s past engagements include
performances at Grand Théâtre de Genève
in Carmina Burana, re-invitation there for
the role of Raymond in a concert version
of Tchaikovsky's Orleanskaya Deva under
the baton of Dmitri Jurowski, Jurodivy in
Boris Godunov in Genève, Gothenburg
and Stockholm, Italian Singer in Der
Rosenkavalier, Ernesto in Don Pasquale,
Zinovy Borisovich in Lady Macbeth of
Mtsensk in Santiago de Chile, Malcolm in
Macbeth for Theatre du Capitole Toulouse,
and Kudrjas in Katya Kabanova at
Concertgebow Amsterdam.
A principal of Mikhailovsky Theatre since
2015, Boris has performed Beppe in I
Pagliacci and Tamino in Die Zauberflöte,
Young Gipsy in Aleko, Tsar Berendey in
The Snow Maiden, among others. He has
also performed parts in Dido and Aeneas,
Desyatnikov’s As an Old Organ Grinder,
Johann Mattheson’s Boris Godunov in
Hamburg with the Mikhailovsky Theatre and
at Novaya Opera Moscow, and in Aleko
in concert at the Smolny Cathedral in St.
Petersburg.
Stepanov’s recent highlights include
Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia with
Bolshoi Theatre Moscow, Helikon Opera
Moscow, Tamino in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte,
8
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
C HR IS T O PH SE I DL
bass
The Austrian bass Christoph Seidl studied at
the University of Music and Performing Arts
in Vienna.
© JULIA WESELY
His opera debut was a new production of
Shostakovich’s Lady Macbeth von Mzensk
at Opernhaus Zürich, after which he was
permanently employed at the theatre’s
opera studio for the season of 2013/14.
Following employment as a member of
the Young Singers Project in Salzburg, the
Young Ensemble of Theater an der Wien, the
ensemble of Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
in Munich, and most recently the ensemble
of Aalto-Theater Essen, he is also a steady
member of the ensemble at Oper Köln since
the season 2022/23, his first roles there
include Trojan Soldier/ Les Troyens, Don
Estoban/ Der Zwerg, Osmin/ Die Entführung
aus dem Serail and Alidoro/ La Cenerentola.
Seidl is also an established lied and
concert singer, his repertoire encompassing
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and
contemporary works. Concerts led him to
Brussels (Palais des Beaux-Arts “Bozar”),
Moscow (Bolshoi) and New York City (Avery
Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center).
He has worked with conductors such as
Nello Santo, Fabio Luisi, Sebastian Weigle,
Theodor Currentztis, Antonio Pappano, René
Jacobs, Kent Nagano, Thomas Hangelbrock
and Bertrand de Billy, as well as directors
such as Claus Guth, Andreas Homoki,
Robert Carson, Peter Stein, Tatjana Gürbaca,
Herbert Föttinger and Michael Sturminger.
His repertoire includes roles such as
Sarastro/ Die Zauberflöte, Commendatore/
Don Giovanni, Baculus/ Der Wildschütz,
Eremit/ Der Freischütz, Simone/ Il Trittico,
Sparafucile/ Rigoletto, Colline/ La Bohème,
and one of his best roles, Graf Waldner in
R. Strauss’ Arabella.
9
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
has been the resident conductor of the
International Bamboo Organ Festival. With
his active involvement in the choralization of
Philippine and other Asian indigenous
music, he premiered a significant volume of
new Asian choral works. In addition, he was
often invited to give lectures on non-Western
vocal aesthetics.
Eudenice taught composition and choral
conducting in several 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. Currently,
he teaches at the Singapore Bible College
School of Church Music and directs the SBC
Canticorum.
EU D E N I CE PAL A R UAN
Choral Director
Eudenice Palaruan studied at U.P. College of
Music, majoring in composition and choral
conducting. After finishing his Bachelor's
Degree, he took another four-year study at
the Berliner Kirchenmusikschule, Germany,
majoring in choral conducting.
During the extended lockdown, Eudenice
continued skill development programmes to
maintain the vocal and artistic upkeep of the
Singapore Symphony Chorus. Through hybrid
online-physical rehearsals, he gave vocal
training to its members, rehearsing chamber
ensembles and developing repertoire
breadth for equal voices. In addition, as
a composer and arranger, he wrote new
choral works for The SSC Affair, an outreach
programme of the Singapore Symphony
Chorus that trains choral music enthusiasts
around Singapore.
He was the resident composer/arranger
and assistant choirmaster of the Philippine
Madrigal Singers. He performed with
the World Youth Choir and the Berlin
Monteverdichor. In addition, he was the
principal conductor of the San Miguel
Master Chorale. For the past years, he
10
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
W O N G L AI F O O N
Choirmaster
Armed with a passion to inspire choral
excellence in children and youth, Wong Lai
Foon has been a driving force behind the
development and growth of the Singapore
Symphony Children’s and Youth Choirs. A
founding conductor of the Children’s Choir
(SSCC) at its inception in 2006, Wong was
appointed Choirmaster in 2015, and led in
the formation of the Youth Choir (SSYC) in
2016.
She has prepared both ensembles in a
wide range of performances that have
drawn praise for the choirs’ beautiful tone
and polished delivery. Highlights of past
collaborations with the SSO include Britten’s
War Requiem, Bizet’s Carmen, Puccini’s
La Bohème and Mahler’s Second and
Third symphonies. In addition, the SSCC
has shared the stage with the celebrated
ensemble, The King’s Singers, the Maîtrise
de Radio France at the Philharmonie de
Paris, and has performed for local and
world heads of states at state functions. The
SSYC is featured on the SSO’s CD, Russian
Spectacular.
grow the body of local compositions for
treble choirs. Her efforts to educate and
inspire 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.
Wong has commissioned and premiered
works by local composers in an effort to
11
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
S IN G APO RE SY MPHONY C HOR US
Celebrating Choral Excellence
Singing is a joyful experience, and singing together is a celebration. The Singapore Symphony
Chorus offers talented and passionate choristers a platform to come together to perform great
symphonic works at the highest standards. In coming together in their shared love for music,
the Chorus is a warm community of like-minded choristers, that represents the pinnacle of
choral excellence in Singapore.
Since its first performance on 13 June 1980, the Chorus has established itself as one of the
finest symphony choruses in the region. The Chorus has performed with renowned conductors
including Okko Kamu, Lan Shui, Lim Yau, Masaaki Suzuki and Sofi Jeannin – amassing a wide
repertoire such as Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Arvo Pärt’s Te Deum, Britten’s War Requiem, and
Bach’s St John Passion, amongst others.
Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director
Shane Thio rehearsal pianist
12
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
S I N GAPO RE SY M PHONY YOUTH C HOIR
Inspiring Choral Passion
Comprised of Singapore’s finest young choristers aged 17 to 28, the Singapore Symphony
Youth Choir is an energetic ensemble inaugurated in 2016 to complement the SSO with a
chorus of vibrant voices.
Exploring the best of different musical worlds and styles, the Youth Choir has performed
Scriabin’s Prometheus, Puccini’s La Bohème, as well as recorded Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances
and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2. Within the last seasons, the Youth Choir has had opportunities
to perform with world renowned conductors and tour with the SSC and SSO, to present at the
Dewan Filharmonik Petronas in Kuala Lumpur. In 2021, at the height of the pandemic, the
Youth Choir continually challenged and overcame performing limitations to produce a digital
production of its own, “Where I Belong”.
Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster
Evelyn Handrisanto rehearsal pianist
13
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
The Choruses
S I N G A P O R E S Y M P H O N Y C H O RU S
SOPRANO
Karen Aw
Laurence Biard Tertois
Janice Chee
Alexis Chen
Julie Demange Wodtke
Kaitlyn Kim
Fumiko Ogasawar
Sarah Santhana
Lian Kim Selby
Stacey Wang Espera
Sarah Tang
Sachiko Tomimori
Agnieszka Veriga
ALTO
Chng Xin Bei
Truly Hutapea
Dorothy Lee-Teh
Wendy Lim
Lin Wei
Dorcas Lo
Sharon Low
Daisy Natalia
Natividad Solaguren
Ena Su
Ratna Sutantio
Elsie Tan
Tan Seow Yen
Wang Jiunwen
TENOR
BASS
Jean-Michel Bardin
Chng Chin Han
Chong Wei Sheng
Ronald Ooi
Samuel Pažický
Ian Tan
Ben Wong
Ang Jian Zhong
Winsen Citra
Arthur Davis
Andy Jatmiko
Joseph Kennedy
Paul Kitamura
Wong Hin Yan
14
SOPRANO
Goh Chen Xi
Yixian Chen
Serene Cheong
Hana Kasai
Laura Lee
Janice Lim
Desiree Seng
Navya Singh
Carine Tan
Janelle Tan
Tan Yuqing
Naddy Teo
Jasmine Towndrow
Raeanne Wong
ALTO
Chan Li Ting
Goh Jue Shao
Elizabeth Goh
Erin Ho
Zachary Lim
Trixi Lim
Ong Sherlyn
Violet Ong
Ellissa Sayampanathan*
Tan Yulin
Amelia Yeo
Zhang Jingqi
TENOR
BASS
Andre Ang
Cris Bautro
Alfonso Cortez
Titus Teo
Leonard Buescher
Loy Sheng Rui
Dominic Tang
Tan Hee
Joshua Tan
Wong Zhen Wei
Zhang Xidong
* Choral Fellow
15
T H E KO Z LOV SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
S I N G A P O R E S Y M P H O N Y YO U T H C H O I R
27 MAY 2023
Sat, 7.30pm | Victoria Concert Hall
Tre Voci
Highlights:
JOHANNES BRAHMS
O süβer Mai
RAVEL
Trois Chansons
MATSUSHITA
Dona Nobis Pacem
Singapore Symphony Chorus
Singapore Symphony Youth Choir
Singapore Symphony Children's Choir
Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director
Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster
Commissioned works by:
Americ Goh
Kenneth Tay
Tickets from $20
@ sgsymphonychorus
@ sgsymphonyyouthchoir
Official Hotel
@ sgsymphonychildrenschoir
W I N D S A B O V E TH E SEA – H ANS G R AF AND H E Z IYU | 14 A P R 2023
H E ZI Y U
violin
© TOBIAS HÖFINGER
The outstanding violinist He Ziyu was one
of the youngest soloists ever to perform
with the Vienna Philharmonic when he
made his debut under Adam Fischer at
the Musikverein in 2017, aged just 18.
A year earlier he won both the Salzburg
International Mozart Competition and
the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin
Competition.
In the 2021/22 season Ziyu made his debut
with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under
Lio Kuokman, and was again invited by
Hans Graf to join the Singapore Symphony
Orchestra for concerts and recordings. He
has also performed with the Swiss Camerata
and the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra
under Howard Griffiths, and the Sofia
Philharmonic under Uros Lajovic. Highlights
include concerts at the BBC Belfast Proms
in the Park, his debut at the George Enescu
Festival, a concert and recordings of works
by Hans Werner Henze with the Mozarteum
Orchestra Salzburg under Maestra Lin Liao,
and solo recitals at the Vienna Konzerthaus
in the “Great Talents” series.
He Ziyu began learning the violin at the
age of five in his native China with Zhang
Xiangrong. At only 10 years old he was
invited by Paul Roczek to study with him
at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg.
He completed his master’s degree there in
summer 2021 and is currently continuing
his postgraduate violin studies with
Benjamin Schmid and Paul Roczek, and his
viola studies with Thomas Riebl.
He Ziyu plays a violin by Andrea Guarneri
from 1688 and a Giuseppe Guadagnini viola
dated 1797, which were made available to
him by generous private sponsors.
As the violinist of the renowned Altenberg
Trio, he plays regularly in the Brahmssaal of
the Vienna Musikverein in the trio’s popular
concert series.
17
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
FIRS T VI OL I N
(Position vacant) Concertmaster,
GK Goh Chair
Kong Zhao Hui1
Associate Concertmaster
Chan Yoong-Han2
Fixed Chair
Cao Can*
Chen Da Wei
Duan Yu Ling
Foo Say Ming
Jin Li
Kong Xianlong
Cindy Lee
Karen Tan
William Tan
Wei Zhe
Ye Lin*
Zhang Si Jing*
SEC O N D V IOL IN
Tseng Chieh-An Principal
Michael Loh Associate Principal
Nikolai Koval*
Sayuri Kuru
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
Joyce Huang
Marietta Ku
Luo Biao
Julia Park
Shui Bing
Janice Tsai
Dandan Wang
Yang Shi Li
C EL L O
Ng Pei-Sian Principal,
The HEAD Foundation Chair
Yu Jing Associate Principal
Guo Hao Fixed Chair
Chan Wei Shing
Jamshid Saydikarimov
Song Woon Teng
Wang Yan
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
H O RN
Jin Ta Principal, Stephen Riady Chair
Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal
Roberto Alvarez
Miao Shanshan
Gao Jian Associate Principal
Jamie Hersch Associate Principal
Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal
Hoang Van Hoc
PICCOLO
TR U M P ET
Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal
Jon Paul Dante Principal
David Smith Associate Principal
Lau Wen Rong
OBOE
Rachel Walker Principal
Pan Yun Associate Principal
Carolyn Hollier
Elaine Yeo
TR O M B O N E
Allen Meek Principal
Damian Patti Associate Principal
Samuel Armstrong
COR ANGL AI S
Elaine Yeo Associate Principal
B A SS T R O MBONE
Wang Wei Assistant Principal
CLARINET
Ma Yue Principal
Li Xin Associate Principal
Liu Yoko
Tang Xiao Ping
BAS S CL AR I NE T
TU B A
Tomoki Natsume Principal
TIM P A N I
Christian Schiøler Principal
Mario Choo
Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal
P ER CU SSIO N
BAS S OON
Liu Chang Associate Principal
Christoph Wichert
Zhao Ying Xue
Jonathan Fox Principal
Mark Suter Associate Principal
Mario Choo
Lim Meng Keh
CONTRAB AS S OON
H A RP
Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal
Gulnara Mashurova Principal
* 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.
