Maurice Ravel and Dame Ethel Smyth works premiere in Singapore

Spare a thought for Dame Ethel Smyth (1858-1944) who appeared like an outsider in a Singapore Symphony concert which had the best-selling names of Rachmaninov and Ravel boldly emblazoned on a giant billboard. She was the first female composer to receive a damehood (in 1922), a feminist and staunch supporter of the Suffragette movement who was also imprisoned for activism that bordered on violence. On the Cliffs of Cornwall, the atmospheric Prelude to Act 2 to her opera The Wreckers, received its Singapore premiere to warm acclaim and acceptance. 

Extreme moodiness, redolent of grey skies and inclement weather of England’s furthest flung county, underscored this post-Wagnerian music about bloodthirsty criminals who intentionally caused shipwrecks, lived and thrived on plundered wares. Shifting tonalities, as wavering as the tides, made for ear-catching listening. It was the ensemble’s polish with short solos from oboe, clarinet, violin and trumpet which vividly painted this bleak portrait of the sea. 

Closing quietly in D major, it whetted the appetite for Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, receiving its fifth performance in Singapore within 14 months. From Uzbek pianist Behzod Abduraimov came the best performance of all. His stunning accuracy was only part of the story, which encompassed a laser-like vision of its Paganinian inspiration (the Italian violin virtuoso’s Caprice no. 24), from an almost flippant opening to its sardonic close. 

Crispness and fleetness of articulation ruled, but when it came to sweeping arpeggios, scintillating runs and stampeding octaves, he duly delivered without fuss. An arch-like architecture edifice was erected through its four connected sections, even existing as a glorious mini-arch of its own in the famous Variation 18 (a D flat major key inversion of the A minor theme). Buoyed by prolonged applause, Abduraimov’s two encores were totally apt, the staggering tintinnabulation of Liszt’s La Campanella (another Paganini inspiration) contrasted with the sheer lyricism of Rachmaninov’s Prelude in G major (Op.32 no.5). 

Perhaps even more momentous was the Singapore premiere of the complete ballet Daphnis et Chloé, Ravel’s symphonie choreographique. Already very familiar to the audience is his Second Suite, with its sumptuously orchestrated themes depicting the eponymous lovers, Dawn and the final Bacchanalian Danse générale. The full score has more than three times as much music (playing close to an hour) with these themes heard for the first time and fleshed out before their final perorations. Despite being discursive in parts, the performance made for absorbing listening, aided by well-timed surtitles describing the unfolding scenes and action. 

Central to the storytelling was the wordless chorus of 95 singers from the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir (Eudenice Palaruan, Choral Director) whose every “ooh and aah” furthered the narrative. In Ravel’s sexiest music ever, Graf’s magisterial command of his forces was never in doubt, the sultry and idyllic scenes of nymphs and their suitors on the mythical isle of Lesbos being perfectly captured. The graceful dance of hero Daphnis contrasted with the gaucheness of his rival Dorcon also made for striking contrasts. For that most evocative depiction of dawn (Lever du jour), principal flautist Jin Ta shone brightly, as did guest concertmaster Sulki Yu’s silky violin, before swooping choral glissandi and the full orchestra’s might brought the evening to a rousing and raucous conclusion.