SSO Gala: Charles Dutoit • Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

SSO GALA

Charles Dutoit • Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini 16 FEB 2017 THU | esplanade concert hall Performing home of the SSO

LAN SHUI Music Director

16 Feb 2017 | THU

SSO Gala: Charles Dutoit • Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini Singapore Symphony Orchestra Charles Dutoit, conductor

IGOR STRAVINSKY Funeral Song (Southeast Asian Premiere) 12’00 SERGEI RACHMANINOV Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 22’00 Lukas Geniušas, piano Intermission 20’00 Lukas Geniušas will sign autographs in the stalls foyer.

IGOR STRAVINSKY The Firebird: Complete Ballet 45’00

Concert duration: 1 hr 55 mins All timings indicated are approximate.

Planning a night out at the SSO? You can now read our programme notes on www.sso.org.sg three days before a concert.

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.

The SSO makes its performing home at the 1,800-seat state-of-the-art Esplanade Concert Hall. More intimate works and all outreach and community performances take place at the 673-seat Victoria Concert Hall, the home of the SSO. The orchestra performs 100 concerts a year, and its versatile repertoire spans all-time favourites and orchestral masterpieces to exciting cutting-edge premieres. Bridging the musical traditions of East and West, Singaporean and Asian musicians and composers are regularly showcased in the concert season. This has been a core of the SSO's programming philosophy from the very beginning under Choo Hoey, who was Music Director from 1979 to 1996.

Since Lan Shui assumed the position of Music Director in 1997, 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 return to the Berlin Philharmonie after six years. In 2014 the SSO’s debut at the 120th BBC Proms in London received critical acclaim in the major UK newspapers The Guardian and Telegraph. The SSO has also performed in China on multiple occasions.

Notable SSO releases under BIS include a Rachmaninov series, a Debussy disc, Seascapes featuring sea-themed music by Debussy, Frank Bridge, Glazunov and Zhou Long, and the first-ever cycle of Tcherepnin’s piano concertos and symphonies. The SSO has also collaborated with such great artists as Lorin Maazel, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Neeme Järvi, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, Leonidas Kavakos and Gil Shaham.

“A fine display of orchestral bravado for the SSO and Shui” The Guardian

Charles Dutoit

conductor

Captivating audiences throughout the world, Charles Dutoit is one of today’s most sought after conductors, having performed with all the major orchestras on most stages of the five continents.

Presently Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, he recently celebrated his 30-year artistic collaboration with the Philadelphia Orchestra, who in turn, bestowed upon him the title of Conductor Laureate. He collaborates every season with the orchestras of Chicago, Boston, San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles and is also a regular guest on the stages in London, Berlin, Paris, Munich, Moscow, Sydney, Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai, amongst others.

His more than 200 recordings for Decca, Deutsche Grammophone, EMI, Philips and Erato have garnered multiple awards and distinctions including two Grammys.

For 25 years, Dutoit was Artistic Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, a dynamic musical team recognised the world over. From 1991 to 2001, he was Music Director of the Orchestre National de France and in 1996, was appointed Principal Conductor and soon thereafter, Music Director of the NHK Symphony Orchestra (Tokyo). He is today Music Director Emeritus of this Orchestra. He was for 10 years Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s season at the Mann Music Center and for 21 years, at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

Charles Dutoit’s interest in the younger generation has always held an important place in his career and he has successively been Music Director of the Sapporo Pacific Music Festival and Miyazaki International Music Festival in Japan as well as the Canton International Summer Music Academy in Guangzhou. In 2009, he became Music Director of the Verbier Festival Orchestra.

When still in his early 20’s, Dutoit was invited by Von Karajan to conduct the Vienna State Opera. He has since conducted at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Rome Opera and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires.

In 1991, he was made Honorary Citizen of the City of Philadelphia, in 1995, Grand Officier de l'Ordre national du Québec, in 1996, Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the government of France and in 1998, he was invested as Honorary Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2007, he received the Gold Medal of the city of Lausanne, his birthplace and in 2014, he was given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Classical Music Awards.

He holds Honorary Doctorates from the Universities of McGill, Montreal, Laval and the Curtis School of Music.

A globetrotter motivated by his passion for history and archaeology, political science, art and architecture, he has travelled to all 196 nations of the world.

Lukas Geniušas

piano

Born in Moscow in 1990, Lukas Geniušas started piano studies at the age of 5 at the preparatory department of F. Chopin Music College in Moscow, going on to graduate with top honours in 2008.

