Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Relatively young among the world's major symphony orchestras, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra has evolved into Southeast Asia's leading orchestral ensemble. The group's repertory and its reputation are both international.
Symphony orchestras, including one called the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, have existed in Singapore since the end of World War II but were mostly amateur groups. The current Singapore Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1979, was the creation of conductor Choo Hoey, who convinced government officials that a high-quality group could be formed using partly Singaporean musicians. Of the original 35 players, eight were from Singapore; the orchestra has since grown to 90 members, mostly Singaporean. The Singapore Symphony moved into the city's historic Victoria Concert Hall in 1980, where it has continued to perform, but in 2003, many concerts moved to the new Esplanade Concert Hall on the city's waterfront. The group has also performed outdoor concerts in Singapore's famed Botanic Gardens and at the Istana, the city-state's presidential palace. Hoey stepped down in 1996 and installed his hand-picked successor, China-born and Chinese- and American-trained Lan Shui, as music director. Under Shui, the orchestra's international touring program has greatly expanded. The group performed in eight cities in England and Germany, and in 2016, it appeared at major Eastern European events: the Dresden Music Festival and the Prague Spring International Music Festival. In 2019, after 23 years at the helm, Shui retired, and Austria's Hans Graf, after having made several guest appearances, was set to take up the baton in the coronavirus-threatened 2020-2021 season.
The Singapore Symphony made a few recordings under Hoey, but Shui greatly expanded its recording program, forging an ongoing relationship with the BIS label and bringing the group substantial Western attention. The orchestra's recorded repertory has included mostly Western music but has also touched on Asian works, including, in 2011, an album of Chinese-American flute concertos featuring flutist Sharon Bezaly. In 2020, Shui and the Singapore Symphony issued an album of orchestral music by Richard Strauss that included the rarely heard tone poem Macbeth, Op. 23. The Singapore Symphony is associated under an Esplanade Theater rubric with the Singapore Symphony Choruses and the Singapore National Youth Orchestra.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Ippolitov-Ivanov: Symphony No. 1, Op. 46, Turkish Fragments, Op. 62 & Turkish March, Op. 55
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hoey Choo
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Jan 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Salut D'amour: Best-Loved Classics
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by Singapore Symphony Orchestra on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky's Ballet Music
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by Singapore Symphony Group on 6 Feb 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
LACHNER: Symphony No. 1 / SPOHR: Symphony No. 2
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hoey Choo
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 31 Dec 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Four Seasons - Locatelli: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 3 No. 12 "Il labirinto armonico"
Chloe Chua, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Chan Yoong-Han
Classical - Released by PENTATONE on 10 Mar 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Piano Concertos Nos. 4 & 5
John Bingham, Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Meridian Records on 15 Oct 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tcherepnin: Symphonies Nos. 3 and 4 / Piano Concerto No. 6
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Nov 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals / Britten: Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by Singapore on 7 Jan 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Selling Land for the Bride-Price
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Hoey Choo
Classical - Released by Marco-Polo on 3 Jul 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: La Mer
Lan Shui, Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Sep 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 3
Yevgeny Sudbin, Lan Shui, Singapore Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by BIS on 28 Feb 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Long: Rhymes (Orchestral Music)
Jonathan Fox, Philharmonic Chamber Choir, Singapore, Shanghai Quartet, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jun 2004
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rachmaninov: Symphony No. 1 & Piano Concerto No. 1
Yevgeny Sudbin, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by BIS on 28 May 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Tcherepnin: Symphonies Nos. 1 and 2 / Piano Concerto No. 5
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Sep 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kosłowski: Requiem: Dies irae
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Chorus & Youth Choir, Hans Graf
Masses, Passions, Requiems - Released by PENTATONE on 29 Mar 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Goldmark: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by BIS on 30 Jul 2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tcherepnin: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 4
Noriko Ogawa, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jun 2003
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chen / Musgrave / Long / Hovhaness: Oriental Landscapes
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Nov 2002
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chen: Momentum / Chinese Folk Dance Suite
Yi-Jia Susanne Hou, Cho-Liang Lin, Kimberly Marshall, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jul 2003
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lindberg: Mandrake in the Corner / Hovland: Trombone Concerto
Christian Lindberg, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by BIS on 30 Nov 2001
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jarvlepp: Garbage Concerto / Kalnins: Rock Symphony
Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Lan Shui
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo