BEHZOD ABDURAIMOV AND HANS GRAF - RACHMANINOFF AND RAVEL / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

BEHZOD ABDURAIMOV & HANS GRAF -

RACHMANINOFF AND RAVEL 

Singapore Symphony Orchestra 

Esplanade Concert Hall 

Friday (11 April 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 14 April 2025 with the title "Hans Graf and SSO deliver commanding performance of Ravel".

In a Singapore Symphony Orchestra concert that heavily touted the names of Sergei Rachmaninoff and Maurice Ravel, Dame Ethel Smyth had the first say. She was the first woman composer to receive a damehood (in 1922) and a known feminist whose staunch support of the suffragette movement in the United Kingdom even led to a jail sentence for her violent activism. 

On the Cliffs of Cornwall, the atmospheric Prelude to Act 2 of her 1904 opera The Wreckers, saw the orchestra led by music director Hans Graf conjure a lush post-Wagnerian soundscape. Its chromatic musical language and indeterminate tonality generated suspense, but polished playing – with solos from oboe, clarinet, violin and trumpet - made this Singapore premiere a memorable one. 

This set the stage for excellent young Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov in Rachmaninoff’s popular Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. This 1st prizewinner of the London International Piano Competition in 2009 not only possessed the virtuosity to surmount its myriad challenges, but also crisp and crystal-clear articulation to make it sound easy. 

Its 24 continuous variations on Italian violin virtuoso Niccolo Paganini’s Caprice No.24 range from the simple and flippant to fearsome knuckle-busting octaves and chords, and Abduraimov took it all in his stride. His arch-like vision of its entirety was replicated in the famous 18th Variation, with a steady build up from pure lyricism to a breathtaking chordal climax. 

Encouraged by loud and prolonged applause, his two impressive encores were founded on the composers that came before. Franz Liszt’s scintillating La Campanella (after the finale of Paganini’s Second Violin Concerto) and Rachmaninoff’s song-like Prelude in G major (Op.32 No.5) were very apt choices. 

Despite the earlier heroics, the evening’s true highlight was the Singapore premiere of the complete ballet music from Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé. Designated a symphonie choreographique, its 55-minute run is more than three times the length of the often-performed Suite No.2 which concludes with the masterpiece’s most familiar music. 

By hearing the full score, one better grasped how the French composer had derived and developed the themes that found glorious fruition in its final 15 minutes. Aiding and abetting the sensuously sensitive playing of the orchestra was the haunting wordless chorus provided by 95 singers from the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir (Eudenice Palaruan, Choral Director). 

Without a doubt, this was Ravel’s sexiest music ever conceived, especially trumping his over-hyped Bolero. Graf’s magisterial command of his forces was admirable, the sultry and idyllic existence of nymphs and shepherds on the mythical isle of Lesbos being close to perfectly captured. The graceful dance of hero Daphnis contrasted with the gaucheness of his rival Dorcon also made for striking contrasts. 

And who was not waiting for that most evocative depiction of Dawn? Principal flautist Jin Ta’s shone brightly, as did guest concertmaster Sulki Yu’s silky violin, before swooping choral glissandi and the full orchestra’s might in the bacchanalian Danse Generale brought the evening to a rousing and raucous conclusion.

This concert was also reviewed on Bachtrack.com:

https://bachtrack.com/review-graf-abdurainov-smyth-ravel-rachmaninov-singapore-symphony-april-2025