Geniušas was born into a family of musicians which played a major role in his swift musical development, in particular the mentorship of his grandmother, Vera Gornostaeva, a prominent teacher and professor at the Moscow Conservatory.

This early development helped Geniušas become the laureate of several major competitions including the Gina Bachauer Piano Competition in Utah and the Silver Medal at the Chopin International Piano Competition in 2010. Two years later he received the German Piano Award in Frankfurt am Main. His most recent victory, and one of the most important, is the Silver Medal at the XV Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2015.

Geniušas has appeared with numerous orchestras including the Hamburg Symphony, Duisburg Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony, St Petersburg Philharmonic, Kremerata Baltica, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic, and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, under the batons of conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Mikhail Pletnev, Andrey Boreyko, Saulius Sondeckis, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Antoni Wit, Rafael Payare, Roman Kofman, and Dmitry Liss, to name a few. His international career has taken him to prestigious venues and festivals throughout the world, including the Rheingau, Ruhr and Lockenhaus Music Festivals, Piano aux Jacobins, the Auditorium du Louvre and Wigmore Hall, as well as to major concert halls in Russia and South America.

Highlights of the 2015/16 season have included triumphant recitals at the Salle Gaveau in Paris and London International Piano Series, with the NHK Symphony Orchestra and Tugan Sokhiev as well as with Mikhail Pletnev and the Russian National Orchestra. He recently performed at the La Roque d’Anthéron International Piano Festival and made his debut at the Verbier Festival with solo and chamber recitals.

In the 2016/17 season he returns to the Sala Verdi in Milan, Mariinsky-3 and the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, and performs debut recitals at the Montreal Pro Musica Series and Washington Phillips Collection. Important forthcoming engagements also include performances with Charles Dutoit and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, with the Japan Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexander Lazarev in Yokohama, as well as with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.

Geniušas’ musical interests are extensive and he explores a wide range of repertoire, from the Baroque to works by contemporary composers. His repertoire spans from Beethoven Piano Concerti through to Hindemith’s ‘Ludus Tonalis’ Cycle, as well as a strong interest in Russian repertoire such as Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. Geniušas is an avid chamber musician. He is an extremely inquisitive performer and enjoys working on new works by modern composers, as well as resurrecting rarely performed repertoire.

These aspects of his career are reflected in his critically acclaimed discography, which includes his most recent recordings of the complete Rachmaninov Preludes (Piano Classics), ‘The Emancipation of Dissonance’ (works by Desyatnikov, Arzumanov and Ryuabov) and a CD of works for violin and piano with Aylen Pritchin (Melodiya) as well as earlier recordings of Chopin Etudes Op. 10 and 25, and Brahms and Beethoven sonatas.

At the age of 15, he was awarded a “Young Talents” federal grant from the Russian Federation and two years later received the “Gifted Youth of the 21st Century” award. Geniušas has since garnered much praise and many awards in recognition of his talent, as well as in his native Lithuania, where he gives concerts regularly and is recognised as an outstanding performer. Since 2015, Geniušas has been a featured artist of “Looking At The Stars”, a philanthropy project based in Toronto, whose purpose is to bring classical music to institutions and organisations (prisons, hospitals and shelters) where people may not have an opportunity to experience it live in a traditional setting.

SSO Musicians Lan Shui

Jason Lai

Joshua Tan

Choo Hoey

Okko Kamu

Lim Yau

MUSIC DIRECTOR

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR

CONDUCTOR EMERITUS

PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR

Choral Director

FIRST VIOLIN

concertmaster Igor Yuzefovich°

CO-CONCERTMASTER Lynnette Seah

ASSOCIATE CONCERTMASTER

Ho Ying Ying^ Marietta Ku Lim Chun^ Luo Biao Shui Bing Tan Wee-Hsin Tong Yi Ping Janice Tsai^ Yang Shi Li

OBOE

PRINCIPAL

Chan Yoong-Han Cao Can* Chen Da Wei Duan Yu Ling Foo Say Ming Gu Wen Li Jin Li Cindy Lee Lim Shue Churn^ Sui Jing Jing Karen Tan William Tan Wei Zhe

