HANS GRAF FAREWELL SERIES: MYSTERE DE L'INSTANT / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

HANS GRAF FAREWELL SERIES:

MYSTERE DE L’INSTANT

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Friday (15 May 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 18 May 2026 with the title "Conductor Hans Graf tests virtuosity of musicians with French programme of avant-garde and fun fare".

The second concert programme of Singapore Symphony Orchestra music director Hans Graf’s Farewell Series was an all-French affair. Although well-known for his interpretation of Austro-German and Central European repertoire, his sympathy for modern French music extended to two albums of orchestral music by 20th century master Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013).

Dutilleux’s Mystere de l’instant (Mystery of the Moment), composed as recently as 1989, received its first Singapore performance. Scored for strings, cimbalom (dulcimer) and percussion, its rarefied palette of shades and dissonances was a revelation all through ten short but volatile movements.

All form of string techniques encapsulated in 24 independent parts were experimented, while Patrick Ngo’s yangqin (doubling as cimbalom), Mario Choo’s percussion and Christian Schioler’s timpani were used sparingly but strategically. Graf was putting to the test the virtuosity of his players, succeeding admirably while also opening the ears of listeners unaccustomed to the avant-garde.

The rest of the concert offered much easier listening in the form of lollipops. Two showpieces for violin highlighted the uncommon prowess of young Salzburg-based Chinese violinist He Ziyu. Opening with Camille Saint-Saens’s popular Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso, he exhibited a singing tone and spot-on intonation.

Arguably more challenging was Maurice Ravel’s Tzigane, a gypsy rhapsody that opens with an extended solo of immense difficulty, leading to an unbuttoned dance which gave a new meaning to gay abandon. The natural ease at which he negotiated the music’s myriad twists and turns was further highlighted in his encore, Ukraine-born violin virtuoso Nathan Milstein’s Paganiniana, a fiendish mash-up of Nicolo Paganini’s Caprices with the infamous No.24 as a starting point.

The celebration of miraculous youth continued into the concert’s second half with Singapore’s most prominent classical saxophonist Samuel Phua in Darius Milhaud’s Scaramouche. Originally conceived for two pianos, this orchestral version delighted in its sheer busyness, with the opening movement pitting sax against the forces of some implacable big band.

His voice finally came to the fore in the slow movement, a creamily-tone romance turned bluesy by discreet pairs of trumpets and trombones, which sounded even better than the original. The finale was a Brazilian samba with the irrepressible spirit of a Mardi Gras in Rio. Speaking of festivals, his encore of local composer Wang Chenwei’s Thaipusam, originally for violin solo, swung like cool Carnatic jazz.

Despite its diminutive title, Francis Poulenc’s four-movement Sinfonietta (1948) is a major 30-minute work in four movements which exceeded the lengths of most Mozart symphonies. Conceived in neoclassical style with influences by Igor Stravinsky and the cabaret, the line between popular and serious music became blurred beyond recognition.

Wit and humour abounded in its pages, captured with requisite verve by Graf and his charges. The scherzo-like second movement relived the jive of the earlier Milhaud (both composers were part of a Parisian clique called Les Six), while the slow movement lilted with the gentle grace of a baroque-era dance. It was left in the Mozartian finale to pull out all stops for a delightful conclusion of an intriguing but enjoyable programme.

All photos by Yoricko Liu, 

courtesy of Singapore Symphony Orchestra

A NIGHT IN VIENNA / SINGAPORE SYMPHONY BALL 2026

One of the prestige high society events of the year, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra Ball, was held at the Grand Ballroom of the Ritz Carlton on Saturday evening 16 May 2026. I was a guest of musical philanthropist and music lover Kris Tan, and was seated among the most musically gifted of the land. To enjoy an evening of Viennese gemutlichkeit, with an Austrian menu and Johann Strauss music performed by the SSO and its Austrian music director Hans Graf. It is not often the MD of SSO gets to conduct at the fundraising gala dinner, and all who attended had that privilege.

Look, Two-Set Violin were invited too!

Who just escaped from the set of Amadeus?

Mugging with the rich, famous and gifted.
With Choo Chiau Beng, Prof & Mrs Bernard Tan
& YST Head of Winds, Brass
& Percussion Eric Lamb

Former SSO Co-Leader Lynnette Seah
and her elder son Maurice.

