Bravissimo! - Singapore Symphony Orchestra

B
ravissimo !
january 2012 Vol. 13 No. 1
MICA (P) 156/07/2011
The Quarterly Newsletter of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Ashkenazy
with the SSO
Out of Siberia: Vadim Repin
Britain’s rising star: Benjamin Grosvenor
Jiri Heger retires after 32 years with the SSO
www.sso.org.sg
Editorial
In this New Year edition, we look back at some of SSO’s closing highlights in 2011,
including multiple sold-out performances at the Babies’ Proms and Christmas Concerts,
and two sold-out concerts with pianist Stephen Hough. We also bring you conversations
with two of the most exciting musicians in the scene – Siberian violinist Vadim Repin and
18-year-old British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor.
Here’s to a great 2012!
CINDY LIM
Editor
[email protected]
Contents
SSO News 04
SSO News 03
Backstage with Jiri Heger 06
Conrad Celebrities: 08
Vadim Repin & Benjamin Grosvenor
Backstage with Jiri Heger 06
Symphony Society 10
CD review / Ad 14
Book Review
The Autograph Collector
15
From Tokyo with love
16
Conrad Celebrities 08
On the cover:
Legendary musician Vladimir
Ashkenazy conducting the
SSO in an all-Russian concert
at the Esplanade Concert Hall
Photography by Collin Tan
Editors: Cindy Lim
Chang Tou Liang
Writer:Joyce Tan
BraviSSimO! is published by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Printed by First Printers.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the publisher.
Ashkenazy’s
SSO Debut
sso news
Legendary musician Vladimir Ashkenazy
conducted the SSO in a one-night-only
gala concert at the Esplanade Concert
Hall on November 4. For his SSO debut,
he led the orchestra in Tchaikovsky’s
Fourth Symphony, and was joined by
29-year-old Giuseppe Andaloro – the
newly minted winner of the 3rd Hong
Kong International Piano Competition –
in Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2
in C minor. !
Giuseppe Andaloro in Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto
Stephen Hough
plays Liszt and
Rachmaninov
To celebrate the Liszt bicentenary, Britain’s
poet-virtuoso Stephen Hough gave a stirring
performance of the two Liszt piano concertos
under Darrell Ang at the Esplanade Concert
Hall on November 26. This was followed by a
performance of Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto
No. 3 with the SSO and conductor Alexander
Shelley on December 2. !
Stephen Hough takes on the Lizst concertos
Yuletide Treasures
The SSO Christmas Concerts on
December 13 and 14 reached out to
an audience of over 3000 over two
performances. Joined by narrator William
Ledbetter, the Singapore Symphony
Chorus, The Philharmonic Chamber
Choir and the Singapore Symphony
Children’s Choir, the SSO performed
a heartwarming selection of popular
yuletide classics including Hallelujah
from Handel’s Messiah, Waltz of the
Flowers from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker,
Silent Night and The Twelve Days of
Christmas. !
Uncle Peter livens things up with a pirate’s hat
Bach to the
Future!
The SSO’s Concerts for Children featuring Platypus
Theatre’s Bach to the Future on November 18 was a
resounding success, reaching out to an audience of 2,000
over two sessions. !
Look, I’m on the podium!
Babies Proms
Playing to more than 4,000 parents and children, the SSO
Babies’ Proms led by presenter Peter Moore sold out all
five sessions at the Esplanade Concert Hall on December
15 and 16. !
Bach to the Future!
Joshua Tan wins
Young Artist
Award
We congratulate Joshua Kangming Tan on his Young
Artist Award win last November. A former SSO scholar
and violinist, Tan is currently Resident Conductor at
Beijing’s NCPA Orchestra and was featured in the
SSO’s President’s Young Performers Concert last July. !
04
bravissimo!
$150,000
boost for
music scene
Prof Cham Tao Soon, Mr Choo Thiam Siew, Mr Chng Kai Jin & Mr Frank Benjamin
Fashion group F J Benjamin Holdings has pledged a sum of $150,000 over three years to boost the development of music in
Singapore. Its donation will go towards the F J Benjamin-NAFA School of Young Talents Music Competition as well the F J
Benjamin-SSO Bursary, with $30,000 and $20,000 going to the competition and bursary annually.
