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

RHAPSODIC STORIES: EXHIBITION / Samuel Phua Saxophone Recital / Review

RHAPSODIC STORIES: EXHIBITION

SAMUEL PHUA, Saxophone

with MERVYN LEE, Piano

Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre

Wednesday (29 November 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 2 December 2023 with the title "Saxophonist Samuel Phua showcases technical prowess".

 

When it comes to classical saxophone in Singapore, one name invariably comes to mind: Samuel Phua. The young graduate from Finland’s famed Sibelius Academy was the first and only saxophonist invited to perform at the President’s Young Performers Concert in 2014, and has been a regular fixture in works requiring sax solos in Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s concerts ever since.

 

His recital partnered by pianist Mervyn Lee was an impressive showcase of technical prowess and repertoire he has inspired. No less than five Singaporean composers were represented, opening with London-based composition student Elliot Teo, whose three-movement Mixed Recital received its Singapore premiere.

 

Opening with alto sax alone, its atonal content was characterised by declamatory and seemingly improvised passages that sometimes hinted of jazz. The second movement was for piano left hand alone despite its many notes, while the third, Pas de deux, was for combined forces with the dance element being apparent later on.

 

The late Leong Yoon Pin’s Sketches (1984) was originally scored for oboe and piano. Its movements, recalling scenes in New Zealand, was heard on soprano sax, which relived the oboe’s plangency, well-suited for musical dissonance and dance-like moves. In the world premiere of pianist Mervyn Lee’s Sketches in Movements, contrasts between lyricism and playfulness were well brought out on alto sax.

 

Two rather more approachable works closed the concert’s first half. New York-based Koh Cheng Jin’s A Fleeting Perennity was inspired by a poem about Suntec City’s Fountain of Wealth. Alto sax was rewarded with lyrical moments accompanied by gentle piano ostinatos. Volume and tempos would rise, like sprayed water jets, but the work closed quietly.

 

The world premiere of Germaine Goh’s Portrait saw the first appearance of the large and unwieldy baritone saxophone. Described as a “charming” character study of Phua himself, it was good-humoured and whimsical, radiating warmth and sensitivity besides having surprises up the sleeve. That it closed theatrically with an ascending glissando wail and a loud fart also spoke volumes.

 

Starring saxophones:
Baritone, soprano, tenor & alto
(from right to left)

The concert’s second hald was devoted to one work, Jun Nagao’s arrangement of Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Originally a piano solo, this version saw Phua playing four different saxophones. Although some of the work’s original mystique was lost, this was made up by many fiendishly difficult maneuvers demanded of a soloist.

 

Alto sax appeared most frequently, including the opening Promenade and The Old Castle, a tribute to Maurice Ravel’s famous orchestration employing the saxophone as the troubadour’s voice. Baritone sax was used for the lumbering oxcart Bydlo and imperious Polish Jew Samuel Goldenberg, while soprano sax accounted for the shrieky Schmuyle and the Ballet of The Unhatched Chicks. 

The alto saxophone’s full gamut of tricks and devices was reserved for Baba Yaga’s Hut and The Great Gate of Kiev, where Promenade would gloriously return and the evening brought to a rousing close.   

RHAPSODIC STORIES / Samuel Phua (Saxophone) & Friends / Review

RHAPSODIC STORIES

Samuel Phua & Friends

Esplanade Recital Studio

Saturday (22 October 2022)

 

When it comes to the classical saxophone in Singapore, one name stands out: Samuel Phua. The young saxophonist made history in 2014 by being the first non-pianist and non-string instrumentalist to be invited to perform at the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s President’s Young Performers Concert Series. He has also been the go-to guy for the saxophone solos in Kelly Tang’s jazz piano concerto Montage, playing alongside local jazz legend Jeremy Monteiro.

 

Rhapsodic Stories was the fruition of a Covid pandemic project bringing together newly composed or arranged saxophone works by no less than nine Singaporean composers. Its gripping two hours could not have passed more easily or interestingly, simply because of the sheer variety of music presented and virtuosity on display. And one never knew the existence of so many excellent local saxophone works.

 

The evening opened with Terrence Wong’s Out-Do You Do?, a duet and duel with fellow saxophonist Michellina Chan, who shared much of the programme with Samuel. Its thematic motifs were relatively simple but nimble, like those of Paganini’s Caprices, but soon one was occupied by the tricky interplay of both instrumental parts. Melodic interest and accompaniment regularly  exchanged places, with each player reacting to the other’s moves and antics, culminating with a single long-held note from Samuel at the end.    

