All details are correct at time of printing. Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS reserves the right to vary without notice the artists and/or repertoire as necessary. Copyright © 2019 by Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS (Co. No. 462692-X). All rights reserved. No part of this programme may be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the copyright owners.

Sun 14 April 2019 at 3.00 pm

Malaysian Philharmonic Youth OrchestraGerard Salonga, conductor

PROGRAMME

MOZARTSerenade in B flat major - Gran Partita, K. 361 15 mins

WOODFour Pieces for Four Trombones 7 mins

MENDELSSOHNOctet for Strings in E flat major, Op.20 13 mins

INTERVAL 20 mins

BIZETSymphony in C 27 mins

GERARD SALONGAconductor

Gerard Salonga is Music Director of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra (a professional orchestra in Manila maintained by the Philippine broadcast company ABS-CBN) and for two seasons, served as Assistant Conductor of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2019, he begins his term as Resident Conductor of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO).

In 2016, he was named one of the Assistant Conductors of the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, selected by the orchestra and its Music Director Jaap van Zweden from a field of 170 international applicants. He has also worked closely with Yu Long, Jun Märkl, Zhang Guoyong, Hans Graf, John Wilson and Vladimir Ashkenazy.

Salonga has conducted the Philippine Philharmonic, Shanghai Opera House Orchestra and Chorus, Evergreen Symphony, Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. His orchestral arrangements have been performed by Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony, RTE Concert Orchestra, New York Pops, Winnipeg Symphony and the Cincinnati Pops. As arranger and conductor, he has collaborated with artists such as Lea Salonga, Wang Leehom, Wu Tong, Michael Ball, Il Divo, Blake, Shen Yang, Danielle de Niese, TaikOz, Ksenija Sidorova and The Beach Boys.

Season 2018/19 includes debuts with the Singapore Symphony and Kunming Ni-Er Symphony in China, and conducting the Hong Kong Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. He will also collaborate with pianist Cecile Licad and the South Denmark Philharmonic on a new recording of the works of George Gershwin on the Danacord label.

In 2012, Salonga was honoured as one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM), the Philippines’ highest civilian award to achievers under the age of 40, and was named Music Director of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra.

PROGRAMME NOTES

Only one work on this MPYO programme is being played by a full symphony orchestra, Bizet’s symphony. The other three offer intriguing alternatives for a variety of chamber music ensembles, one each for strings (Mendelssohn), winds (Mozart) and brass (Wood). Each of these compositions offers insights into just what prodigiously talented composers can create while still in their teens (Mendelssohn and Bizet) or twenties (Mozart and Wood). This is all “easy listening” music, yet for the most part composed on the highest level of artistic inspiration. Enjoy!

WOLFGANG AMADÈ MOZART (1756-1791)Serenade in B flat major - Gran Partita, K. 361 (370a)(1780-1784)

I. Largo – Molto allegro V. Romanze: Adagio – Allegretto – Adagio VII. Finale: Molto allegro

Mozart probably wrote, or at least began this serenade in Munich while there for performances of his new opera Idomeneo in late 1780 and early 1781. Munich at the time boasted an opera orchestra second to none (many of its members came from Mannheim,

the centre of the orchestral universe in the late 18th century). Knowing he could count on the finest players available, Mozart conceived his serenade on a grand scale. The alternate title by which this work is known, Gran Partita, is affixed to the autograph score but it is not in Mozart’s hand. Nevertheless, the title is apt, for the word “partita” is Italian for a “lot” or a “quantity of goods”. And what a grand quantity Mozart provided! Seven movements (the typical serenade contained five) lasting nearly an hour in performance for one of the largest groups of wind instruments assembled up to that time within or without an orchestra. Today, we hear three of these splendid movements.

The scoring essentially amounts to three quartets plus a supporting bass line: four double reeds (pairs of oboes and bassoons), four members of the clarinet family (pairs of clarinets and basset horns) and four horns (again, in pairs, each pair pitched in a different key so as to allow for the maximum number of pitches available on these still valveless instruments). The score specifies a contrabasso for the 13th instrument, which meant a string bass, but modern performances often substitute a contrabassoon, which Mozart himself might well have requested had the instrument been more generally available and a player at his disposal. Inclusion of the contrabassoon also justifies still another name by which this composition is known, “Serenade for 13 Winds”.

