2020 Lunar New Year at Victoria Concert Hall: To East and West and Back

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) starts the second half of its 2019/20 season by ringing in the Chinese Lunar New Year with cross-cultural chamber performances in VCHpresents at the Victoria Concert Hall.

With two milestone anniversaries last year — its 40th anniversary and the Singapore Bicentennial — the SSO ended the year on a Romantic note. For the Year of the Rat in 2020, VCHpresents takes our audience with a journey from East to West and back again.

Wu Wei (Photo credit: Sanne Donders)

On 9 Feb, Sheng virtuoso Wu Wei demonstrates the phenomenal capabilities of the ancient instrument in the first VCHpresents programme for the new year, Endless Sound (无限的笙). Together with the SSO, he will present Eastern favourites, alongside transcriptions of Baroque classics. A heady fusion of melodies starting with Yan Hai Deng (闫海登) Tunes of Jin Opera (晋调) and Nie Er’s (聂耳) Dragon Dance (金蛇狂舞) — the latter interspersed with Vivaldi’s La Folia and Bach’s Andante from Violin Sonata No. 2, BWV 1003.

Cindy Lee (Photo credit: SSO)

The second instalment of Intimate Moments returns on 20 Mar at the VCH Dance Studio. SSO violinist Cindy Lee takes us on a musical expedition of Classical and Romantic tunes inspired by animals in the cosy atmosphere of the VCH Dance Studio. A treat for the senses, The Colourful World of Animals 乐享时光: 缤纷的动物世界, with selections from Haydn’s String Quartet The Bird; Allegro vivace from Schubert’s Piano quartet Trout; Papillon by Fauré; and selections from Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns. For the first time, conversations will be in Mandarin where musicians will share as they perform personally meaningful chamber music for audience members in the evening soirée.

Lim Yan (Photo credit: SSO)

We wrap up the first quarter of 2020 with Songs of Nostalgia on 29 Mar in a recital anchored on Chinese and European songs about home. The dynamic pairing of a returning Zhou Zhengzhong and Singaporean pianist Lim Yan set the mood in this programme of heartfelt opera arias by Smetana, Verdi and Grieg alongside Chinese songs of nostalgia such as Looking Forlornly Towards Home (望乡词) and I Live At The Yangtze River (我住长江头).

Tickets available via https://ticketing.sso.org.sg.