 

Jonathan Shin and Christopher Clarke’s Aria from Music About The Downtown Line was a short, slow and reflective number oozing with nice harmonies, accompanied by Abigail Sin on piano. Derek Oh was a constant companion to Samuel when they both studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Oh’s The Grey Birch was a reflection of a desolate Finnish winter coloured with Chinese sensibilities. The stasis and starkness consuming the music ensured that one could feel the chill. After a loud and declamatory cadenza, the work just dissipated and evaporated into the cold mist.

 

Tan Yuting’s But I Am The Lallang was inspired by a poem by Lim Thean Soo (1924-1991) exulting the resilience of the local weed, known for its hardiness and ubiquity.  The unaccompanied solo incorporated various noteless sound effects, including passages of wind blown through the tubes and pauses of silence. The lallang is portrayed as unchanging, a silent witness to history and timeless voice of eternity.  

 

Zechariah Goh Toh Chai is the veteran among the group of Singaporean composers, besides being a saxophone exponent himself. His Suite was also the oldest local work on the programme, comprising two vastly contrasting movements. Alone and Distant had slow, long-breathed lines with an Oriental feel evoking emptiness and homesickness. Flowing was fast, syncopated and jazzy, utilising extended piano techniques with Abigail stroking the strings and Samuel blowing into the piano’s insides. Further beats were provided by very audible tapping on the saxophone’s keys. Sandra Lim’s Morning Memories, originally for violin and piano, was arguably the lightest work on show, with a pop melody that could have come from the pens of Michel Legrand or Dick Lee.

 

Gershwin’s immortal Rhapsody in Blue as arranged by Jun Nagao has both saxophone and piano parts as equal protagonists. This called for the outsized virtuosity of Clarence Lee in the piano role, which perfectly complemented Samuel performing on three saxophones. Part of the nervy act was to witness him adroitly swapping instruments without missing a cue (or dropping any of them on the floor). Much of the full score was retained, with the orchestral parts (alternated between sax and piano) sounding more demanding than possibly imagined. This was an entertaining show that delighted and thrilled.

 

Joseph Lim’s Epic Poem of Malaya was inspired by local artist Chua Mia Tee’s famous 1955 painting of the same title now on display at the National Gallery. Epic indeed was the sheer size and sonority of the baritone saxophone played by Michellina, its deep stentorian voice mimicking the painting’s orator with his rhetoric and gestures. Using Chinese idioms and Malay dance rhythms, this is not just a soliloquy but a reflection of local history and its vicissitudes. Convincingly conveyed by Michellina, it was a minor miracle that she managed to maintain her balance without keeling over.   

 

Closing the recital was London-based composition student Elliott Teo's Dirge and Dance for two saxophones and piano, which has the makings of an epic tragedy. Big piano chords (back with Abigail Sin) accompanied the dirge which exuded a Slavic lugubriousness but coloured by Klezmer vibes. Making for very effective film music, this segued into the lively and animated dance, where the combo between high and low register voices really shone. The result was a very impressive end to the concert.

 

As an encore, Kousuke Yamashita’s Eternal Story saw all four musicians in a sentimental number that demonstrated that with saxophones, one could be both entertaining and also taken seriously. Long may Samuel Phua, the one-man sax maniac, continue to champion the saxophone, inspiring new works and further enriching Singapore’s burgeoning musical scene.  

NIGHT OF THE SAXOPHONE / AZARIAH TAN & YANG SHUXIANG Recitals / Review

NIGHT OF THE SAXOPHONE

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (19 August 2021)

 

AZARIAH TAN Piano Recital

Esplanade Recital Studio

Friday (20 August 2021)

 

YANG SHUXIANG Violin Recital

Esplanade Recital Studio

Saturday (21 August 2021) 

This review was published in The Straits Times on 25 August 2021 with the title "Homegrown talents shine in saxophone, piano and violin".

 

Whether now is a good time to be a young professional musician is debatable. While competition for performance opportunities is stiff due to sheer numbers of homegrown talents, the dearth of visiting overseas artists has also meant that locals get a better chance to be heard. One thing is certain: many of Singapore’s young soloists are excellent and often comparable with those of international standing.

