A PIANO RECITAL NOT TO MISS: SIMON TRPCESKI on 13 April 2025

Here is another piano recital not to be missed. Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski might just be the most famous personality to come out of Macedonia (now North Macedonia) since Alexander the Great. He came to prominence after winning 2nd prize at the London International Piano Competition in 2000, after which he made several highly-acclaimed solo recordings on EMI Classics as well as piano concertos by Rachmaninov, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Brahms.

His debut solo recital in Singapore will be no less momentous. The programme as follows:

CHOPIN Four Mazurkas, Op.24

GRIEG Holberg Suite, Op.40

TCHAIKOVSKY-PLETNEV

   Nutcracker Suite

PROKOFIEV Sonata No.7 

   in B flat major, Op.83

5 pm, Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday, 13 April 2025

Get your tickets here:

https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/simon0425

Now watch this video:

Simon Trpceski is presented 

by Altenburg Arts.

GERHARD OPPITZ & KAHCHUN WONG - BRAHMS & SHOSTAKOVICH / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

GERHARD OPPITZ 

AND KAHCHUN WONG -

BRAHMS AND SHOSTAKOVICH

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall 

Friday (28 March 2025) 

This review was published in Bachtrack.com on 31 March 2025 with the title "Kahchun Wong inspires Singapore Symphony in Shostakovich and Brahms".

There are two Singaporean musicians who might justly be referred to as musical celebrities. One is former child prodigy violinist Chloe Chua while the other is Kahchun Wong, Principal Conductor of the Hallé and Chief Conductor of the Japan Philharmonic. Wong will become the first Singapore-born Music Director of the Singapore Symphony someday, but that will be something for the future. 

Presently, a two-week residency at his hometown orchestra has borne fruit. Tickets to both evenings of his first programme at Esplanade Concert Hall had been sold-out in advance. And what is there to object in a tandem of Brahms and Shostakovich? Brahms’ Second Piano Concerto is what the great Artur Schnabel might have described as “music better than could be performed”. 

And so it proved with septuagenarian German pianist Gerhard Oppitz, whose view was to regard his role as an integral part of the orchestra, in a four-movement symphony with piano obbligato. His monumental solo, thus, did not stand out like a hero battling orchestral forces but rather one sublimated within. The sonics were mostly in soft focus, even with the opening cadenza-like solo. And when the orchestra joined in, being swamped became a real possibility. This was most apparent in the opening movement, where the orchestra dominated and became the main focus. 

Things improved in the “little wisp of a Scherzo” (Brahms’ own words) where lightness and levity ruled, with Oppitz’s nimble fingers fully up to task. The best came in the slow movement with principal cellist Ng Pei-Sian’s sublime solo, where interplay between pianist and orchestra approached the grace and intimacy of chamber music. The finale’s fleetness seemed like an antidote to the heavy-lifting of earlier movements and Brahms’ send-up to the Viennese waltz was a refreshing way to close. Despite vociferous applause and encouragement, Oppitz was content to leave the stage without offering an encore. 

Photo: Jack Yam

The evening’s main event was undoubtedly Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony conducted wholly from memory by Wong. He certainly has definite ideas about the music, despite its ambivalence and seemingly open-ended message. The opening page, essentially a tone row, with its slashing brute force, could not have been more clearly enunciated. The juggernaut of a march that ensued after the exposition was all about oppression and utter dominance, evident in its broad sweep and arrogant swagger. 

Photo: Jack Yam

The Scherzo’s ironic waltz delivered a similar message, with solo entreaties from concertmaster Erik Heide’s violin, Evgueni Brokmiller’s flute and others being met with derision and ridicule, and the final closing chord deliberately held for longer than usual. SSO’s fabled strings led the Largo, setting the stage for its pall of catharsis. If there were a single movement not laden with vitriol, this was it, making for a truly moving plaint. 

The finale’s procession of triumphal bluster and its succession of repeated A’s have been well-debated, interpreted as forced rejoicing under severe duress. Wong’s reading, with the French horn section upturning their bells to dramatic effect in one passage, nailed this theory on its head. The prolonged applause that greeted its close may not have replicated that of its 1937 Leningrad premiere, but was an affirmation not of “a Soviet artist’s reply to just criticism” (Shostakovich’s own words), but rather a stiff middle finger to Soviet totalitarianism. 

