Singapore Symphony Orchestra May 2023

first time Is this your at the SSO?

WELCOME! 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.

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!

May 2023

KINGS & QUEENS OF OPERA

5 May 2023, Fri Esplanade Concert Hall

BY THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE

19 May 2023, Fri Victoria Concert Hall

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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.

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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,

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.

HANS GRAF Music Director

PAVEL BALEFF conductor

Born in Bulgaria, Pavel Baleff conducted at the age of 18 his first concert, and received in 1993 the Bulgarian Radio prize as Best Young Musician. Since December 1998 Baleff has been the Musical Director of the Dresden Chamber Opera. In 2003 he won the renowned Bad Homburg conductor award – one of the highest German conductor honours.

Pavel Baleff has been appointed Musical Director and Chief Conductor of the Limoges Opera from season 2022/23. Since September 2022, he is Musical Director of the Nordhausen Theatre and the LohOrchestra Sondershausen. Between 2007 and 2022 Baleff was Chief Conductor of the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the most traditional orchestras in Germany.

Baleff collaborates with renowned artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Anna Netrebko, Edita Gruberova, Vesselina Kasarova, Ramon Vargas, Thomas Hampson, Piotr Beczala, Luca Pisaroni and many others. In 2012, Baleff won the German Record Critics Award as well as the International Classical Music Award for Slavic Opera Arias with Krassimira Stoyanova and the Münchner Rundfunkorchestra. The CD production of Verdi arias with Krassimira Stoyanova, released under the label Orfeo, was also honoured with the German Record Critics Award in 2014. In Sofia he was awarded

Bulgarian “Conductor of the Year” for The Ring of the Nibelung at the National Opera.

Besides various opera productions, Baleff follows world-wide guest engagements. In 2017 he toured Asia together with Diana Damrau and Nicolas Testé and conducted a European Tour with Thomas Hampson in 2018. In spring 2023 Pavel Baleff follows a re-invitation touring Asia, together with Diana Damrau and Nicolas Testé.

DIANA DAMRAU

soprano

Soprano Diana Damrau has been performing on the world’s leading opera and concert stages for two decades. Her vast repertoire spans title roles in Anna Bolena (Opera House Zurich, Vienna State Opera), I Masnadieri (Bavarian State Opera), Roméo et Juliette (La Scala, Metropolitan Opera), Lucia di Lammermoor (La Scala, Bavarian State Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House), Manon (Vienna State Opera, Metropolitan Opera) and La Traviata (La Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Opéra National de Paris and Bavarian State Opera) as well as Queen of

the Night in Die Zauberflöte (Metropolitan Opera, Salzburg Festival, Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, Bavarian State Opera). She made her debut as Gräfin Madeleine in Capriccio at the Bavarian State Opera in July of 2022.

Recording exclusively for Warner Classics/ Erato, Diana Damrau made her recording debut with Arie di Bravura – a collection of Mozart and Salieri arias. Subsequent solo releases were awarded the ECHO and the OPUS Klassik prize amongst others.

SSO GALA: KINGS

The soprano has also performed contemporary works for the opera stage in roles written especially for her and has established herself as one of today’s most sought-after interpreters of songs, regularly performing at worldwide renowned venues.

In the beginning of 2022/23 season Diana Damrau has embarked on a European tour with Xavier de Maistre and has presented her new Christmas album. At the Easter Festival Baden-Baden she interpreted Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Kirill Petrenko.

www.diana-damrau.com

Concerts, Tours & Media Diana Damrau: CCM Classic Concerts Management

www.ccm-international.de

His extensive repertoire comprises title roles in Iphigénie en Aulide (Agamemnon), Roméo et Juliette (Frère Laurent), Manon (Des Grieux), Hamlet (Claudius), Il Trovatore (Ferrando), The Magic Flute (Sarastro), Castor and Pollux (Jupiter), Faust (Mephisto), The Tales of Hoffmann (The Four Villains) and The Barber of Seville (Basilio).

In the season 2021/22 he was on stage as Compte des Grieux in Manon at the Opera of Lyon, as Ramfis in Aida in a production with Anna Netrebko at the Teatro San Carlo Naples, in Norma as Oroveso at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona and as Colline in La Bohème at the MET.

Besides numerous opera productions

NICOLAS TESTÉ bass

The French bass Nicolas Testé studied piano, bassoon and music history in Paris before embarking on a career as a singer. He studied at the Opéra National de Paris and Centre de Formation Lyrique.

Nicolas Testé regularly performs in many renowned opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera New York, Staatsoper Munich, Los Angeles Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro San Carlo Naples, and many others, as well as at the Glyndebourne Festival and Chorégies d’Orange.

Nicolas Testé regularly performs with internationally renowned symphony orchestras. In November 2017 he embarked on an Asia Tour together with the renowned soprano Diana Damrau performing opera gala and recital programmes. In the frame of the tour VERDIssimo he gave concerts in Europe’s major concert halls in May and June 2018. In the upcoming seasons Nicolas Testé tours again Europe and Asia together with soprano Diana Damrau presenting their new programme “Kings and Queens of Opera”.

www.nicolasteste.com

Concerts, Tours & Media Nicolas Testé: CCM Classic Concerts Management

www.ccm-international.de

RODOLFO BARRÁEZ Associate Conductor

Berlin-based Venezuelan conductor Rodolfo Barráez made his debut with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin in 2020. A natural communicator with infectious charisma, Rodolfo brings remarkable vivacity, sensitivity and zeal to his artistry.

In 2020, Barráez took the Second Prize at the Inaugural Siemens-Hallé International Conductor Competition in Manchester, leading to immediate invitations with The Hallé. He was also awarded First Prize at the 2018 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México International Conducting Competition (OFUNAM).

Having completed a Bachelor degree in conducting at the Universidad Nacional Experimental de las Artes de Venezuela, Barráez also studied a Bachelor and Master degree in conducting at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. Rodolfo made his European debut at Philharmonie Berlin in 2019 with the Hauptstadt Sinfonieorchester. In summer 2022, he was selected to take part in the Conducting Fellowship of the Verbier Festival, where he was assistant conductor to Charles Dutoit and Gianandrea Noseda, among others.

Some of his most recent guest conductor performances include the Appasionato Orchestra at the Verbier Festival 2022,

Symphony Orchestra of the Principality of Asturias, The Hallé Orchestra, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the RTVE Symphony Orchestra, Simón Bolívar Symphony, Bogotá Philharmonic, Yucatán Philharmonic, Querétaro Symphony Orchestra, UNAM Philharmonic Orchestra, Minería Symphony Orchestra, among others.

The 2022-23 season sees him join the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as Associate Conductor, as well as the Los Angeles Philharmonic as a Dudamel Conducting Fellow.

Future highlights include his US debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in a series of concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.

