Photographs from the SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION 2018

2ND SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL 

VIOLIN COMPETITION 

27 January - 8 February 2018

The triennial Singapore International Violin Competition has returned after its very successful first outing in 2015. Organised by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, it is surely becoming the premier international violin competition of Asia. 31 of the world's finest young violinists from 11 nations were selected to perform in four rounds of competition (including two concerto finals!) to vie for significant prize money, concert opportunities and the chance to play on a priceless violin from the Rin Collection.

At the opening ceremony, the contestants drew lots to determine the order of performance in all the rounds. There were two no-shows, and so 29 violinists performed their first round recitals at the Conservatory over three days.

10-year-old Singaporean violinist Chloe Chua was given the honour to perform at the Opening Ceremony, and she whipped off a Wieniawski Etude-Caprice with an unforced, natural virtuosity and the greatest of ease. 

Some of the contestants are probably thinking,
"Thank God she is not taking part!"

Here are some of the international jury members:
Viktor Tretyakov has a jaw-dropping moment,
Kam Ning and her former teacher Mauricio Fuks
look bemused, while Silvia Marcovici appears concerned.

The great Singaporean violinist, present and future:
Kam Ning with Chloe Chua

Getting to meet a violin legend:
Viktor Tretyakov's Melodiya LP from the 1960s,
which I bought from $3 at the old Soviet Gallery
formerly at Lucky Plaza.
Tretyakov's wife reckons he
looks exactly the same as before!

A selection of Rin Collection historic
violins on display.

"The Pearl" Amati is so named because of its
mother-of-pearl inlaid star on its scroll.

First Round solo recital:
Chisa Kitagawa (Japan)

Sergei Dogadin (Russia)

Kyung Ji Min (South Korea)

12 violinists were selected to perform in the semi-finals from 1 to 3 February 2018. Sadly, Singapore's Gabriel Ng is not among them but there are still three violinist in the running who have had connections with Singapore. Anna Lee (USA) lived in Singapore when she a child and was a student of former SSO concertmaster Alexander Souptel, while Oleksandr Korniev (Ukraine) and Shi Xiaoxuan (China) are both alumni of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory. Way to go!

The performance schedules may be found here:

https://www.singaporeviolincompetition.com/latest-news/

SIVC Artist-in-Residence Shlomo Mintz performs a solo recital of all six Ysaye Unaccompanied Sonatas at the Conservatory tonight (Wednesday, 31 January 2018) at 7.30 pm. Not to be missed!

Some Photos from the SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION / First Round

After countless years of hemming and hawing from the National Arts Council and whatever agencies in Singapore than can organise international competitions, the Singapore International Violin Competition has finally taken off. Organised by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory (for whom the term "impossible" seems improbable), Singapore's first ever international event for the violin (there have been several for the piano) has gotten off to a cracking start.

With a bounty of USD 50,000 for the 1st Prize Winner, the SIVC has propelled itself into the Ivy League of the violin competition world, even without a prior track record. This was possible with all the stars in alignment - the Conservatory, NAC, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Esplanade and the Rin Collection all in collusion - this "impossible" dream has become possible in SG50.    

35 of the world's top young violinists have been short-listed. and no less than 28 are of Asian origin. This is unsurprising for a concours held in Asia, but also reflects a shift in the classical music world from the European-American axis towards the East. Could the SIVC someday become as prestigious as the Queen Elisabeth, Tchaikovsky, Jacques Thibaud competitions? Time and money will tell, but there will be no effort spared to make this a reality.

A sneak preview of a small sample of the Rin Collection,
one of the world's great instrument collections.
The finalists will each get a 3-year loan
on a violin of his or her choice.

How does one describe "priceless"?
These two Strads were once owned by
Liszt and Paganini.

Mr Rin Kei Mei with Bernard Lanskey
and Qian Zhou, chief judge of the competition

A little history was made when
Francisco Fullana (Spain) played his first notes.

The first notes of the competition on Saturday afternoon (10 January) came from Francisco Fullana (Spain, above) who opened with Bach's Chaconne in D minor. His was an assured reading which came with a natural and unforced virtuosity. In the 1st round, each participant gets to perform some 20-25 minutes of music, including the first two movements of J.S.Bach's unaccompanied Sonatas or the Chaconne, any two Paganini Caprice (always a technical challenge) and any of Fritz Kreisler's pieces.

Singapore's involvement began with Shi Xiaxuan (China),
who is a student of YST Conservatory.

Some chose to play Kreisler's Recitative and Scherzo which made their entire programme unaccompanied. While others followed their serious with popular pieces like Liebesleid, Liebesfreud or Schön Rosmarin, which was a balm on the ears. It is telling on someone's musicianship if he or she could make the Viennese waltz sound musical by allowing the instrument to sing.

Lukas Stepp (Germany) had interesting things
to say in his programme.

Despite his German name, Christopher Scherer (USA)
is definitely an Asian.

Anna Lee (Korea) was a 6-year-old when she
played the first movement of Paganini's Violin Concerto No.1
with the SSO in 2001. How she has matured!

Fedor Rudin (Germany) is a grandson of Edison Denisov.
He displayed remarkable composure despite the
noisy, fidgety children seated on the front row. 

I should have stayed a little longer to hear the final two players in the evening, but had to rush off to Esplanade to catch the SSO concert with Krystian Zimerman. 

