Choo Hoey Returns - Many Happy Returns

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) last Friday was aptly named Choo Hoey Returns. It was a concert that I was looking forward to not so much for the program but for the conductor Choo Hoey whom I have grown to be very fond of as it brings back many old teenage memories as I grew up listening to his performances when he set-up the SSO in 1979 when I was just a teenager starting to appreciate classical music. I would have wished for the concert to be at Victoria Concert Hall (VCH) instead of the newer Esplanade Concert Hall as SSO first home was VCH and had recently moved to Esplanade Concert Hall from VCH when it was completed. This would have completed the nostalgia. Perhaps Singaporean should cherish the old whilst keeping in step with her development.

Choo Hoey is no ordinary conductor. Back in 1979 when he first agreed at the bequest of former Minister Dr. Goh Keng Swee to help setup SSO which is the first for our little island state, he was doing well in the West but gave up his little ambition to pioneer SSO. For this, I am ever grateful to Choo Hoey for the instrumental part he played in the birth of SSO. Being a guy, I also grew up admiring the ever gracefully dressed Lynnette Seah who has been with SSO as long as Choo Hoey I think. She is currently co-leader for SSO. I must say that whilst many lady musicians in SSO chose to wear pants, I could hardly remember a concert seeing Lynnette Seah in pants. She is ever so elegantly dressed during concerts.

The first piece was a french piece Printemps by Debussy. It is a piece that I am not familiar with and it was my first hearing of the piece. I read from the program commentary by Marc Rochester that Printemps in french is closely equivalent to Spring in english. He continued that it is a controversial piece because the original score was destroyed and Debussy had no intentions of resurrecting it and was being resurrected by another musician named Henri Busser. I like the piece and would most probably go look for it to add to my collection. Choo Hoey was his usual effervescent self making it both an audio and visual treat for me.

The second piece had Lynnette Seah playing a very familiar piece Tchaikovsky only Violin Concerto. I have about 10 full versions of this piece on recording and have heard it live in concert countless time. Familiar is the piece but it is not an easy piece and pile that with the easy comparison as this piece has been remarked by some as being recorded to death. Although the piece opened with gusto under Choo Hoey, Choo Hoey was his usual style in conducting concertos allowing the soloist space and ensured that the orchestra stayed as an accompaniment rather than the lead role. This is not easy approach to adopt as Choo Hoey is a larger than life conductor on stage but when it came to concertos, he knew the orchestra station. SSO under Choo Hoey did very well in this light but my favorite for this piece is still with Julia Fischer. I have reviewed this piece at Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto in D Major Opus 35 last year.

The final piece after the interval was the last symphony that Dvorak wrote in his homeland before leaving for America. It is Dvorak Symphony No 8 with Symphony No 9 nick named The New World having been written in America. This Czech piece was very gallantly played by the SSO watching Choo Hoey directing SSO was an equally if not a bigger treat for me. When the piece was completed, the audience was clapping zealously and Choo Hoey had to hold the hands of Lynnette Seah out of the stage otherwise the night would have gone on and on.

Why Many Happy Returns for this article is because the starting and ending pieces were happy pieces. As for the middle piece by Tchaikovsky, it is most probably one of melancholic as Tchaikovsky wrote it shortly after his disastrous marriage perhaps as a cover rumor of his being gay. In addition, personally it brings back many happy teenage memories. I remembered once taking my date to a SSO concert and she was so straight jacketed by the audience silence that she could not wait for the concert to end. Perhaps this is the reason why we did not end up together but neither is my wife a person appreciative of classical music.

Peter Lye aka lkypeter

Safe Harbor. Please note that information contained in these pages are of a personal nature and does not necessarily reflect that of any companies, organizations or individuals. In addition, some of these opinions are of a forward looking nature. Lastly the facts and opinions contained in these pages might not have been verified for correctness, so please use with caution. Happy Reading. Peter Lye