© PEDRO SIERRA

KEVIN LOH guitar

Born in Singapore, Kevin Loh is one of the leading classical guitarists of his generation, having won many international awards, including the Volos International Guitar Competition (Greece), the London International Guitar Competition (UK), and most recently, the Columbus State University Guitar Symposium (USA). Kevin has performed at Wigmore Hall, London, Konzerthaus Berlin and Suntory Hall, Tokyo. In 2013, he premiered Guitar Concerto by Bernard Tan with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In 2019, as Singapore Symphony

Orchestra’s ‘President’s Young Performer’, he performed Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo.

Kevin is also passionate about giving back to society. He actively visits schools to share more about the guitar and music education. He also raises funds in Singapore and in the region for various charities and initiatives such as ChildAid, to provide opportunities for underprivileged children to have exposure in the arts.

Kevin studied with Richard Wright for seven years at the Yehudi Menuhin School in Britain. After finishing two years of mandatory military service in the Singapore Armed Forces, he completed his undergraduate degree in Music at Girton College, University of Cambridge as the College Music Scholar and a scholar of the Loke Cheng-Kim Foundation. He is now pursuing his postgraduate degree in Guitar Performance at the University of WisconsinMilwaukee with Professor René Izquierdo.

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Born in Sichuan, China, Zhao Tian began his violin lessons with his father when he was three years old.

He was admitted to the Sichuan Conservatory of Music to further his violin studies under Professor Hu Weimin at the age of 8. At the age of 18, he was awarded full scholarship to study at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore, where he studied with Professor Qian Zhou. In 2014, he was selected as exchange student to the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University. That same year, he received full scholarship from the Manhattan School of Music to pursue his double Master’s degree (in violin solo & orchestral performance) with former concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic, Glenn Dicterow and worldrenowned violin professor, Lucie Robert. Prior to joining the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, he has worked with Baltimore Symphony Orchestra since 2016 and performed at the Proms in 2018.

An active chamber musician, Zhao Tian has participated in many music festivals including Aspen Music Festival, Texas Music Festival and those of the Music Academy of the West. He has collaborated in chamber music with many distinguished musicians and groups such as Glenn Dicterow, Gil Shaham, Pinchas Zukerman, Lucie Robert, David Takino, American String Quartet and Emerson String Quartet. Zhao Tian has appeared as soloist with the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Orchestra and Penang

Philharmonic, performing concertos by Bruch and Tchaikovsky.

He plays on a 1737 Camillus Camilli violin generously loaned from Mr William Tan.

ZHAO TIAN violin

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

FIRST VIOLIN

(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*

SECOND VIOLIN

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

VIOLA

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

CELLO

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

DOUBLE BASS

Yang Zheng Yi Associate Principal

Karen Yeo Fixed Chair

Olga Alexandrova

Jacek Mirucki

Guennadi Mouzyka

Wang Xu

FLUTE

Jin Ta Principal, Stephen Riady Chair

Evgueni Brokmiller Associate Principal

Roberto Alvarez

Miao Shanshan

PICCOLO

Roberto Alvarez Assistant Principal

OBOE

Rachel Walker Principal

Pan Yun Associate Principal

Carolyn Hollier

Elaine Yeo

COR ANGLAIS

Elaine Yeo Associate Principal

CLARINET

Ma Yue Principal

Li Xin Associate Principal

Liu Yoko

Tang Xiao Ping

BASS CLARINET

Tang Xiao Ping Assistant Principal

BASSOON

Liu Chang Associate Principal

Christoph Wichert

Zhao Ying Xue

CONTRABASSOON

Zhao Ying Xue Assistant Principal

HORN

Gao Jian Associate Principal

Jamie Hersch Associate Principal

Marc-Antoine Robillard Associate Principal

Hoang Van Hoc

TRUMPET

Jon Paul Dante Principal

David Smith Associate Principal

Lau Wen Rong

TROMBONE

Allen Meek Principal

Damian Patti Associate Principal

Samuel Armstrong

BASS TROMBONE

Wang Wei Assistant Principal

TUBA

Tomoki Natsume Principal

TIMPANI

Christian Schiøler Principal

Mario Choo

PERCUSSION

Jonathan Fox Principal

Mark Suter Associate Principal

Mario Choo

Lim Meng Keh

HARP

Gulnara Mashurova Principal

With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. Kong Zhao Hui performs on a J.B. Guadagnini of Milan, c. 1750, donated by the National Arts Council, Singapore, with the support of Far East Organization and Lee Foundation. Chan Yoong-Han performs on a David Tecchler, Fecit Roma An. D. 1700, courtesy of Mr G K Goh. Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.

Guest Musicians

SSO GALA: KINGS & QUEENS OF OPERA | 5 MAY 2023

FIRST VIOLIN

Vesselin Gellev Guest Concertmaster

DOUBLE BASS

Hibiki Otomo

FLUTE/PICCOLO

Wang Tong

HORN

Bryan Chong

PERCUSSION

Sng Yiang Shan

BY THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE | 19 MAY 2023

DOUBLE BASS

Julian Li

FLUTE/PICCOLO

Wang Tong

SAXOPHONE

Samuel Phua Guest Principal

HORN

Bryan Chong

Linnet Sim

PIANO/CELESTA

Nicholas Loh

SSO GALA:

KINGS

& QUEENS OF OPERA

DIANA DAMRAU & NICOLAS TESTÉ

5 May 2023, Fri

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Pavel Baleff conductor

Diana Damrau soprano1

Nicolas Testé bass2

ROSSINI ROSSINI THOMAS ADAM HADJIEV GOUNOD DELIBES

DONIZETTI

Overture to Semiramide

Bel raggio lusinghier from Semiramide1

Je t’implore, ô mon frère from Hamlet2

Overture to Si j’étais roi

Prayer of Maria Desislava, “Veliki Bozhe, chui moiata molba”1

Air de Soliman “Sou les pieds d’une femme” from The Queen of Sheba2

Gaillarde from Le roi s’amuse

Recitative and Duet “Oh mio buon Talbot!” from Maria Stuarda1 2

Intermission

VERDI DONIZETTI

Elle ne m’aime pas from Don Carlos2

Cavatine and Aria, “Come innocente giovane – Non v’ha sguardo” from Anna Bolena1

TCHAIKOVSKY

TCHAIKOVSKY

BELLINI BELLINI

Gavotte from Orchestral Suite No. 1, Op. 43

Everyone knows love on earth from Eugene Onegin2

Overture from Norma

“Casta Diva” from Norma1

Concert Duration: approximately 2 hrs 10 mins (with 20 mins intermission)

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GIOACHINO ROSSINI (1792–1868)

Overture to Semiramide (1822)

Bel raggio lusinghier from Semiramide

The invention of the steamship in the early 1800s meant an exponential increase in the number of people travelling around the world. Suddenly the world was a smaller place, and exotic trends from faraway lands came to stay, particularly interest in the Ancient World. The 19th century saw Egyptomania sweep Europe in this archaeological boom, and the opera stage, the height of fashion, naturally reflected this. Operas set in the Ancient Near East were not a new thing—Handel’s Serse and Hasse’s Siroe were set in Persia, Scarlatti’s Tigrane in Armenia, and Mozart’s Thamos in Egypt—but the influx of newly discovered archaeological objects meant that 19th century opera sets and costumes could now claim to be more ‘historically accurate’ than those of previous centuries. Productions that claimed this included Verdi’s Aida (Egypt) and Nabucco (Babylon), and Rossini’s Semiramide (likewise in Babylon).

