1 Sibelius Complete
6 Musicians
2 Concert
7 Programme
3 The Philharmonic
8 Acknowledgements
4 Lin Juan,
9 Support Us
Symphonies lll
Information
Orchestra, Singapore Resident Conductor
5 Jonathan Shin, Piano
SIBELIUS COMPLETE SYMPHONIES III
HE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA PRESENTS THE SIBELIUS SYMPHONY CYCL
SIBELIUS SIBELIUS COMPLETE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES III SYMPHONIES III YMPHONIES 5, 6 & 7 LIM YAU LIM YAU
3 March 2024 3 March 2024
THE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA PRESENTS THE SIBELIUS SYMPHONY CYCLE
SUNDAY SUNDAY . 5:30PM. 5:30P VICTORIA CONCERT HALL HAL VICTORIA CONCERT Tickets available at SISTIC
Tickets available at SIST
SYMPHONIES 5, 6 & 7 CONDUCTOR
ONDUCTOR
With the Support of
TPO.ORG.SG
With the Support of
C O N C E R T I N F O R M AT I O N
The Philharmonic Orchestra p rese n t s
A Philharmonic
New Year’s Eve 2024 GALA CONCERT The Philharmonic Orchestra Lin Juan, Conductor Jonathan Shin, Piano *
PROGRAMME Otto Nicolai
Merry Wives of Windsor Overture
Edvard Grieg
Norwegian Dance Op.35 No.4 Rhapsody in Blue *
George Gershwin
INTERMISSION 20 MINS
Johann Strauss Jr.
Overture to Der Zigeunerbaron
Maurice Ravel
Pavane pour une infante défunte
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov
Capriccio Espagnol
Concert duration is approximately 1 hour 30 minutes with 20 minutes interval
THE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
he Philharmonic Orchestra, formerly the Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, is a project initiated by Lim Yau in 1998. Born of its early activities as a pit orchestra, TPO quickly became the collaborative orchestra of choice, accompanying over 15 productions by the Singapore Dance Theatre and Singapore Lyric Opera between 1999 and 2008. TPO was invited by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay to accompany Richard Einhorn’s Voices of Light (music set to the 1928 silent film, Joan of Arc), as well as artistes ranging from K.D. Lang, Omara Portuondo, Aska (of Chage and Aska), David Foster and Andrea Bocelli. Till today, the orchestra comprises passionate young adults who are committed to the study and performance of seminal orchestral literature. Helmed by Music Director Lim Yau, TPO distinguishes itself as an orchestra that delves deeply and whole-heartedly into the composers that shape the evolution of the western symphony. It has received critical acclaim for performances of the symphonies of Beethoven (complete symphonies in 2003 and again in 2017), Schumann (complete symphonies in 2004), Brahms (complete symphonies in 2013), Haydn, Schubert, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. In its 2008 season, TPO became the first Singaporean orchestra to perform the complete Sibelius symphonies. 2012 marked another milestone when TPO was joined by acclaimed pianist Lim Yan in performing a cycle of complete piano concertos by Beethoven - the first in Singapore to feature a Singaporean pianist. Currently, TPO is in the midst of completing another cycle of the complete Sibelius Symphonies (2019-2023). The vocal line is also close to TPO’s heart, with close collaborations with sister choir The Philharmonic Chamber Choir (TPCC) including in Brahms Tonight (2010) and Debussy Tonight (2014). For the Hallelujah Oratorio Society’s 40th Anniversary, TPO performed Handel’s Messiah (2017). Performances with soloists have ranged from works by Ravel with Su Yingwen (2014), works by Berlioz with Teng Xiang Ting (2022), and An Enchanted Evening with Andrea Bocelli at the Singapore Botanic Gardens (2010).
