Mozart 36 follows Mozart’s journey as a young composer from age 8 with the first of his Sonatas for piano and violin to the last in 1788, when he was living at the centre of the Viennese musical world as the city’s finest keyboard player and a hugely successful composer.

TTK Grand Series embarked in June 2019 on a one and a half year journey through the complete 36 Sonatas for piano and violin by Mozart, and a selection of his iconic chamber works and concerti.  Here, Italian pianist Luca Buratto and Singaporean solo violinist Tang Tee Khoon continued our Mozart 36 journey with a set of his mature Sonatas, sharing the evening with a full-house audience:

Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in D major KV.306
Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in G major KV.379
Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in E flat major KV.380
Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in E flat major KV.481

Mozart 36 follows Mozart’s journey as a young composer from age 8 with the first of his Sonatas for piano and violin to the last in 1788, when he was living at the centre of the Viennese musical world as the city’s finest keyboard player and a hugely successful composer.

TTK Grand Series embarked in June 2019 on a one and a half year journey through the complete 36 Sonatas for piano and violin by Mozart, and a selection of his iconic chamber works and concerti.  British pianist Sam Haywood and Singaporean solo violinist Tang Tee Khoon chose to kick off our Mozart 36 journey with a set of his mature Sonatas, sharing the evening with a full-house audience:

Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in G major KV.301
Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in e minor KV.304
Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in A major KV.305
Mozart Sonata for piano and violin in B flat major KV.454

Audiences of ‘The Golden Prime’ delved with us into Schumann’s golden late period that embodies recognizable features found also in the great late style of Beethoven. We explored his late motivic economy, brevity and concision in parallel with the recent work of contemporary composer, Thomas Adès who remarked about his detailed craft as ‘the building I have made’, ‘analysing every letter’, and with Brahms’ organic unity (itself inspired by Schumann) within his late preoccupation for the potential of sonata form.

TTKGS musicians presented over 2 evenings, unique programmes focused on the mature and golden works of R. Schumann, T. Adès and J. