Rachmaninov: Symphonies and Orchestral Music

Rachmaninov's orchestral scores in sumptuous performances from Singapore.

Since its founding in 1979, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been Singapore's flagship orchestra, touching lives through classical music and providing the heartbeat of the cultural scene in the cosmopolitan city-state. The SSO has earned an international reputation for its orchestral virtuosity, having garnered sterling reviews for its overseas tours and many successful recordings. The SSO performs primarily at the Esplanade Concert Hall, with more intimate works and all outreach performances taking place at its home, the Victoria Concert Hall.
The SSO has performed in
Europe, Asia and the United States. In 2016 the orchestra was invited to the Dresden Music Festival and the Prague Spring International Festival. The resulting five-city tour also included the SSO's return to the Berlin Philharmonie. In 2014 the SSO was invited to début at the 120th BBC Proms in London.
Notable SSO releases on the BIS label include three discs of Debussy's orchestral works, a Rachmaninov symphony cycle, the sea-themed anthology Seascapes featuring music by Debussy, Frank Bridge, Glazunov and Zhou Long, and the first-ever cycle of Alexander Tcherepnin's piano concertos and symphonies.

Lan Shui is renowned for his abilities as an orchestral builder and for his passion in commissioning, premièring and recording new works by leading composers. Currently principal guest conductor of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Shui served as the music director of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra from 1997 to 2019, when he was appointed the orchestra's conductor laureate. From 2007 to 2015 he was also the chief conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic, currently holding the post of the orchestra's honorary conductor.
As a guest conductor, Lan Shui has worked with many
eminent orchestras worldwide. In the United States he has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, and the Baltimore and Detroit Symphony Orchestras. In Europe he has performed with Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France and Orchestre National de Lille. In Asia he has conducted the Hong Kong, Malaysian and Japan Philharmonic Orchestras and maintains a close relationship with the China Philharmonic and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras.
Since 1998 Lan Shui has recorded some 30 discs for BIS, including the first ever complete cycle of Alexander Tcherepnin's symphonies. He is the recipient of several international awards including the Cultural Medallion, Singapore's highest accolade in the arts.