24+ VARIATIONS ON TONY YIKE YANG'S PIANO RECITAL @ CHOPIN SOCIETY OF SINGAPORE

Canadian pianist Tong Yike Yang was back in town. He performed an hour-long piano recital on Saturday (14 February 2026) inaugurating the Chopin Society of Singapore's Young Poets Series at the Victoria Park home of society president Dato Paul Supramaniam. This was Tony's fifth visit to Singapore, having performed here since 2020 in solo recitals as well as a concerto performance. 

The Chopin Society of Singapore aspires to elevate the status of classical music (and not just the music of Frederic Chopin) in the land. Through its cultural events such as this, it also hopes to promote young artists by presenting them in informal recitals where they can interact with the movers and shakers of local civil society. Tony's recital was just a beginning, and hopefully there will be more such events in the future. 

Tony considers Singapore almost a second home.

He opened the recital with the 
Five Preludes Op.16 by Alexander Scriabin,
who himself was a fan of Frederic Chopin.

He has a delicate touch which befits
the sensuality of the music, which later
morphed into big sounds and gestures
for the Fantasy in B minor, Op.28.

And now onto Chopin!

A majestic reading of the

Polonaise-Fantasy Op.61

In Tony's view, his performance

was more fantasy than polonaise.

You can see it was quite a full house.

The main course was
Chopin's Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.58

It was refreshing to hear the 1st movement
exposition repeat performed in a live performance.

A finish with a flourish!

Chopin Society president Dato Paul Supramaniam
extends his congratulations on behalf of all.

Befitting the coming Chinese New Year,
Tony's first encore was Ren Guang's
Colourful Clouds Chasing The Moon.

His second encore was Chopin's
Valse Brilliante in A flat major, Op.34 No.1.
Everyone is taking a video!

More thanks from all of us!

Dato Paul thanks the soiree organising committee.

Tony with local pianists
Zhou Yun, Donald Law and Lin Hengyue.

Separated at birth?

After the crowd has cleared,
Zhou Yun plays some Liszt and Schumann.

One of the few Bosendorfer
Imperial Grands in Singapore.

CROSS-CURRENTS / Yong Siew Toh Orchestral Institute

CROSS CURRENTS

Yong Siew Toh Orchestral Institute

Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (14 February 2026), 7.30 pm

It seems that the Yong Siew Toh Orchestral Institute led by Jason Lai has perfected the art of crafting the short concert, one that tells a story by uniting the themes into a complete and coherent whole. All within the space of an hour, music is delivered in digestible doses, fulfilling the credo of quality not quantity.

The evening opened with the haunting sound of the solo flute, Debussy's Syrinx (1913) heard from high up in the dress circle by the Conservatory's new head of winds, brass and percussion, Eric Lamb. Its ambiguous and fluid tonality makes it sound mysterious, and the purity of the sonority a close to unforgettable impression.

Lasting all but three minutes, it segued into the third movement of Mahler's Fourth Symphony, an ode to nature. Opening quietly, the strings crafted an oasis of inner peace, living up to its direction of Ruhevoll (calm, literally full of rest), which gently rose in temperature and volume in a most subtle of crescendos as the other instruments joined in. A passionate climax later, it returned to the solace it opened with.

Night turned to day with strokes of a tam tam leading to the opening pages of Debussy's La mer (The Sea), in a most riveting performance yet to be heard from these young players. From Dawn to Noon on the Sea, the balance of sound came close to perfect, particularly vivid were the low strings whipping up the tension of undercurrents, and it was easy to be swept away by the fantastical musical imagery conjured. To quote another composer (was it Stravinsky?), I particularly liked the part at about quarter-to-ten. Or was it quarter-past-ten?

The Play of the Waves intrigued and titillated the senses, while the final Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea whipped up a storm which seemed perilous at the time. Sureness and safety were key as the voyagers securely navigated the squall as the work blew to a frenzied but impressive close. I can conclude that this young orchestra is already playing at a higher level than the nation's first professional orchestra during its early years, and that cannot be a bad thing.

Eric Lamb and his flute get the applause.

CROSSINGS IN SOUND / National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

CROSSINGS IN SOUND

National University of Singapore 

Symphony Orchestra

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall

Friday (6 February 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 9 February 2026 with the title "NUSSO bridges divide between classical and pop in stirring fashion".

In the opening concert of the National University of Singapore Arts Festival 2026, the National University of Singapore Symphony Orchestra (NUSSO) conducted by Chan Tze Law presented a stirring programme that attempted to bridge the divide between classical music and popular forms.

Italian opera composer Gioachino Rossini’s Overture to La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is a “lollipop”, a work of lightness that early audiences could relate to as easily as popular music. Drum rolls opened the piece, which initially strided with martial pretension, before breaking loose to reveal its true comedic intentions.