CELLO

PRINCIPAL Ng Pei-Sian

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Carolyn Hollier Elaine Yeo

Qing Li^

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Michael Loh

FIXED CHAIR Hai-Won Kwok Nikolai Koval* Lee Shi Mei^ Priscilla Neo Chikako Sasaki* Margit Saur Shao Tao Tao Lillian Wang Wu Man Yun* Xu Jue Yi* Ye Lin* Yeo Teow Meng Yin Shu Zhan* Zhang Si Jing*

VIOLA

PRINCIPAL Zhang Manchin

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Guan Qi

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Elaine Yeo

FIXED CHAIR

Ma Yue

SECOND VIOLIN PRINCIPAL

COR ANGLAIS

CLARINET

Chan Wei Shing Song Woon Teng Wang Yan Wang Zihao* Peter Wilson Wu Dai Dai Zhao Yu Er

DOUBLE BASS PRINCIPAL

Guennadi Mouzyka

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Yang Zheng Yi

FIXED CHAIR Karen Yeo Olga Alexandrova Julian Li^ Ma Li Ming Jacek Mirucki Wang Xu

FLUTE

PRINCIPAL Jin Ta

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Evgueni Brokmiller Roberto Alvarez Miao Shanshan

PICCOLO

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Roberto Alvarez

FIXED CHAIR

Lertkiat Chongjirajitra^ Sergey Tyuteykin

Pan Yun

Yu Jing

Guo Hao

David Smith

Rachel Walker

Kong Zhao Hui*

FIXED CHAIR

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Li Xin

TROMBONE PRINCIPAL Allen Meek

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Damian Patti Samuel Armstrong

BASS TROMBONE

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Wang Wei

TUBA

Liu Yoko Tang Xiao Ping

PRINCIPAL

BASS CLARINET

TIMPANI

Tang Xiao Ping

Christian Schiøler

BASSOON

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL

Zhang Jin Min

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Liu Chang Christoph Wichert Zhao Ying Xue

CONTRA BASSOON ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Zhao Ying Xue

HORN

PRINCIPAL Han Chang Chou

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Gao Jian Jamie Hersch Marc-Antoine Robillard Kartik Alan Jairamin

TRUMPET PRINCIPAL

Jon Paul Dante

Hidehiro Fujita

PRINCIPAL

Jonathan Fox

PERCUSSION PRINCIPAL

Jonathan Fox

ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Mark Suter Mark De Souza Lim Meng Keh Zhu Zheng Yi

HARP

PRINCIPAL Gulnara Mashurova Huang Yu Hsin^ Charmaine Teo^

PIANO

PRINCIPAL Shane Thio^

CELESTE Aya Sakou^

Gu Bing Jie*

* With deep appreciation to the Rin Collection for their generous loan of string instruments. ° Igor Yuzefovich plays an instrument generously loaned by Mr & Mrs G K Goh ^ Musician on temporary contract

Musicians listed alphabetically by family name rotate their seats on a per programme basis.

Musicians’ Chair

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra thanks the following organisations for supporting our Musicians’ Chair Programme. The programme supports artistic excellence initiatives in the orchestra’s annual operations.

Principal Cello

Ng Pei-Sian

PrincipAL Double Bass

FIXED CHAIR, Cello

Guennadi Mouzyka

Guo Hao

CORPORATE SEATS

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra appreciates the support of companies in our Corporate Seats scheme. The scheme supports the Orchestra through regular attendance of subscription concerts. $20,000 and above Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore (Pte) Ltd Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Singapore $10,000 and above Hong Leong Foundation Stephen Riady Group of Foundations Nomura Asset Management Singapore Ltd Prima Limited

1979 FUND

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra gratefully acknowledges the following corporations and individuals for their contributions towards the 1979 Fund. The 1979 Fund is a campaign for contribution to the SSO Endowment Fund.

Allen & Gledhill LLP Stephen Riady Group of Foundations United Overseas Bank Limited Mrs Odile Benjamin Ms Cham Gee Len Prof Cham Tao Soon Mr Chng Hak-Peng Mr Chng Kai Jin Mr Goh Yew Lin Mr Khoo Boon Hui Prof Tommy Koh Ms Liew Wei Li Prof Arnoud De Meyer Mr S R Nathan Mr Andreas Sohmen-Pao Dr Tan Chin Nam Ms Tan Choo Leng Mr Wong Nang Jang Prof Chan Heng Chee Anonymous

For more information or to make a donation, please contact the Development & Sponsorship Team at 6602 4218 or anthony@sso.org.sg.

