A PIANO RECITAL NOT TO MISS: RAFAL BLECHACZ ON 5 FEBRUARY @ ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL

Here is a piano recital not to be missed. Polish pianist Rafał Blechacz makes his Singapore debut on Thursday 5 February 2026 at Esplanade Concert Hall. 1st prizewinner of the 2005 Chopin International Piano Competition, Rafał Blechacz also won all the special prizes including best performances of piano concerto, Polonaise and Mazurka. Chopin's music figures large in his piano recital here, which also includes other favourites of the piano repertoire.

His recital programme as follows:

Beethoven Piano Sonata No.14 

  in C sharp minor (Op.27 No.2) "Moonlight"

Schubert Four Impromptus, Op.90 (D.899)

Chopin Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op.60

Chopin Ballade No.3 in A flat major, Op.47

Chopin Three Mazurkas, Op.50

Chopin Scherzo No.3 in C sharp major, Op.39

Thursday 5 February 2026

Esplanade Concert Hall at 7.30 pm

Get your tickets here:

Finger Waltz Piano Nights 2026: Piano Recital by Rafał Blechacz Chopin Champion - Singapore Debut

Watch this video:

Chopin Barcarolle, Op.60

Chopin Piano Concerto No.1

Rafał Blechacz's piano recital is presented by

Finger Waltz Music Productions

PICTURES AT THE EXHIBITION / BERTRAND CHAMAYOU & PIERRE BLEUSE / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

PICTURES AT AN EXHIBITION /

BERTRAND CHAMAYOU 

& PIERRE BLEUSE

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (30 January 2026)

This review was first published on Bachtrack.com on 2 February 2026 with the title "Pierre Bleuse and Singapore Symphony raise the roof with Prokofiev and Mussorgsky".

French conductor Pierre Bleuse returned to lead the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, and the decibel limit was again lifted. In 2024, Esplanade Concert Hall rocked with the racket that was Respighi’s Feste Romane, followed by Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique last year. The ear-quake offered early in 2026 came in Prokofiev’s Scythian Suite, recycling music from the aborted ballet Ala et Lolli which had been rejected out of hand by Serge Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes. Inspired by Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, its primal violence was channelled through violent and clangourous ostinatos, reinforced by a battery of nine percussionists.

This is classical music’s heavy metal, foundary-forged without apology by Russian music’s enfant terrible before his escape from a collapsing Tsarist Russia to the West. Despite the dissonance, the music was never dodecaphonic, instead founded on established tonal centres which even possessed a modicum of hummability. This discord was highlighted with moments of tonal sensuality, muted strings floating over woodwind melodies and entreaties from both harps. Prokofiev was a Romantic at heart, but one covered from head to toe with spikes. Inducing the audience to applaud prematurely after the sonic orgy of The Evil God and Dance of Pagan Monsters, he was to influence modern film music more than given credit for.

The orchestra responded with a heightened trenchancy, which continued into Liszt’s First Piano Concerto in E flat major, in support of French pianist Pierre Chamayou. Launching with octave salvoes and blitzing the opening cadenza, Chamayou’s mastery was without doubt. His seemingly effortless pianism made one better appreciate Liszt’s genius in thematic metamorphoses and transformation. Like his Second Piano Concerto (which Chamayou performed here in 2016) or Sonata in B minor, simple motifs are developed which begin to seamlessly assume a life of their own. 

Photo: Yoricko Liu

Piano trills leading to the third movement soon became one with Jonathan Fox’s solo triangle, a part so prominent that led critics to call it Liszt’s “triangle concerto”. The concerto’s breathlessly virtuosic close was driven with such elan and scintillation that Chamayou had to calm things down in his encore, Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante defunte delivered with crystalline beauty.

That itself was a knowing nod to the concert’s second half, with Ravel’s popular orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. For many, the original suite for piano suffers from monochromatic writing, something which Ravel gloriously transformed into a concerto for orchestra of sorts. Jon Paul Dante’s solo trumpet led in the opening Promenade, answered by the brass in full voice. 

Photo: Yoricko Liu

Orchestral effects abounded, such as mysterious string glissandi in the awkwardly angular Gnomus, but none came as poetic as the scoring of Samuel Phua’s alto saxophone in The Old Castle. Tomoki Natsume’s tuba had its work cut out in the lumbering ox-cart Bydlo, but it was Dante who starred again in Schmuyle, the second of the Two Polish Jews, with his repeated-note bleatings.

In a work with many highlights, the chirpy Ballet of Unhatched Chicks and frenetic Marketplace in Limoges stood out, but it was the concluding Baba Yaga’s Hut and Great Gate of Kiev, with chiming tubular bells, which closed the evening on an ear-shattering high. With this very loud and sonorous close, conductor Bleuse and company blew away the audience yet again, which reciprocated with an equally voluminous and raucous response.

