ZARATHUSTRA AND BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

ZARATHUSTRA AND 

BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (24 July 2026)

This review was published on 25 July with the title "Dynamic SSO steps up to music director Hannu Lintu's unusual pairing of Strauss and Bartok".

The tandem of German composer Richard Strauss with Hungarian modernist Bela Bartok does not seem like obvious bedfellows. However, the two major works programmed in the second concert of Singapore Symphony Orchestra new music director Hannu Lintu’s inaugural series proved uncannily synergistic.

Both Richard Strauss and Bela Bartok
composed these masterpieces in their relative youth.

Strauss was the master of orchestral opulence, and his tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra (Thus Spake Zarathustra, 1896) had it all. Is there any classical work with a more recognisable opening two minutes? His famous depiction of Sunrise opened with a low rumble from Koh Jia Hwei’s pipe organ, ushering in the iconic three-note motif (C-G-C) on Jon Paul Dante’s solo trumpet and an orchestral outburst in glorious C major.

Such an arresting opening gambit could have rendered the rest of the 33-minute work superfluous, but Lintu’s clear-headed direction ensured this first of climaxes to be part of a series of coherently connected episodes. While reveling in big moments, many moments of chamber music-like intimacy also stood out.

The journey of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ubermensch (Superman), pondering his yearnings and celebrating his achievements, also found a pivotal role for SSO’s new concertmaster Andrew Beer, whose ecstatic violin solo in the great waltz of the Tanzlied (Dance Song) was another high point. The orchestra responded with much immediacy, responsive to every dynamic shift in the music’s ebb and flow all through to a retiring but fulfilling close.

Photo: Jack Yam

While Strauss exulted in great aspirations of mankind, Bartok’s only opera Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, composed in 1911 but premiered in 1918, probed the underbelly and unmentionables of the soul. This highly effective concert-staging was sung in the Hungarian with Bela Balazs’ original libretto, with a spoken prologue voiced by famous Hungarian conductor Gabor Takacs-Nagy.

Photo: Jack Yam

There were sinister undertones to this “Once upon a time” introduction, heralding an hour-long psychological drama plumbing the deepest and darkest recesses of human ambition. Chinese bass-baritone Shenyang portrayed the eponymous villain with a cool and unflappable mien meant to be inscrutable. Opposite him was British mezzo-soprano Jennifer Johnston as newest bride Judith, displaying a tour de force of contrasted emotions – overbearing love, extreme vulnerability and inquisitiveness with a penchant for self-destruction.

Photo: Jack Yam

The pair of opposites were well-matched, their emotional tug-of-war accompanied by music of intricate detail best appreciated in a live performance rather than in recordings. This was Bartok’s orchestration at his most Romantic, preceding a more recognisable brutalist style of later years. A huge climax was reached at the opening of the fifth door, a revelation of Bluebeard’s immense wealth and territory, with stentorian chords in glorious C major - a most Straussian moment.

Photo: Jack Yam

The unfolding tension was acutely matched by Gabriel Chan’s deft lighting design and the audience engaged by English surtitles (expertly operated by Michael Huang). Most of all, the very positive audience response for sophisticated programming choices such as this bodes well for the concert seasons under Lintu’s helm to come.

GABOR TAKACS-NAGY & POLINA OSETINSKAYA / BACH AND SCHUMANN / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

GABOR TAKACS-NAGY &

POLINA OSETINSKAYA /

BACH AND SCHUMANN

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (13 February 2026) 

This review was published in Bachtrack.com on 17 February 2026 with the title "Gábor Takács-Nagy's Schumann trumps Bach at the Singapore Symphony".

The perennial question whether Johann Sebastian Bach should be played on the piano surfaced when the Singapore Symphony Orchestra performed two keyboard concertos led by the Hungarian conductor Gábor Takács-Nagy. Old Bach’s instrument was the harpsichord, part of the continuo, but the keyboard role soon grew in prominence, with his Brandenburg Concerto No.5 (1721) being acknowledged as the first harpsichord concerto. By the time he crafted his solo keyboard concertos (c.1738), the instrument used was still the harpsichord, not the upstart pianoforte invented by the Italian Bartolomeo Cristofori. How should one thus begin to approach the two concertos performed by Russian pianist Polina Osetinskaya on a modern Steinway grand?

Photo: Yoricko Liu

The SSO is not a period instrument ensemble, and seldom performs with harpsichord except at baroque concerts. It nevertheless did its best to tone down vibrato and volume all through the dainty Keyboard Concerto No.5 in F minor (BWV.1056), where the piano traipsed around gingerly as if it were a harpsichord. The best moments were in the central Largo where the piano’s elegance accompanied by just pizzicato strings outshone just about everything else.