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GARETH WOOD (b.1950)Four Pieces for Four Trombones (1978)

I. Tango II. Song III. Parody IV. Lament

Welsh-born Gareth Wood has sustained a double career as double bass player and composer. He studied both pursuits at the Royal Academy of Music in London, then in 1972 joined the Royal Philharmonic where he played for many years under such legendary conductors as

Stokowski, Böhm, Haitink, and Solti. As a composer, he first came to public attention in 1975 with his overture Tombstone, Arizona, which was performed in London’s Royal Albert Hall. Wood went on to compose a large catalogue of music, the largest component of which is for concert band or brass band. This includes numerous concertos and fanfares. The latter category includes one for Cunard (premiered on board the Queen Elizabeth II in honour of the line’s 150th anniversary in 1990). For orchestra, Wood has written more fanfares, as well as three double bass concertos, a Romeo and Juliet suite, and Toduri , based on 15th century Korean court music. This was premiered in Seoul as part of the city’s 600th anniversary celebration in 1994 and was included in a time capsule that will be opened only four centuries later. Four Pieces for Four Trombones was published in 1978 and quickly became a favourite among trombone players. Each of these easy listening pieces lasts about two minutes. The movement titles speak for themselves except for the last, which begins with what sounds like an imitation of church bells, followed by a merry little saunter down the aisle with just a brief moment of sad reflection before the piece is stopped short in its tracks.

FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847)Octet for Strings in E flat major, Op.20 (1825)

I. Allegro moderato, ma con fuoco

Mendelssohn’s Octet is not only the finest work of its kind; it was the first as well, and remains the sole important string octet in the repertory. The composer himself decreed that the work “must be played by all the instruments in symphonic orchestral style. Fortes and pianos must be strictly observed and more strongly emphasized than is usual in pieces of this character”. In addition, the first violin takes on the role almost of a virtuoso. amazon.com

©Tŷ Cerdd

However, the most remarkable fact of all surrounding this Octet is its place in Mendelssohn’s output. He wrote it at the age of 16! Considering its extraordinarily high quality, it may well be the finest work ever written by a 16-year-old composer. Not even Mozart was writing music of this calibre at 16. The first performance was given at one of the many musical soirées given at the Mendelssohn's home. The composer probably played one of the viola parts at this event.

The opening plunges us immediately into a quasi-orchestral world with its richly textured, whirring background against which the principal violin presents an exuberantly soaring theme. When the more lyrical second subject arrives, it is first heard by the fourth(!) violin and first viola.

GEORGES BIZET (1838-1875)Symphony in C (1855)

I. Allegro vivo II. Adagio III. Allegro vivace IV. Allegro vivace

The history of music is dotted with exceptionally precocious composers, creators who turned out eminently acceptable works while still young boys, and masterpieces while still in their teens (Mozart, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns and Korngold come quickly to mind) but no one supposed that Bizet ranked among these. At least not until 1933, when his Symphony in C came to light, 78 years after it had been written.

Bizet composed the symphony in late 1855 but lacked the confidence to bring it before the public. After his death, it passed into the hands of his composer/friend Reynaldo Hahn, who did nothing with it. Eventually, the symphony found its way into the archives of the Paris Conservatoire library where it was “discovered” by Bizet’s biographer DC Parker. Parker brought the symphony to the attention of conductor Felix Weingartner, who gave the world premiere on 26 February 1935 in Basel.

The crisp, arpeggiated opening for unison strings brings Beethoven to mind, as do the abrupt changes in dynamic level and the military tone, not to mention the same key as Beethoven chose for his first symphony. But it is probably Schubert who mostly comes to mind (though Bizet did not know his symphonies), as much for the beguiling, lyrical second theme (oboe) as for the frequent, unexpected extensions of themes into other keys. The second movement is the most identifiably Bizet’s, and generally considered the real jewel of the symphony. The long, sensuous, poignant first theme provides the oboe with one of its most cherished solos in the entire repertory. The jocular, sturdy Scherzo shares its principal theme with the Trio section, where the theme becomes lyrical over a drone-like effect to evoke a rustic dance. The finale flutters along with Mendelssohnian deftness and ebullient spirit, bringing the symphony to a boisterous and joyful close.

