Arts Picks: Andreas Scholl concert, Cuturi’s SG60 show and Singapore Ballet Festival

Andreas Scholl with Sarah Traubel and Red Dot Baroque

Music fans are in for a treat when Grammy-nominated countertenor Andreas Scholl takes to the stage on July 20. Famed for his spine-tingling high register and a velvety purity of tone, the German singer will tackle a baroque programme of both sacred and secular works.

These will include Antonio Vivaldi’s Sinfonia from L’Olimpiade, RV 725 and Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, P. 77. 

Singapore’s Red Dot Baroque will play alongside Scholl, and German soprano Sarah Traubel will also be performing. 

The concert is part of the Esplanade’s year-long 60 Connections – At Home And Afar season. It celebrates SG60 with Singapore stories and international collaborations, and marks the 60th anniversary of Singapore-Germany diplomatic relations. 

Before the concert, Scholl will conduct a masterclass on July 18 at 8pm, with two vocalists. This session is open to audiences and free by registration at

str.sg/KPqx

Where: Esplanade Concert Hall, 1 Esplanade Drive
MRT: Esplanade
When: July 20, 5pm 
Admission: From $35 
Info:

esplanade.com/andreasscholl

Sixty Summers Here 

Get ready for yet more SG60 art shows. Cuturi Gallery, at least, has a different approach. Instead of the big guns, the gallery is focusing on 10 young talent in their 20s and 30s who are currently active in the scene. They are Aisha Rosli, Anna Du Toit, Casey Tan, Faris Heizer, Joel Seow, Marla Bendini, Oneal Parbo, Shen Jiaqi, Vanessa Liem and Yom Bo Sung.

While 60 is a milestone that has prompted other shows to look back, Cuturi instead opts for attention to the present, hence the focus on these practitioners.

They work in various media, from more traditional painting to installation pieces to performance art. What unites them is their position as artists practising in Singapore. Their attention to, and responses to, this place can be seen in their works. 

Shen’s The City With No Seasons depicts familiar objects – a traffic light, a facade reminiscent of Central Fire Station, tropical foliage – in an unfamiliar composition, forcing a contemplation of Singapore’s cityscape, as well as setting up a tension between new and old. 

Heizer’s Take Five centres on a scene most people ignore – of foreign workers taking a break, reminding viewers of the unseen labour taken for granted in this city. 

Yom, who has created charmingly small-scale sculptures capturing quotidian moments, presents in Elegy an intriguingly nondescript take on founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew in his instantly identifiable shirt and open jacket ensemble, which invites questions about myth-making. 

Where: Cuturi Gallery, 61 Aliwal Street
MRT: Nicoll Highway
When: Till Aug 8, noon to 7pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays)
Admission: Free 
Info:

cuturigallery.com

Singapore Ballet Festival 

The Singapore Ballet presents a sampler of three works from its repertoire this weekend. 

Shadow’s Edge was created for the then Singapore Dance Theatre by renowned Chinese choreographer Ma Cong in 2014. Ma, now artistic director of Richmond Ballet, said the work was created “especially to highlight the diverse cultures and talents” of the company’s dancers.

Evening Voices by British choreographer Tim Rushton is set to Sergei Rachmaninov’s All-Night Vigil.

Last but not least is a work by late Singaporean choreographer Goh Choo San, Double Contrasts. He created the piece for the Washington Ballet when he was its first resident choreographer in the 1980s. 

Where: Drama Centre Theatre, 03-01 National Library, 100 Victoria Street
MRT: Bugis
When: July 18, 8pm; July 19, 2 and 8pm; July 20, 2pm 
Admission: From $48 
Info:

singaporeballet.org