Over the decades, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra has developed a most harmonious musical relationship with Finnish conductors. Okko Kamu was appointed its first Principal Guest Conductor in the mid-1990s. Hannu Lintu has just begun his tenure as its fourth Music Director, and further ground was broken here with the impressive Singapore debut of Pietari Inkinen, whose previous posts included the New Zealand Symphony and Japan Philharmonic Orchestras.
Thus it seemed totally natural that Jean Sibelius’ music would figured strongly in his programme, the first work being Finlandia. Braying brass chorales opened in rude health as nationalistic fervour was inexorably whipped up. Then came the 140 voices from the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir prepared by Eudenice Palaruan and Wong Lai Foon. “Oh Finland, Look Daylight is Dawning” was the rallying cry for Finns to shake off the yoke of Russian domination and self-determination. Protestant church-goers will know this heart-rending melody as Be Still, My Soul, so stirring it has become Finland’s second national anthem. Although relatively brief, this invigorating performance truly set the stage for more epic music to come.
Finnish soprano Johanna Rusanen then joined in for six Sibelius songs in Finnish and Swedish with orchestrations by Colin Matthews, Jussi Jalas and the composer himself. A variety of styles and expressions defined this fine selection which included Illalle (To Evening), Lastu Lainehilla (Driftwood) and Kaiutar (Echo Nymph) to display her vocal flexibility. In Våren flyktar hastigt (Spring is Flying), cheeky humour abounded with love in the air, while a more serious tone coloured Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte (The Tryst) and its tragic ending. Var det en dröm? (Was it a Dream?) was the biggest hit, with Rusanen’s resounding voice amply filling the hall.
The all-Sibelius first half concluded with Lemminkainen’s Return, the frenetic final movement from the Lemminkainen Suite. The music’s narrative was urgently driven, the orchestra stepping on the gas for an adrenaline-filled ride as the Finnish saga’s reckless anti-hero goes home after a life of misadventure and physical dismemberment.
Completing the evening came Inkinen’s selection of orchestral highlights from Götterdämmerung, the final opera of Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. It was in reality a 50-minute symphony with no breaks, an orchestral odyssey of ‘bleeding chunks’ that was exhausting for both players and listeners. The music included all the orchestral interludes, following the hero Siegfried after awaking the Brünnhilde from her enforced slumber to his murder by Hagen and the ultimate destruction of the gods. The scenes opened with Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey, where Austin Larson’s excellent off-stage horn call ushered in some of the cycle’s most inspired and illuminating minutes.
The orchestra was in its element, performing with spirit, verve and no little accuracy, from the sombre glory of Siegfried’s Death and Funeral March, paving the way for the gripping final minutes of the cycle, Brünnhilde’s Immolation. Rusanen made no grand entrance, instead emerging from within the orchestra’s ranks for the swansong as Brünnhilde, setting Valhalla ablaze with her flame-throwing soprano with her final words, “Selig grüsst dich deine Braut!” (Blissfully greets you your bride!). These are moments which all music-lovers, not just opera-lovers, die for.