Rossini’s Overture to Semiramide, like many overtures of the time, weaves in themes from the opera to create a sort of musical ‘trailer’, and is one of his most popular, featuring frequently in concerts and recordings.

Semiramide was Rossini’s last work for Italy before moving to Paris, and what a lurid story it is. Queen Semiramis kills her husband the king and takes the throne of Assyria and Babylon (c. 2,000 B.C.), falls in love with Arsace, a handsome army commander, and takes him as her lover. Before the wedding, it is revealed that Arsace is actually her son, and he ends up killing her by accident. Bel raggio lusinghier

is Semiramis’ Act 1 aria, in which she awaits Arsace’s arrival in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, believing he also loves her.

Instrumentation (Overture)

flute, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, bass trombone, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, strings

Instrumentation (Bel raggio lusinghier)

flute, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, strings

SSO

Bel raggio lusinghier

Di speme e di piacer

Alfin per me brillò:

Arsace ritornò, - Sì, a me verrà .

Quest'alma che sinor

Gemé, tremò, languì...

Oh! come respirò! -

Ogni mio duol sparì, Dal cor, dal mio pensier

Si dileguò il terror...

Bel raggio lusinghier

Di speme, e di piacer

Alfin per me brillò:

La calma a questo cor

Arsace renderà:

Arsace ritornò, Qui a me verrà.

Dolce pensiero

Di quell'istante, A te sorride

L'amante cor.

Come più caro, Dopo il tormento, È il bel momento

Di gioia e amor!

Alluring ray of light,  of endless hope and joy, at last you shine for me! Arsace has returned; he’ll soon be here. This soul, that for so long would sigh and weep in pain, oh! how happy it feels!  All my sorrow is gone;  from my heart and my thoughts the awful fear has fled.  Alluring ray of light, of endless hope and joy,  at last you shine for me! The calm at this cor Arsace will make Arsace has returned;  he’ll see me here.

How sweet to picture  that happy instant  when I can greet you  with loving heart, yes!  How even dearer,  after the torment,  will be the moment  of joy and love.

AMBROISE THOMAS (1811–1896)

Je t’implore, ô mon frère from Hamlet

The story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is probably best known to audiences worldwide through Shakespeare’s version. Opera fans will know that Shakespeare’s plays were a popular source of opera storylines in 19th century Italy and France. French composer Ambroise Thomas’s 1868 version was based on a play by Alexandre Dumas the Elder (author of The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo), who made some changes to Shakespeare’s original—notably Hamlet is crowned king at the end, unlike in

C’est en vain que j’ai cru me soustraire au remord!

Au destin de mon frère, hélas! je porte envie! Il est entré dans l'éternelle vie!

Moi, j'ai livré mon âme à l'éternelle mort!

Je t’implore, ô mon frère!

Si tu m’entends, si tu me vois, Apaise la colère

De celui qui juges les Rois!

Ah! Vains efforts!—Espérance insensée!

Ma voix et mes regards vont au ciel; ma pensé rampe sur la terre! Hélas!

Dieu ne m’écoute pas!

Je t’implore, ô mon frère!

Apaise la colère

ô mon frère, Je t’implore Si tu m’entends, si tu me vois, Apaise la colère

De celui qui juges les Rois!

(1868)

Shakespeare where he dies. In Je t’implore, ô mon frère, King Claudius of Denmark, who has killed his brother the late King Hamlet and married his brother’s widow the Queen Gertrude, kneels in prayer as he feels remorse at what he has done.

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, strings

In vain I thought I was escaping remorse!

Alas, my brother’s fate, I carry too!

He has entered the eternal life!

Me, I delivered my soul to eternal death!

I implore you, O my brother!

If you hear me, if you see me, Soothe the anger

Of Him who judges Kings!

Ah! Vain efforts!—Foolish hope!

My voice and my eyes go to heaven;  my thought crawls on the ground! alas! God does not listen to me! ...

I implore you, O my brother! ...

Soothe the anger

O my brother, I implore you

If you hear me, if you see me, Soothe the anger

Of Him who judges Kings!

ADOLPHE ADAM (1803–1856)

Overture to Si j’étais roi (1852)

French composer Adolphe Adam is probably best known today as the composer of the Christmas carol Minuit, chrétiens! (O Holy Night), but in his time was a prolific composer for the theatre, both opera and ballet, and a professor at the Paris Conservatoire, France’s most prestigious music academy. His opéra comque Si j’etais roi (If I were King) was wildly popular, opening with a dual cast in 1852 to allow performances every night. While historical settings were also popular in the 19th century opera stage, exotic settings in faraway lands were also guaranteed to bring in the crowds—ensuring ‘bums on seats’ was as much a concern then as now. Adam’s Si j’etais roi is set in the Indian Subcontinent (Goa, to be specific), like Delibes’s Lakmé, Massenet’s Le roi de Lahore (The King of Lahore), and Bizet’s Les Pêcheurs de perles (The Pearl Fishers). The overture is welldeveloped and exciting, though listeners would be challenged to find any Indian themes in it.

Instrumentation

flute, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 cornets, 3 trombones, timpani, snare drum, triangle, bass drum, cymbals, glockenspiel, harp, strings

PARASHKEV HADJIEV (1912–1992)

Prayer of Maria Desislava, “Veliki Bozhe, chui moiata molba” (1978)

Bulgarian composer Paraskhev Hadjiev, who composed 21 operas, six operettas, three musicals, a ballet, and more, deserves to be much better known. The son of conductor Todor Hadjiev, an important early champion of Bulgarian opera, he also wrote over 500 choral pieces, over 1,000 children’s and school songs, 20 pop songs, and over 500 arrangements of traditional song and film music. His historical opera Maria Desislava is set in the last decades of the 14th century in Tarnovgrad, Bulgaria, at the borders of the Kingdoms of Tarnovo and Vidin and the castle of Ottoman Sultan Murad I. The title character Maria Desislava, is a Bulgarian princess, a great beauty, daughter of Tsar Ivan Alexander of Bulgaria, promised to Sultan Murad as one of the terms of peace. In great inner turmoil and for the sake of her nation, in Veliki Bozhe, chui moiata molba (Great God, hear my prayer), she prays for guidance.

Instrumentation

2 flutes, oboe, 2 clarinets, bassoon, contrabassoon, 3 horns, triangle, harp, strings

Велики Боже, чуй моята молба!

Загрубвам вече разум и не знам за

помощ кого да моля тук!

Викам те с надеждите си Боже

мой. Смили се Боже, над мойта

участ, аз зная, че добър си и велик

и всичко можеш, Боже мой!

Да можех да заспя, о, да можех да

заспя! За сетен път поне в съня да видя Мирослав! Голямата си мъка

да му кажа, тогаз спокойно бих се простила с този свят!