Star Rating: ****

The review as published in Bachtrack.com:

https://bachtrack.com/review-kahchun-wong-oppitz-brahms-shostakovich-singapore-symphony-march-2025

CELLISSIMO / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Cello Ensemble / Review

 

CELLISSIMO 

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory 

Cello Ensemble 

Conservatory Concert Hall 

Thursday (27 March 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 29 March 2025 with the title "Stunning showcase of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory's cello talent".

If one wondered why there are so many highly accomplished young cellists plying their trade in Singapore’s concert scene today, look no further than the cello studio of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, helmed by Australian-Chinese cellist Qin Li-Wei. Cellissimo, now in its 20th edition, is the annual showcase for his students. 

This evening, twelve present students were joined by three alumni, Wu Daidai, Wang Zihao and Christopher Mui, who are members of professional orchestras today. Rather than highlighting solo virtuosity, this concert was about playing together. And there can be no awe-inspiring sight than 13 spiffily attired cellists opening the concert with German cellist-composer Julius Klengel’s Hymnus scored for 12 cellos. 

Photo: Kwai Ming Yang Lucas

Just listen to its individual parts coalesce into a resonantly beautiful whole, a case of “united we stand, divided we fall”. Its prayerful countenence then gave way to the pomp and ceremony of the Grand March from Giuseppe Verdi’s opera Aida in a truncated but effective arrangement. 

Photo: Kwai Ming Yang Lucas

Then the stage cleared to leave just two cellists, Zhu Zeyu and Liu Yubin, for two movements from Luigi Boccherini’s Cello Sonata in A major, where the focus was on the intimacy of two voices. Two became four when they were joined by Chang Jia-yun and Wang Jiaye who served as accompaniment for a lovely arrangement of Claudio Monteverdi’s Pur ti miro, the final touching duet from his opera The Coronation of Poppaea. 

The foursome stayed on for the Concert Waltz by Wilhelm Fitzenhagen, the German cellist for whom Pyotr Tchaikovsky composed his famous Rococo Variations. The elegant opulence of aristocratic ballroom scenes from the opera Eugene Onegin were lovingly relived. 

Chang and Wang became the soloists in contemporary Sicilian cellist-composer Giovanni Sollima’s Violoncelles, Vibrez! Like a modern-day concerto grosso, the duo was backed by six other cellists for a quasi-minimalist post-Romantic romp. Closing with an upward glissando and a theatrical circular sweep of the bows, this exuberant show lived up to Sollima’s teacher Antonio Janigro’s exhortation of “Cellos, vibrate!” 

It seems almost remiss of chamber concerts these days not to include tangos of the Argentine Astor Piazzolla. Thus his Libertango and Fuga y Misterio had heady airings from Chen Pei-yi, Chen Youjia, Liu You-yu and Cao Huiying, who reveled in the vibrant rhythms and skillful counterpoint. 

Georg Goltermann’s very brief but pleasant Serenade for four cellos then made way for James Barralet’s Four Folk Songs for eight cellos which transcribed melodies from India, Hungary and Russia in a respectful and convincing manner. The cellists were truly letting down their hair in this very enjoyable outing. 

Photo: Kwai Ming Yang Lucas

It seemed a pity the two-hour concert had to end sometime, but the full complement of the baker’s dozen returned with two generous but contrasting encores. Gabriel Faure’s Cantique de Jean Racine, originally written for choir, highlighted pure lyricism of string voices while Sollima’s widely striding Marcia was a vigorous send-off for the audience on an upbeat note.

EIN MUSIKALISCHE ABEND @ RC4, NUS

EIN MUSIKALISCHE ABEND @ RC4, 

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE 

Monday (24 March 2025), 6 pm

Yes, another soiree, but one with a difference. This time, it's held at the National University of Singapore's Residential College 4 where I am a guest of its Master, Professor Peter Pang of Mathematics. He's a regular concertgoer at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, and he's gathered three pianists, two former students and a college resident of his to perform a programme of piano music. They included a mathematician, an English Literature major and a student of Communications and New Media. 

Prof Peter Pang hopes this piano
will get played often.

The Yamaha grand piano at the Master's lounge was donated by NUS Centre for the Arts, and it is hoped it will continue to get more air time. Here are some photos from the 90-minute programme and what they performed. 

A really ambitious 90-minute programme.

Tan Weiyu opened the soiree
with J.S.Bach's Goldberg Variations.

He did not play the entire thing,
but the Aria, Variations I-IV,
Quodlibet & Aria da capo. 