Says Mr Frank Benjamin, Executive Chairman and founder of F J Benjamin Holdings: “It is my dream to see a young
Singaporean music talent perform on the world stage. With this award, we wish to encourage greater music excellence by
giving additional opportunities to potential music greats to improve their skills.”
Applications are now closed for the 2011 F J Benjamin-SSO Bursary. Interested candidates may visit the SSO website for
more information. !
Mahler magic in Beijing
Maestro Inbal rehearsing with the SSO and Ildiko Komlosi
SSO’s performances at the Beijing Music Festival in October were a tremendous success, with a close to full
house for its October 26 performance of Mahler’s monumental Seventh Symphony under Music Director Lan
Shui. Joined by Maestro Eliahu Inbal, the October 28 concert featured the SSO in Mahler’s Symphony No. 1
and showcased mezzo-soprano Ildikò Komlòsi in six of the Des Knaben Wunderhorn Lieder. !
Congratulations
to violist Luo Biao on the birth of his son Isaac Luo Huaiyu on October 1.
!
bravissimo!
05
jiri heger
backstage
Thank you for 32 Years
of Friendship
“Jiri’s contribution to music in
Singapore extends far beyond the
concerts he played with the SSO,”
says SSO Chairman Goh Yew Lin.
He
spent half his lifetime faithfully serving the Singapore
Symphony Orchestra. In a few weeks, he will bid farewell to
a country he has called home for the last 32 years. During
his Singapore tenure, 26 years of which were served as SSO’s
Principal Viola, Jiri Heger played close to 1,800 performances
and travelled with the orchestra on all its concert tours up till his
retirement in December last year.
Performing with the SSO at the Victoria Concert Hall in the 1980s
Come April, the 65-year-old Czech musician will move to
Austria, where he will give masterclasses at Vienna’s Amadeus
International School of Music and the Salzburg Mozart School.
In wintertime he plans to spend five to six months in Singapore,
working closely with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music
and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts.
Jiri in the Victoria Concert Hall in the early 1980s
“I am absolutely heartbroken to leave Singapore,” Heger
confides. “This is where I have made so many wonderful friends,
who are mostly Singaporean or Asian. To tell you the truth, I feel
more at home in Asia than in Prague.”
In spite of the emotional upheaval at leaving his black-and-white
apartment off Portsdown Avenue, his Austrian teaching position
will mean more time with his 90-year-old pianist mother in
central Prague, with whom he now communicates through
weekly phone calls. His face visibly lights up at the mention of
her, and of his brother and cousin, who is the Health Minister of
the Czech Republic.
Jiri rehearsing with his mother in their Prague home in 1972
“My mother has arthritis in her hands and she still plays the
piano. I started with the piano too when I was young. In those
communist times it was very difficult to get a good education
in the arts. I started violin lessons when I was seven, and when
I was 13 I was discovered by Karel Sneberger, who was Josef
Suk’s teacher. For two years he spent many hours with me, and
accepted very little payment from me.”
During his studies at Prague’s Conservatory of Music and the
Academy of Musical Arts, Heger shone amongst his cohort as
one of the top students. His first appointment was as Principal
Viola of the Teheran Symphony Orchestra (TSO) from 1975 to
1979. At the time of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the TSO
disbanded.
Eager to explore new territories, he sent an audition tape to the
then-Music Director of the newly founded SSO, Choo Hoey,
and was accepted. “I must say I didn’t know exactly where
Singapore was at the time. I looked for China on the world map
and couldn’t find Singapore,” he confesses with a laugh.
Many of his former students here have gone on to become
outstanding musicians in their own right, including the four
members of the T’ang Quartet: “I very much enjoy teaching
students with real talent. To this day I still remember Lionel Tan
coming up to me in April of 1980 when he was a boy of 14,
asking if I would teach him.”
“Jiri’s contribution to music in Singapore extends far beyond the
concerts he played with the SSO,” says SSO Chairman Goh Yew
Lin. “Through his inspirational teaching and mentorship, he has
played an invaluable role in shaping the musicianship of two
generations of string players.”
Jiri’s last subscription concert on Dec 2
In his 32 years with the SSO, Heger remembers many magical
moments playing under some truly outstanding conductors.
“Every concert is different even if we are playing the same
programme,” he adds.
At the end of the interview Heger whips out a stack of recent
photographs, showing him with SSO guest artists and at a dinner
with Leslie and Lionel Tan from the T’ang Quartet. He never fails
to carry a camera with him so as to capture eternal memories of
his Singaporean friends. He says wistfully: “One day in Europe,
when I get sentimental, I’ll look back at these photos.” !
By Cindy Lim
With Singaporean celebrity Kit Chan
bravissimo!
07
Vadim Repin
Out of Siberia,
into the spotlight
CONRAD CELEBRITIES
Just like his famous contemporary Maxim Vengerov, Vadim
Repin was born in Novosikbirsk in Siberia and emerged from
the studio of Zakhar Bron to become one of the finest violinists
in the world today. Come January 18 and 19, he will make his
third appearance with the SSO, playing the Prokofiev G minor
concerto.
Turning to the violin when he was five, he tells you, was purely
accidental for the only child whose parents were not musicians.
“I actually wanted to study the piano, but at the music school
they offered me violin tuition because all the places in the piano
class had already been filled, and there was one space in the
violin class.”
It quickly became apparent that Repin was destined for great
things, as he won the gold medal at the Wieniawski Competition
as a 11-year-old, before becoming the youngest-ever winner of
the Queen Elisabeth Competition when he was just 13. The rest,
as they say, is history.
Now 40, the veteran artist says he still sees every performance
as a challenge. “That’s the very nature of the instrument. Playing
four notes together is a challenge in itself, and one tries to
convey what the composer wants the audience to experience.”
Six years ago, he traded his Stradivarius for a 1743 Guarneri del
Gesu ‘Bonjour’: “The Guarnerius sound has a particular depth
and colour which suits me. That’s not to say I don’t love Stradivari
as well. But it’s a little like comparing a beautiful Bordeaux wine
with a brilliant champagne. Both are wonderful!” On his musical crossovers with gypsy violinist Roby Lakatos and
electric fusion violinist Jean Paul Ponty, he confides: “These are
great artists, and provided the music is performed at a high level,
I’m very happy to collaborate.”
For his Singapore stop, the Deutsche Grammophon artist will
share the stage with Neeme Järvi, whom he has worked with
many times. “I’ve had the good fortune of a long association
with Maestro Järvi – I think it began with a tour of Japan with the
Göteborg Symphony when he was music director there.” “I love Singapore, and have the happiest memories of my
previous visits. Maestro Lan Shui’s contribution to musical life in
Singapore is simply phenomenal, and I am absolutely delighted
to be coming back.”
When he is not concertizing, the self-confessed Alpine skiing
fan enjoys spending time with his five-year-old son Leonardo.
“He’s very active and competitive. We enjoy outings to the park,
football, cycling and swimming together.” !
Cindy Lim
Vadim Repin will appear with
the SSO and conductor Neeme Jarvi
in an all-Russian gala concert at the
Esplanade Concert Hall on Jan 18 & 19.
BENJAMIN GROSVENOR
Britain’s
rising star
He won the piano section of the 2004 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition
when he was just 11, and made everyone sit up with the depth of his musical
understanding. Instead of succumbing to the prospect of overnight stardom, he
stayed out of the limelight, save for a handful of important concerts at such major
venues as Royal Albert Hall and Carnegie Hall.
Now all of 18, British pianist Benjamin Grosvenor says: “I’m very glad I did
the competition when I was that young. At that age one doesn’t have the selfconsciousness and nervous reaction to the unnatural environment of a competition
that skews playing. My parents realised at that point that I thrived on performing.”
