CONCERT SERIES: SIBELIUS & BRAHMS / Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Orchestra / Review

 

CONCERT SERIES: SIBELIUS & BRAHMS

NAFA Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (26 March 2026)

Singapore has become a city of orchestras, and if one wondered how that came about, it would be prudent to check out the musical education institutions and their student orchestras. Much has been written about the Yong Siew Toh Orchestral Institute, and its now time to also focus on the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Orchestra (NAFA Orchestra). NAFA’s School of Music is the older institution, having being founded in the 1984 (YST arrived in 2003), and its orchestra benefits from the experience of Singapore’s most senior living conductor, Lim Yau.

Lim’s career has taken him to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Singapore Lyric Opera, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and The Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Chorus, and now NAFA. Literally thousands of musicians in Singapore – professionals and amateurs, adults and young people – have made serious good music under his guiding wings for the past four decades. In this respect, his legacy extends further than that of Choo Hoey or Lan Shui, and older pioneering figures like Paul Abisheganaden and Goh Soon Tioe.

NAFA Orchestra’s concert opened with Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, and the young musicians barely needed to warm up to create a warm sonorous atmosphere. String tremolos and a very confident quartet of French horns (who were in tune throughout) established the main theme of the opening Intermezzo, and the festive procession of Finnish self-determination kicked off from there. The velvety string sonority continued in the Ballade, where solo cor anglais also got a rare moment to shine. The concluding Alla Marcia strided with purpose and direction, little wonder how this suite came to symbolise the pride of Finnish nationalism.

Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor (Op.47) is now a staple of young violin virtuosos, and 4th year student Zhu Zunzun boldly stepped up to the challenge. From the outset, she brought out a robust and brawny tone, beginning with quiet mystery and later embracing the unlikely lyricism of this rough-hewn work. She was never overwhelmed by orchestral forces, instead projecting with authority, including in the first movement’s two very thorny cadenzas.

In the slow movement, the tension was built up organically to a fine climactic high. Only in the fiery finale’s “Polonaise for polar bears” did her technique fall somewhat short, finding some difficulty in matching its quicksilver pace. However that treacherous passage of harmonics was negotiated with perfect intonation, its tight-rope act surmounted before closing in a brilliant flourish to cue in loud and prolonged applause.

The concert’s second half belonged to Brahms’ Second Symphony in D major (Op.73), sometimes referred to as his “Pastoral” due to its congenial spirit and overall warmth. The orchestra employed was not a particularly big one, and a spirit of chamber music was to be upheld this evening. The quartet of French horns shone again in its opening, something which wasn’t always a guarantee during the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s early years. 

I still remember SSO’s first attempt at this symphony at the Singapore Conference Hall in January 1980, and in many ways, NAFA Orchestra has already surpassed its forebears. The famous quote of Brahms’ Wiegenlied (Op.49 No.4) was a curious look at nostalgia without being over-sentimentalised, and the movement’s development was excellently handled.

The slow movement came like a veil of dark clouds, but Lim’s magisterial handling of its narrative ensured that sunshine was not too far away. Notwithstanding a French horn fluff along the way, the playing reflected that certainty with immediacy. The Allegretto grazioso chattered along amiably with woodwinds including an excellent oboe solo holding court in this cheerful scherzo-like movement.

Then came the valedictory finale, where Allegro con spirito started with hushed tones, but the joyous spirit could never be suppressed for long. The outburst of good feelings was palpable in the playing throughout, and there should be no apology for Brahms’ happiest and most optimistic symphony. Lim Yau and his NAFA charges did themselves proud in this performance, and the audience heartily concurred.