Велики Боже, чуй моята молба!

Загрубвам вече разум и не знам за помощ кого да моля тук!

Викам те с ваздишките си Боже мой! Смили се Боже над мойта участ! Аз зная, че велик си и добър и всичко можеш, Боже мой!

Great God, hear my prayer! I am losing my mind and I know not whom to ask for help here!

I cry out to You with hope, my God. Have mercy, O God, on my plight, I know that You are good and great, and You can do all things, my God!

If I could sleep, O, if I could sleep! For one last time, even in a dream, to see Miroslav! To tell him my great sorrow, then I could say goodbye to the world calmly!

Great God, hear my prayer! I am losing my mind and I know not whom to ask for help here!

I call on You, my God! Have mercy, O God, on my plight! I know that You are great and good, and you can do all things, my God!

CHARLES GOUNOD (1818–1893)

Air de Soliman “Sou les pieds d’une femme” from The Queen of Sheba (1862)

Gounod’s opera La Reine de Saba (The Queen of Sheba) continues the 19th century trend of exotic Ancient Near East settings, this time starring Balkis the Queen of Sheba and Soliman (the Biblical King Solomon) with a backdrop of various locations in Jerusalem, including the Great Temple of Solomon. Soliman’s aria Sous les pieds d’une femme (Beneath the feet of a woman)

Oui, depuis quatre jours, hommes d’armes, levites, Tout veille, tout est pret! …

La flame est sur l’autel

Et quand I’heure est venue, Au moment solennel, O perfide Balkis!

tu me fuis, tu m’evites!

Tu ris de la credulite

De ce coeur amoureux

par tes charmes dompte!

Sous les pieds d'une femme, Abaissant de son âme

La royale fierté, Soliman, ô folie!

S'incline et s'humilie devant ta volonté!

S'il s'armait cependant de son pouvoir suprême,

S'il se lassait d'attendre et d'espérer en vain,

S'il faisait seulement un signe de la main, S'il s'éveillait!...

Mais non... il rêve encore! Il t'aime!

Aujourd'hui ton esclave, Et ton époux demain!...

occurs when King Soliman is dismayed at Queen Balkis’s reluctance to marry him, despite her earlier promise to do so.

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes (1 doubling cor anglais), 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings

Yes, for four days, men-at-arms, Levites Everything is watching, everything is ready! ... The flame is on the altar And when the time comes, At the solemn moment, O perfidious Balkis!

You run away from me, you avoid me! You laugh at the gullibility of this loving heart tamed by your charms!

At the feet of a woman, Having lowered the royal pride of his soul, Soliman, O folly!

Prostrates himself and bends to your will! But should he arm himself with his supreme power, Should he tire of waiting and hoping in vain, Should he make but a sign with his hand, Should he wake up!

But no, he is dreaming! He loves you!

Today he is your slave, And tomorrow he will be your spouse!

LÉO DELIBES (1836–1891)

Gaillarde from Le roi s’amuse (1882)

While known as a composer of opera, Delibes also supplied incidental music for theatrical productions. One of these was Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse (The King Amuses Himself), which was banned after only one performance and only performed again on the play’s 50th anniversary in 1880. The play provided the source for the plot of Verdi’s 1851 opera Rigoletto. It was for the 1880 revival that Delibes wrote the incidental music, consisting of “six dances

GAETANO DONIZETTI (1797–1848)

in an ancient style” (appropriate for the play was set in the reign of King Louis XII in the early 16th century). Gaillarde, along with the other dances in the suite, is a bold reorchestration and reworking of actual music from the early 1500s.

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings

Recitative and Duet “Oh mio buon Talbot!” from Maria Stuarda (1835)

Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti had something of a fascination with Tudor English history, composing a number of operas set in the period. Maria Stuarda is an Italian reworking of German poet Friedrich Schiller’s play Maria Stuart, and focuses on the tragic figure of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland. Mary was considered by many English Catholics to be the legitimate sovereign of England over the Protestant Elizabeth, and as the latter perceived the former to be a threat, had her placed under house arrest in England. After nearly

MARIA

Oh mio buon Talbot!

TALBOT

lo chiesi grazia ad Elisabetta di vederti pria dell'ora di sangue.

MARIA

Ah! si, conforta, togli quest'alma all'abbandono estremo.

19 years in captivity, Mary fell prey to an entrapment plot by Elizabeth’s circle and consented to Elizabeth’s assassination, with the result that she was beheaded in 1587. In this scene, Mary has just received news of her impending execution, and she sings a duet with her keeper George Talbot, 6th Earl of Shrewsbury.

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 3 trombones, strings

MARIA

Oh faithful Talbot!

TALBOT

I have obtained Elizabeth’s permission to wait with you as your last hour approaches.

MARIA

Ah, yes, come, cheer me, comfort my spirit now in my hour of anguish.

TALBOT

Eppur con fermo aspetto quell'avviso feral da te fu accolto.

MARIA

Ah Talbot! il cor non mi leggesti in volto?

Ei tremava. E Leicester?

TALBOT

Debba venirne spettator del tuo destino; La Regina l'impone.

MARIA

Oh l'infelice!

A qual serbato fia doloroso castigo!

E la tiranna esulterà.

Ne ancora, ancora piomba l'ultrice folgore.

TALBOT

Deh! taci.

MARIA

Tolta alla Scozia, al trono, ed al mio culto, presso colei volli un asil di pace, ed un carcer trovai.

TALBOT

Che favelli?

Non ti concesse Iddio sollievo ai mali?

MARIA

Ah no, Talbot, giammai. Delle mie colpe lo squallido fantasma fra il cielo e me

sempre, sempre si pose, e i sonni agli estinti rompendo, dal sepolcro evoca la sanguigna ombra d'Arrigo.

Talbot, la vedi tu?

Del giovin Rizzio ecco l'esangue spoglia?

TALBOT

And yet with what composure I observed you receive your cruel sentence.

MARIA

Oh Talbot, My heart beats wildly. What of Leicester?

TALBOT

He is to be present at your death. He acts as witness. Her Majesty commands it.

MARIA

Poor wretch, condemned to such a cruel torture! The jealous tyrant may now rejoice, But soon the vengeance of Heaven will strike her down.

TALBOT

Hush!

MARIA

Exiled from Scotland, my kingdom and my religion, here in her country I sought peaceful refuge, But all I found was a prison.

TALBOT

What are you saying? Has not Heaven sent you comfort to ease your burden?

MARIA

Ah, no, Talbot, Heaven rejects me. Nightmares and visions of my past transgressions have kept me from Heaven. Memories, murders, phantoms divide us, they call up the deaf rom their slumbers from the graveyard. They bring me back to the gory spectre of Darnley.

Talbot, do you not see young Rizzio and his broken body?

TALBOT

Ah, riconforta lo smarrito pensier. Già t'avvicini a’secoli immortali.

Al ceppo reca puro il tuo cor

d'ogni terreno affetto.