Benjamin Grosvenor will
play Schumann’s Piano Concerto
in A minor with the SSO and Okko
Kamu at the Esplanade Concert
Hall on February 24.
Born the youngest of five sons, he started piano lessons with his mother when he
was six.
“My mother had started all of my brothers on an instrument at around that age. I
chose the piano, I think, because it was the most familiar to me – my mother was
often teaching pupils at home. I was not particularly interested in it at first, but was
first spurred on to practise by the thought that some friends at school, who had just
started, would catch me up!”
In February Grosvenor will play the Schumann A minor Concerto with the Singapore
Symphony Orchestra: “One of my favourite performances is by Michelangeli. The
first movement is unusually dramatic and impassioned, and there is a very interesting
‘speech-like’ quality in the way he shapes certain passages.”
A student of Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music, Grosvenor has also
studied with Leif Ove Andsnes, Stephen Hough, and Arnaldo Cohen. His recordings
for the EMI 200th anniversary edition of Chopin’s complete works received accolades
in Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine.
His mother is central to his musical development, and travels with him when he is
on tour, ready to offer suggestions on his playing. “I don’t feel that comfortable about
travelling on my own at the moment, and it’s good to have her ears as well.”
In his spare time he enjoys reading, swimming, films and seeing his friends. “I
generally listen to classical music, but my closest sibling is very interested in popular
music and plays it quite often. So, I’m quite aware of that world!” !
Conrad Centennial Singapore offers a
choice of exciting wining and dining
venues. Dine on contemporary Cantonese
cuisine and innovative dim sum creations
by top Hong Kong chefs at award winning Golden Peony. Oscar’s offers
delicious buffets for breakfast, lunch and
dinner as well as a delectable Amazing
Graze Sunday brunch with free flow
champagne, wine and beer. Oscar’s is open
24 hours. Or savour delightful afternoon
tea and Executive lunch at Lobby Lounge.
Cindy Lim
bravissimo!
09
Symphonic swing
The 18th SSO Charity Golf Tournament on October 7 raised $190,208 for the Singapore Symphony
Orchestra. Over 100 golf enthusiasts participated in the fundraiser at the Sentosa Golf Club, joined by
Guest-of-Honour, the Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Yaacob Ibrahim.
symphony society
The organizing committee was chaired by Ms Manju Vangal. The top scorer of the evening, Mr Tan
Peng Yam from the ST Logistics Pte Ltd flight, received his trophy over a Shanghai-themed dinner at
the club’s Grand Salon. !
Ms Manju Vangal, Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, Mr Goh Yew Lin & Mrs Alice Lee-Seah
Guest-of-Honour, Minister Yaacob Ibrahim with Mrs Irene Lee, Mrs Viviana Bernard & Mr John Teo
Mrs Goh Chok Tong
Mr Moses Lee, Assoc Prof Yaacob Ibrahim, Mr John Teo & Mrs Viviana Bernard
Admiral Walter Doran & Mr Christopher Fussner
Mr Thomas Teo, Mr Tan Vern Han, Mr William Wong & Mr Rennie Siow
Mrs Monique Lepoutre & Ms Goh Swee Heng
Mrs Viviana Bernard
bravissimo!
11
symphony society
Mr Tan Woei Wen
Pro-golf clinic with Greg Park
Mr Craig Marshal & Ms Ling Lin Julianna
Mr & Mrs Lim Pho Hock
Mr Tan Peng Yam receives his top winner trophy
Mr David Wong, Mrs Swee Wong, Ms Paulina Dhanoa & Mr David Conner
Amongst Friends
It was a night of inspiring music and great hospitality as the Conrad Centennial Singapore joined hands with
the SSO to co-host the Amongst Friends dinner on October 13. Guests enjoyed a delightful menu consisting
of classic Beef Wellington and a fiery Baked Alaska dessert prepared by the chefs in honour of the 15th
anniversary of the Conrad Centennial Singapore. A captivating performance by SSO Principal Flautist Jin Ta
and Principal Harpist Gulnara Mashurova added a magical touch to a truly splendid evening. !