Enough of babble, here are the photos of food, music, dance and hobnobbing with the celebrities.

Two Zhangs,
SSO Principal violist Zhang Manchin
and Zaobao journo Zhang Heyang

I was fortunate to be seated with
concert pianist and musical scholar See Ning Hui

SSO Chairman Goh Yew Lin
gives the State of the Orchestra address

Host with the most, Kris Tan and her
daughter Lim Kang Ning get acknowledged

That tasted better than it looked

SSO musicians preparing to go on stage

The musical menu

And the waltzing begins, with SSO CEO
Kenneth Kwok and Anna Graf leading the way

Kris Tan takes on Brett of Two-Set Violin

To close, the encore of Perpetuum Mobile,
und so weiter...

More hobnobbing, with DBS CEO Tan Su Shan
and her mother Mrs Rosie Tan (Auntie Rosie)

Violinist David Loke, Heyang
and Ding Yi conductor Dedric Wong

SSO Artistic Planning chief Christopher Cheong,
SAF Central Band Director Ignatius Wang
and SSO Dy. CEO Kok Tse Wei 

Three-Set Zhang
(Zhang, Cheong & Chang)

HANS GRAF FAREWELL SERIES: SCHEHERAZADE / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / A Reminiscence

 

HANS GRAF FAREWELL SERIES:

SCHEHERAZADE

Esplanade Concert Hall

Thursday (7 May 2026)

Thank you, Music Director Hans Graf. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra embarked on a final chapter with its third Music Director Hans Graf with three programmes in his Farewell Series of concerts. From 2020, Graf’s tenure began with the troubling episode which we will remember as the global Covid-19 pandemic. There was a total suspension of concert activity for several months, and then the very gradual process of reintroducing concert via online streaming, then socially distanced live concerts for very limited audiences. It was only in April 2022, when full-length concert programmes returned, with Graf and his SSO presenting an all-Shostakovich concert.

Adventurous programming has characterised Graf’s choices. Singapore had local premieres of Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (complete incidental music), Ravel’s complete ballet Daphnis et Chloe and his single-act opera L’Heure Espagnole (The Spanish Hour). Even before that, he led the Singapore premiere of Alexander Zemlinsky’s Die Seejungfrau (The Mermaid).

Photo: Jack Yam

This mostly Russian concert opened with Rachmaninov’s early tone poem The Rock. From the outset, refinement of ensemble was evident, and so was the solo playing, particularly from Evgueni Brokmiller’s flute and Li Xin’s clarinet. The warmth of SSO strings continued to radiate as the music shifted gears from its dour opening to passionate highs. The Lermontov poem and Chekhov story becomes secondary to the musical narrative which offered hope for the eponymous old man in the presence of a young lady but isolation and resignation at its end. SSO has recorded this on BIS but a live performance is always the preferable experience.

The inclusion of Polish composer Karol Szymanowski’s Second Violin Concerto (1932) was a touch of inspiration. Some 25 years ago, SSO performed the First Violin Concerto (1916) with Pierre Amoyal playing the Kochanski Strad, once owned by Polish violinist Pawel Kochanski, the dedicatee of both concertos. That was also the violin which premiered both concertos, and that seemed like a historical moment in SSO’s archival history. Young Spanish violinist Leticia Moreno’s performance seemed like the logical follow-up a quarter of a century later.

Photo: Jack Yam

This is a gorgeous and sumptuously orchestrated work, with a thornily difficult solo with chromaticisms which Moreno took in her stride. The main impetus was the earthy and vigorous folk music of Poland’s Tatra Mountains, the pungency of which would inform much of Szymanowski’s later music. Moreno fought hard to battle the rugged orchestral forces, and succeeded intermittently, coming to the fore in the bristling cadenza provided by Kochanski that linked two halves of the 20-minute concerto. 

The work deserves many more listens, and if pushed to cite a similarly inspired work, I would think of Bartok’s Second Violin Concerto, a far more familiar quantity. Moreno was accorded much applause for her efforts, and her encore was sublime – the Nana lullaby from Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Espanolas (Seven Popular Spanish Songs), accompanied by pianist Nicholas Loh.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade – symphonic suite in four movements – might seem like common garden repertoire, but Graf and his charges made it sound special. By now, I had decided to put down my pen to just enjoy the performance, and soak in the lush orchestration the Russian composer was famous for. Its musical narrative included concertmaster Erik Heide’s violin solo, with principal harpist Gulnara Mashurova, as the yarn-spinning queen for 1001 nights. The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship set sail with a sense of purpose and direction, while The Story of the Kalender Prince had principal bassoonist Guo Siping in great form. 