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With our strong belief that music is for all and to present it to wider and fresh audiences, TPO works frequently with actors and presenters to explore orchestral repertoire. These include the Papa Haydn and You series (2009), a staged production of Stravinsky’s Soldier’s Tale (2009) as part of Esplanade’s Spectrum series, narrated performances of Stravinsky’s 100 Years Later series including the Firebird (2010) and Petrushka (2011), as well as Animal Stories featuring Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf and Poulenc’s Story of Babar (2021). TPO’s composer-feature concerts sees actor William Ledbetter take viewers on biographical, historical and musical discoveries of great works such as Brahms’ First Symphony (Brahms Tonight! 2020), Debussy’s La Mer (Debussy Tonight! 2014), Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra (Bartok Tonight! 2015) and Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony (Tchaikovksy Tonight! 2016). Other composerfeature concerts highlighting Lutoslawski (2016), Ravel (2018) and Berlioz (2022) offer a focused snapshot of the richness offered by classical music. A crowning series of community outreach productions began as the brainchild of Maestro Lim Yau and Choreographer Angela Liong, both Cultural Medallion artists. TPO’s 2013 collaboration with contemporary dance group The ARTS FISSION Company and Esplanade Theatres by the Bay, culminated in a combined production The Rite of Spring: A People’s Stravinsky, engaging the creative energies of community senior citizens and youth volunteers in a multi-disciplinary presentation of Stravinsky’s seminal ballet. The same creative team reprised its collaboration with The Mazu Chronicle in the SG50 celebration year of 2015, performing works by pioneer generation Singaporean composers in a symphonic dance-theatre production, telling stories of Singapore’s maritime pioneers, whilst featuring community performers from Singapore’s pioneer generation. The partnership between TPO and ARTS FISSION continued strong with garden•uprooted in 2018, melding dance-theatre with music by acclaimed Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu (Between Tides, Nostalgia, Rain Tree, and Tree Line). In recent years, TPO explored less-known works in Not the Big Three (2019), led by Resident Conductor Lin Juan. TPO also sought to assuage 2020’s turmoil via socially distanced recordings of arrangements of Morricone’s Gabriel’s Oboe and Handel’s Ombrai Mai Fu. TPO has also delighted families and children in its sold-out bilingual performances of Animal Stories. The hallmark yearly event is undoubtedly marked by TPO’s well-loved New Year’s Eve Countdown Concerts, featuring crowd favourites, miniatures, and young conductors. Celebrating its tenth live performance in December 2021 at the Grand Dame of Empress Place - Victoria Concert Hall, this sell-out concert series continues to be a cherished fixture in the Singapore concert calendar.
O RC H E STRA
C OMMI TT E E
Albert Phang Emerald Tan Jonathan Francis Koh Kristi Anastasia Tan Lin Juan Sarah Wong
Lin Juan Resident Conductor
graduate of the Royal Northern College of Music, UK (Bachelor and Master degrees in cello) and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Specialist Diploma in Orchestral Conducting), Juan is a highly sought-after orchestral musician, regularly freelancing with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra; he also appears regularly as Principal Cellist with re:Sound Chamber Orchestra, Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra, The Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.
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As an active chamber musician, Juan has most notably collaborated with Red Dot Baroque, Ding Yi Music Company, More Than Music, Incursion Trio, and since 2022 has been cellist of Concordia Quartet. Juan is Lecturer at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), teaching cello, chamber music, and orchestral studies. He was the first Associate Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and continues to educate youths as conductor of the Raffles Institution and Hwa Chong Institution (College Section) String Ensembles. He is also the Resident Conductor of The Philharmonic Orchestra.
Jonathan Shin Piano onathan Shin performs extensively as a soloist and chamber musician, as well as composes and improvises across multiple genres and styles.