Photo: Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Aloysius Lim

 

A shining example is saxophonist Samuel Phua, recent graduate from Finland’s Sibelius Academy, who performed the Saxophone Concerto of Russian composer Alexander Glazunov with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra led by music director Hans Graf. Not only did he have the requisite expertise to overcome the single-movement work’s technical hurdles, his alto saxophone’s creamy smooth tone also oozed charm and seductiveness.

 

Whether in lyrical passages or young composer Jonathan Shin’s tricky cadenza specially written for this performance, Phua was spot on in his execution. As if further proof of prowess were needed, the encore of Gershwin’s Promenade, arranged by SSO librarian Avik Chari, was stylish swagger personified.

 

The balance of the concert illustrated Mozart’s genius in two contrasting serenades. Serenata Notturno and A Musical Joke were perfect examples how to properly craft or ruin a composition respectively. The former was taken perfectly straight, while the latter played strictly for laughs, and one admits it takes true skill to make deliberately music sound bad.

 

On two consecutive evenings presented by the Kris Foundation, pianist Azariah Tan performed a solo recital as well as partnered violinist Yang Shuxiang. In the recital, two early Romantic sonatas by Chopin and Schubert were coupled to gripping effect. Both composers had led tragically short lives, prematurely curtailed by infectious diseases.

Photo: Kris Foundation / Lisa Peh

 

In the tuberculous Chopin’s Third Sonata, Tan found the right balance of tortured self-reflection and outright passion, evidenced in the nocturne-like slow movement and tumultuous finale. Even better was his journey through the syphilitic Schubert’s sprawling Sonata in A major (D.959), a slow burn that captured world-weariness in the most lyrical way possible. Through his ten fingers, Tan became a vivid storyteller.       

Photo: Kris Foundation / Lisa Peh

 

Heart-on-sleeve expressiveness defined Yang in his account of three Austro-German violin sonatas. The brief diversion that was Hindemith’s Sonata (Op.11 No.1) was merely a prelude to Schubert’s Grand Duo in A major (D.574), where its sheer congeniality and melodiousness could just melt hearts. This was chamber music at its most intimate, the give and take between violinist and pianist being close to perfection.

Photo: Kris Foundation / Lisa Peh

 

And when one thought the passion quotient had been exhausted, then came Richard Strauss’ Violin Sonata, a concerto-like romp through the full gamut of emotions. Yang’s brawny string tone and faultless intonation, allied with natural showmanship, made his performance a truly memorable one. The last three evenings proved that one does not need to leave our shores to witness greatness of musical artistry. 

 

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS / The Philharmonic Winds / Review

ON THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

The Philharmonic Winds

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (29 December 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 1 January 2018

Christmas has come and gone but its spirit lingered on in this feel good concert by The Philharmonic Winds. Conducted by Leonard Tan and hosted by William Ledbetter, five golden rings were introduced to the audience in the form of a guest conductor, three soloists and a children's choir.

The concert opened with Frank Ticheli's Nitro, a short but energetic scherzo which pulsated with a mercurial beat and radiated Stravinskyan brilliance. There were those rapidly evolving elements of minimalism and tricky cross rhythms, but the orchestra handled its demands with confidence and discipline. The baton was then handed to Ignatius Wang (below) who led in Percy Grainger's Children's March “Over The Hills And Far Away”, a catchy tune which built to a terrific climax before winding down.

Three of Singapore's top young wind talents came under the spotlight, beginning with saxophonist Samuel Phua in Ralph Hermann's Tosca Fantasy which recycles popular arias from Puccini's opera. Playing alto sax, his smooth and creamy tone relived tenor and soprano moments in soaring melodies like Recondita armonia, Vissi d'arte and E lucevan le stelle.

Euphonium soloist Kang Chun Meng, who appeared in this year's President's Young Performers Concert with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, also exuded an operatic flair in Eduardo Boccalari's Sounds of the Riviera. A richer and more burnished sound would be hard to find as he ambled from Italianate warmth to Hispanic fire in this dance-like showpiece.

Receiving the loudest cheers was clarinettist Ralph Emmanuel Lim who was in his element for Artie Shaw's Clarinet Concerto, a big-band era classic rife with jazzy riffs and flourishes. His seemingly effortless show continued into Malcolm Arnold's Pre-Goodman Rag as an outrageously hip encore. Like him, both Phua and Kang also had encores which they nailed with fearless aplomb.