Guest Musicians
TH E KO ZLO VS KY REQ UI E M | 7 A P R 2 0 2 3
FIRST VIOLIN
Igor Yuzefovich Guest Concertmaster
Yew Shan
DOUBLE BASS
William Cole Guest Principal
HORN
Austin Larson Guest Principal
Bryan Chong
TRUMPET
Matt Dempsey
Nuttakamon Supattranont
WI NDS A B O VE THE S EA – HA NS GRA F A ND HE ZI YU | 1 4 A P R 2023
BASSOON
Guo Siping Guest Principal
FIRST VIOLIN
Igor Yuzefovich Guest Concertmaster
Wilford Goh
Yew Shan
HORN
Bryan Chong
SECOND VIOLIN
Martin Peh
Helena Dawn Yah
TRUMPET
Nuttakamon Supattranont
HARP
Charity Kiew
VIOLA
Joelle Hsu
Yeo Jan Wea
CELLO
Lin Juan
Wang Zihao
DOUBLE BASS
William Cole Guest Principal
Julian Li
Hibiki Otomo
20
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
T H E KOZLO V SK Y REQU I EM
REVIVING A CHORAL MASTERPIECE
7 Apr 2023, Fri
Esplanade Concert Hall
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Singapore Symphony Chorus
Singapore Symphony Youth Choir
Hans Graf Music Director
Eudenice Palaruan Choral Director
Wong Lai Foon Choirmaster
Olga Peretyatko soprano
Olesya Petrova mezzo-soprano
Boris Stepanov tenor
Christoph Seidl bass
M O ZART
K O ZŁ O W SK I
Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183
24 mins
Intermission
20 mins
Requiem in E-flat minor Asian Premiere
65 mins
Concert Duration:
approximately 2 hrs
(with 20 mins intermission)
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Scan this QR code with the Singapore Symphony Mobile App.
22
I
II
III
IV
Allegro con brio
Andante
Menuetto & Trio
Allegro
The third movement is a Menuetto, but this
is not the manicured, courtly dance of the
Viennese nobility in mirrored gold halls. Bare
octaves announce the stern beginning, like a
Slavic dance from the eastern territories. The
wind trio adds a gentle respite, not unlike
one from his wind serenades.
Homework by teenagers, especially when
writing exercises after a model, tends to be
rather uninspired and academic. Mozart’s
Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183,
written in 1773 when he was 17 and a
keen student of Haydn’s symphonies, was
modelled after Haydn’s G minor symphony
– both employ four horns rather than the
usual two. Using pairs of horns in B-flat and
G meant a wider range of chromatic notes
otherwise unavailable, and four horns give
a thicker texture to the dark key. However,
K. 183 is anything but a dry and composeby-rote composition.
The final Allegro is compressed in
comparison with the first movement, with
the same urgent relentless drive, but with
greater sudden contrasts of dynamics that
intensify the pressure. As in the opening
movement, brief detours to B-flat major
happen, but the short development returns
the minor-key tension followed by the
recapitulation and closing with a short coda.
While the entire movement is marked by
swings of emotion, Mozart never loses his
composure or poise, and the work ends
with his signature restraint on two firm, final
chords.
The first movement is marked Allegro con
brio, and what vigour it is – a splendid fiery
falling diminished seventh sets a scene of
jagged dramatic tension, a sturm und drang
earworm at its best. Listeners may recognise
its use in the opening scene of the Miloš
Forman film Amadeus. Violins provide a
syncopated rain of fire, while the driving
bassline takes on a melodic function like
tidal waves pushing things forward rather
than just harmonic accompaniment.
The E-flat major Andante is like a
melancholic aria that follows the theatrical
overture of the first movement. Muted violins
and bassoons set a scene of tender and
bittersweet sadness, elegant and gracious.
Instrumentation
2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, strings
World Premiere
Unknown
First performed by SSO
7 May 2021
23
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 (1773)
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
JÓZEF KOZŁOWSKI (1759–1831)
Requiem in E-flat minor (1798. Ed. Hans Graf 2023) Asian Premiere
I
II
III
IV
V
VI
VII
VIII
IX
X
XI
XII
Requiem et Kyrie
Dies irae
Tuba mirum
Judex ergo
Confutatis
Lacrymosa
Domine Jesu Christe
Sanctus
Benedictus
Agnus Dei
Quia pius es
Requiem aeternam
When a composer receives a commission
from his monarch to write a requiem mass
for a royal funeral, this should normally be
a noble burden or honour, but in the case
of the Polish composer Józef Kozłowski, this
commission by the abdicated king of Poland
must have produced mixed feelings. For
in a way, Kozłowski’s work was not only a
requiem for him, but for his nation.
of Russia and lover of Empress Catherine,
who introduced him to the imperial court
circles.
Kozłowski then returned to music full time,
composing operas, sacred choral music,
songs, polonaises (most appropriately), and
music for court balls. Between 1799 and
1819 he supervised the theatre orchestras
and theatrical college at St. Petersburg until
paralysis forced his retirement.
Józef Kozłowski was born in 1759 in
Warsaw, which was the capital of a
flourishing Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth,
and a centre of culture and the arts, even
having Europe’s largest public library. In his
youth, he trained in church singing, violin
and organ, and became music tutor to
the princely Oginsky family. By the 1780s,
the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had
become a de facto client state of Imperial
Russia, so Kozłowski, aged 27, moved to
St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1786. Enlisting in
the Russian Army, he became aide-de-camp
to Prince Dolgoruky, who was one of the
generals commanding the Russian troops
in the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792).