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A prizewinner of Singaporean and international competitions, Jonathan was awarded top prizes in all four age categories of the National Piano and Violin Competition. In 2010, he was the youngest winner ever of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music’s Piano Concerto Competition, where The Straits Times lauded him as “a supremely confident young man, whose perfect conception of ‘Sturm und Drang’ was only matched by the elegance and crispness of the playing… every note was well judged and delivered with conviction.” At 22, he began composing. In 2015, his musical Viva! la Singapura was produced. The following year saw the premiere of his song cycle The Other Merlion and Friends, where it was critically reviewed as “probably the most compelling and worthwhile new work from any Singaporean composer in recent years.” While at Longy School of Music, Jonathan won both the Orchestral Composition Competition and the Concerto Competition. His first orchestral work Heloise and Abelard premiered in the spring of 2018, shortly after he performed Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with the Longy Conservatory Orchestra. Jonathan has been conferred the Patricia Sherman Award, an award given each year to a student of “great accomplishment who possesses an exemplary attitude and record of contribution to the Longy community”; and the Roman Totenburg Award, which recognizes “stellar academic and artistic achievement and honors the embodiment of deep commitment to perpetuating the art of music.” In October 2019, he was awarded the Emerging Artist Award by the St. Botolph Club, a Massachusetts-based foundation; in the same month, his 1819 Suite, commissioned for the Singapore Bicentennial, was reviewed to be “supremely confident and comfortable in its own skin.” (The Straits Times) Jonathan is a founding member of the Lorong Boys, a Singaporean multigenre group. In January 2018, the quintet took centre-stage as soloists in Shin’s Siginnah!, a concerto for solo quintet and orchestra commissioned by the Orchestra of the Music Makers. The next year, the OMM commissioned and performed his concert overture The Night Bazaar. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra has also performed City Arising and Folk Games for the National Day Concerts in ‘20 and ‘21 respectively. Jonathan is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in composition at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University.
MUSICIANS Musicians from violin, viola, cello and double bass sections are listed in alphabetical order.
Violin 1
Cello
Siew Yi Li, Concertmaster Albert Phang Cheryl Ho Kathleen Koh Placida Ho Tan Chunrui Xu Hongyun Zhang Chunsheng
Ryan Sim, Principal Bernecia Low Tan Shi Ling Denise Elton Teo Kai Jie Kenneth Lee Li Yiyang Peh Xiang Hong
Violin 2
Double Bass
Kim Kyu Ri, Principal Andrew Fung Dean Asalie Elizabeth Low Hong Yaw Chang Jonathan Francis Koh Zhang Jipeng
Julian Li, Principal Claire Lim Roo Yee Kuek Jia Xin
Viola Jeremy Chew, Principal Elizabeth Ip Leon Lai Pang Lu Woon Max Cheng Natasha Lee Ng Zewei
Flute Jasper Goh, Principal Duan Duoni
Piccolo Alvin Chan, Principal
MUSICIANS
Oboe
Trombone
Leow Rui Qing, Principal Howard Ng
Kow Kang Yue, Don, Principal Toh Chang Hui Benjamin Xavier Lim
English Horn Howard Ng, Principal
Clarinet Benjamin Wong, Principal Natalie Gail
Tuba Teng Siang Hong, Principal
Timpani Julia Tan, Prinicpal
Bass Clarinet
Percussion
Desmond Chow, Principal
Sng Yiang Shan, Principal Thaddeus Chung Vareck Ng Putra Syahril Yeow Ching Shiong
Bassoon Lu Meng, Principal Tan Kuo Cheang
Horn Xavier Tan, Principal Harsharon Kaur Christopher Shen Joey Aston Lim
Trumpet Lim An Chun, Prinicpal Marc Chang Jit Xin
Harp Nigel Foo, Principal
Merry Wives of Windsor Overture (1845-1849)
Otto Nicolai 1810-1849
“Marry, sir, we’ll bring you to Windsor...” Otto Nicolai, musical prodigy, founding member and conductor of the Vienna Phiharmonic, found great success writing Italian operas in his prime, rivalling contemporary Verdi’s popularity in Italy. Born in Königsberg (King’s Mountain, part of then-Prussia), one could scarcely guess the stormy and rebellious childhood behind the brilliance and wit in his music. Nicolai’s only opera written in German was based on “the runt of Shakespeare’s comic litter”, and despite an early lack of interest from the public, this comically magical masterpiece became his most beloved. The Overture illustrates the charming Windsor Park, a dazzling dance of elves and ghosts, and the occasional clumsy interruptions by Falstaff, the recurring buffoon antagonist of many a Shakespeare play and opera/film adaptation. Though Nicolai did not see the success of this opera in his lifetime, the Overture achieved greatness. Shakespeare’s forward-looking use of strong female characters, married to Nicolai’s musical wizardry, inspired a resounding hurrah in 1992, when the Overture opened the New Year’s Day Concert marking the 150th anniversary of Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. “Why, then the world ’s mine oyster...”