Photo: Jack Yam

The orchestral balance was close to perfect, and seldom had I been so captivated by the roles of these soloists backed by an equally engaged ensemble. The Prince and the Princess saw veterans, principal flautist Jin Ta and principal clarinettist Ma Yue (who will be retiring at season’s end), give their level best. It was clear that all on stage were playing for the maestro and the audience was the biggest beneficiary. By the time Festival at Baghdad and Storm at Sea concluded, there was an eruption of applause that indicated the audience had heard something rather special. I was not alone. 

Was this the best Sheherazade ever witnessed live? Perhaps, possibly likely, and given the sense of occasion, it will remain long in the memory. Again, thank you Hans Graf for making this happen. Your six years with our national orchestra will not be forgotten.

The HANS GRAF FAREWELL SERIES continues with further concerts at Victoria Concert Hall on: 

15 May 2026

Hans Graf Farewell Series: Mystère de… | Singapore Symphony Orchestra

21 & 22 May 2026

Hans Graf Farewell Series: Mozart and… | Singapore Symphony Orchestra

EARTH AND THE PLANETS + ELGAR'S CELLO CONCERTO / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

EARTH AND THE PLANETS

+ ELGAR’S CELLO CONCERTO

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (23 January 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 27 January 2026 with the title "Earth gets its due amid Holst's Planets in Joyce Koh's work".

When English composer Gustav Holst composed his seven-movement symphonic suite The Planets in 1917, he did not include Pluto (yet to be discovered) or Earth among them. In this Singapore Symphony Orchestra concert led by music director Hans Graf, our home planet finally got its own movement in a newly commission work by Singaporean composer Joyce Koh.

Performed as an overture, Koh’s 12-minute Earth opened with chimes of tubular bells amid a primordial soup of sound which coalesced into an aurally rich canvas of lush sonorities. Eschewing her trademark atonalism, the musical idiom and evocative French titles was closer in spirit to French composer Olivier Messiaen’s spiritually and cosmologically-inclined scores.

Incorporating three treble voices from the Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir, representing youth and innocence, she also included fleeting quotes of Mars and Jupiter from Holst’s original work as points of reference. Hers was a journey of mankind to the edge of the solar system and beyond, in a contemplation of the unknown and unknowable. In a word, breathtaking.

Joyce Koh gets the applause.

Separating Gaia and the other celestial orbs was Edward Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor (Op.85) with young Austrian cellist Julia Hagen as soloist. From the outset, she distinguished with an outsized personality and singing tone, aided by the orchestra’s discreet and unobtrusive accompaniment.

Holding the audience in a thrall, she navigated the elegiac score with focus and purpose, overcoming the scherzo’s prestidigitation with ease and bringing catharsis in a deeply-felt Adagio. Elgar was not just commemorating loss of life and innocence in the recently concluded Great War but also paying tribute to his devoted but ailing wife Alice.

The tempestuous finale was not so much a triumph of the spirit but a struggle to battle the tears, a journey of passion which Hagen got spot on before finishing with a flourish. Her encore of the Sarabande from J.S.Bach’s Suite No.1 in G major was just as gripping.

SSO has come a long way since its premiere of Holst’s The Planets in 1997 under Choo Hoey’s baton, which was an unmitigated disaster because the female chorus from some unnamed girls’ school failed to enter when cued. No worries on this occasion, as the 78 ladies from the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir (Eudenice Palaruan, Director) provided the perfect close to Neptune, The Mystic, its final movement.

Wordless and unseen, their hauntingly beautiful voices seemed to emerge from the ether with an unmistakable sense of awe and mystery. One could hear a pin drop as these held sway before fading into the distant abyss. Before that, the orchestra gave the most imperious of performances, with Mars, The Bringer of War setting a tone of violence and vehemence.

It was not just the popular movements like Mercury and Jupiter which impressed, but also the less obvious ones like Venus, Saturn and Uranus, where care and attention to detail and instrumental prowess came to the fore. This most memorable of outings to outer space was deservedly greeted with the most thunderous of applause and cheers.

Choral director Eudenice Palaruan,
representing the singers, gets the accolades.