Principal trumpet Jon Paul Dante
gets his plaudits.

Star Rating: ****  

The original review was published in Bachtrack.com here:

Pierre Bleuse and the Singapore Symphony raise the roof again | Bachtrack

HERE ARE THE 6 FINALISTS OF SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION 2026

The six finalists of the Singapore International Violin Competition 2026 have been named. On Wednesday and Thursday (4 & 5 February), each artist will perform in the Finals as the first violinist in string quartet by Joseph Haydn with members of the Shanghai Quartet. Their choice of repertoire is limited to Haydn's String Quartet Op.77 No.1 or No.2

They are:

SongHa Choi (South Korea) *
Zou Meng (China) **
Georgii Moroz (Ukraine) **
   performing Wednesday (4 February 2026)

Michael Germer (Denmark) *
Karisa Chiu (USA) *
Qingzhu Weng (China) *

  performing Thursday (5 February 2026)

  * String Quartet in G major, Op.77 No.1

** String Quartet in F major, Op.77 No.2

 

Tickets for the Finals at Victoria Concert Hall on sale here:

Singapore International Violin Competition: Finals

SEMI-FINALS OF SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION 2026

The full semi-finals schedule

The semi-finals of the Singapore International Violin Competition has begun. I only managed to attend the first session, held on a free and easy Sunday. From 10 am to 6 pm, I got to witness violin artistry from six of twelve young and very talented artists. Each was to perform a recital of up to 60 minutes, inclusive of the competition's specially commissioned set-piece, Soliloquy by Singaporean violinist-composer David Loke.

Loke is an alumnus of Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and member of the Lorong Boys "garage band" ensemble. His six-minute solo work Soliloquy relives the spirit of virtuosity in Eugene Ysaye's solo sonatas but minus the chromaticism. Written in two parts, the first is slow and introspective but before long launches into an animated dance of its second part which demands nothing short of violin calisthenics including galloping runs of doubling stopping to a brilliant close in A minor. Needless to say, the violinists (who have already mastered unaccompanied Bach and Ysaye by this point) made short work of it. 

With so much artistry on show, one cannot but feel disappointed by the meager attendances at the Conservatory. The sessions were free and showcased the great sonatas of the violin repertory, and yet there never seemed more than 20 people in the audience at any given time. Where were the many violin students that Singapore was purported to have? And where were the violin teachers and their hordes of students from whom they have amassed a fortune? Busily spending Sunday teaching, I suppose. 

That the competition was so little publicised was also disappointing, almost stooping to the level of the Singapore International Piano Competition. This has been a massive come down from the hoopla of the first competition in 2015, which seemed like a long time ago. 

What was not disappointing, however, was the standard of playing, which afforded me six hours of enjoyment. As one equally faithful member of the audience told me, "I came because these are simply great free chamber concerts!"

Six Sunday semi-finalists

and what they performed:

Yesong Sophie Lee (USA) with 
Evgeni Sinaisky performed
Richard Strauss Violin Sonata and
Franz Waxman's Carmen Fantasy.

SongHa Choi (South Korea) had the most
adventurous programme, playing
Bartok's Violin Sonata No.1 &
Stravinsky's Divertimento with Evan Solomon.

Emmanuel Coppey (France) with
Arthur Hinnewinkel performed an all-French
programme of Faure's Violin Sonata No.1
and Ernest Chausson's Poeme.

Zou Meng (China) with Ge Xiaozhe
made music with Brahms' Violin Sonata No.1
and Saint-Saens-Ysaye's
Etude in the form of a Waltz. 

Georgii Moroz (Ukraine) with Ge Xiaozhe
performed Bartok's Rhapsody No.1
and Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No.1.

Haram Kim (South Korea) with Ge Xiaozhe
in Brahms Violin Sonata No.2 and
Franck's Sonata, both in A major.

You can watch the semi-finals 

on Youtube here:

Semi-finals Day 1 

(Sunday, 1 Feb 2026)

Semi-finals Day 2 

(Monday, 2 Feb 2026)

THE SEMI-FINALISTS OF SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL VIOLIN COMPETITION 2026 HAVE BEEN NAMED!

The 12 Semi-finalists of Singapore International Violin Competition 2026 have been named. 

On Sunday and Monday (1 and 2 February), each violinist will perform an hour-long recital which will include a major violin sonata from the 19th and 20th century, the specially commissioned set-piece Soliloquy by Singaporean violinist-composer David Loke, and other repertoire not previously performed.

