Over the past 45 years, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra has released over 50 recordings, with more than 30 under BIS Records, one of the most respected classical labels in the world, and others under award-winning Dutch label Pentatone, as well as renowned UK label Chandos. These recordings not only chronicle our journey as an orchestra, but also allow us to share music, created on home ground, with music lovers from around the world. Let’s take a trip down memory lane of SSO’s recording journey.
Our First Record
In January 1981, the SSO released its first ever album of six Chinese symphonic pieces, recorded in the Victoria Concert Hall. Led by founding Music Director Choo Hoey, the album featured Japanese violinist Takako Nishizaki as the soloist in “Hung Hu” Violin Concerto and Fantasy on a Sinkiang Folk Song.
Booked and BISy: SSO Goes Global
The world’s first full Tcherepnin cycle recording was also the SSO’s first international record, launched under the same Swedish label. Releasing an international album had been on the top of then-Music Director, now Conductor Laureate, Lan Shui’s bucket list. By taking on the formidable complete symphonic cycle of Chinese-influenced Russian composer Alexander Tcherepnin, the conductor achieved this dream with the birth of Tcherepnin - Symphonies Nos.1 & 2 and Piano concerto No.5 in September 1999.
Tcherepnin’s music reflected the diverse East-meets-West culture in SSO back then (and still today), with musicians from all over the world. Featuring Japanese pianist Noriko Ogawa, SSO's first Tcherepnin album consisted of Symphonies No.1 and 2, as well as Piano Concerto No. 5. By November 2002, all the six piano concertos and four symphonies spread across four albums were recorded, completing the Tcherepnin cycle.
"Nobody has recorded the full Tcherepnin cycle yet, If people want to listen to his music, they have no choice but to buy our CD!" - SSO Conductor Laureate Lan Shui (1999)
Making Waves
Maestro Lan Shui is well known for his magical Mahler works, but another composer whose works shine under his wand is Debussy, as proven by the immense success of the three Debussy discs – La Mer, Jeux and Nocturnes. If there is one SSO album you should listen to, it would be the 2014 release of Debussy – La Mer.
The almost 80-minute album explores Debussy’s style of creating an atmosphere rather than painting a detailed picture. His compositional style invented a new musical aesthetic through different textures and colours in music that had never been explored before, which gave rise to what we now know as the Impressionist style. Debussy was able to create a breakthrough due to his unconventional harmonic innovations. In this album, Maestro Lan Shui commands the orchestra with delicate mastery, bringing out the intricacies in the harmony of Debussy’s soundscape.
"...the playing of the Singapore Symphony is incredibly responsive to the possibilities lurking in every corner of Debussy’s score, and the work’s extremities are compellingly realised." - MusicWeb International (2014)
Scriabin - Poem of Ecstasy and Prometheus (2022)
Throughout the rest of the BIS era, the SSO recordings have garnered various acclaim, but it was Scriabin - Poem of Ecstasy and Prometheus that proved to be one of SSO’s most celebrated recordings. It also concluded the Lan Shui era and SSO’s partnership with BIS label in 2022. The album delves into the intricacies of Alexander Scriabin’s later works. It is arguably one of SSO’s best performances, where the orchestra and choruses delivered the multifaceted symphonic poem in this bewitching recording. Also featured in the recording is Russian pianist Yevgeny Sudbin who conveyed the frenzy in the Piano Sonata through his ecstatic and feverish rendition.
The Pentatone Era
When budding violin prodigy Chloe Chua first entered the scene, SSO’s Director of Artistic Planning Hans Sørensen recognised her growing talent and offered her the position of Artist-In-Residence for the SSO’s 2022/23 season. The partnership allowed the SSO to nurture Chloe as a musician and even record multiple albums.
In March 2023, the young violin sensation presented her debut album Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and Locatelli's Harmonic Labyrinth with the SSO. This is the first recording of Chloe’s iconic Winter of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, which jumpstarted her rise to fame in 2018 when she won the joint-first prize at the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists. With this album, Chloe launched her international recording career, the first of many to come.
