SSO and SCO break into UK’s classical music charts at No. 5 and No. 16
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SINGAPORE – It is a banner week for Singapore’s classical music scene as the two national orchestras have broken into the top 20 of the United Kingdom’s classical music chart.
The Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s (SSO) recording of film composer Bernard Herrmann’s Suite From Wuthering Heights: Echoes For Strings debuted at No. 5. This is the first time the SSO has breached the Official Specialist Classical Chart’s coveted top five, although the orchestra’s previous recordings have made the charts – Shostakovich entered at No. 11 in 2022 and Russian Spectacular at No. 26 in 2021.
Mr Kenneth Kwok, chief executive of Singapore Symphony Group, says: “This speaks to the continued strength and growing popularity of our national orchestra.
“We thank listeners in Singapore and abroad for their strong support, as well as conductors Mario Venzago and Joshua Tan, and soloists Keri Fuge and Roderick Williams.”
Soprano Fuge sings the role of Catherine, while baritone Williams is Heathcliff in the recording.
The Singapore Chinese Orchestra’s (SCO) Butterfly Lovers, recorded with American violinist Joshua Bell in Singapore in 2018 when he came to town for performances with the orchestra, flitted in at No. 16.
The recording was Bell’s idea, as he told The Straits Times in a 2018 story.
Yeh says of the Grammy Award-winning musician: “I have known Joshua for well over 25 years from my time as the music director of the South Bend Symphony Orchestra in the United States. Joshua is such an incredible artist and warm friend. I am so thrilled that this friendship has culminated in two sell-out concerts in Singapore and one world-class recording of Butterfly Lovers, in the capable hands of Grammy-award-winning producer/engineer Adam Abeshouse.”
SCO’s executive director Terence Ho says: “We are honoured to be the first Chinese orchestra to have our album on the Specialist Classical Chart Top 20, bringing the Singapore brand on the international stage and inspiring the world with our music.”
This achievement is a consolation as the pandemic had scuppered SCO’s plans to tour with Bell in the US after their successful 2018 concert collaboration in Singapore.
The Official Specialist Classical Chart, compiled by the Official Charts Company, is based on sales of digital bundles, CDs, vinyl and other formats, across a seven-day period.
Singapore’s classical musicians have been earning laurels in 2023 after the enforced hiatus of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Conductor Wong Kah Chun was appointed principal conductor and artistic adviser of the Halle in the UK, became the first Singaporean to win second place