The violinists in performing sequence are:

Yesong Sophie Lee (USA)

Songha Choi (South Korea)

Emmanuel Coppey (France)

Zou Meng (China)

Georgii Moroz (Ukraine)

Haram Kim (South Korea)

  performing on Sunday 

  (1 February 2026 from 10 am)

Michael Germer (Denmark)

Dindin Wang (China)

Karisa Chiu (USA)

Hairui Lei (China)

Qingzhu Weng (China)

Jingzhi Zhang (China)

  performing on Monday 

  (2 February 2026 from 10 am)

Attendance to the semifinals at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Concert Hall is free and non-ticketed. You can also watch the performances of Youtube (but that is not as fun). The performing schedule is as follows:

The official announcement and
certification of the semi-finalists.

TIME OUT WITH FRIENDS / Jacob Cheng, Aidan Yeong & Casey Li Piano Trio / Review

 

TIME OUT WITH FRIENDS

Jacob Cheng (Violin), 

Aidan Yeong (Cello) 

& Casey Li (Piano)

Esplanade Recital Studio

Wednesday (28 January 2026)

Ever wondered at any concert how classical musicians get to be the masters of their art? Clue: they start playing at a very young age, and get to be very good early in the game. Through inspired guidance and counsel from their teachers, they become technically adroit, improve in leaps and bounds, and generally hang around other similarly talented young people. Then they form groups to play together. Some years ago, I saw ARTrio (violinist Jacob Cheng, cellist Timothy Chua and pianist Asher Seow) perform and was suitably impressed. With his friends overseas, Jacob now has a new and as yet unnamed trio, working with cellist Aidan Yeong and pianist Casey Li.

Their concert together was very well subscribed, and it is safe to say that nobody was disappointed with their performance of highly demanding works, which even most adults shy away. The evening opened with Aiden and Casey in the first two movements of Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D minor (Op.40). This one of the Soviet dissident composer’s more lyrical and approachable works, yet requires maturity and no little technical nous to pull off.

Aiden impressed with a big tone, one unafraid flex bowing muscles, yet allied with nimbleness of articulation. You can hear the cello sing, a baritone that displays both tenderness and gruffness in short order. Casey’s pianism was alert and very accurate, a close to perfect partner in the proceedings. The freewheeling Scherzo was handled with boldness and with no little irony, with pizzicatos and glissandi flying off the bat, and bringing back fond memories of Mstislav Rostropovich’s unforgettable performance in Singapore in 1992.

It was now Jacob’s turn with a full-length work, Poulenc’s Violin Sonata (1942-43) with pianist Cherie Khor Shang Jin as partner. He has the full measure of its bittersweet humour, his wiry and slightly acidic tone well suited for its Stravinskyan shifts in dynamics and dance rhythms. Lyricism was never in short supply, coming to full fruition in the languorous slow central movement. 

Even when the madcap antics of the opening returned for the finale, it came with an off-switch, the closing pages now tempered with bitterness and grief, a memorial to the death of Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. For someone as young as Jacob, how he was able to grasp the inspiration and idiom behind the music was simply stunning.

Casey was all on her own in Prokofiev’s Four Etudes Op.2, which is competition fodder in many worldwide concours. The young Russian was an enfant terrible from the “Age of Steel”, represented by the relentless diesel-powered mechanistic poundings of the keyboard. All four pieces worked on various areas of technical prowess. 

She got all the notes with consummate (and enviable) ease, but also much of the hidden nuances beyond the black and white. No.3 in C minor was the most Russian of these, combining foreboding and tragedy with the fatalist treadmill of running thirds and grinding chords. Evgeny Kissin famously encored this in his 1990 Carnegie Hall debut, and I dare say Casey was every bit as prodigious.

The concert’s second half was devoted to just one work, Brahms’ Piano Trio No.1 in B major (Op.8), in its revised and more commonly performed version. This was the acid test of what soloists face when working in tandem with others, and all three musicians surpassed themselves. The opening’s gorgeous melody was lovingly voiced, and from there the movement’s development blossomed into one big love-in. The Scherzo’s skittishness and lightness of rhythms was well handled, and before another big melody joined the fray.

The slow movement was spare in texture and motion, but necessitated all the faculties of close concentration between all three musicians. This was where listening to each other became paramount, and nobody missed a beat in this exploration of the stillness of the soul. The finale returned to the earlier hustle-bustle, and with renewed vigour, the work closed on a stirring and spirited high. Heartist congratulations go to all three players, and their teachers whom I will name: Loh Junhong (Jacob), Leslie Tan (Aidan) and Benjamin Loh (Casey). They have all reason to be proud of the musical achievements of mere 16 and 17-year-olds.

Now, let’s hope this trio signs up to perform, polish their craft, and gain more insight about chamber music at this year’s Singapore Chamber Music Festival. At this rate, they will soon be going places.