MARIA

Si, per lavar miei falli misto col sangue scorrerà il mio pianto; Ascolta; io vuò deporli nel Fedele tuo seno.

TALBOT

Parla!

MARIA

Un amico in te ritrovo aimeno!

Quando di luce rosea

Il giorno a me splendea, Quando fra liete immagini

Quest’anima godea, amor

Mi fe’ colpevole, m’apri l’abisso amor.

Al dolce suo sorridere

Odiava il mio consorte:

Arrigo! Arrigo, ahi!

misero, per me soggiacque a morte, ma la sua voce lugubre mi piomba in mezzo al cor, in mezzo al cor. Ah!

Ombra adirata, ah! Placati, nel sen la Morte io sento. Ti bastin le mie

Lagrime ei bastil il mio tormento.

TALBOT

Ah may this troubled soul of yours find release. Soon you will enter the realms of immortality, start on your journey, free from all sin, free from all earthly longings.

MARIA

Yes, I will cleanse my conscience, deep in the fountain of my blood and my tears; Listen; I wish to confess my sins on your faithful bosom.

TALBOT

Speak!

MARIA

I find a friend in you, at least!

While the rosy light of dawn shone on me, when this soul enjoys love, among happy images

Love made me a sinner, Love opened its abyss to me.

Love’s sweet smile

My husband hated. Arrigo! Arrigo, alas!

Poor wretch, through me he came to death, But his mournful voice

Still pierces my heart. Ah!

Dark shadow, be appeared, I feel death within my breast. May my tears satisfy you, May my suffering satisfy you!

TALBOT

Ah da Dio perdono ogn’anima

Implorera perte, perte, ah si, Perte, implorera perte, ogn’anima

Implorera perte, dal Ciel perdono ogn’anima implorera perte, perte.

MARIA

Perdona ai lunghigemiti, E prega il ciel per me, ah, e prega il ciel per me.

TALBOT

Ah! Through God I forgive every soul, I will pray for you. Every soul will beg

heaven’s forgiveness for you. Every soul will beg for you.

MARIA

Forgive my long lament

And pray to heaven for me, Pray to heaven for me.

GIUSEPPE VERDI (1813–1901)

Elle ne m’aime pas from Don Carlos (1866)

Verdi’s opera Don Carlos was based on the figure of Carlos, Prince of Asturias, a minor historical character in Spanish history, and unusually for a Verdi opera, was originally written to be sung in French. Authentic

Elle ne m’aime pas! non! Son coeur m’est fermé, Elle ne m’a jamais aimé!

Je la revois encore, regardant en silence mes cheveux blancs, le jour qu’elle arriva de France.

Elle ne m’aime pas!

Où suis-je?

Ces flambeaux sont consumes!

L’aurore argente ces vitraux Voici le jour!

Hélas le sommeil salutaire, Le doux sommeil a fui pour jamais ma paupière!

Je dormirais dans mon manteau royal, Quand sonnera pour moi l’heure derniére, Je dormirai sous les voûtes de pierre Des caveaux de l’Escurial!

versions exist in both French and Italian, as well as multiple revisions and versions, all by Verdi himself. In Elle ne m’aime pas, the aged King Philip II of Spain realises his wife has never and will never love him, and that he will only be at peace when he dies.

Instrumentation

flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, strings

She never loved me! No, her heart is closed to me, she feels no love for me!

I can still see her, sad-faced, gazing at my white hair the day she came from France. No, she does not love me!

Where am I?

Those candelabras are almost spent! Dawn silvers these glass windows, day is already breaking! Alas the healing sleep, Sweet sleep has fled my eyelids forever.

Ah! Si la Royauté nos donnait le pouvoir De lire au fond des cœurs où Dieu seul peut tout voir!

Si le Roi dort, dans l’ombre on trame Mille complots mystériux. Et si l’époux ferme un instant les yeux, C’en est fait de l’honneur de sa femme!

Elle ne m’aime pas! non! Son coeur m’est fermé, Elle ne m’a jamais aimé!

I shall sleep alone in my royal mantle When the last hour strikes for me, I shall sleep beneath the stone vaults, From the crypts of the Escorial.

If the royal crown could but give us the power to read human hearts which God alone can see!

If the King sleeps, in the shadows we weave a thousand mysterious plots. If the bridegroom closes his eyes a moment, the honour of his wife is gone.

She never loved me!

No, her heart is closed to me, she feels no love for me!

GAETANO DONIZETTI

Cavatine and Aria, “Come innocente giovane – Non v’ha sguardo” from Anna Bolena (1830)

Another in Donizetti’s series of Tudor operas, Anna Bolena tells the tale of the last days of Anne Boleyn, second wife of King Henry VIII of England. In this early scene, Anne Boleyn already knows that Henry’s heart has begun to turn from her. She calls Jane Seymour, one of her ladies-in-waiting, and admits that she is troubled. Unknown to her, ironically it is Jane Seymour who is Henry’s new interest.

ANNA

Come, innocente giovane, Come m'hai scosso il core!

Son calde ancor le ceneri

Del mio primiero amore!

Ah! non avessi il petto

Aperto ad altro affetto

Io non sarei sì misera, nel vano mio splendor.

Ma poche omai rimangono

Ore di notte, io credo.

Signori, io vi congedo.

È vana speme attendere. Che omai più giunga il Re.

Andiarn. Seymour.

Legger potessi in me!

Non v’ha sguardo cui sia dato

Penetrar nel mesto core:

Mi condanna crudo fato

solitaria, a sospirar.

Ah! se mai di regio soglio

Ti seduce lo splendore, Ti rammenta il mio cordoglio, non lasciarti lusingar.

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, strings

ANNA

How that innocent boy, how he has shaken my heart! The ashes of my first love are still warm! Ah! if my heart was not open to another attachment, I would not be so unhappy in this vain splendour of mine.

But little remains of the night now I believe.

Sirs, I give you your leave. It is vain to wait in hope any more that the King will come now. Let us go, Seymour. That you could but read into me!

It is given to none to penetrate the heart's sorrow with a glance; A cruel fate has condemned me to sigh in loneliness. May the splendour of a royal throne never seduce you! If you remember well my grief, you shall not be deceived!

ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

(1840–1893)

Gavotte from Orchestral Suite No. 1, Op. 43 (1879)

Everyone knows love on earth from Eugene Onegin (1878)

Russian composer Tchaikovsky is best known as a composer of concerti, symphonies, and ballets, and the Gavotte from his Orchestral Suite No. 1 in D minor is a perfect example of his lighter music. Tchaikovsky wrote this in a neo-Baroque idiom, with lighter orchestration but always showing his mastery of the colours possible with innovative combinations of instruments.

Tchaikovsky wrote some ten operas that are only just beginning to see regular performances outside of the Slavic lands. One of his best-loved operas is Eugene Onegin, the tale of a selfish anti-hero who ruins his life with bad decisions. Early in the opera, Onegin callously rejects the love of Tatiana. In Act III, Onegin encounters Tatiana again, now the wife of Prince Gremin, and emotions are roused in both. Gremin, unaware of their prior history, tells Onegin of his great love for Tatiana.

