It seemed only a short while ago when Lan Shui succeeded Choo Hoey as the Music Director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In actual fact, that was back in 1997, long before there was such a thing as Esplanade or a music conservatory in Singapore.
On Saturday 26 January 2019, Lan Shui conducted his final concert with the SSO. The work was Mahler's Second Symphony, or the Resurrection Symphony, symbolic in the sense that farewell is not a goodbye, but the birth of a new future - a resurrection, so to speak.
Lan, as he is affectionately known by many, was responsible for turning Choo Hoey's already-considerable creation into a truly world-class symphony orchestra. Now that the SSO has a season that rivals the top orchestras of the world is not an accident, but one of design, built on vision, hard work, perseverance and artistic genius.
The concert, second of a pair, could well be one of the most memorable concerts ever given in Esplanade. It featured the full orchestra and many extras, the combined choirs that formed the Singapore Symphony Chorus and soloists soprano Miah Persson and alto Anna Larsson. It had many heart-wrenching moments, not least in the finale's march to the abyss and then the proclamation of Klopstock's Auferstehung, the resurrection and beginning of a new life. There was a prolonged standing ovation, and chorus of bravos. There were tears of sadness, and tears of joy.
On that evening, Maestro Lan Shui was conferred the title of SSO's first ever Conductor Laureate, and one eagerly looks forward to his next phase of musical life with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. Thank you, Lan. We will miss you but there will be great joy when you next return.
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| SSO Chairman Goh Yew Lin introduces the new SSO Conductor Laureate. |
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| One will not find a more spontaneous standing ovation. |
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| Concertmaster Igor Yuzefovich and Bass Principal Guennadi Mouzyka. |
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| Maestro Lan Shui has always been a hit with the ladies, here with Culture Minister Grace Fu et al. |
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| Mister and Missus Lan Shui |
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| SSC Three Tenors! |
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