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MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC YOUTH ORCHESTRAThe initial steps towards realising the long-cherished dream of the late PETRONAS Chairman, Tun Azizan Zainul Abidin, to create a youth orchestra as a ‘stage for young talents’, alongside the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra (MPO), were taken on 13 January 2006. Some 500 aspiring musicians from across Malaysia auditioned and 110 – with an average age of 18 years – were selected to form the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO).

After a period of intensive training under its founding conductor, Kevin Field, and mentors drawn from the ranks of the MPO, the MPYO gave its first public concert in Dewan Filharmonik PETRONAS on 25 August 2007. It has since established a pattern of music camps held three to four times a year, culminating in performances in Kuala Lumpur and beyond. It has toured Peninsula Malaysia (2007 and 2010), Sabah and Sarawak (2008), Singapore (2009 and 2017), Brisbane, Australia (2012), Kedah (2013), Johor Bahru (2014) and Hong Kong (2018).

Auditions are held every year to provide opportunities for talented young Malaysian musicians to join the MPYO and participate in orchestral training and performances, under the guidance of the MPO musicians as tutors. The music repertoire ranges from symphonic repertoire to specially-commissioned works by Malaysian composers. In an innovative project, ‘Jazzaar’, in 2010, the orchestra collaborated with leading jazz musicians from the USA, led by Fritz Renold who wrote his Suite Nusantara specially for the project.

In 2013, the orchestra performed in Kedah with renowned local singers Datin Paduka Julie Sudiro and Datuk Yusni Hamid in a keroncong concert attended by the HRH Agong of Malaysia. In 2014, the ensemble collaborated with Yayasan Warisan Johor and Orkestra Tradisional Malaysia in Johor Bahru. In 2015, the MPYO was given the honour to perform at the opening of the 128th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Kuala Lumpur. In 2017, the MPYO was invited to perform at Majlis Santapan Malam Memuliakan Mesyuarat Majlis Raja-Raja ke-247 at Istana Negara, and Majlis Jamuan Teh Sempena Sambutan Ulang Tahun Hari Keputeraan Rasmi DYMM Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar, Sultan Johor.

For inquiries, please call Fadilah Kamal Francis at 03-23314218, email fadilah.francis@mpo.com.my or check out www.mpo.com.my.

Note: Sectional string players are rotated within their sections. *Extra musician.

PARTNER HOTELS

CORPORATE SUITEPREMIUM MEMBERS

CORPORATE SUITECLUB MEMBER

VIOLINAndrea Sim Yi XianAshraaf Shahiran Abdul KarimAzhad Sulaiman@ZakariaCeleste Tan Chai WenChan Mei TengChan Yi HungCheong Keat ZhenDebbie Johanna Ho Yan YanDenise MubinElle Chang Su-TingFiorella Tjahjono TanHam Kay LiHam Kay LynHeng Yong WeiHoi Khai-WeingIzzywan MusibJarrett Chin Qi RenJoanna Delight Ho May SumJoey YoungJonathan Ng Chin KhaiKhaw Hui Yang CatherineKiew Zheng WeiKylie TanKyvie TanLee Jin YenLee Ting HuiLee Yan XingLim Zhi HsuanLoo Mei HuiLow Zi YangMuhammad Afif ZulkifliNatasha Francesca ParanNg Chia WenNg Zhi NingNgoh Ea SonNicole Leong Ka YengRyan Koh Yong ChinSia Zhi YiStephanie Wong Hui ErnTan Khai LiTan Kwan Wynn Tan PinQi SophiaTeh Hui MinTimothy Song

VIOLADanish MubinEvelyn ChowLoe Jing YiLoo Pei ZhengNg Zhan ShenPoh Yoon HouTan Jiunn ShawTan Khai JeatTai Ju Yi

CELLOAnnie Leong Yu Xuan Charissa Tan Tian AiEmily Lee Tze ShinGillian TooGoh Wen ChihIsabel Lau Kai ZiJoel Chew Yee SongJoshua Sim Te ShengLee Pu-Yen