In between sessions, a young violinist tries out the
Carlo Bergonzi violin, impressing the crowd
with excerpts of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto.

CONSERVATORY STRINGS / Review

CONSERVATORY STRINGS

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Wednesay (12 March 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 14 March 2014 with the title "Treat of Stradivarius".

There is a famous recording on the old Philips label where Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons with violinist Salvatore Accardo is played by an ensemble formed wholly of Stradivarius instruments. Such an arrangement is a reality in Singapore because virtually the entire string player population at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory plays on instruments loaned by The Rin Collection, one of the world’s great repositories of historical instruments.

Any concert by the Conservatory Strings thus becomes an unmitigated treat, as with this one which paired the four most famous violin concertos by Vivaldi with The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires of the late Argentine tango-master Astor Piazzolla. Unlike another famous recording, this time by Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica on the Nonesuch label, the two sets were played separately, with a different violinist leading in each season.

Xu Minjia (above) took centrestage in Vivaldi’s Spring, her firm tone, healthy vibrato and incisive playing was lit up with smiles aplenty. Displaying equal adroitness was Shi Xiaoxuan (below) in Summer, whose frequent glances to her partners showed that she was one sensitive to the fine balance of chamber music making.

Conservatory Head of Strings Qian Zhou (above), was the most expressive and animated of the soloists, with her trenchant response in the outer movements of Autumn matching the fiery colours of her skirt. The central movement provided an interlude of respite with tasteful improvisatory playing by Li Churen on the harpsichord. The annual cycle was completed with David Loke (below) as a most assured and engaging leader in Winter, with a body language that intimated he was also having a smashing good time.

Piazzollas’s tango-based Seasons, as conceived by Leonid Desyatnikov, began with Summer and ended with Spring. In it, the Russian arranger liberally peppered the score with outlandish solo cadenzas and cheeky quotations from Vivaldi woven into the fabric. 

These challenges were taken up to hilt by soloists Li Ruoyao, Qian again, Oleksandr Korniev and Adam Wu, each bringing their own version of virtuosity. Not to be overlooked was the big role by cellist Wang Zihao, who played counter-melodies and cadenzas, sounding like the perfect foil for the violinists.

The eight seasons would have made a fine programme on its own, but there was the added attraction of Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings in the second half. Given the pedigree of the instruments and prowess of ensemble, there was a palpable warmth and richness of sonority through its five movements.

Performing without a conductor, the sense of togetherness that united the eighteen players was infectious in the lyrical and laid back opening, through the lilting waltz and vivacious Scherzo. Even if the intonation was slightly off at the beginning of the Larghetto slow movement, this was soon forgotten as the music built to an impassioned climax. The rollicking Finale, overflowing with the joie de vivre of youth and exuberance, brought the concerto to a satisfying close. Want to hear more Strads? Watch this space. 

KAM NING AND FRIENDS / Review

A CHAMBER CONCERT 

WITH KAM NING AND FRIENDS 

4th Singapore Chamber Music Festival 

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall 

Tuesday (29 March 2011)

An edited version of this review was published in The Straits Times on 31 March 2011 with the title "Perfect playing by Kam Ning & strings".

The name of violinist Kam Ning was the obvious draw for this chamber concert of string music. However the London-based Singaporean virtuoso, runner-up in the prestigious Queen Elisabeth International Violin Competition (2001), performed in just two works.

The first was the opening movement of Mozart’s Flute Quartet No.1 (above), spotlighting the fluid technique of flautist Duan Duoni, from the Conservatory’s Young Artist programme. Kam was happy to let the youngster take the lead in a work dedicated to one Ferdinand de Jean, a surgeon in the Dutch East India Company. 

That was the full extent of Kam’s violin involvement, as she played violist to Ng Yu Ying’s violin and Leslie Tan’s cello in Beethoven’s cheerful Serenade (Op.8), the programme’s major work. Its five movements were a joy to behold, if anything to witness the sheer chemistry between performers, who moved and breathed as one.

Eye contact was paramount as the trio maintained a cohesive unit throughout, traversing a vast array of moods and tempi. The third movement’s chameleon-like shifts in pace, from lament-like Adagio to quicksilver Allegro molto and back, were deftly handled. The humour displayed in the Alla Polacca was also clearly palpable, an exercise in Beethovenian wit.

The rest was a veritable showcase for the Rin Collection, one of the world’s great repositories of historical stringed instruments, performed by students of the Conservatory. For good reason is Yong Siew Toh hailed “Asia’s International Conservatory”. Two movements from Haydn’s quartets were performed, first by a foursome that included three Vietnamese players, and another led by an Uzbek violinist. 

One Beethoven movement featured four Chinese musicians, one each from Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Singapore. However the best of the Conservatory quartets was formed by two Australians, one American and Chinese, playing the first movement from Janacek’s Intimate Letters. They produced a mature sound, with accurate solo playing and rhythmic exuberance as to sound ready for a professional career.

The most touching rendition came from younger colleagues, students from the School of the Arts (SOTA, above) mentored by Leslie Tan, in Viktor Ullmann’s Third Quartet. Their mastery of the poignant and rarefied idiom from a Holocaust victim, filled with spiky dissonance and acerbic irony, was simply astonishing. The future of chamber music here looks plenty assured.

Kam Ning with the T'ang Quartet