There’s a palpable energy in this detailed live recording, Chua’s album debut. The Vivaldi’s familiar characteristics dazzle in a performance that is way beyond the teenager’s 16 years, and she equally navigates Locatelli’s Harmonic Labyrinth with supreme confidence.
In April 2024, Music Director Hans Graf, the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth Choir made their Pentatone debut in Kozłowski’s Requiem alongside the national orchestra, featuring four acclaimed international guest singers. The revival of the Requiem was thanks to Sørensen, who was determined to programme the piece after hearing it in 2018. The work eventually made its Asian premiere in The Kozlovsky Requiem on 7 April 2023 at the Esplanade Concert Hall.
The journey to getting Requiem performed and recorded was not a straightforward one. When Sørensen first had his heart set on programming this work, he quickly discovered that the score for Requiem was not available from any publisher. By some miracle, he managed to get in touch with a library in St. Petersburg that still had three copies of the original score from 1798. Over the course of five months, Maestro Hans Graf created a reimagined version of the Requiem through references to the St Petersburg score as well as an autographed first edition score from Leipzig. The end product was a modernised revival of the original which still retains the intimate character and composer’s intentions, which has been published as a new Urtext edition. The work is rooted in Viennese Classicism, yet also foreshadows nineteenth-century evolution, with a subtle touch of Slavonic influence.
“One of the sensational things about this music is the way the final movement fades into nothing, with only a faint double bass and the soprano holding on one note. The tenors go in thirds and do a diminuendo. It’s humility in front of death: it’s the perfect death.” - Maestro Hans Graf (2023)
Breaking into the Charts
In 2023, the SSO released its first ever album with the premier UK music record label Chandos, HERRMANN Suite from Wuthering Heights / Echoes for Strings. This album debuted at No. 5 on the Official Specialist Classical Chart in July 2023, making it the first SSO album to rank among the top five of UK’s classical music charts. It also received a five star citation by the BBC Music Magazine. The vivid performance by the SSO brought listeners through the emotional journey of Wuthering Heights, inspired by Emily Brontë’s novel. Echoes was originally composed for string quartet but was later arranged for string orchestra by Sørensen. The string orchestra version can be heard on this album, under the baton of Joshua Tan, the current Singapore National Youth Orchestra’s Principal Conductor.
"This snapshot, stunningly recorded, serves as a tantalising sample of what it might be to go on Herrmann's entire emotionally wrought journey." - BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month (2023)
Whenever, wherever
After reading about all the significant milestone albums in SSO’s recording journey, you must be eager to have a listen for yourselves. Here's how you can do so:
Easy on-the-go listening: Apple Music and Spotify
Paired with a good pair of headphones, listening to classical works via music streaming platforms can almost feel like you are seated right in the concert hall. Through this digital time capsule, you can customise playlists by adding your favourite SSO recordings from across the decades.
The best auditory experience: CDs
In a time where everything is becoming digitalised, why does the SSO still produce CDs? CDs still hold the highest streaming sound quality, easily surpassing digital streaming and vinyl records. Additionally, having a physical product of music attaches a sense of nostalgia to it and makes it the perfect autograph material.
Digital concert hall: YouTube
The live concert experience will always be a special one, but watching the concert through SSO’s YouTube Channel offers a sense of intimacy in the comforts of your own home. The SSO is a pioneer of utilising the YouTube Channel membership, bringing this immersive SSO experience worldwide. Through the videos, viewers can get up-close with the musicians, watching the concert from different perspectives.
SSOaring to New Heights
The SSO has had an incredible recording career so far. Chronicling our history through albums has allowed us to look back on the growth of the orchestra. Looking ahead, we are excited to bring more recordings, including the first-ever vinyl of Chloe Chua - Four Seasons & Locatelli's Harmonic Labyrinth.
A huge thank you to all who has streamed our recordings and purchased any of our CD albums, we are so grateful for everyone who has tuned in on our journey so far.