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SSO DONORS

PATRON SPONSOR Tote Board Group (Tote Board, Singapore Pools & Singapore Turf Club) $200,000 and above Temasek Foundation Nurtures CLG Ltd Christopher Ho & Rosy Ho SMRT Corporation Limited Conrad Centennial Singapore Zhendong Foundation $100,000 and above Anonymous $50,000 and above John Swire & Sons (S.E. Asia) Pte Ltd Tan Chin Tuan Foundation Singapore Press Holdings Ltd Joseph Grimberg Kingsmen Exhibits Pte Ltd Mr & Mrs Goh Yew Lin Anonymous GK Goh Holdings Limited NSL Ltd TransTechnology Private Limited Aquilus Pte Ltd

$20,000 and above Stephen Riady Group of Foundations Interchem Pte Ltd Singapore Institute of Management Keppel Corporation Ltd Van Cleef and Arpels Far East Organization Centre Pte Ltd Lee Foundation, Singapore United Overseas Bank Ltd Anonymous Ms Paige Parker & Mr Jim Rogers Mdm Tan Siew Hoon Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Singapore

Holywell Foundation Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore Pte Ltd Prima Limited Saga Tree Capital Advisors Pte Ltd Tan Choo Leng Mrs Dorothy Chan Geoffrey Wong Ee Kay & Wong Ai Ai Kris Foundation Doris & Andreas Sohmen-Pao

$10,000 and above Dr & Mrs Thomas Zuellig S R Nathan Anonymous Rubina Watch Co Pte Ltd Odile & Douglas Benjamin Maisy Koh & Dr Beh Swan Gin Christine Yeh Lim & Tan Securities Pte Ltd Timber Yeh Michael Lien & Tan Kheng Ju At-Sunrise Global Chef Academy Pte Ltd Boardroom Limited BTG Pratual Commodities (Singapore) Pte Ltd Bulgari Fraser And Neave (S) Pte Ltd Hong Leong Foundation Latham and Watkins LLP LGT Bank (Singapore) Ltd Marina Bay Sands Pte Ltd Pontiac Land Group Nomura Asset Management Singapore Ltd One North Capital Pte Ltd OSIM International Limited PSA International Pte Ltd Sunray Woodcraft Construction Pte Ltd

Tan Kong Piat (Pte) Limited The Silent Foundation Ltd Total Trading Asia Pte Ltd Wowz Entertainment Pte Ltd Astrie Sunindar-Ratner Mr & Mrs Choo Chiau Beng Eugene Lai Anonymous Anonymous Alfred Wong Hong Kwok Pauline Chan Lito & Kim Camacho Anonymous Andress Goh Lai Yan Ms Lee Li-Ming Olivia Lum Mr & Mrs Yong Pung How Mrs and Mr Laura Hwang & Michael Hwang Prof Cham Tao Soon Leong Wai Leng Liew Wei Li Yong Ying-I Desmond Lim Yu Jin

$5,000 and above Tan Chin Nam Mr Ross & Dr Florence Jennings Ms Manju Vangal and Mr Arudra Vangal ComfortDelgro Corporation Limited CV Shipping Pte Ltd Goethe-Institute Liqui Moly Asia Pacific Pte Ltd Loke Cheng Kim Foundation Devika and Sanjiv Misra Lin Diaan-Yi Anonymous

Ms Cham Gee Len Beppe De Vito Anonymous Mr and Mrs Steven Goh Mr & Dr Peter Sheren Professor and Mrs Lim Seh Chun Mr & Mrs Simon Cheong Tan Sook Yee Goh Sze Wei Mr and Mrs W K Leong

