VASILY PETRENKO & GAUTIER CAPUCON / Singapore Symphony Orchestra / Review

 

VASILY PETRENKO 

& GAUTIER CAPUCON

Singapore Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (18 September 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 September 2026 with the title "SSO demonstrates growth with performance of Shostakovich's epic Fourth Symphony".

This concert of rather unusual juxtapositions led by Russian guest conductor Vasily Petrenko opened with Estonian composer Arvo Part’s Our Garden (1959), a cantata for children’s choir and orchestra. This very pleasant 12 minutes with Estonian words was sung completely from memory by 49 members of the Singapore Symphony Children’s Chorus (Chorusmaster: Wong Lai Foon).

Photo: Jack Yam

Its childlike innocence and concordant tones however revealed a Soviet Communist agenda, about how hard work yielded rich crops of juicy berries. The only hint of dissonance came when describing how weeds and thistles which consumed water should be removed. The message of making this garden grow was far less Voltaire but much more Marx.

Photo: Jack Yam

Following that was a breezy reading of Camille Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor (Op.33) by renowned French cellist Gautier Capucon who shone with a rich and sumptuous tone. Too short by half, its single movement flashed across with virtuosity balanced by daintiness in the slower central section.

As if to make up for its brevity, Capucon’s encore of American composer Bryce Dessner’s Towards The Forest was a series of long-breathed arpeggios and drones, commissioned as part of the cellist Gaia project.

The second half was devoted to Soviet era Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich’s Fourth Symphony in C minor (Op.43), receiving its long-awaited Singapore premiere. Logistical considerations accounted for that as the sprawling Mahlerian work called for over 120 players, including multiple woodwinds and brass, two harpists and nine percussionists.

Composed in 1936 but only first performed in 1961, the reason was obvious. The work’s near incomprehensible idiom and formalist tendencies would have cost the composer his life during years of Stalinist artistic oppression.

Conductor Petrenko’s programming was a coup of sorts. The Socialist Realist paradise of Part’s Our Garden now came in stark contrast with the Socialist Realist nightmare that was Shostakovich’s Fourth. A more strident and brutal march that opened the symphony was hard to find, with the orchestra ramping up decibels like no other.

Photo: Jack Yam

Yet there were moments of stasis and relaxation, like a waltz-like second subject that completely changed the mood. Then out of nowhere came a furious fugue for strings, which commentators have dubbed the “fugue from hell”. The message was clear: Shostakovich was decrying a spoilt system and schizophrenic society.

The audience applauded politely the opening movement, later privy to the central movement’s uneasy Landler dance which closed with the bare bones of rattling percussion. This was followed by the finale’s monstrous funeral march, a grotesque cavalcade of instrumental oddities.

Here, multiple opportunities were afforded for soloists to shine - Guo Siping’s bassoon, Allen Meek’s trombone and Andrew Beer’s violin just to name a few, and entire sections which responded with total commitment.

Even the ending was ironic, a massive C major chorale being the supposed apotheosis but passed up for an icy and desolate close, like death in the steppes. With its 66 unapologetic minutes, SSO had completed the full cycle of Shostakovich’s eleven purely orchestral symphonies, which began with the First Symphony in 1980. That, we can call progress.

Another review of this concert was published on 21 September 2026 on Bachtrack.com:

A Singapore premiere for Shostakovich 4 | Bachtrack

GLORIA! / Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Children and Youth Choirs / Review

  

GLORIA

Singapore Symphony Orchestra 

Singapore Symphony 

Children & Youth Choirs 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Friday (29 November 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 2 December 2024 with the title "Festive vibes with Vivaldi at SSO's choral concert".

Eminent British choral conductor Stephen Layton returned to lead the Singapore Symphony Children’s and Youth Choirs, which have been well-trained by chorusmaster Wong Lai Foon. The 50 children sang completely from memory, first in the processional Hodie In Natus Est from Benjamin Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols (1942), smartly arriving on stage where accompanying harpist Gulnara Mashurova was waiting. 

Photo: Yoricko Liu

Thus began a most impressive performance where unison passages had a silky evenness and the tricky counterpoint of Wolcum Yole! were mastered with aplomb. Creating a magical feel were the echoing effects in This Little Babe and Deo Gracias while sopranos Ng Yi Poh, Isabelle Ho and Emily Tan, selected from the choir, shone in the movements with solos. 

The Recession saw all the singers, harpist and conductor troop off, leaving the strange sight of an audience enthusiastically applauding an empty stage. 

Just as enjoyable was the Singapore premiere of Einojuhani Rautavaara’s Lapsimessu (A Children’s Mass, 1973), where its a cappella Kyrie, Gloria and Agnus Dei movements were followed by chromatic string interludes. The soprano voice of Melina Leong lit up the busy Gloria while the starkly beautiful final Alleluja united both choir and strings for the first time. 

Between these accessible 20th century choral works was Tomaso Albinoni’s popular Adagio in G minor for organ and strings, now known to be a 1950s creation by Remo Giazotto using retrieved old manuscripts. Eudenice Palaruan on Victoria Concert Hall’s Klais organ and concertmaster Kevin Lin’s violin solos provided the fancy trimmings. 

