This review was published in The Straits Times on 30 July 2011 with the title "Conductor's energetic debut".
High-flying Singaporean conductor Darrell Ang (left) was appointed Music Director of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra (SNYO) late last year, but audiences had to wait some eight months before his first concert with his charges in that capacity. It was well worth it given the new found energy and vitality that possesses the ensemble.
The opening bars of Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture made its mark immediately. The turbo-charged pace from the outset seemed initially implausible, but this high wire act seemed to thrive on a surfeit of adrenaline. Stunningly accuracy at high velocity, with the strings singing with natural and unfettered ease, gave this opener the stamp of greatness.
More followed as the orchestra partnered local virtuoso Lim Yan (left) for Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto, a second performance of this rare gem within the space of two weeks. For certain, young Lim yielded nothing to the stupendous reading by Russian veteran Nikolai Demidenko with the Singapore Symphony a fortnight ago. Only the approach was radically different.
While Demidenko highlighted its tragedy with far slower tempos, Lim’s more sprightly account brought out the implicit irony and satire. When it came to the crunch of the gargantuan first movement cadenza and rapid-fire cascades of notes, the younger man matched blow for blow and came off with fewer misses. These two brilliant performances were the stuff of dreams.
In terms of instrumental achievement, the orchestra’s view of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony will have to take some beating. Conducting completely from memory, Ang honed a tight and urgently driven traversal, yet one that was never hectic or harried. Always allowing the music to breathe, there were long stretches of seamless beauty and utter coherence that held the work together.
Strings were particularly mellow, with a homogeneous refinement and suppleness that reminded one of the far more experienced SSO. Also highly confident were the wind and brass solos, with Alan Kartik’s French horn (left) in the slow movement being the pick of the crop.
The valedictory final movement summed up the group’s enormous potential. No longer were notes being dutifully churned out but actually breathed and cherished, and the nail-biting lead up to the triumphant climax had a feverish quality never previously realised. A strong SNYO can only mean a better future for classical music in Singapore.
This review was published published in The Herald on 4 August 2011
by Alan Cooper
It was obvious from the start that the Singapore National Youth Orchestra was going to be something special. An all-Russian programme opened with an adrenalin driven performance of Glinka’s Ruslan and Ludmila. Then in Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto soloist Lim Yan took us on a thrill-packed ride through the composer’s contrasting landscapes.
Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony was given more time to breath in a lavish romantic performance which earned a standing ovation from the Aberdeen audience.
published in The Press and Journal on 3 August 2011
by Roddy Phililips
I can’t remember a more arresting and impressive opening to a youth festival concert than the Singapore National Youth Orchestra’s electrifying performance at the Music Hall in Aberdeen of Glinka’s Overture to Ruslan and Ludmila, conducted by Darrell Ang.
If you closed your eyes it could have been the RSNO on top form.
Such musicality does not come lightly.
The SNYO consists of the top students from 75 educational institutions in Singapore and the commitment we saw onstage was actually mind-boggling.
Lim Yan, the soloist in Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2, took the concert up yet another gear with a performance of extraordinary virtuosity.
His command of the concerto was staggering and our rapturous applause was rewarded with an encore.
By this time, the audience had worked out that the performance of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in the second half was going to be something special.
In fact, it was so remarkable that the audience rose to their feet at the end like a great wave – again an unusual sight at a youth festival concert.