$1,000 and above Anonymous Julian Chang Anonymous Arnoud De Meyer Judy Hunt Edmund Lin & Trina Liang-Lin Li Yuezhi Casio Singapore Pte Ltd Chandra Mohan Rethnam Robert Khan & Co Private Limited Dimple Sameer Aswani Lim Eng Neo Eric Wong Guy J P Hentsch Ng Keng Hooi Tan Khai Hee Kris Taenar Wiluan Lawrence Basapa & Celeste Basapa Tong Moi Eng Mr Robert & Cheryl Huray Ronald P Stride & Janet Stride Thorsten Walther Christopher & Bernice Franck Michelle Loh Robin Ian Rawlings Juliana and Clemente Benelli Chong Mi-Li Pamela Tan Boon Ngee Niyazi Taneri Obgyn Consultants Pte Ltd Wilmar International Limited Abigail Tan Pei Jun Alessandro Raniolo & Christine Pillsbury AndrĂŠ Klein Andreas Ruschkowski Anonymous Toshitaka Aoki Azima Moiz Aznan Abu Bakar Mr Bernard Jean Sabrier Bernhard Steiner Bettina Lieske Cynthia Chee Low Boon Hon Tan Boon Kheng Brian Holt Gambrill Britta Pfister Charles Robertson Raymond Phua Chee Whee Gan Chee Yen Khor Cheng Kian David Neo Chin Wee Goh Chiu Gak Christopher John Fussner Craig McTurk

Michele & Dr Daniel Kahn Daniel Tando David Harris Zemans Derek Quah Diana Browne Doddy Anderson Donald Harding Teo Ee Peng Elaine Zhang Anonymous Eugene Lee Gillian Metzger Gordon H L Tan Helene Fahy-Blanquet Herve Pauze Vincent Lam Ho Ming Lim Hong Eng Janet Pauline Ang Hooi Yeong Hunter Nield Irina Francken James Worth Jerry Gwee Chee Siong Zhang Jian John & Eliza Bittleston John S Davison Jonathan Reiter Joseph Mocanu Joyce Tan See Tho Kai Yin Kanti Bajpai Karen Fawcett Drs Raymond & Tika Tay Kathleen Moroney Leong Keng Hong Kevin Chang Pang-Hua Jennie Chua Kheng Yeng Wong Kim Yin Tan Kok Huan Tan Kok Kiong Teo Kok Leong Anonymous Anonymous Eunice Mah Li Lien Adelina Mah Li Ting Wong Liang Keen Lilian Khoo Luca & Barbara Tonello Marcie Ann Ball Margaret Chew Sing Seng Mark Edward Hansen Maureen Derooij Ivan Tan Meng Cheng Michael Kuschel Michel Blanc Monica Pitrelli Naoyoshi Nick Shimoda

Zhang Naxin Kwee Nee Chia Irene Mr & Mrs Neil Tottman Anonymous Leow Oon Geok Patricia Yih Patrick Lee Wu Peichan Valerie Peter White Loh Pong Tuan Radakrishnan Somalingam Cees & Raife Armstrong Richard Jerram Richard Logan Richard R. Smith Ridzuan Farouk Robert Tan Mr Roberto Cartelli Rolf Gerber Satoru Yano Juliana and Sheng Gao Lee Shu Yen Seah & Siak Jeffrey Loke Sin Hun Siong Ted Lee Mr Ho Soo Foo Steven Bernasek Steven Luk Lee Suan Yew Susanna Ho Choon Mei Takashi Kousaka Anonymous Shang Thong Kai and Tiffany Choong Todd On Anonymous Tony & Serene Liok Vincent Musumeci Chan Wai Leong Warren Fernandez Cheng Wei Mr & Mrs Willem Mark Nabarro William H Hernstadt Xiao Li Tian Xiao Ye Victor Loo Janin Lau Ying Hui Anonymous Ling Yu Fei Belinda Koh Yuh Ling Bao Zhiming Christopher Chen *This list is for donations from 1 Jan 2016 to 31 Dec 2016.

U P COM ING CONCERTS

24 & 25 February 17 | FRI & SAT, 7.30pm VICTORIA Concert Hall

A Weekend with Beethoven Yu Long conductor Serena Wang piano Expect surpassing beauty as leading Chinese conductor Yu Long returns with an all-Beethoven programme featuring the extraordinary Seventh Symphony and Egmont Overture, a tale of oppression, courage and liberation. 12-year-old piano prodigy Serena Wang is the soloist in Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

“China’s Herbert von Karajan” – The New York Times on Yu Long

BEETHOVEN Egmont: Overture, Op. 84a Piano Concerto No. 1 in C major, Op. 15 Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92

Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm-7pm I VCH Music Studio @ L3

Sponsored by

ESPLANADE Concert Hall

Ibert Flute Concerto • Shostakovich 5 Yu Long conductor Jin Ta flute A prince is under a curse and falls in love with three giant oranges, of which one contains his true love. Live the fantasy in Prokofiev’s scintillating opera The Love for Three Oranges through his six-movement Suite. Hear the flute sing and leap in the magical Flute Concerto by Jacques Ibert, featuring SSO Principal Flautist Jin Ta. Yu Long closes a brilliant evening with ‘a true Soviet masterpiece’, Shostakovich’s Fifth.