Instrumentation (Gavotte)

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, timpani, strings

Instrumentation (Everyone knows love on earth)

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, strings

Любви все возрасты покорны: Ее порывы благотворны

И юноше в расцвете лет, Едва увидевшему свет, И закаленному судьбой

Бойцу с седою головой.

Онегин, я скрывать не стану: Безумно я люблю Татьяну!

Тоскливо жизнь моя текла... Она явилась и дала, Как солнца луч среди ненастья, Мне жизнь и молодость, Да, молодость и счастье.

Среди лукавых, малодушных, Шальных, балованных детей, Злодеев и смешных и скучных, Тупых, привязчивых судей; Среди кокеток богомольных, Среди холопьев добровольных, Среди вседневных модных сцен, Учтивых, ласковых измен; Среди холодных приговоров

Жестокосердной суеты, Среди досадной пустоты

Расчетов, дум и разговоров, — Она блистает, как звезда во мраке

ночи, В небе чистом,

И мне является всегда

В сиянье ангела, В сиянье ангела лучистом!..

Любви все возрасты покорны: Ее порывы благотворны И юноше в расцвете лет, Едва увидевшему свет, И закаленному судьбой Бойцу с седою головой.

Онегин, я скрывать не стану: Безумно я люблю Татьяну!

Тоскливо жизнь моя текла...

Она явилась и дала, Как солнца луч среди ненастья, И жизнь и молодость, Да, молодость и счастье.

И жизнь, и молодость, и счастье!

Love is no respecter of age, its transports bless alike those in the bloom of youth yet unacquainted with the world and the grey-headed warrior tempered by experience!

Onegin, I shan't disguise the fact that I love Tatyana to distraction! My life was slipping drearily away; she appeared and brightened it like a ray of sunlight in a stormy sky, and brought me life and youth, yes, youth and happiness!

Among these sly, mean-spirited, foolish, pampered children, these scoundrels both absurd and boring, dull, fractious arbiters, among the pious coquettes and sycophantic slaves, amid affable, modish hypocrisy courteous, affectionate infidelities, amid the icy censure of cruel-hearted vanity, amid the vexing vacuity of calculation, thought and conversation, — she shines like a star in the night's darkest hour, in a pure, clear sky, and to me she always appears in the radiant, radiant nimbus of an angel!

Love is no respecter of age, its transports bless alike those in the bloom of youth yet unacquainted with the world and the grey-headed warrior tempered by experience!

Onegin, I shan't disguise the fact that I love Tatyana to distraction! My life was slipping drearily away; she appeared and brightened it like a ray of sunlight in a stormy sky, and brought me life and youth, yes, youth and happiness!

VINCENZO BELLINI (1801–1835)

Overture from Norma (1831)

“Casta Diva” from Norma

We end the evening with a visit to Gaul, under Roman occupation (c. 100—50 B.C.), where Bellini set his opera Norma. First produced in La Scala in Milan in 1836, Norma tells the tale of a love triangle between Pollione the Roman proconsul of Gaul, Norma the high priestess of the Druid temple, and the young priestess Adalgisa, set against the background of the uprising of the Gauls against the Roman occupation. As high priestess of the Druids, Norma is vowed to chastity, but has secretly broken her vows and borne two children to her lover Pollione. She discovers that he is now in love with Adalgisa, her young priestess friend.

It is in this first scene, after being informed by Pollione that he now loves Adalgisa, that Norma, with mistletoe in hand, approaches the altar in the sacred grove, praying to the moon goddess that the peace in the heavens may spread upon earth, and that her love Pollione may come back to her.

Instrumentation (Overture)

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, harp, strings

Instrumentation (Casta Diva)

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, strings

Programme notes by Edward C. Yong

Casta Diva, che inargenti queste sacre antiche piante, a noi volgi il bel sembiante senza nube e senza vel.

Tempra, o Diva, tempra tu de’ cori ardenti tempra ancora lo zelo audace, spargi in terra quella pace che regnar tu fai nel ciel.

Fine al rito e il sacro bosco

sia disgombro dai profani. Quando il Nume irato e fosco, chiegga il sangue dei Romani.

Dal Druidico delubro

La mia voce tuonerà. Cadrà; punirlo io posso. Ma, punirlo, il cor non sa.

Ah! bello a me ritorna

Del fido amor primiero; E contro il mondo intiero difesa a te sarò.

Ah! bello a me ritorna

Del raggio tuo sereno, e vita nel tuo seno, e patria e cielo avrò.

Ah, riedi ancora qual eri allora, quando il cor ti diedi allora, ah, riedi a me.

Chaste Goddess, covering with silver these sacred ancient plants, turn towards us your fair face cloudless and unveiled.

Temper, O Goddess, you temper the ardent hearts furthermore temper the bold zeal, spread on earth the same peace that makes you make reign in heaven.

Complete the rite and the sacred forest should be cleansed of the profane when the Spirit dark and angry, will ask for the blood of the Romans. From the Druidic temple my voice will thunder. He will fall; I can punish him. But my heart knows not how to punish.

Ah! Come back to me, beautiful, to your loyal first love; and against the whole world I shall protect you.

Ah! Come back to me beautiful along with your serene radiance and life in your womb, and I shall have homeland and sky. Ah, come back again as you were then, then when I gave you my heart, Ah, come back to me.

BY THE BEAUTIFUL BLUE DANUBE OUT OF AFRICA, CINEMA PARADISO

19 May 2023, Fri Victoria Concert Hall

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Rodolfo Barráez Associate Conductor

Kevin Loh guitar1

Zhao Tian violin2

BERNSTEIN RODRIGO BARRY

Three Dance Episodes from On The Town

Fantasia para un gentilhombre1

Intermission

Theme from Out of Africa (arr. Raine)

Cinema Paradiso2 (arr. Morley)

Thème de Camille from Le Mépris

The Blue Danube Waltz

Sospiri, Op. 70 SSO Premiere

Danzon No. 2

Champagne Galop

Concert Duration: approximately 1 hr 45 mins (with 20 mins intermission)

LEONARD BERNSTEIN (1918–1990)

Three Dance Episodes from On The Town (1945)

Jewish-American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein was the first American conductor to achieve international acclaim, receiving many honours and awards. As a composer he wrote in most major genres, but had a special love for theatre music: his music for West Side Story is as frequently performed in classical concerts as it is in musical theatre contexts. In 1944, Bernstein wrote music for the ballet Fancy-Free. It was such a hit that it was thought it would make for a profitable Broadway musical, and thus On The Town was born in the same year. Three Dance Episodes from On The Town pays homage to the dance origins of the musical, beginning with The Dance of the Great Lover, with its brash and bold textures, clearly influenced by bigband jazz. Here, Gabey, a romantic sailor falls asleep on the subway and dreams of sweeping Miss Turnstiles off her feet. The second episode Pas de deux has Gabey watching as an innocent schoolgirl is lured and subsequently cast off by a sailor in Central Park. Times Square Ballet is an unabashedly showy sequence in which all the sailors congregate in Times Square for a night on the town. Bernstein’s work was a world away from that of his contemporaries in Europe, reminding us that he did, after all, belong to the New World.