Photo: NUS Office of Student Affairs, Centre for the Arts

The patented Rossinian crescendo that graces all his overtures was taken deliberately, building up to a head of steam before wrapping up in a joyous conclusion. If the orchestra had not fully warmed up, it did so in the Symphonic Dances from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story, orchestrated by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal.

Without replicated the exact sequence of songs and dances in the famous musical, it brought together most of its choreographed music, melding Latin and Puerto Rican rhythms with contemporary jazzy idioms in a virtuosic orchestral showpiece. Adding further interest were snapping fingers, a police whistle, lusty shouts of “Mambo!” and a fugue scored in jazz style.

While winds, brass and percussion were having a field day, the strings finally came into their own in the final song Somewhere, shining with a silvery sheen as the suite drew to a quiet close.

NUS Office of Student Affairs, Centre for the Arts

The final work was Ludwig van Beethoven’s Triple Concerto in C major (Op.56), the only concerto for piano trio (violin, cello and piano) in the active concert repertoire. For many, it was a guilty pleasure, often considered Beethoven’s least serious concerto but also the most fun to listen to.

Equally important was witnessing university students partnering and supporting Yong Siew Toh Conservatory’s dons and alumnus as soloists in concert. Where amateurs could stand equally tall with seasoned professionals, it was an exchange or metaphorical crossing that was never thought possible until recent times.

Beethoven never wrote a cello concerto but this came closest to it with cellist Qin-Liwei getting the plum parts and leading the way in all three movements. With violinist David Loke and pianist Ning An joining the fray, this was a spirited romp from start to finish.

With the orchestra quiet for much of the central slow movement, the trio was allowed to express itself with a luminous song-like glow. The finale’s Rondo alla Polacca, so named for its vigorous polonaise rhythm, provided a send-off that was clearly enjoyed by all in attendance.

NUS Office of Student Affairs, Centre for the Arts

The soloists’ encore of violinist Loke’s Pre-Dawn At Harbour River (a world premiere) opened in G minor like some trio elegiaque by Rachmaninov. Then morphing into a Canto-pop-like rave before breaking off abruptly as if he had run out of ink, paper and time, it drew plenty of laughs from the audience. It was a Haydnesque way of saying, “Enough of it, that’s all folks!”

THE FIRST SIX CDS I BOUGHT OVERSEAS (LONDON)

The once mighty HMV flagship
on Oxford Street / Oxford Circus
which shrunk and shrunk until it disappeared.

The 1980s was a good time to buy CDs in Singapore. Although 1985 was when I started collecting, it was only in 1989 when I first went overseas in search of recordings which you read about in Gramophone but were otherwise unavailable here. The Polygram (Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Philips), EMI and Columbia Masterworks (later Sony) labels were well served, readily available in local shops, but not the independent labels, so it was necessary to travel to get them. 

About the cheapest place to buy CDs
in London, according to Melvyn Tan.

London was the world's capital for CD buying, with major chain record stores (HMV, Tower Records, Virgin Megastore) and numerous independent retailers (Music Discount Centre, Harold Moores, Farringdon etc). There was practically nothing you could not find by hunting around, and numerous surprises would await to be discovered.

I actually bought CDs at Wigmore Hall!
They were simply ubiquitous, everywhere you see.

After completing my final professional exams (I passed eventually) in September 1989, I was let loose on London for the first time on my own, with travellers' cheques (remember them?) and credit card in tow. I went to town, literally speaking. The only downside was the Sterling Pound being something like 3.3 times stronger than the Singapore dollar (nowadays it's about half at 1.7 in exchange). So, every purchase was expensive, but rarity and desire trumped the exchange rate. 

Here are the first half dozen CDs which I bought in London in September-October 1989, and those were the days.   

Super-budget supermarket label,
retailing at GBP 2.99, even cheaper than Naxos.
Later found out the performance was by
William Boughton, not Sir Adrian Boult!

Bought at Wigmore Hall for GBP 11
at a Sunday morning concert.
Autographed by Leslie Howard.

Bought at Wigmore Hall at GBP 11
before a Domus concert.
Autographed by all four members of Domus.

A rarity from the now-defunct American
Arabesque label, GBP 11.99 at HMV Oxford Circus.
Later autographed by Ian Hobson.

A bargain at GBP 4.99 at HMV Oxford Circus.
Later autographed by Martin Jones.

A 2-CD box at GBP 19.99 in HMV Oxford Circus,
the most expensive item bought on this trip.
Autographed by Esa-Pekka Salonen after
a concert by The Philharmonia Orchestra.

Again, I happy to report that the CDs are still perfectly serviceable, providing me yet more hours of listening pleasure.