“The music, I fear, is too much for this generation.” – The Chicago Tribune on Prokofiev’s opera The Love for Three Oranges

PROKOFIEV The Love for Three Oranges: Suite, Op. 33a IBERT Flute Concerto SHOSTAKOVICH Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47

Pre-concert Talk 6.30pm-7pm I library@esplanade

U P COM ING CONCERTS

4 March 17 | SAT, 7.30pm

IGOR STRAVINSKY (1882-1971)

Funeral Song (Southeast Asian Premiere) 12’00

Stravinsky’s Funeral Song is the stuff dreams are made of – an important lost score from a major composer suddenly turning up in a dusty back room of a library.

Here’s what happened: In 1908, a year before he began work on his Firebird ballet, Stravinsky wrote a funeral dirge in commemoration of his beloved teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov, who had died on 21 June. It was given a single performance on 17 January, 1909 in the Great Hall of the St. Petersburg Conservatory with Count Sheremetev’s orchestra, conducted by Felix Blumenfeld. Stravinsky himself believed the score was lost during the Revolution. In 2015, as the result of some musicological sleuthing by Dr. Natalia Braginskaya in collaboration with the librarian at the St. Petersburg Conservatory, Irina Sidorenko, the orchestral parts turned up in a back room of the library. By strange coincidence, the 106-measure work was rediscovered exactly 106 years after its first and only performance. From these parts it was a simple matter to reconstruct the score, which received its first modern performance by the Mariinsky Orchestra of St. Petersburg conducted by Valery Gergiev on 2 December, 2016. This hugely important event was filmed and streamed live on medici.tv.

Such is the importance of this discovery that nearly twenty major orchestras around the world have added Funeral Song to their season programming just within the next year or so. The Asian premiere went to the Seoul Philharmonic on 20 January, but next in line are the SSO’s performances, the first in Southeast Asia. It is entirely fitting that Charles Dutoit is the conductor for this programme, as Stravinsky has been central to his repertory for decades. Dutoit is an Honorary Member of the Stravinsky Foundation in Geneva, and his SSO programme already by chance included the complete Firebird ballet score, a work that was also on Gergiev’s programme when Funeral Song was presented in St. Petersburg last December. (Dutoit also conducts the American premiere in Chicago and the Australian premiere in Sydney later this year.)

Stravinsky called Funeral Song “the best of my works before The Firebird”. Actually, he hadn’t composed much prior to The Firebird – it was to have been his Op. 5 – but it serves as an important link between two early orchestral scores (Scherzo fantastique, Op. 3 and Fireworks, Op. 4) and the work that was to catapult him to worldwide fame, The Firebird. Due to its occasional nature, Funeral Song is of

course totally different in character from Op. 3 and 4. Stravinsky described it as being “like a procession of all the soli instruments of the orchestra, coming in turns to each leave a melody in the form of a crown on the master’s tomb, all the while with a low background of murmuring tremolos, like the vibrations of bass voices singing in a choir”.

Dr. Braginskaya describes the music of Funeral Song as “a mingling of postWagnerian chromaticism with the harmonies of Rimsky-Korsakov”. There are also unmistakable touches of Mussorgsky and Scriabin. Listeners familiar with The Firebird will hear Funeral Song as an obvious precursor to the later score in its many familiar touches of orchestral colour. An obvious example arrives right at the beginning. From the murky, mysterious murmur that opens Funeral Song we hear from the bassoons a similar figure heard at the opening of The Firebird. As befits its purpose, Funeral Song emphasizes the lower ranges and darker colours of the orchestra: contrabassoon, timpani, cellos, and the effect of deep tolling bells.

There is a feeling of oppressiveness and emotional weight to the music, which is mostly soft but which does twice rise to impassioned outbursts. A melodic idea, first heard in the muted horn (a six-note rising motif), is repeated in varied guises across the work’s twelve-minute span.