Norwegian Dance Op.35 No.4 (1880, orchestrated 1888 by Hans Sitt)
Edvard Grieg 1843-1907
“When we are young, friends are, like everything else, a matter of course. In the old days we know what it means to have them.” Drawing material from esteemed organist and compatriot Ludvig Mathias Lindemans’ 1853 folk song compilation Older and Newer Mountain Melodies, Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg wrote his set of 4 Norwegian Dances for four hands on the piano. Eight years later, Bohemian violinist Hans Sitt arranged the Dances for orchestra. In dance no.4 a sinister, creeping darkness reminiscent of wintry caves quickly warms into a rambunctious romp. Sharp-eared listeners might notice a fleeting homage to a certain Mountain King’s Hall. “I am sure my music has a taste of codfish in it.”
Rhapsody in Blue
(composed Jan 1924, premiered 12 Feb 1924)
George Gershwin 1898-1937
“Suddenly an idea occurred to me...” A whirlwind composition of the roaring ‘20s, the Rhapsody in Blue was as much a work of brotherhood as it was of rhythm, inspiration, cosmopolitanism, unlimited expression, and a heady dose of desperate genius. The Rhapsody was “commissioned” by jazz band leader Paul Whiteman who, fearing competition from rival bands, daringly announced in the newspaper (before informing Gershwin himself!) that the upstart composer had written a “jazz concerto” for an experimental concert scheduled in barely five weeks. With the score hastily arranged in ten days and Gershwin himself improvising sizable portions of the piano part, on the 12th of February (coincidentally Lincoln’s birthday), the Rhapsody in Blue was first heard. Intending to dispel the traditional wisdom that jazz was only for dancing to, Gershwin infused (un)healthy doses of free time and uneven tempo into the music - from the sultry improvised clarinet glissando, to the slapstick locomotive section, and the full-hearted meditation nestled at its core. Its hodgepodge character and several subsequent editions was a result of rhapsodic invention duct-taped to practical realities of the time, including the varying unique makeups of jazz bands and ensembles, as well as storage limitations of rudimentary recording media. George’s brother Ira contributed profoundly to the Rhapsody’s creation, from suggesting its title (which was inspired by a painting), to giving George a few good hours’ headstart by first noticing the fateful newspaper article. “Once the brothers joined forces, their combined talents became one of the most influential forces in the history of American Musical Theatre.” They would go on to solidify their legacy in Broadway with musicals to the likes of Girl Crazy and Porgy and Bess. While George tragically succumbed to a brain tumour before his 40th birthday, Ira survived till 1983. That year, the largest hall in Manhattan was posthumously renamed the Gershwin Theatre - a poetic monument to first-rate lyrics and music. “The rhapsody, you see, began as a purpose, not a plan.”