Kozłowski’s talents caught the attention of
Prince Grigory Potemkin, then prime minister
Maintaining his contact with the Polish
community in St. Petersburg must have
been how he met his king, Stanisław
August Poniatowski, bearer of the very
grand titles King of Poland, Grand Duke of
Lithuania and Duke of Ruthenia, Prussia,
Masovia, Samogitia, Kiev, Volhynia, Podolia,
Podlasie, Livonia, Smolensk, Severia and
Chernihiv. King Stanisław was forced to
abdicate the throne of the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth in 1795 and lived in
St. Petersburg from 1797 as a virtual
prisoner of the Russian tsar, surviving on a
pension granted by Empress Catherine. The
commonwealth itself had been dissected
with the Third Partition of Poland, its territory
24
The work was scheduled in the orchestra’s
2020/21 season, to be conducted by
Russian conductor Alexander Vedernikov.
Sadly, not only was the concert cancelled
due to the pandemic, but Vedernikov himself
succumbed to complications from COVID-19
in 2020.
Soon after, Stanisław died of a stroke on
12 February 1798 and the requiem was
performed on 25 February during a state
funeral at Catholic Church of St. Catherine in
St. Petersburg. It had an unexpected revival
in 1825 where it was performed again at
the funeral for Tsar Alexander I of Russia.
The requiem, as a musical setting of the
mass for the departed, is specific to the
Roman Catholic Church, and is not used in
the Russian Orthodox Church, to which Tsar
Alexander belonged. Yet, Tsar Alexander
bore the title “King of Poland” among his
subsidiary titles, so it was deemed meet and
right that a Roman Catholic requiem was
celebrated for him, in addition to the regular
Orthodox funeral rites. For this occasion,
the aged and ailing Kozłowski altered some
movements of the original score, adding
heavier instrumentation and choruses for
more drama. The gentler and quieter original
1798 version performed tonight has been
carefully edited by Singapore Symphony
Orchestra Music Director Hans Graf.
“….the final
movement fades
into nothing ... It’s
humility in front of
death: it’s the perfect
death.”
– Hans Graf (Bachtrack)
It was not until the 2022/23 season that
the Requiem could finally be programmed
again, this time to be conducted by Hans
Graf. Sørensen obtained a Soviet edition
of the score and piano score from St.
Petersburg, as well as the 1798 autograph
and subsequent first print edition by
Breitkopf and Härtel in Leipzig. Kozłowski’s
own 1798 reduction for keyboard and
violin, used for rehearsals with singers and
choruses, was also a valuable source of
additional editorial information. It also tells
us that the singers then were Italian and the
soprano and alto parts were sung by men.
Graf decided to perform the original 1798
version, thus leaving out the 1825 additions,
such as a funeral march and a Salve Regina
movement. The result of all these efforts is
the modern score performed tonight.
This chapter of the work’s history began
in 2018 when Hans Sørensen, Director of
Artistic Planning at the Singapore Symphony
Orchestra, first heard a recording of the
Requiem and was struck by its musical
quality. He sought to programme it for
performance, only to discover that a score
was not available from any publisher.
Investigating further, the manuscript was
finally located in a library in St. Petersburg
from where Sørensen obtained a copy.
25
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
and peoples split between the Habsburg
Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the
Russian Empire, and Poland ceased to exist
as a sovereign nation. Sensing that his
end was near, the last king of independent
Poland desired a requiem for his own funeral
and the commission came to Kozłowski.
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
Set in the very unusual key of E-flat minor, the work starts with a combined Requiem et Kyrie
movement, a feature common to Austro-Hungarian composers. Sombre strings punctuated
by horns accompany a largely homophonic chorus, and the movement ends in hushed
pianissimo with the voices alone.
I. Requiem et Kyrie
choir
Requiem æternam dona eis Domine
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
Grant them eternal rest, O Lord,
and may perpetual light shine upon them.
soprano & mezzo-soprano solo
Te decet hymnus, Deus in Sion
You, O God, are praised in Sion, and unto You
tenor & bass solo
et tibi reddetur votum in Jerusalem.
shall the vow be performed in Jerusalem.
choir
Exaudi orationem meam
ad te omnis caro veniet.
Hear my prayer,
unto You shall all flesh come.
Kyrie eleison,
Christe eleison,
Kyrie eleison.
Lord, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy.
The Dies iræ throbs in classic requiem fashion, yet is strikingly different from Mozart’s
Requiem, followed by a Tuba mirum where a solo trombone and a group of brass represent
the trumpet of the last judgement, accompanied by a persistent oboe.
II. Dies irae
choir
Dies irae, dies illa.
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
teste David cum Sybilla.
The day of wrath, that day,
will dissolve the world in ashes:
(this is) the testimony of David along with the Sibyl.
Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
How great will be the quaking,
when the Judge is about to come,
strictly investigating all things!
26
bass solo
Tuba, mirum spargens sonum
Per sepulchra regionum,
Coget omnes ante thronum
The trumpet, scattering a wondrous sound
through the sepulchres of the regions,
will summon all before the throne.
Mors stupebit, et natura,
Cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.
Death and nature will marvel,
when the creature will rise again,
to respond to the Judge.
Liber scriptus proferetur,
In quo totum continetur,
Unde mundus judicetur.
The written book will be brought forth,
in which all is contained,
from which the world shall be judged.
In the Judex ergo, two lamenting solo celli introduce a soprano aria that becomes a duet
when the alto joins in.
IV. Judex ergo
soprano solo
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
Quidquid latet, apparebit:
Nil inultum remanebit.
When therefore the Judge will sit,
whatever lies hidden, will appear:
nothing will remain unpunished.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
Cum vix justus sit securus?
What then shall I, poor wretch [that I am], say?
Which patron shall I entreat,
when [even] the just may [only] hardly be sure?
soprano & mezzo-soprano solo
Rex tremendæ majestatis,
Qui salvandos salvas gratis,
Salva me, fons pietatis
King of fearsome majesty,
Who gladly save those fit to be saved,
save me, O fount of mercy.
Recordare, jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
Ne me perdas illa die.
Remember, merciful Jesus,
that I am the cause of Your journey:
lest You lose me in that day.
27
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
III. Tuba mirum
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
The bass solo returns threateningly at the Confutatis to tell us of the torments in Hell awaiting
the wicked, but the music becomes gentle as the words turn to a plea for mercy.
V. Confutatis
bass solo
Confutatis maledictis,
Flammis acribus addictis,
Voca me cum benedictis.