Instrumentation

flute, piccolo, oboe, cor anglais, 3 clarinets (1 doubling on E-flat clarinet and 1 doubling on bass clarinet), alto saxophone, 2 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani, snare drum, bass drum, drum set, suspended cymbal, triangle, wood blocks, xylophone, piano, strings

World Premiere

3 Feb 1946, San Francisco

First performed by SSO 12 Jul 1996

JOAQUÍN RODRIGO (1901–1999)

Fantasia para un gentilhombre (1954)

I II III IV

Villano y Ricercare

Españoleta y fanfarria de la caballeria de Nápoles

Danza de las hachas

Canario

Once in a while, the title of a piece sheds interesting light not only on the work itself but also on the instrument and intended player, and Rodrigo’s Fantasia para un gentilhombre (Fantasia for a Gentleman) is one of them. Who is the gentleman in question?

Rodrigo’s work was composed in 1954 at the request of Spanish guitarist Andrés Segovia. Segovia tirelessly commissioned new works, arranged existing works originally for other instruments into versions for guitar, revolutionised classical guitar technique (in ways still controversial today), taught an entire generation of guitarists, and was a major driving force in the early 20th century for the Spanish guitar to be recognised beyond the chamber and parlour as a respectable classical instrument.

For his inspiration, Rodrigo used music from an earlier golden age of the guitar—that of the Baroque guitar in the 1600s. In essence, the Fantasia is a four-movement concerto built on six pieces for solo Baroque guitar, taken from a 1674 publication Instrucción de la música sobre la guitarra Española

(Instruction in Music on the Spanish Guitar) Rodrigo lovingly reworked and expanded these intimate solo pieces in ways that may be compared with Respighi’s Antiche arie e danze (Ancient Airs and Dances) which similarly revives music from the 1500s and 1600s.

The first movement Villano y Ricercare comes in two parts. The first is based on the Villano (meaning “peasant”), a rustic dance based on the harmonic pattern I-IV-I-V-I, and is still played in Spanish folk music. The second is the Ricercare (meaning “searching”), the Renaissance equivalent of a fantasia, and is based on a two-bar phrase repeated to create rather more cerebral polyphonic piece. The next movement Españoleta y fanfarria de la caballeria de Nápoles again uses two pieces. The first Españoleta (a Spanish dance) takes a haunting melancholy melody and weaves a languid slow movement evocative of a warm summer afternoon in a Spanish town. A brief contrasting section Fanfarria de la caballeria de Nápoles (Fanfare of the Cavalry of Naples) brings in the rather more military combination of trumpet, flute and drum (premodern armies marched to the sound of flute and drum) from Naples, then a territory of the Spanish crown. The distinctly modern harmonies remind us that Spanish Baroque guitar music used dissonance in surprising ways reminiscent of modern jazz, before returning us to the opening theme to close.

The brief but energetic third movement

Danza de las hachas (Dance of the Axes) rouses us from the prior gentleness and prepares us with strong rhythmic call-andanswer motifs between guitar and orchestra before the finale. The final movement

Canario is based on the famous Canarios (a dance from the Canary Islands) by Sanz, but takes us through decidedly modern territory while never losing sight of the original catchy melody. Extensive rasgueado (strumming) work occurs in this movement, paying tribute to the guitar’s roots in strongly rhythmic strummed music, making for highly memorable moments. Given that Segovia intensely disliked the lowly strummed origins of the guitar (as well as his own origins), seeking to elevate the instrument, it is surprising Rodrigo chose to write thus.

Segovia premiered the work in 1958 in San Francisco with the San Francisco Symphony. Three decades later, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, in recognition of Segovia’s contributions to music and the arts, ennobled him in 1981 with the hereditary title of Marquis of Salobreña—Segovia had truly become a gentilhombre!

JOHN BARRY (1933–2011) Theme from Out of Africa (1985, arr. Nic Raine)

The 1985 romantic epic drama Out of Africa depicted episodes from Danish writer Karen Blixen’s life, experiences, and romance in 1910s Africa, set against the lush backdrop of British East Africa (now Kenya) and the approach of World War I. The soundtrack was composed by veteran English composer John Barry, who was responsible for no fewer than eleven Bond film soundtracks, and won Barry an Oscar for Best Original Score in 1985. The Main Theme begins slowly, like a gentle sunrise over the savannah, before soaring and building up to a stirring intensity and ending gently.

Instrumentation

guitar, 2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), oboe, bassoon, trumpet, strings

World Premiere

5 Mar 1958, San Francisco

First performed by SSO

12 Oct 1990 (Kiyoshi Shomura, guitar)

Instrumentation

2 flutes, oboe, cor anglais, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam, bass drum, vibraphone, harp, piano, strings

World Premiere 1985

First performed by SSO

29 Apr 2023

ENNIO MORRICONE (1928–2020)

Cinema Paradiso (1988, arr. Angela Morley)

The Italian composer Ennio Morricone was one of the most prolific and greatest film composers of our time. Cinema Paradiso is an Italian coming-of-age film set in a small Sicilian village after World War II, and the score itself, a collaboration between Morricone and his son Andrea, is one of his best, symbolic of the film as a whole— rich, sprawling, emotive, and timeless. No surprise that it won the 1991 BAFTA Film Award for Best Original Film Score and the 1989 David di Donatello Award for Best Music.

GEORGES DELERUE (1925–1992)

Thème de Camille from Le Mépris (1963)

French composer Georges Delerue, nicknamed “The Mozart of the Cinema” by Le Figaro, provided the soundtrack for the 1963 film Le Mépris (Contempt), and the Thème de Camille occurs when Brigitte Bardot appears. Delerue’s music for the film is arresting and haunting, and Thème de Camille is both these things. It saw fame again as the main theme for the 1995 film Casino

Instrumentation

2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trombones, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, harp, celesta, strings

World Premiere 1988

First performed by SSO 20 Apr 2013

Instrumentation

flute, cor anglais, clarinet, bassoon, 3 horns, harp, strings

World Premiere 1963

First performed by SSO 29 Apr 2023

JOHANN STRAUSS II (1825–1899)

The Blue Danube Waltz (1866)

The names of Johann Strauss Sr and Jr are inextricably entwined with the Viennese Waltz, and Strauss Jr’s An der schönen blauen Donau (By the Beautiful Blue Danube) is perhaps the best-known of the genre. Johann Strauss Sr (1804–1849) had been responsible for the popularity of the waltz as a dance form, not only in the Austrian Empire, but across Europe by bringing his orchestra on tour to Germany, the Netherlands, and Britain. Surprisingly, when Strauss Sr found his son Johann Strauss Jr (1825–1899) secretly playing the violin, he whipped the lad severely. Strauss Sr had intended for his son to be a banker, not out of any fear of competition, but with the knowledge of how difficult a musician’s life could be. At any rate, Strauss Sr abandoned the family for a mistress, allowing Strauss Jr to pursue music with the full support of his mother, and eventually Strauss Jr became Northern Europe’s premier composer of light dance music.

