ROMANCE & FIRE: ZHANG HAOCHEN PLAYS RACH 3 / Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

 

ROMANCE & FIRE:

HAOCHEN ZHANG PLAYS RACH 3

Orchestra of the Music Makers

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (10 January 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 12 January 2026 with the title "William Walton's First Symphony steals thunder from Rachmaninov in OMM concert".

The selling point of the Orchestra of the Music Makers’ latest concert may have been Sergei Rachmaninov’s popular Third Piano Concerto featuring a star pianist, but in reality the big news was the Singapore premiere of English composer William Walton’s First Symphony.

William Walton as a young man

Led by music director Chan Tze Law, the 45-minute four-movement masterpiece was moulded in the hallowed tradition of Edward Elgar’s two massive symphonies. However, its overall tone was completely different. Gone were grandstanding moments of nobilmente (nobility), in its place a nervous tension that was stoked up from the very first page.

The opening movement’s angst was developed incrementally, building up to seemingly suffocating climaxes, and then without relenting went for the jugular instead. The vitriolic Scherzo marked “con malizia” (with malice) sounded more like “with mischief”, but this belied a deeper despair that finally came to fruition in the slow movement.

Photo: Yong Junyi

Now marked “con malinconia” (with melancholy), a series of aria-like solos heralded by Cheryl Lim’s flute paved a path of catharsis that was laid bare in this deeply felt performance. The finale, composed separately and later than the preceding three movements, sounded like a completely different work altogether.

Photo: Yong Junyi

Its optimistic tone signalled a change of fortunes, which was milked for all its worth, including a triumphant fugue at its climax. Its suitably protracted close had the audience applauding prematurely at a false ending. Conductor Chan, a proven Wagnerian, Mahlerian and Elgarian, can now add Waltonian to his many accolades.

Rachmaninov’s Third Piano Concerto seemed almost like an afterthought, but young Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang, joint winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, made several personal points in this overworked warhorse.

His was not the fire-breathing performance one might usually expect, but a carefully thought-out one well-worked with orchestra and conductor. By placing the piano ahead rather than flush with the slightly pared-down orchestra, he was able to fearlessly project. He did so with utmost clarity and immediacy, sometimes emphasising left hand notes and bringing out hidden voices.

Photo: Yong Junyi

The score’s myriad technical challenges seemed like putty in his hands, and he chose the longer and thornier chordal cadenza to cap the opening movement. The orchestra also worked more like a partner rather than mere accompanist, and it was a joy to hear Seow Yibin’s solo oboe ring out the Intermezzo’s brooding main theme with much poignancy. The temperature then rose for the rapturous finale, and Zhang’s faultless fingers romped home to a reception of thunderous applause richly deserved.

Photo: Yong Junyi

After the showboating, Zhang’s mellow encores served like a salve. Claude Debussy’s And The Moon Descends On The Temple That Was from Images (Book Two) revealed beautiful voicing and Robert Schumann’s Traumerei (Dreaming) from Scenes from Childhood was the perfect parting gift for a totally engaged audience.

Zhang Haochen shuts the piano lid for the
last time, much to the audience's amusement.