While the 36-strong Singapore Symphony Youth Choir did not sing from memory, its appearance in the concert’s second half was no less vital. There cannot be movements more sublime than Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Laudate Dominum from Vesperae Solennes de Confessore (K.339), where soprano Carine Tan’s lovely aria was backed by lilting strings, and the choir entering with Gloria Patri. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Jesu, Joy Of Man’s Desiring, his most famous cantata movement, was taken rather briskly, somewhat diminishing its fabled appeal. 

The main draw was Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria in D major (RV.589), celebratory for its exultant joy, amply displayed by all on stage. Balanced by a sense of mystery, notably in the B minor key movements such as the fugal In Terra Pax, this work revealed the true meaning of the season. 

The opening Gloria In Excelsis Deo and later Quoniam Tu Solus Sanctus were radiant, and sopranos Giselle Lim and Janelle Tan displayed much clarity in the lively Laudamus Te. In Domine Deus, Rex Coelestis, soprano Jasmine Towndrow and Rachel Walker’s oboe made for some memorable moments. 

It was counter-tenor Zachary Lim who stole the show, a portrait of confidence in Domine Deus, Agnus Dei and Qui Sedes. While this very impressive choral showcase was not marketed as a Christmas concert, it certainly felt like one.

Chorusmaster extraordinaire Wong Lai Foon.

A review of this concert as published 

on Bachtrack.com:

Stephen Layton makes Christmas come early in Singapore

CD Review (The Straits Times, March 2018)

AND I'LL SING ONCE MORE

Singapore Symphony Children's Choir

Wong Lai Foon (Conductor)

Singapore Symphony Group  / ****1/2

This recording was conceived in celebration of the 10^th anniversary of the Singapore Symphony Children's Choir. The choir was formed in 2007 and made its debut in the Singapore premiere of Mahler's Third Symphony. 

This is a short disc but amply displays the choir's versatility under one of its founder conductors Wong Lai Foon. There are popular items such as Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus (arranged by Briant Trant), Richard Rodgers' The Sound Of Music (arr. Charles Smith),  Joe Hisaishi's Kimi Wo Nosete (Carrying You, arr. Yu Fukuzawa), and John Rutter's It Was A Lover And His Lass. The 52-member choir sings with purity, innocence and very good discipline.

The longest item is Bob Chilcott's A Little Jazz Mass, which positively swings through its five liturgical movements. High class backing is provided by pianist Gabriel Hoe and principal musicians of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, including bassist Guennadi Mouzyka and Mark Suter on drums. 

There are also two Singaporean works, Lee Chin Sin's lovely A Child's Voice and Chen Zhangyi's slightly modernistic Water. The choir's mastery of the latter's idiom and subtle dissonances suggests it can handle Benjamin Britten's choral scores next. A very pleasant listening experience, so more of the same please. 

Singapore Symphony Children's Choir 4th Anniversary Concert / Review

4^TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

Singapore Symphony Children’s Choir

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (13 June 2010)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 15 June 2010.

When the Singapore Symphony Orchestra formed its children’s choir four years ago, the ostensible aim was to perform works like Mahler’s Third Symphony and Orff’s Carmina Burana, works that relied on children’s voices. Now it looks to be a long-term investment in equipping young people with skills to sing a variety of languages and styles within the classical context.

The 70-strong group impressed with its discipline and deportment. The girls were striking in their ruby red gowns and just 8 boys looked smart in black vests. Better still, their 90-minute programme, conducted by the partnership of Quek Soo Hiang (better known as Mrs Lim Yau) and Wong Lai Foon, was performed entirely from memory, a feat of sheer commitment and concentration.

The first number was, however, wordless. Bach’s Air on G String warmed up their collective vocal cords, accompanied by SSO bassist Ma Li Ming. Then came songs in German (Schubert), French (Faure) and Hungarian (Kodaly). All were delivered with confidence, even if the ear could not always differentiate the diverse tongues.

The choir was also comfortable with different styles and textures. Unison melodies were evenly spread, and svelte legatos, such as in Bob Chilcott’s Can You Hear Me?, lovingly rendered. The Asian songs fared particularly well, with rhythmic patterns in Ko Matsushita’s Ari No Natsu (Ant’s Summer) and exuberant chants in the traditional Chinese folksong Dongdongkui resounding headily.

With the “serious” segment of the music accomplished, there was time to relax. Irving Fine’s Three Choruses from Alice in Wonderland were lighter in feel but by no means simple. Wittily injected with a sense of fun, even the Duchess’ Lullaby swung with a tango beat in the manner of Stravinsky.

Saccharine sweetness was the rule with John Rutter’s The Lord Bless You and Keep You while a tinge of sadness and verses in Hebrew coloured When You Believe from The Prince of Egypt by Stephen Schwartz. The concert closed happily with two songs from The Sound of Music and the African-American spiritual Ev’ry Time I Feel The Spirit.

A little piece of advice to these young talents: Try and smile a bit more. That will make your fine singing sound that little bit more convincing.