SERGEI RACHMANINOV (1873-1943)

Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43 22’00

Many and varied are the compositions based on the last of Paganini’s 24 Caprices for Violin Solo. Schumann, Liszt, Brahms, Lutosławski, Schnittke and even Andrew Lloyd Webber, among many others, have fallen under the spell of the irresistible tune. But best known of all is surely Rachmaninov’s interpretation, his last work for piano and orchestra, written in 1934 when the composer was 61 and living in Lucerne, Switzerland. Wit, charm, romance, rhythmic verve and masterly orchestration combine in what many listeners consider to be one of his finest works. The world premiere was given on 7 November 1934 in Baltimore by the Philadelphia Orchestra with the composer as soloist.

The Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini is not, as the title implies, really a rhapsody at all. However, one might associate the piano soloist with the role of the ancient Greek rhapsode, the specially trained singer or reciter of epic poems. Additional meanings have been associated over the years with the word “rhapsody.” We might now define rhapsody as a high-charged instrumental work in irregular, free or improvisatory form. Though generally in a single movement, the rhapsody usually consists of several linked sections.

Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini conforms to this definition in most respects, but it is definitely not free or improvisatory in form. It follows a very clear-cut design, namely, a set of 24 variations. The work begins with the curiously “misplaced” first variation (following an eight-bar introduction); only then do we hear the theme in its original, intact form, played by violins with piano accentuations. Variations 2-5 all retain rhythmic tautness and drive. Only in Variation 6 does a more rhythmically free and sentimental tone creep in. A new theme enters at Variation 7, that old funeral chant, the “Dies irae,” which Rachmaninov had incorporated into so many of his works. In fact though, there is a melodic kinship between the chant theme and Paganini’s. The “Dies irae” returns in Variation 10, a grotesque march. In between Variations 8 and 9, a demonic quality is introduced, especially in Variation 9, with its col legno (string players using the wooden part of their bows), tappings and frenzied rhythmic conflict between orchestra and soloist.

Variation 11 is essentially a highly florid cadenza with a true rhapsodic flavour to it.

Two variations in D minor follow: one a nostalgic, wistful minuet set to Paganini’s fragmented theme; the other a sturdy pronouncement of the theme, still in triple meter, in a more straightforward presentation. Variations 14 and 15 are in F major, with the latter almost entirely for piano alone. Dark, ominous, even ghostly stirrings seem to emanate from Variation 16, in the key of B-flat minor. The scoring is of chamber-music delicacy and transparency, as opposed to the block-like orchestral writing of most previous variations. The next variation does nothing to lighten the oppressive mood, as the soloist gropes in strange, remote harmonic regions.

Suddenly, as if emerging into the light of day, we hear the sounds of an old friend softly intoned: that famous Variation 18 in that most romantic of keys, D-flat major. (The famous theme from Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto is also in D-flat.)

This lush, glorious melody is no intrusion, for like the “Dies irae”, it too bears a melodic relationship to the Paganini theme; in fact, it is almost an inverted image of it. The music, from now on in the initial key of A minor, proceeds swiftly to its conclusion, each variation more scintillating than the last. Brief cadenzas conclude Variations 22 and 23; Variation 24 leads directly into the coda. The “Dies irae” blares out full force in the brass. The gathering momentum and dazzling passage work for the soloist lead one to expect a conclusion of overwhelming bravura and force. Indeed, this expectation is very nearly fulfilled, but at the last moment, Rachmaninov pulls back and, as if with a wicked chuckle, ends his Rhapsody with a final, lost fragment of the memorable theme.

IGOR STRAVINSKY

The Firebird: Complete Ballet 45’00 Introduction Scene I Kastchei’s Enchanted Garden Appearance of the Firebird Pursued by Prince Ivan Dance of the Firebird Prince Ivan Captures the Firebird Supplications of the Firebird Appearance of the Thirteen Enchanted Princesses The Princesses’ Game with the Golden Apples (Scherzo) Sudden Appearance of Prince Ivan The Princesses’ Round Dance (Khorovod) Daybreak Prince Ivan Penetrates Kastchei’s Palace Magic Carillon: Appearance of Kastchei’s Guardian Monsters; Capture of Prince Ivan Arrival of Kastchei the Immortal; His Dialogue with Prince Ivan; Intercession of the Princesses Appearance of the Firebird Dance of Kastchei’s Retinue under the Spell of the Firebird Infernal Dance of All Kastchei’s Subjects Lullaby (Firebird) Awakening of Kastchei Death of Kastchei; Profound Darkness Scene II Disappearance of the Palace and Dissolution of Kastchei’s Magical Creations; Animation of the Petrified Warriors General Thanksgiving