Once the cursed have been silenced,
sentenced to acrid flames,
Call me, with the blessed.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
Cor contritum quasi cinis:
Gere curum mei finis.
[Humbly] kneeling and bowed I pray,
[my] heart crushed as ashes:
take care of my end.
Throughout his Requiem, Kozłowski uses dynamics from very soft to very loud as part of his
artistic palette, dramatically differentiating sections and painting the text. A striking example
of this is the Lacrymosa where the chorus sings of that tearful day of judgement, only to be
interrupted by a powerful unison outbreak of the orchestra and chorus, ending with soloists
and chorus doing a call-and-answer prayer at dona eis requiem (“grant them rest”).
VI. Lacrymosa
choir
Lacrymosa dies illa,
Qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus:
Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Tearful [will be] that day,
on which from the glowing embers will arise
the guilty man who is to be judged:
Then spare him, O God.
Pie Iesu, Iesu Domine,
Dona eis requiem. Amen.
Merciful Lord Jesus,
grant them rest. Amen.
28
VII. Domine Iesu Christe
choir
Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae,
Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory,
tenor solo
Libera animas omnium
fidelium defunctorum
deliver the souls of all
the faithful departed
Soprano, mezzo-soprano,
tenor & bass solo
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
which of old Thou didst promise Abraham
soprano & bass solo
et semini ejus.
and his seed.
mezzo-soprano & tenor solo
et semini ejus.
and his seed.
choir
Quam olim Abrahae promisisti
et semini ejus.
which of old Thou didst promise Abraham
and his seed.
VIII. Sanctus
Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus
Dominus Deus Sabaoth!
Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua.
Holy, Holy, Holy
Lord God of hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Soprano & mezzo-soprano solo
Osanna, Osanna,
Hosanna, Hosanna,
choir
Osanna in excelsis.
Hosanna in the highest.
29
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
Domine Jesu Christe occurs in the middle of the service and features the quartet of solo
voices as well as a notable clarinet solo. At the heart of the service comes the Sanctus,
alternating hushed and reverential passages with loud proclamations of glory.
TH E K OZ L OV SK Y R EQU IEM | 7 APR 2 0 2 3
The usually mellow and welcoming Benedictus is set as an unexpectedly dramatic soprano
solo with chromatic touches reminiscent of the contemporary Viennese Classical style. Along
with the Dies irae, the Benedictus is the most dramatic movement in the requiem.
IX. Benedictus
soprano solo
Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
The deeply tragic beginning of the Agnus Dei introduces an insistent plea by the tenor, joined
by the chorus soon after.
X. Agnus Dei
tenor solo
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi
Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world,
choir
Dona eis Domine
grant them, O Lord.
tenor solo
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi
Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world,
choir
Dona eis requiem
Agnus Dei,
qui tollis peccata mundi
dona eis Domine
dona eis requiem
Grant them rest.
Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world,
grant them, O Lord.
Grant them rest.
30
XI. Quia pius es
choir
Quia pius es,
cum Sanctis tuis,
quia pius es,
for Thou art gracious,
with Thy Saints,
for Thou art gracious,
soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor solo
quia pius es,
for Thou art gracious,
choir
quia pius es,
in æternum.
for Thou art gracious,
for evermore.
The final movement recapitulates the Requiem aeternam of the beginning, ending quietly and
peacefully a cappella. Brief and heartfelt, it encapsulates the spirit of the 1798 work.
XII. Requiem Æternam
choir
Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine:
et lux perpetua luceat eis.
dona eis, Domine,
dona eis requiem.
Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.
grant them, O Lord.
Grant them rest.
It is hard not to see in the music, an image of the Polish nation (which was not to see
independence again for over 120 years) submitting itself to Fate.
Programme notes by Edward C. Yong,
with additional notes (Requiem) by Chia Han-Leon
Instrumentation
2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons,
2 horns, 2 trumpets, bass trombone,
timpani, snare drum, strings
World Premiere
25 Feb 1798
31
T H E KO Z LO V SKY R EQU IEM | 7 A PR 2023
Quia pius es, largely a cappella, anticipates the simple majesty of choral music by Anton
Bruckner.
An Iconic Destination.
A Legendary Welcome.
RAFFLESSINGAPORE.COM
14 Apr 2023, Fri
Esplanade Concert Hall
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Hans Graf Music Director
He Ziyu violin*
S T R A V I N SK Y
D EB U SSY
Symphonies of Wind Instruments SSO Premiere
12 mins
Violin Concerto in D*
22 mins
Intermission
20 mins
La Mer
23 mins
Concert Duration:
approximately 1 hr 40 mins
(with 20 mins intermission)
A Intermission autograph signing with He Ziyu at the Foyer, Level 1.
CHECK-IN TO TONIGHT'S CONCERT
Scan this QR code with the Singapore Symphony Mobile App.
33
W I N D S A B O V E TH E SEA – H ANS G R AF AND H E Z IYU | 14 A P R 2023
W INDS A BO V E TH E SEA
– H ANS GRA F AN D H E Z I Y U
W IN D S AB OV E TH E SEA – H ANS G R AF AND H E Z IYU | 14 APR 2 0 2 3
IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882–1971)
Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920, rev. 1947) SSO Premiere
Stravinsky wrote a long string of memorial
pieces throughout his life, beginning with
one for his teacher Rimsky-Korsakov and
followed by this piece, written in memory of
Claude Debussy. The music itself could not
be further from Debussy’s style, however,
and in calling a twelve-minute piece a
“symphony” Stravinsky was certainly not
using the word in the modern sense.
Even today, to a modern audience, the
string-less instrumentation can sound harsh
and strange. A hundred years ago, at its
premiere in London, the Symphonies was
greeted with contempt and the audience’s
laughter during the performance was loud
enough to perturb even the conductor
Koussevitzky, who refused to stop and
explain anything, but instead turned and
smiled before continuing.
In old French musical usage the word
symphonie simply means “a sonorous
piece”, and Stravinsky’s conscious decision
to use only wind and brass instruments for
a strong, direct sound hits the listener right
from the beginning with loud, open fifths.
He would soon leave behind his “Russian
period” and was already moving away from
the style of music he had cultivated in
his great ballets (Firebird, Petrushka, and
The Rite of Spring) toward something that
deliberately eschewed sensuousness and
the conventionally beautiful in music.