Pamela Cheong contributed with
Mozart's Sonata in B flat major (K.333)

...and Schubert's Impromptu in G flat major,
a typical Horowitz programme from the 1980s.

Benjamin Cheah is happy to share
his programme of rarities, by
Pancho Vladigerov, Nikolai Kapustin
& Maurice Ravel.

Benjamin performed his demanding
programme completely from memory!

Applause for the three pianists.

Let's have another Abend sometime soon!

MUSICAL VOYAGE II / WHERE WORLDS CONVERGE: A NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS / Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra / National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

MUSICAL VOYAGE II 

Singapore National Youth 

Chinese Orchestra 

Singapore Conference Hall 

Saturday (22 March 2025)

WHERE WORLDS CONVERGE: 

A NIGHT AT THE CROSSROADS 

National University of Singapore 

Symphony Orchestra 

Conservatory Concert Hall 

Sunday (23 March 2025) 

This review was published in The Straits Times on 25 March 2025 with the review "Young orchestras SNYCO and NUSSO prove mettle in weekend concerts".

Just a fortnight after the Singapore National Youth Orchestra’s sterling performance under Singapore Symphony music director Hans Graf comes another weekend with two youth orchestras making their mark on the music scene. 

The Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra (SNYCO) led by Lien Boon Hua mastered a demanding programme which included works by three young Singaporean composers. First was the world premiere of Chok Kerong’s Bird’s-Eye View. Better known as a jazz pianist and arranger, Chok’s single-movement symphonic poem displayed range by resourceful use of tonal colours and unusual harmonies. Depicting the buoyancy of flight, the music soared with unfettered wings. 

Quite different yet engaging was Sulwyn Lok’s With a Little Bit of Love and Imagination, with excerpts that possessed the easy accessibility of pop-inspired movie music. In Phang Kok Jun’s Storytellers on Ann Siang Road, a musical duel ensued between erhus played by brothers Zeng Canran and Zeng Haoran, accompanied by just six players. By reflecting and merging disparate cultures of Chinese and Malay music, this was Nanyang music at its most intimate. 

This was contrasted by the well-established Nanyang classic that is Law Wai Lun’s Prince Sang Nila Utama and Singa. This saga on the founding of early Singapore was a musical voyage skillfully using gamelan scales to be found in Indonesian music. 

Photo: Singapore Chinese Orchestra

There were two works inspired by the culture and scenery of Tibet. Wen Zhanli’s The Encounter and the Forgotten Valley, a single-movement tone poem, relived the pomp of Tibet’s religious processions and relished in exuberant dances, closing with an impressive suona solo and implausibly long-held final note. 

Kuan Nai-chung’s four-movement symphony A Trip to Lhasa was the perfect picture-postcard travelogue, distinguished by playing of sensitivity and relentless vigour. There can be no more vivid music than its final two movements, depicting the blood-curdling ritual of a Celestial Burial and a raucous dance for Vanquishing Demons. 

Part of the National University of Singapore Arts Festival, the NUS Symphony Orchestra (NUSSO) led by Thai conductor Pamornpan Komolpamorn, resident conductor of the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, showcased its prowess and potential in two contrasted works. 

Photo: Asher Tan

The first was the world premiere of Singapore Symphony Orchestra principal flautist Jin Ta’s Life of a Rice. This pleasing 15-minute tone poem for solo flute and orchestra with projected animations depicted the journey of a rice grain from padi field to dinner table through a series of variations. The pentatonic melodies reflected its Chinese inspiration while extended cadenzas stamped Jin’s virtuoso credentials. 

Which young orchestra does not aspire to playing a symphony by Gustav Mahler? NUSSO’s first ever performance of the Austrian composer’s First Symphony was a dream come true, a reading that lacked nothing in guts and determination. 

Although it had a shaky opening in the depiction of dawn with brass yet to fully warm up, the orchestra soon gained confidence and composure, and never looked back. There was much vigour in the second movement’s Landler dance, the main impetus being its striding pace. 

The third movement’s funeral march was a droll canon on the Frere Jacques theme, led by solo double bass but with Klezmer elements coming on full flow, rusticity was turned on its head. Most impressive, however, was the finale’s primal scream, literally the “cry of a wounded heart” which showed that the musicians knew exactly what this music was about. 

The symphony’s titanic journey from death to life, with the entire French horn section up on its feet for a grandstanding end, raised the goosebumps and provided moments to remember and cherish.

A reunion of the Kent Ridge
Fine Music and Steak Appreciation Club
(No vegetarians accepted).