In the more extended Keyboard Concerto No.1 in D minor (BWV.1052), the piano drifted in and out of the accompaniment, unsure of whether it was still part of the general ensemble or a soloist breaking out. Other than short cadenza-like flourishes, the former status prevailed but Osetinskaya made sure she projected well without being drowned out. The central Adagio sang like an aria, but one is left wondering whether a violin or oboe would have been more persuasive. All stops were pulled for the finale, which went full-virtuoso mode with the piano striving to break out of its strait-jacket but ultimately pre-destined to fall short. No fault of the pianist, who showed what she could do all on her own, in Egon Petri’s polyphonic transcription of Sheep May Safely Graze (from the Birthday Cantata) as lovely encore.

In a short preamble, GTN promises
his direction is better than his speech. 

Schumann’s Second Symphony in C major completed the concert with Takács-Nagy conducted from the floor and without baton. This apparent closeness to a slightly larger than chamber-sized forces yielded a performance that was taut, swift and lean without an ounce of fat. This most Beethovenian of Schumann’s four symphonies was not going linger around and smell the roses, yet there were moments that hinted of expansiveness. The measured pace of the opening and the slow movement which unfolded majestically were cases in point.

Photo: Yoricko Liu

The second movement’s Scherzo saw very accurate string prestidigitation which brought a very wide smile from Takács-Nagy at its close. The very busy finale breezed through with purpose and there was time to ensure that the quote of Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte (To the Distant Beloved), a declaration of Robert’s love for Clara, was not being underplayed. Schumann had trumped Bach on this very evening.

Star Rating: ****

The original review on Bachtrack.com can be read here:

Takács-Nagy’s Schumann trumps Bach at the Singapore Symphony | Bachtrack

Photographs from the BLUE DANUBE WALTZ 150TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

ON THE BEAUTIFUL DANUBE

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra et al

Conservatory Concert Hall

Saturday (18 November 2017)

A very special concert was held at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory to commemorate the 150^th anniversary of Johann Strauss the Younger’s most famous waltz On The Beautiful Blue Danube, which was composed in 1867. The concert conducted by eminent Hungarian maestro Gabor Takacs-Nagy (this year’s Ong Teng Cheong Visiting Professor of Music) featured the strings of the YST Conservatory augmented by 12 string players from four European musical academies (Hannover, Graz, Budapest and Bucharest) representing some nations through which the mighty Danube flows. The ambassadors of Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania were all present at this concert, which had been fully subscribed just a few days after its announcement.

How does one build a programme around the Blue Danube Waltz? Takacs-Nagy wisely chose string works by composers from the represented nations, music by Dvorak (Bohemia), Enesco (Romania) and Bartok (Hungary) as starters and main course before the Viennese dessert. He spoke before each piece, providing lots of personal insight in a totally informal and avuncular manner, which the audience appreciated.

Two movements from Dvorak’s Serenade for Strings made for a delightful opening. As one might expect, the string sound was sumptuous, and one could really feel the musical sunshine described by the conductor radiating from the finale. If Dvorak sounded light, two movements from Georges Enesco’s Octet provided more texture and contrapuntal fibre to the entrée. In this version for string orchestra, a greater volume of sound was generated, beautifully contrasted by the fine solos played by concertmaster Oszkar Varga from the Liszt Academy.

Arguably the best performances came in the 2^nd and 3^rd movements of Bartok’s Divertimento. The tremendous tension built up in the slow movement was palpable, with each jerky dotted rhythm phrase multiplied manifold to represent the tragedy and pain that was to befall Bartok’s homeland during Second World War. This world weariness gave out to a sense of joy in the rapturous finale, the vigorous rhythms of which were literally danced out by Takacs-Nagy on the podium. Seldom has one experienced such an unfettered show of exuberance among the players and conductor.   

Woodwinds, brass, percussion and harp joined in for the Blue Danube Waltz, for which Takacs-Nagy shared more of his childhood memories living in Budapest just a few minutes from the river. He could smell the river, and certainly he has the feel of music’s waves of waltz rhythm. It took some warming up from the brass in the introductory opening but before long, the lilting journey was underway. The secret of playing waltzes is not in keeping strict rhythm throughout but allowing the three-quarter time to heave and breathe through its course. And that was what the audience got, a reading of true vitality and rare feeling. The joy expressed by all the musicians on stage was clear to see, hear and feel.

As an encore, the orchestra offered Brahms’ Hungarian Dance No.5 (from the only German among the composers), and Takacs-Nagy humbly asked for permission to play the Blue Danube once more. Needless to say, that was most welcome, and it was double the pleasure this time around. 

GABOR TAKACS-NAGY CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN - WITH ANDRAS SCHIFF / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra / Review

GABOR TAKACS-NAGY

CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN

- WITH ANDRAS SCHIFF

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Tuesday (1 November 2016)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 3 November 2016 with the title "Colourful nod to Beethoven".

There was a Hungarian flavour to the all-Beethoven programme by the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra in its latest concert. Guest conductor Gabor Takacs-Nagy comes from an illustrious tradition of Hungarian conductors including Georg Solti, George Szell, Ferenc Fricsay, Eugene Ormandy and Fritz Reiner. Leading the Conservatory Orchestra for a second time in concert, he brought an old world charm to what might have been standard orchestral repertoire.