Mr Goh Yew Lin & Dr Cheong Choong Kong
Mr Wong Nang Jang, Mr Heinrich Grafe, Mrs Wong & Mr Y C Boon
Mr Shuichi Matsuda, Ms Ow Yong Kit Fun & Mr Cheong Hai Poh
SSO Principals Jin Ta (left) & Gulnara Mashurova
Mr & Mrs Mark Flower
bravissimo!
13
CD Review
The SSO has previously collaborated with the extraordinary Israeli flautist Sharon
Bezaly in recordings of works by the Chinese-American composers Bright Sheng
(the two-movement Flute Moon) and Zhou Long (The Deep, Deep Sea). This new
recording is a compilation of the above as reissues and new works, the latest
offerings being Zhou Long’s Five Elements and Chen Yi’s concerto The Golden
Flute. Both works were inspired by Bezaly, hailed by The Times as “God’s gift to
the flute”.
Five Elements (2008), at 27 minutes in five movements representing Metal,
Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, is the disc’s longest work. The movements
complement each other as forces and energies that constitute life on earth. Yin
is balanced with yang as the varied movements unfold. In Chen’s Galwayesquetitled concerto (2008), a fast-slow-fast three movement form belies its feel of an
element of fantasy and freedom.
ACROSS THE SEA
Chinese-American
Flute Concertos
SHARON BEZALY flute
Singapore Symphony Orchestra
lAN SHUI
BIS CD-1739 / Total time: 71’14”
Both works skilfully manoeuvre between tonality and twelve-tone colours,
blending Oriental motifs with the contemporary voice of 21st century music.
Bezaly’s mastery of the flute, with all its myriad shadings and virtuoso effects, is
breathtaking. Lan Shui’s forces support her with requisite vigour, and the vivid
BIS sound is in the usual demonstration bracket. A virtual masterclass and treat
for the five senses.
WIN A COPY OF ACROSS THE SEA
1.TRUE OR FALSE. Sharon Bezaly gave the Singapore
premiere of Bright Sheng’s Flute Moon in 2000.
Please send your answers and particulars to:
Bravissimo!
c/o Singapore Symphony Orchestra
4 Battery Road, #20-01 Bank of China Building, Singapore 049908
e-mail: [email protected]
2.TRUE OR FALSE. Chen Yi and Zhou Long are
husband and wife.
Closing date: 29 February 2012
The first five correct entries to be drawn will be notified accordingly.
by answering the following questions:
18 Feb 12 | Sat, 7.30pm
Esplanade Concert Hall
LAN SHUI conductor
SINGAPORE SYMPHONY CHORUS
SINGAPORE BIBLE COLLEGE CHORALE
HALLELUJAH CHORUS
THE PHILHARMONIC CHAMBER CHOIR
LIM YAU chorus master
TICKETS: $30- $128 from SISTIC
(6348 5555 / www.sistic.com.sg)
Booking fees apply
PATRON
SPONSORS
SINÉAD MULHERN soprano (Leonore/Fidelio)
STUART SKELTON tenor (Florestan)
DIOGENES RANDES bass (Rocco)
CAMILLE BUTCHER soprano (Marzelline)
MICHAEL HEIM tenor (Jaquino)
CARSTEN WITTMOSER bass (Don Pizarro)
JOHANNES SCHMIDT bass (Don Fernando)
DAVID EDWARDS Director/Narrator
PRE-CONCERT TALK
6.30pm | Library @ Esplanade
OFFICIAL
HOTEL
OFFICIAL
RADIO STATION
OFFICIAL
POSTAGE SPONSOR
OFFICIAL
AIRLINE
www.sso.org.sg
the
Autograph
collector
This issue, we look at the autographs of musicians close to home, those
whom we see and hear performing each week, every time we attend a
SSO concert. Honestly, have we actually gone up to them to thank them
for their music and humbly asked for their autographs? If you have not, it’s
high time to do so, because they won’t be here forever.
