SSO's Debut Recording on Decca

This looks like an exciting move for our very own local orchestra: a new CD on a major international label! Nevermind that they only playing a supporting role to Qin Li-Wei (who is a contracted recording artist with Universal Music as well as a lecturer at Yong Siew Toh), what matters is that their performance, along with Maestro Lan Shui's leadership, will now be accessible to a much broader international audience of classical music lovers. So give it up for the home team! Here's more information:

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- Lan Shui is leading Singapore Symphony Orchestra to be the world class Symphony Orchestra- American Record Guide

- Experienced Germany production team travelled to Singapore Esplanade for the live recording of the album


DECCA releases the works of the famous cellist, Qin Li-Wei's third album, Dvorak - a live recording together with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and conductor, Lan Shui. The album consist of the live recording of Dvorak ‘B minor cello concerto, ‘Silent Woods’and Brahms’s ‘Academic Festival Overture’. ‘B minor Cello Concerto’ is not only one of the masterpieces of Dvorak, but is also well received by the world. This is not the first time Li-Wei has played this piece, at the age of 17, he collaborated with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, but this time, he feels that he has grown and performed this piece more confidently.

The German production team was specially invited to Singapore Esplanade to do the recording for the album, and thereafter, the album was completed in Germany. Li-Wei mentioned that it was a lot of pressure for him during the live recording as everything that was played will be recorded in the album. However, conductor Lan Shui was very understanding and they all worked together very well along with the orchestra.



Qin Li-Wei:

Qin Li-Wei has appeared all over the world as a soloist and as a chamber musician. “Li-Wei drew the audience in with his artistry, his brilliant virtuosity and his very refined musicality and sincerity of interpretation” was the description of his performance at the 11th Tchaikovsky International Competition where he was awarded the Silver Medal. He has since won the First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg Competition in New York.

Li-Wei has enjoyed successful artistic collaborations with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and Janowski, London Philharmonic and Bostock, Prague Symphony and Wit, BBC Philharmonic and Totelier, Hong Kong Philharmonic and Van Zweden, Osaka Philharmonic and Belohlavek, Melbourne Symphony and Viotti, BBC Symphony and more. In recital and chamber music, Li-Wei is a regular guest at the Wigmore Hall and he appears at the BBC Proms, the Rheinghau, the City of London, the Jerusalem and the Mecklenburg Festivals. He has collaborated with musicians such as Daniel Hope, Nabuko Imai, Mischa Maisky, David Finckel, Wu Han, Vladimir Mendelssohn and Ian Brown, among many others.

Born in Shanghai, Li-Wei moved to Australia at the age of 13, before accepting scholarships to study with Ralph Kirshbaum at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he later became a professor of cello. Li-Wei is currently the Head of Cello Studies at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music in Singapore, and is also a guest professor at Shanghai Conservatoire and Central Conservatoire of Music in China. He plays a 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello, generously loaned by Dr. and Mrs. Wilson Goh.


Singapore Symphony Orchestra:

A premier Asian orchestra gaining recognition around the world, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra was established in 1979 and now makes its performing home at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Its versatile repertoire spans the all-time favourites and orchestral masterpieces to exciting cutting-edge premieres, with Asian and Singaporean musicians and composers featuring prominently in the concert season. The SSO has toured America, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Its 6-city tour of London and Germany in 2010, which included a sold-out performance at the Berlin Philharmonie, garnered rave reviews from publications such as The Times and Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

“This could be one of the great orchestras of the 21st century”
The Spectator (London), 23 October 2010


Lan Shui:

Since he joined the Singapore Symphony Orchestra as Music Director in 1997, Lan Shui has brought the SSO to greater heights during his tenure, through several successful international tours and recordings. He is also Chief Conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic since 2007, and from 2011 to 2013 he serves as Artistic Advisor to the National Taiwan Symphony. Since 1998 Lan Shui has recorded over 18 CDs for the BIS label, including music by Arnold and Hindemith with the Malmö Symphony. His recordings have been nominated twice for the Grammy Awards. He is the recipient of several international awards from the Beijing Arts Festival, New York Tcherepnin Society, Boston University (Distinguished Alumni Award) and Singapore (Cultural Medallion).

Born in Hangzhou, China, Lan Shui studied composition at the Shanghai Conservatory and graduated from the Beijing Central Conservatory, where he studied conducting with Xu Xin and Huang Fei Li. He made his professional conducting debut with Beijing’s Central Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986 and was later appointed Conductor of the Beijing Symphony. From 1986 he continued his graduate studies at Boston University and attended the Tanglewood Music Festival, working closely with Leonard Bernstein. In 1990 he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Summer Festival, where he came to the attention of David Zinman who in 1992 invited him to the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as Conducting Affiliate for two seasons. From 1994 to 1997, he was Associate Conductor to Neeme Jarvi at the Detroit Symphony. In the same period he assisted Kurt Masur at the New York Philharmonic, and worked with Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra in Paris under the Young Conductors’ Project.

Find out more about Qin Li-Wei at http://www.liweicello.com.
And then of course, there's the SSO's official website: www.sso.org.sg.