Here, between the crudeness of the opening
sonorities and the dissonances of using
unrelated chords on top of each other,
Stravinsky was also moving toward a new
way of formal organisation. There are
three main musical ideas, running at three
different speeds, and Stravinsky makes no
attempt to smooth out the jarring transitions
between them whatsoever, only using
silence as a defining measure. This would
go on to be a defining characteristic of the
“neoclassical” music he would write in the
rest of the 1920s, and, in this piece, was
highly experimental.
Instrumentation
3 flutes, 2 oboes, cor anglais,
3 clarinets, 3 bassoons (1 doubling on
contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets,
3 trombones, tuba
World Premiere
10 Jun 1921, London
34
I
II
III
IV
Toccata
Aria I
Aria II
Capriccio
Stravinsky was commissioned by an
American patron to write a violin concerto
for the Polish violinist Samuel Dushkin, who
ended up being one of Stravinsky’s longtime collaborators. Stravinsky was initially
hesitant, citing his own unfamiliarity with the
instrument, but with some persuasion began
the commission. For technical help with
violin writing, he turned to world-class violist
and violinist Paul Hindemith, who advised
Stravinsky that his claimed unfamiliarity
with the technical issues of violin playing
might actually help him come up with new
possibilities.
deft touch and sense of balance results
in convincing musical forms, and there
are some moments of genuinely beautiful
lyricism in the Aria movements, while
the Toccata and Capriccio both feature
chugging, motoric rhythms.
Stravinsky’s ballet music has always
been part of the concert repertoire since
their earliest performances, but the
Violin Concerto enjoyed no similar fate.
Stravinsky’s own attitudes to the genre might
have done him no favours (he said he was
no fan of the “usual” Brahms, Beethoven,
Mozart concerti), but even after its 1931
premiere, violinists were reluctant to pick
it up. It was left to the ballet stage to bring
him success again, and indeed, it took the
great Balanchine two attempts at creating
ballet scenarios using the concerto’s music
to win over audiences. It has thus enjoyed
a resurgence since the 1970s, though
it largely still remains on the fringes of
standard repertoire.
And, indeed, Stravinsky ended up coming up
with a chord that he called the “passport”
to the whole Concerto, and which is
the first thing the violin soloist plays in
every movement. It appears prominently
throughout the whole piece and informs a lot
of its harmonic flavour. Indeed, the Concerto
is deliberately archaic in form, resembling
Classical-era chamber music rather
than a true virtuoso concerto. Stravinsky
deliberately chose not to write cadenzas
for the performer, saying that he was not
interested in using the violin as a showboat.
Programme notes by Thomas Ang
Instrumentation
2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais,
3 clarinets (1 doubling on E-flat
clarinet), 3 bassoons (1 doubling on
contrabassoon), 4 horns, 3 trumpets,
3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum,
strings
To wit, there is not very much that
distinguishes the four movements apart
from Stravinsky’s chosen tonal areas and a
general tempo variation. In all of them, the
angular violin writing pairs up with various
instruments in the orchestra while the rest
weave accompanimental textures around
the duets that result. However, Stravinsky’s
World Premiere
23 Oct 1931, Berlin
First performed by SSO
12 Mar 1982 (Grigory Zhislin, violin)
35
W I N D S A B O V E TH E SEA – H ANS G R AF AND H E Z IYU | 14 A P R 2023
IGOR STRAVINSKY
Violin Concerto in D (1931)
W IN D S AB OV E TH E SEA – H ANS G R AF AND H E Z IYU | 14 APR 2 0 2 3
CLAUDE DEBUSSY (1862–1918)
La Mer (1903)
I
II
III
De l'aube à midi sur la mer (From Dawn to Noon on the Sea)
Jeux des vagues (Play of the Waves)
Dialogue du vent et de la mer (Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea)
Few works so richly and evocatively portray
the sea as Debussy’s trois esquisses
symphoniques (“three symphonic
sketches”). Oddly enough, though, the
music was not written anywhere near the
sea, but rather in various inland locations,
including the Burgundian mountains and
Paris. In La Mer, Debussy portrays the sea
in its various moods, but does not attempt
explicit images in sound; rather, through
sonorities he seeks to stir the memories,
emotions and imagination, permitting each
listener a personal perception of the sea.
The first performance took place on 15
October 1905 at the Concerts Lamoureux
in Paris, Camille Chevillard conducting.
Play of the Waves is full of sparkle and
animation. Like the first sea picture,
melodic fragments are developed in an
ever-changing mosaic of orchestral hues.
The range and delicacy of Debussy’s
scoring fascinate at every turn – even the
“ping” of the triangle has evocative power.
Debussy’s biographer Oscar Thompson
describes this music as “a world of sheer
fantasy, of strange visions and eerie
voices, a mirage of sight and equally a
mirage of sound. On the sea’s vast stage
is presented trance-like phantasmagoria
so evanescent and fugitive that it leaves
behind only the vagueness of a dream.”
The final seascape, Dialogue of the
Wind and the Sea, opens restless, grey
and stormy, the music suggesting the
mighty surging and swelling of the water.
Melodic fragments from the first movement
return. The activity subsides, and out of
the mists comes a haunting, distant call,
like that of the sirens, perhaps, high in
the woodwinds. The music again gathers
energy. Finally, we hear once more the
grandiose chorale motif from the first sea
picture, and La Mer ends in a great spray
of sea water surging through the orchestra
in spectacular colours.
The first part, From Dawn to Noon on
the Sea, begins very quietly, with slow,
mysterious murmuring. Through sonority
itself, Debussy evokes the sensation of
peering into the very depths of the dark,
mysterious sea. As the sea awakens, the
orchestral colours brighten and motion
quickens. The music swings into a rocking
6/8 meter, and we hear a leisurely call
from the muted horns. A mosaic of melodic
fragments fills the music in constantly
changing sonorities. One of these is heard
in the divisi cellos, and is developed into
an impressive climax. After subsiding, a
new melodic idea, a noble chorale-like
passage, appears and slowly grows to
paint a majestic picture of the sea under
the blazing noonday sun.
Programme note by Robert Markow
36
Instrumentation
2 flutes, piccolo, 2 oboes, cor anglais,
2 clarinets, 3 bassoons, contrabassoon,
4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 cornets,
3 trombones, tuba, timpani,
tam-tam, cymbals, triangle, bass drum,
glockenspiel, 2 harps, strings
World Premiere
15 Oct 1905, Paris
First performed by SSO
30 Sep 1988
37
W I N D S A B O V E TH E SEA – H ANS G R AF AND H E Z IYU | 14 A P R 2023
After the Shipwreck – Design for an Illustration of Coleridge’s
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (c.1875) by Gustave Doré
source: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
S S O SU PPO RT E RS
A Standing Ovation
TO O U R D O N O R P A T R O N S
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.