JIRI HEGER
By the time you read this, our old friend the violist Jiri
(pronounced Yee-zhee) Heger would have retired from
the SSO and returned to his homeland in the Czech
Republic, whilst spending time teaching in Austria.
For the longest time, he was our Principal Violist and
a towering presence (literally too!) in the Singapore
musical scene. You could always count on him to be an
outspoken but genuine friend, really Singapore’s true
Bohemian.
ALEXANDER SOUPTEL
The Russian violinist has been SSO’s longest serving
Concertmaster. He arrived in Singapore in 1993, after
the fall of the old Soviet Union. Previously he had
been the concertmaster of the USSR Ministry of Culture
Symphony Orchestra and the Radio Television Orchestra
conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky, and could be
found playing in numerous Communist-era videos. As
he has become a Singapore citizen, he will continue to
make music and teach as long as he desires.
BLAST FROM THE PAST:
PAVEL PRANTL (1981)
The late Pavel Prantl was the SSO’s first
Concertmaster, serving from 1981 to
1993. Arriving from Prague with a string
of musical prizes and accolades, he and
his wife, pianist Martina Maixnerova, were
to help transform Singapore’s professional
musical scene with their music-making
and teaching. Among his students were the
young Lee Huei Min and Chua Lik Wuk. His
smiling, ruddy and rotund presence (quite
the opposite of the lean Alexander Souptel)
will not be easily forgotten.
If you have interesting autographs to contribute, please send a high resolution scan and accompanying texts to: [email protected].
Happy autograph hunting for 2011!
In the course of this light-hearted discourse, also entitled A Devil To Play, he gives
an irreverent history of the instrument, interspersed with his own attempts to grapple
with its complexities. Armed with his modest Czech-made Josef Lidl, he stalks the
world’s great horn players for their advice and discovers them to be a merry bunch as
well. Will he fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a credible, if not virtuoso hornist?
Reading and finding out is half the fun.
Book Review
The French horn was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the hardest
musical instrument to play. This was the challenge taken up by British journalist and
writer Jasper Rees, who had learnt the instrument as a teenager and returned to it as
a 40-year-old. His lofty ambition: to perform Mozart’s Third Horn Concerto within a
year at the British Horn Society’s annual gig.
I FOUND MY HORN
By Jasper Rees
Published by Phoenix
$22.94 at Books Kinokuniya
WIN A $30 KINOKUNIYA BOOK VOUCHER
by answering the following questions:
1.How many horn concertos did Mozart write?
2.Who was the former Berlin Philharmonic Principal French
horn player who played in the ranks of the Singapore
Symphony Orchestra?
Please send your answers and particulars to:
BraviSSimO! Kinokuniya Book Quiz
Kinokuniya Bookstores of Singapore
391B Orchard Road #13-06
Ngee Ann City Tower B, Singapore 238874
Or e-mail: [email protected]
Closing date: 29 February 2012
The first correct entry to be drawn will be
notified accordingly.
The correct answers to last issue’s quiz:
1. 1985 was the year Okko Kamu first
conducted the SSO.
2. C. Kullervo was the symphonic choral
work that was designated a symphony.
The winner was Michele Ang.
Congratulations!
From Tokyo with love
In November the SSO played host to Japanese cellist Junko Takahashi from the Tokyo
Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO) as part of an annual exchange programme
with the Japanese orchestra. This is the third exchange since the programme was launched
in 2009. During her stay here, Junko Takahashi joined the SSO for two performances on
November 26 (The Liszt Concertos) and December 2 (The Liszt Legacy). !
Cellist Junko Takahashi
Post-concert supper with her SSO friends
With her stand partner Wang Yan
Performing in the Esplanade Concert Hall
!
Liu Chang, Junko Takahashi, Hidehiro Fujita, Yoko Liu, Jun Ikebe & Marc-Antoine
Robillard
Yu Jing, Junko Takahashi, Wang Yan, Ng Pei-Sian, Ding Xiao Feng & Li Cheng