Breaking from tradition, he addressed the audience before two works, briefly explaining Beethoven's inspirations and intentions. The concert opened with the brief King Stephan Overture, composed for the 1812 opening of the grand theatre in Budapest. Named after the founding monarch of Hungary, its evocation of the Hungarian spirit included long-held lines alternating with faster music of a courtly and celebratory nature. The orchestra responded well to the conductor's cues, bringing out a spirited reading with textural colour and rhythmic vigour.

Next, the orchestra accompanied Hungarian-born pianist Andras Schiff in Beethoven's First Piano Concerto in C major (Op.15). Sensitive in every way, the soloist was allowed to shine in an ultimate expression of chamber music. Schiff's account was not barnstorming, but measured and delicate to every nuance and detail. It was interesting that he observed the single F natural “wrong note” in the 1st movement, which came about because keyboards in Beethoven's time did not include the high F sharp within its range.

He also played chords, octaves and accompanying figurations during the orchestral tuttis, as if he were part of the general ensemble. The 1^st movement cadenza was eventful in its storm and stress, capped by a loud chord followed by a cheeky soft broken chord. Beethoven's spirit would have heartily approved of this subversive and subtle humour that enlivened the music.

Gracefulness reigned in the slow movement, almost a pas de deux between piano and the orchestra's excellent clarinet principal Jang Zion. More crispness and light-hearted banter lit up the final Rondo, which leapt about with an irresistible joie de vivre. And there were two encores from the ever-generous Schiff, two Beethoven Bagatelles from Op.126. How prescient it was that the second encore included a hurdy-gurdy's bucolic drone, a most apt prelude for the Pastoral Symphony of the second half.

Takacs-Nagy adopted a comfortable pace for the orchestra to amble in the symphony's 1^st movement, which relived “happy feelings on arriving in the countryside”. The gently lapping rhythm of the 2^nd movement, Scene By The Brook, was bliss itself, answered by the chirpy bird-calls from the flute, oboe and clarinet.

The winds distinguished the 3^rd movement's village dance, with perfect timing from the oboe, bassoon, clarinet and French horn, before the perfect storm, where the timpani hurled thunderbolts while the shrill piccolo rode the wind. Beethoven's only slow movement finale was a hymn of thanksgiving, played with an overarching warmth with the message that all's well with the world. Conductor Takacs-Nagy's final gesture of pointing to the heavens above said it all.   

EROICA! / Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra / Review

EROICA!

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (14 November 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 17 November 2014 with the title "Heroic rendition of Beethoven's Eroica".

A large audience attended the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra’s first concert at the newly renovated Victoria Concert Hall. Although some concerns had been raised about fine-tuning the auditorium’s acoustics, these were answered in no small way by the quality of the performances by the young orchestra.

Overhead reflecting panels were removed for this concert, allowing the sound to rise above the stage, resulting in the projection to the stalls being rather less in-your-face. The first long- held note of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture was stunning, and the ensuing chords a promise of a grand show ahead.

Esteemed Hungarian guest conductor Gábor Tákacs-Nagy then upped the ante, guiding his charges through a performance that truly befitted the heroism of its subject, the 16^th century  Dutch nobleman who defied Spanish overlords and paid with his life. With each punched out phrase and stentorian gesture, held together with utmost cohesiveness, the players learnt much about vehemence and resistance.

Even when the orchestra was not under the spotlight, it distinguished by supporting pianist Wang Qiying to the hilt in Rachmaninov’s First Piano Concerto. This was a work from the Russian’s teenaged years, but substantially revised in 1917 to include much complicated and occasionally dissonant writing of his later period. Wang, winner of the Conservatory’s concerto competition, rose up to all the work’s thorny challenges with aplomb.

Her beguiling strength in big octaves, chordal passages and razor-sharp reflexes in the faster outer movements were equal to the singing of bittersweet and flowing melody, qualities that made Rachmaninov so beloved among listeners. In short, this was a reading that captured the fin de siècle spirit of Romanticism’s dying embers. 

Leaving the best for the last, Beethoven’s Third Symphony, also known as the Eroica, showed how an orchestra of students can be galvanised into heroics they did not know they possessed a week before. From the first note to the last, this was a performance conceived with mission and conviction, revealing a tautness that belied its inordinate length.

The opening was urgently driven but did not feel hurried, while the slow movement’s funeral march was a stepwise build-up from quiet brooding to a grandstanding procession. The journey was a breathtaking one, with no let-up in the Scherzo where a trio of French horns stole the show with its carousing choruses.

This led without a breather into the finale’s variations on a quirky dance theme from Beethoven’s ballet The Creatures of Prometheus. Here is the usually gruff German at his gayest, with humour and frolicking shining through. The hectic tempos of before had now transformed into the gush of ecstasy. Long and loud cheers greeted its conclusion, for the young ensemble had given a concert that even professional orchestras will be proud of.