DOUBLE BASSKhee Yu HangLee Kar YanMagdalene Lim Jia MinZoe Goh Zi YiSiti Aishah Che Hassan

FLUTEBonnie Kong Tien Li Chiu Peng ChongOh Chin WeiTan Wei HarnWooi Wei KaneWong Xue Fen

OBOEMohd Izzat Bukhori AwangTunku Amanina Tunku Ibrahim

CLARINETEmily Tiow Yu XianEugene Chee Jia JiunnKoo Yin YeeLee Shi MinLing Ji XuOng Chang Yong Tang Kit Ying

BASSOONChong Chun WengMuhammad Afiq HussainiStephen Mak Wai Soon

FRENCH HORNChloe Chai Mei QinEric Tiow Xian LiangLoh Zi ShunMichelle Lim Qian YeeMohd Adznan MokhtarNoor Fauzan Mohd Khiry

TRUMPET Darren Huong Nai Xian Kenny Ooi Chia FuLau Hui PingNurliyana Abdul GhafarWong Soon KangLoh Ryan Benz

TROMBONEAbdul Hanif Abd HamidAinul Basyirah AznanLow Kim Ven Wong Chun Hang Xan Chong Zhu Xu Yeoh Yi Han

TUBALim Jun Yi Tan Shun ZhongWong Chen Hng

TIMPANI/PERCUSSIONCheh Jing WanNg Lip ShengNicholas Chang Zhe YiOng Chu WenOng Jia Yong

HARP Madelaine Chong Zhia Chee Isabel Chan Xuan-e

PIANOTengku Mohd HadifChoong See MayChong Yi HengLim Kwan Yee

MALAYSIAN PHILHARMONIC YOUTH ORCHESTRA

Dewan Filharmonik PeTronaS

ChieF eXeCUTiVe oFFiCerSareen Risham

BUSineSS & markeTinGmanaGemenTSoraya Mansor

BUSineSS DeVeloPmenTWan Yuzaini Wan Yahya At Ziafrizani Chek PaNurartikah IlyasKartini Ratna Sari Ahmat AdamAishah Sarah Ismail Affendee

markeTinG Munshi Ariff Abu HassanHisham Abdul JalilFarah Diyana IsmailNoor Sarul Intan SalimMuhammad Shahrir AizatAhmad Kusolehin Adha Kamaruddin

CUSTomer relaTionShiPmanaGemenTNorhaznita HusinYayuk Yulianawati RilaJalwati Mohd Noor

mUSiC TalenT DeVeloPmenT &manaGemenTAhmad Muriz Che Rose

PlanninG, FinanCe & iTMohd Hakimi Mohd RosliNorhisham Abd RahmanSiti Nur Ilyani Ahmad FadzillahNurfharah Farhana Hashimi

ProCUremenT & ConTraCTLogiswary RamanNorhaszilawati Zainudin

hUman reSoUrCe manaGemenT & aDminiSTraTionSharhida SaadMas Arinah HamzahMuknoazlida MukhadzimNik Nurul Nadia Nik AbdullahNor Afidah Nordin

TeChniCal oPeraTionSFiroz Khan Mohd YunusMohd Zamir Mohd IsaShahrul Rizal Mohd AliDayan Erwan MaharalZolkarnain Sarman

malaySian PhilharmoniCorCheSTra

ChieF eXeCUTiVe oFFiCerSareen Risham

General manaGerKhor Chin YangSoraya Mansor

General manaGer'S oFFiCeTimmy Ong

arTiSTiC aDminiSTraTion Khor Chin YangSharon Francis Lihan

orCheSTra manaGemenTAhmad Muriz Che RoseSharhida SaadFadilah Kamal FrancisShireen Jasin Mokhtar

malaySian PhilharmoniC yoUThorCheSTraAhmad Muriz Che RoseYazmin Lim AbdullahFadilah Kamal Francis

mUSiC liBraryOng Li-HueyWong Seong SeongMuhammad Zaid Azzim Mohd Diah

eDUCaTion & oUTreaChShireen Jasin MokhtarShafrin SabriKatherine Tan Jia Yiing

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