An der schönen blauen Donau was originally written in 1866 for men’s chorus and orchestra, with Strauss making a purely orchestral adaptation for the 1867 Paris World’s Fair. It is this orchestra version that is most popularly performed today. The piece begins with a shimmering extended introduction before the iconic waltz melody appears. Those familiar with the English waltz, a slow dance, may be surprised at the quickness of the melody, but the Viennese waltz (the original) is generally twice as fast. Just as the Viennese waltz is a rotary dance where dancers constantly spin, Strauss passes the theme from section to section in turn as the music sways along. The waltz theme is developed in sequence, closely

gliding through multiple keys. The spinning nature of the dance requires the dancers’ lower bodies to be close together, leading to great disapproval from religious authorities who denounced it as deeply immoral, unintentionally cementing its popularity with the youth! The original theme returns near the end, underlined with additional brass and percussion, followed by a brief thinner textured respite before a bubbly rush to the ending.

The Viennese character of this waltz has made it an unofficial second national anthem of Austria, among other contemporary uses. Most famously it has even made it to space in Stanley Kubrick’s sci-fi classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Instrumentation

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, bass trombone, tuba, timpani, bass drum, cymbals, snare drum, triangle, harp, strings

World Premiere

15 Feb 1867, Vienna

First performed by SSO

30 Dec 1981

EDWARD ELGAR (1857–1934)

Sospiri, Op. 70 (1914) SSO Premiere

In 1914, right before the outbreak of World War I, English composer Edward Elgar thought to write a companion piece to his earlier Salut d’Amour (“greeting of love” or love letter) of 1888. This was to have been a light-hearted violin and piano work entitled Soupir d’Amour (“Sigh of Love”), but along the way Elgar realised a far more intense work was being created, and the result was Sospiri (“sighs”). Originally scored for string orchestra, harp, and organ (or harmonium), the work is a pensive, highly atmospheric, and deeply affecting elegy. Despite predating the world wars, Sospiri is often played at Remembrance Day concerts and similar occasions.

ARTURO MÁRQUEZ (b. 1950)

Danzon No. 2 (1994)

Mexican composer Arturo Márquez has tended to incorporate musical influences from his native country into his work, and Danzón No. 2 is a prime example. The danzón is an elaborate ballroom dance form that originated in Cuba but is a deep part of the culture of the Mexican state of Veracruz, and Danzón No. 2 was inspired by a visit to a ballroom in Veracruz. Featuring solos for various instruments, the music is unmistakably Hispanic in nature, with distinctly Central American rhythms. Constantly varying tempi, idiosyncratic accentuation, and sensual swaying melodies engage the listener in this symphonic treatment of an intricate ballroom dance.

Instrumentation

harp, strings

World Premiere

15 Aug 1914, London

Instrumentation

2 flutes (1 doubling on piccolo), 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, timpani, bass drum, suspended cymbal, snare drum, güiro, claves, tom-toms, piano strings

World Premiere 1994

First performed by SSO

19 Jan 2002

HANS CHRISTIAN LUMBYE (1810–1874)

Champagne Galop (1845)

Danish composer Hans Christian Lumbye was best-known as a composer of waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, galops, and other similar dance music. After hearing a Viennese orchestra play the music of Johann Strauss Sr in 1839, he began composing in the style of Strauss, earning him the nickname “The Strauss of the North”. He served as music director and in-house composer for the Tivoli Gardens, an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen. His Champagne Galop was written in 1845 to celebrate the second anniversary of the Tivoli Gardens, and is often compared with Johann Strauss Jr’s Champagne Polka of 1858. The work begins with an impatient build-up before a cork pops off, and then glasses are filled, champagne drunk, and general conviviality ensues. Lumbye notably included the xylophone in his orchestra and gave it a prominent part in the work, in a time before the instrument became a standard member of the symphony orchestra.

Programme notes by Edward C. Yong

Instrumentation

flute, piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, cork popping, snare drum, cymbals, bass drum, glockenspiel, xylophone, strings

World Premiere

22 Aug 1845, Copenhagen

First performed by SSO

16 Jul 2019

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.

PATRON SPONSOR

Tote Board Group (Tote Board, Singapore Pools & Singapore Turf Club)

MAESTRO CIRCLE

Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin

Stephen Riady Group of Foundations

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CONCERTMASTER CIRCLE

Yong Hon Kong Foundation

SYMPHONY CIRCLE

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OVERTURE PATRONS

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Songs

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Anonymous (41)

This list reflects donations that were made from 1 Apr 2022 to 31 Mar 2023. 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.

With You, WE CAN BUILD 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.

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 .

CORPORATE PATRONAGE

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.

HEARTFELT THANKS TO OUR CORPORATE PATRONS

Temasek Foundation

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IN-KIND SPONSORS

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Your support makes it possible for us to host world-renowned artists, including the Singapore debut of piano legend Martha Argerich in 2018.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS & COMMITTEES

CHAIR

Goh Yew Lin

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

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Yee Chen Fah

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NOMINATING AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Goh Yew Lin (Chair)

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Geoffrey Wong

Yong Ying-I

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Yong Ying-I (Chair)

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Heinrich Grafe

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Geoffrey Wong (Chair)

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SNYO COMMITTEE

Liew Wei Li (Chair)

Prof Qin Li-Wei

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Mario Choo

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Alan Chan (Chair)

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Wee Ee Cheong

SINGAPORE SYMPHONY GROUP ADMINISTRATION

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Kenneth Kwok

CEO OFFICE

Shirin Foo

Musriah Bte Md Salleh

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Hans Sørensen (Head)

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Teo Chew Yen

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OPERATIONS

Ernest Khoo (Head)

Library

Lim Lip Hua

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Chia Jit Min (Head)

Peck Xin Hui

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Noraihan Bte Nordin

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Asyiq Iqmal

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Jan Soh

COMMUNITY IMPACT

Kok Tse Wei (Head)

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Kua Li Leng (Head)

Erin Tan

Whitney Tan

Samantha Lim

Terrence Wong

Choral Programmes

Kua Li Leng (Head)

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Tang Ya Yun

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ABRSM

Patricia Yee

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PATRONS

Development

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Organisation Development

Lillian Yin

SSO CONDUCTING WORKSHOP

6 & 7 July 2023

Victoria Concert Hall

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

2019 Workshop featuring Seow Yibin and Joshua Tan

Scan to find out more

The mission of the Singapore Symphony Group is to create memorable shared experiences with music. Through the SSO and its affiliated per forming groups, we spread the love for music, nur ture talent and enrich our diver se communities. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra is a charity and not-for-profit organisation. You can suppor t us by donating at www.sso.org.sg/donate.

Stephen Riady Group of Foundations