Overture to Der Zigeunerbaron (premiered 1885)
Johann Strauss Jr. 1825 - 1899
“Oh yes, my chest swells with our love With sweet lust for love Oh yes Let’s all go there, wherever Joy blossoms with life’s splendour All is joyful Where love laughs, day and night!” Der Zigeunerbaron (the Gypsy Baron) showcased “a [landmark] step in Strauss’s quest for the composition of a genuine opera” with its musical and dramatic writing. Although its creation was initially hamstrung, first by Strauss and then his wife taking ill, the finished comic operetta eventually garnered international success. Based on a story by Hungarian author Mór Jókai, it features a poor gypsy baron, a lost princess and other assorted aristocrats, hidden treasure, more gypsies, and war - all humdrum stuff in popular dramas. The Overture showcases Hungarian gypsy themes, lyrical whimsies and exhortations of young love, daintily garnished with waltzes and polkas. “Whatever comes, I’ll take the good - and send the rest to hell.”
Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899)
Maurice Ravel 1875 - 1937
“’Pavane for a dead princess’, not ‘dead pavane for a princess...’” Described by the Ravel as “an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might, in former times, have danced at the Spanish court”, this depiction of a stately processional royal dance on solo piano received little attention until its premiere by his friend and champion Ricardo Viñes in 1902. Orchestrated by Ravel himself in 1910, this “most beautiful” Pavane was warmly received worldwide despite being supposedly atypical of his style, perhaps due to its “subdued expression, and a somewhat remote beauty of melody.” “Do not be surprised, that title has nothing to do with the composition. I simply liked the sound of those words and I put them there, c’est tout...”
Capriccio Espagnol (1887)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov 1844 - 1908
“Thus having been undeservedly accepted at the [Saint Petersburg] Conservatory as a professor, I soon became one of its best and possibly its very best pupil, judging by the quantity and value of the information it gave me!” As a teenage naval officer, Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a most unlikely musician-to-be. Through great efforts and encouragement from his teachers and friends, he likewise rose rapidly in the musical world, earning the titles of Composition Professor and Inspector of Navy Bands before the sprightly age of 30. Drawing deeply from French treatises and Russian tradition, Rimsky-Korsakov served as a bridge between the older self-taught and younger conservatory-trained composers. His 35-year professorship at Saint Petersburg Conservatory saw him tutoring over 250 students. Composed after a creative drought marked by the passing of close friends and colleagues, the Capriccio Espagnol (or Capriccio on Spanish Themes) began germination as a work for solo violin accompanied by orchestra. Fortunately, it blossomed into this final form of a massive instrumental showcase, bursting with virtuosic cadenzas and vividly brilliant music. A triumphantly recurring theme underlines the first and third movements, Alboradas - festive Asturian music to celebrate the rising of the sun. The calmer second movement Variazioni arrives announced by a horn chorale, painting a scene of countryside serenity, rolling hills, distant thunderstorms, and peasants singing and dancing . The fourth movement, Scene and Gypsy song, opens with a kingly fanfare and several cadenzas, before dissolving into a bold and daring dance that glides without pause into fifth and final movement - Fandango asturiano, replete with castanets and tambourines. The exuberance scintillates headlong into the coda, a resoundingly emphatic restatement of the theme that started this amazing joyride. An imaginatively programmatic composer and unrelentingly exacting orchestrator, Rimsky-Korsakov’s masterpieces also include the symphonic suite Scheherazade (based on the Arabian Nights folktale), and Russian Easter Festival Overture (dedicated to the memories of his composer friends Modest Mussorgsky and Alexander Borodin). “Generally speaking, ‘there is no truth on earth’ - although that is itself untrue, for truth does exist on earth, but only in science and art!”
Program notes by Jonathan Francis Koh
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The orchestra would like to express its heartfelt appreciation to the following organisations and people:
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Ensemble-in Residence Partner REHEARSAL VENUE
MusoSpace DESIGN COLLATERALS
Jezamine Chua AUDIO RECORDING
Rose Studio / msm-productions VIDEO RECORDING
Dancing Legs Production CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHY
Andrew Bi EMCEE
Zhang Mingying LOGISTICS
Staff from Victoria Concert Hall Toh Chik Kok (Uncle David) Friends and Family VENUE SUPPORTED BY
WITH THE SUPPORT OF
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