PATR ON SPONSOR
Tote Board Group
(Tote Board, Singapore Pools & Singapore Turf Club)
MAE STR O C IR C L E
Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin
Stephen Riady Group of Foundations
Temasek Foundation
The HEAD Foundation
C ONC E R TMASTE R CIRCLE
Yong Hon Kong Foundation
SYMPHONY C IR C L E
Prof Arnoud De Meyer
Dr & Mrs Antoine & Christina Firmenich
Foundation of Rotary Clubs (Singapore) Ltd
Rod Hyland
Lee Foundation
The Santosa Family
The Tanoto Family
NG PEI-SIAN
PRINCIP AL
CE LLO
C O N CE RT O CI RCL E
Dennis Au & Geraldine Choong
Bloomberg Singapore Pte Ltd
Vivian Chandran
Cara & Tamara Chang
Jerry Chang
Chng Hak-Peng
Chua Khee Chin
Embassy of France in Singapore
Far East Organization
Holywell Foundation
Geoffrey & Ai Ai Wong
Yong Ying-I
Dr Thomas Zuellig & Mary Zuellig
Anonymous
O VER T U RE PAT RONS
Cavazos Tinajero Family
Prof Cham Tao Soon
Alan Chan
Prof Chan Heng Chee
Dr & Mrs Choy Khai Meng
Christopher Fussner
Dr Geh Min
Dorian Goh & Rathi Ho
Hong Leong Foundation
Vanessa & Darren Iloste
Lian Huat Group
Mavis Lim Geck Chin
Liu Chee Ming
Marina Bay Sands
Devika & Sanjiv Misra
Kai Nargolwala
Nomura Asset Management Singapore
NSL Ltd
Dr Eddy Ooi
Pavilion Capital
Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore
Prima Limited
Alexey Rumyantsev
Priscylla Shaw
Prof Gralf & Silvia Sieghold
Tan Meng Cheng Ivan
Wong Hong Ching
Yasmin Zahid
Anonymous (4)
S ER ENAD E PAT RONS
John & Eliza Bittleston
Bryan Carmichael
KC Chuang
Creative Eateries Pte Ltd
DBS
The Gangoso Family
Jerry Gwee
Dr Guy Hentsch & G. Yu
Ho Bee Foundation
Steven & Liwen Holmes
Katherine Kennedy-White
Dr & Mrs Adrian Koh
Kris Tan Foundation
Dr Leong Keng Hong
Charmaine Lim
Mak Hoe Kit
Frans & Marie-Pierre Mol
msm-productions
Ms Oang Nguyen & Dr Dang Vu
nTan Corporate Advisory Pte Ltd
PropertyGuru Group
David Ramli
Robin & Katie Rawlings
Sembcorp Energy For Good Fund
Tan Seow Yen
United Overseas Bank Ltd
Andrew & Stephanie Vigar
David & Catherine Zemans
Anonymous (6)
R H A P SO D Y PAT RONS
Marcelo Viccario Achoa & Silvia Bordoni
Jeanie Cheah
Evelyn Chin
Adrian Chua Tsen Leong
Hartley & Hong Lynn Clay
Mr & Mrs Winston Hauw
Khoo Boon Hui
Sajith Kumar
Winston & Valerie Kwek
Lee Shu Yen
Viktor & Sonja Leendertz
Dr Darren Lim
Dr Victor Lim
Junko & Stuart Liventals
JN Loh
Richard Loh
Prof Tamas Makany & Julie Schiller
Joshua Margolis & Chong Eun Baik
Francoise Mei
Esme Parish & Martin Edwards
Preetha Pillai
Ian & Freda Rickword
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The Sohn Yong Family
Ron & Janet Stride
Tibor Szabady
Christopher SC Tan
Gillian & Daniel Tan
Aileen Tang
Tang See Chim
Anthony Tay
Amanda Walujo
Eric Wong
Wicky Wong
Anonymous (7)
P R EL U D E PAT RONS
Ang Jian Zhong
Pauline Ang
Ang Seow Long
Chan Ah Khim
Yuna Chang
Cynthia Chee
Dr Jonathan Chee
Dr Christopher Chen
Cheng Eng Aun
Cheng Wei
Jase Cheok
Peter Chew
Dr Faith Chia
Bobby Chin
Anthony Chng
Mr & Mrs Choo Chiau Beng
Tiffany Choong & Shang Thong Kai
Chor Siew Chun
Lenny Christina
Jonathan A. Chu
Clarence Chua
Pierre Colignon
DCP
Dong Yingqiu
Mr & Mrs Jeremy Ee
Jamie Lloyd Evans
Karen Fawcett & Alisdair Ferrie
John & Pauline Foo
Gan Yit Koon
P Goh
Goh Chiu Gak
Mrs Goh Keng Hoong
Michael Goh
Guo Zhenru
Charissa Gurvinder
Richard Hartung
Henry & Tiffany
Ichiro Hirao
Dr Ho Su Ling
Angela Huang & Geo Chen
Mr & Mrs Simon Ip
Jiang Wenzhu
Arjun Jolly
Duncan Kauffman
Ad Ketelaars
Ernest Khoo
Khor Cheng Kian
Belinda Koh Yuh Ling
Terri Koh
In Memory of Timothy Kok Tse En
Colin Lang
Lau Soo Lui
Dr & Mrs Winson Lay
Joshen Lee
Kristen Lee
Lei Zhang
SC & WY Leong
Voon S Leong
Li Danqi
Lisa Liaw
Edith & Sean Lim
Lim Yuin Wen
Low Boon Hon
Alwyn Loy
Benjamin Ma
Andre Maniam
Dr Tashiya Mirando
Daniel Ng
Ng Wan Ching & Wong Meng Leong
Ngiam Shih Chun
Joy Ochiai
Monique Ong
Phua Siyu Audrey
Lerrath Rewtrakulpaiboon
Robert Khan & Co Pte Ltd
Danai Sae-Han
Yuri Sayawaki
Thierry Schrimpf
In Memory of Lisa Schröder
Omar Slim
Marcel Smit & Hanneke Verbeek
Soh Leng Wan
Songs
Bernard Tan
Casey Tan Khai Hee
Celine Tan
Tan Cheng Guan
Dr Tan Chin Nam
Dr Giles Ming Yee Tan
Gordon HL Tan
Tan Pei Jie
Prof Tan Ser Kiat
Tan Yee Deng
Alex Tesei
Jessie Thng
Mario Van der Meulen
Vidula Verma
Retno Whitty
Dr Wong Hin-Yan
Jinny Wong
Wong Yan Lei Grace
Jennifer S Wu
Valerie Wu Peichan
Wu Peihui
Marcel & Melissa Xu
Yong Seow Kin
Zhang Zheng
Anonymous (41)
This list reflects donations that were made from 1 Jan 2022 to 31 Dec 2022.