The longest work was Howard Blake's enchanting music for the 1982 BBC animated television classic The Snowman, directed by Dianne Jackson. The wind arrangement by Phillip Littlemore accompanied the 26-minute-long movie that was screened in its entirety. The touching story is about a little boy who builds a snowman who comes to life at night, befriends and takes him on a magical winter flight to meet Father Christmas.

How the orchestra adapted so well to the movie's swiftly changing scenes and Ledbetter's lively narration was a credit to both the players and conductor Tan's abilities. Stealing the show was the 60-strong children's choir from Zhangde Primary School, which sang the hit song Walking In The Air with wide-eyed innocence and charm. There was a bittersweet end and anyone with dry eyes could be accused of having a heart of ice.

Three encores certainly pepped up the mood. The choir beautifully reprised Walking In The Air before Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride (conducted by Wang) and a sax arrangement of Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You heralded the obligatory avalanche of balloons. 

OMM PROM JAZZ! / Orchestra of the Music Makers / Review

OMM PROM: JAZZ!

Orchestra of the Music Makers

Esplanade Concert Hall

Saturday (7 March 2015)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 9 March 2015 with the title "Monteiro makes the most of Montage".

The OMM Prom is an annual themed concert by the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) in which shorter and popular pieces of music are performed for audiences possibly encountering symphonic classical music for the first time. Its Saturday afternoon slot is family friendly and low ticket prices ensure that most Proms are sold out by the time the music starts.

This year's edition conducted by Chan Tze Law celebrated the legacy of symphonic jazz, a term which may be loosely referred to Afro-American styled popular music often employing the blues idiom written by serious composers. Consistent with the SG50 celebrations, Singaporean composer and Cultural Medallion recipient Kelly Tang's jazz piano concerto received its first performance in a version for western orchestra.

Tang's Montage was composed for jazz piano legend Jeremy Monteiro in 2010, but its original orchestration was for Chinese orchestra. The work and its 2014 revision was ecstatically received in the Singapore Chinese Orchestra's concert tour of China, and this version cements its place in the local canon of concertante works. Unlike Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue and Concerto in F, which are fully scored for piano and orchestra, Montage is a jazz concerto in the truest sense, because the soloist is given the latitude to improvise as he pleases for a large part of the work.

Although Monteiro was seen shifting reams of paper as he played, much of these are blank sheets, opportune moments for him to weave a spell on his keyboard. This reviewer has heard this work on multiple occasions, and every performance has been different, mostly because the master had chosen to vary his tact on the occasion, either by ornamentation, dynamics or whatever caught his fancy.

This freedom also applied to his trio partners, bassist Christy Smith and drummer Tamagoh, who had their own spiels under the spotlight. The first movement was in sonata form, contrasted by the slow movement's interlude, with Samuel Phua's sensuous soprano saxophone solo replacing the original erhu. The finale's Caribbean-flavoured dance was an infectious and irrepressible expression of pure joy. Thus Montage may be viewed as three different portraits of Monteiro - the academic, the romancer and the raver.

The Monteiro trio played an encore of their own:
I've Never Been In Love Before from Guys and Dolls.

The concert opened with the suite from John Kander's musical Chicago, distinguished by Kenneth Lun's highly evocative trumpet solos and nifty moves with the wah-wah mute. Of a similar inspiration was Shostakovich's Suite for Variety Orchestra, a selection of dances from the Russian's movie music recycled as “jazz”, culminating with the saxy strains of the Waltz (from The First Echelon), which graced Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut.

The young orchestra was clearly enjoying itself in these light-hearted trifles, but it got serious again in George Gershwin's An American In Paris, the closest thing he wrote to a symphonic poem. This was taken at a slick and goodly pace which contributed to the hustle and bustle of this masterpiece. Despite the tricky cross rhythms and frequent abrupt shifts in dynamics, the orchestra more than coped and when have the taxi-horns sounded more in tune than this? 

The vociferous applause was rewarded with the drums of Tamagoh and the big band in Louis Prima's Sing, Sing, Sing (With A Swing), popularised by Benny Goodman. One will not get more jazzy than this. 

Composer and interpreter:
Kelly Tang with Jeremy Monteiro.