The Firebird was Stravinsky’s first full-length ballet score and the first work to bring him international acclaim. The commission to write The Firebird arrived late in 1909, but only via a series of defaults and accidents. Early in 1908, impresario Sergei Diaghilev and choreographer Michel Fokine began preparing for the first Paris season of the Ballets Russes. In discussing repertory, they realised that the company had nothing descriptive of Russia’s rich folklore. Fokine suggested the Firebird legend, and began investigating Afanasiev’s large anthology of Russian fairy tales in order to provide a scenario. What he eventually produced was a synthesis of several stories centering around the figures of the wonderful Firebird, the terrible ogre Kastchei and the hunter Prince Ivan.

The premiere on 25 June 1910 at the Théâtre National de l’Opéra in Paris was an enormous success. In the words of Roman Vlad, “it changed the very nature of the Russian ballet. Instead of merely exporting Russian art, from now on Diaghilev was encouraged by this success to try and stimulate the creation of new works of art on an international scale, promoting real collaboration among leading musicians, painters and writers, with results which will go down as landmarks in the history of modern art in general”.

Also contributing to this first collaboration were Fokine (scenario, choreography, dancer of the role of Ivan), Léon Bakst (costumes for the Firebird and the Princess), Alexander Golovine (costumes for the remainder of the cast and designs for the sets), dancers Tamara Karsavina (the Firebird) and Vera Fokina (the Princess), and conductor Gabriel Pierné.

Stravinsky poured his utmost creative talents into The Firebird, resulting in music of sumptuous hues, exotic fantasy and orchestral enchantment. Its powers to seize and fix a mood can be found at every turn. In the opening bars, an atmosphere of night, mystery and evil are conjured up by the vaguely hypnotic ostinato pattern in the double basses; the riotous colours of the Firebird herself are depicted by the woodwinds, celesta and percussion in her dance; and a glorious finale, replete with massive, gleaming brass chords, leaves no doubt as to the story’s happy outcome.

In musical terms, Stravinsky portrays the dichotomy between the natural, human elements (Ivan, the Princess) of the scenario and the supernatural, magical elements (the Firebird, Kastchei), by employing tonal, diatonic music for the former, and exotic, chromatic writing for the latter. Hence, in the “Dance of the Princesses” (Khorovod), the horn solos associated with Prince Ivan, or the grandiose finale are built on simple scale patterns, while the opening bars of the score portraying the garden of the evil Kastchei, or the iridescent sheen of the Firebird’s music are chromatic in style. The influence of Stravinsky’s teacher Rimsky-Korsakov can be closely identified with the chromatic, exotic, and magical elements of the score, especially with regard to the harmonies and orchestration, while Tchaikovsky and Glazunov seem to hover over the more lyrical passages.

The plot can be briefly summarised as follows: It is night. Prince Ivan, after a day of hunting, chances upon the walled-in garden of the green-taloned, ferocious monster King Kastchei. Shivering, eerie orchestral effects evoke fantastic images.

Ivan spies a wondrous creature, half-bird half-woman. After observing its dance, he pursues the Firebird and captures it. To the accompaniment of sensuous, oriental-tinged music, the creature begs Ivan to be set free. The fluttering of the Firebird’s gorgeous wings is suggested by flute and oboe. Taking pity on the Firebird, Ivan releases it and, as a reward, is presented with one of the bird’s golden feathers, which he may wave in time of need to summon the Firebird’s magical assistance.

At dawn, a bevy of beautiful, enchanted princesses emerges from Kastchei’s palace. They dance with golden apples before Ivan, who promptly falls in love with one of the princesses. A quiet, lyrical interlude leads to another dance for the lovely maidens. Ivan advances towards his chosen princess but his way is blocked

by Kastchei’s terrifying retainers. A moment later, the great demon himself appears.

Kastchei’s creatures try to bewitch Ivan, but with the magic feather he summons the Firebird, who sends all the monsters into a wild, frenzied dance. She then lulls them all into a deep sleep with a lullaby.

The Firebird helps Ivan to discover an egg within which is contained Kastchei’s soul and the secret of his immortality. Ivan smashes the egg, whereupon Kastchei expires. With the spell broken, Kastchei’s zombies (former warriors) resume human form, the castle becomes a cathedral, and all rejoice as Ivan and his favourite princess are married.

Programme notes by Robert Markow

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