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
With You, WE
C AN B U I LD
The Future of Music.
In our journey of 44 years in giving meaning to music, we owe our achievements and
milestones to all who have helped build the SSO since day one - our passionate audiences,
talented musicians, and generous patrons who have placed your national orchestra on the
world map.
How can you help?
While SSO is supported partially by funding from the Singapore government, a significant part
can only be unlocked as matching grants when we receive donations from the public. 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.
Prelude
Rhapsody Serenade
Overture
Concerto
Symphony
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COMPLIMENTARY TICKETS*
Subscription /VCHpresents/ 6 tickets
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Gala/Christmas/Pops
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2 tickets
4 tickets
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20 tickets
SSO Special Gala Concerts
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SSOLOUNGE
12M All-Access Pass
For donations of $100 and above
DONOR RECOGNITION & PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Concert booklets and website
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Patron of the Arts Nomination
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Donors’ Wall at VCH
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OTHER BENEFITS
Invitation to special events
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 Esplanade & Premier Box seats, or supporters who give through a fundraising event.
^Discounts are not applicable for purchase of Esplanade & Premier Box seats.
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 ORPO RAT E P ATR ONAGE
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.
HE ART F E L T T H ANKS TO OUR
C ORPO RAT E P ATR ONS
Temasek Foundation
The HEAD Foundation
Stephen Riady Group of Foundations
Yong Hon Kong Foundation
Lee Foundation
Foundation of Rotary Clubs (Singapore) Ltd
Embassy of France in Singapore
Bloomberg Singapore Pte Ltd
Far East Organization
Holywell Foundation
I N -K I N D SPO NSOR S
Raffles Hotel Singapore
SMRT Corporation
Singapore Airlines
Conrad Centennial Singapore
Symphony 924
Your support makes it possible
for us to host world-renowned
artists, including the Singapore
debut of piano legend Martha
Argerich in 2018.
TWO EVENINGS WITH
YEVGENY
SUDBIN
27.05.2023
YEVGENY SUDBIN
PLAYS RACH 2
(SATURDAY, 7.30PM)
ORCHESTRA OF THE MUSIC MAKERS
CHAN TZE LAW, conductor
YEVGENY SUDBIN, piano
Esplanade Concert Hall
01.06.2023
bit.ly/sudbin2023
(THURSDAY, 7.30PM)
POETRY OF ECSTASY
SOLO PIANO RECITAL
Victoria Concert Hall
$18
Tickets available from
via SISTIC
Concessions and group discounts available
SSO
CONDUCTING
WORKSHOP
6 & 7 July 2023
Victoria Concert Hall
2019 Workshop featuring
Seow Yibin and Joshua Tan
NEW! CALLING ASPIRING CONDUCTORS!
This workshop is an opportunity for aspiring young orchestral
conductors who want to improve their skills as a conductor and to work
with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra.
Participants will work on conducting and rehearsal techniques in the
context of a professional setting. In addition, there will be an emphasis
on accompaniment.
FOR WHOM
You should be a Singapore citizen or PR and should have a music
degree or are currently enrolled in a music programme
APPLICATION DEADLINE
To apply for consideration, please submit by 19 May 2023
Please email all application materials to
ConductingWorkshop@sso.org.sg
For application enquiries, please contact: ConductingWorkshop@sso.org.sg
Scan to
find out more
BOA R D 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 Kai Fong
Prof Arnoud De Meyer
Warren Fernandez
Kenneth Kwok
Liew Wei Li
Sanjiv Misra
Lynette Pang
Prof Qin Li-Wei
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)
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
Alan Chan (Chair)
Odile Benjamin
Prof Chan Heng Chee
Choo Chiau Beng
Dr Geh Min
Heinrich Grafe
Khoo Boon Hui
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 A DMIN IS T R AT IO N
CHIEF E XECUTIVE OFFICER
Kenneth Kwok
CEO OFFICE
C O M M U N I T Y I M PA C T
PAT R O N S
Shirin Foo
Musriah Bte Md Salleh
Kok Tse Wei (Head)
Development
Chelsea Zhao (Head)
Anderlin Yeo
Nikki Chuang
Elliot Lim
Sharmilah Banu
ARTISTIC PL ANNING
Hans Sørensen (Head)
Artistic Administration
Teo Chew Yen
Jodie Chiang
Michelle Yeo
Lynnette Chng
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)
Peck Xin Hui
Kevin Yeoh
Production Management
Noraihan Bte Nordin
Leong Shan Yi
Asyiq Iqmal
Ramayah Elango
Khairi Edzhairee
Khairul Nizam
Digital Production
Jan Soh
Community Engagement
Kua Li Leng (Head)
Erin Tan
Whitney Tan
Samantha Lim
Terrence Wong
Choral Programmes
Kua Li Leng (Head)
Regina Lee
Chang Hai Wen
Mimi Syaahira Bte Ruslaine
Singapore National Youth Orchestra
Pang Siu Yuin (Head)
Tang Ya Yun
Tan Sing Yee
Ridha Ridza
ABRSM
Patricia Yee
Lai Li-Yng
Joong Siow Chong
Freddie Loh
May Looi
William Teo
Marketing and Communications
Cindy Lim (Head)
Chia Han-Leon
Calista Lee
Sean Tan
Myrtle Lee
Hong Shu Hui
Jana Loh
Sherilyn Lim
Elizabeth Low
Customer Experience
Randy Teo
Dacia Cheang
Joy Tagore
C O R P O R AT E S E R V I C E S
Finance, IT & Facilities
Rick Ong (Head)
Alan Ong
Goh Hoey Fen
Loh Chin Huat
Md Zailani Bin Md Said
Human Resources and Legal
Valeria Tan (Head)
Janice Yeo
Fionn Tan
Evelyn Siew
Organisation Development
Lillian Yin
BL ANK
S UP P OR TED BY
PATRON SPON SOR
M ATCHE D BY
M A J OR D ON ORS
Stephen Riady
Group of Foundations
Mr & Mrs
Goh Yew Lin
SE A SON PAR TN ERS
Official Hotel
Official Radio Station
Official
Community Partner
Official Outdoor
Media Partner
Official Airline
S E A S ON PATRONS
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.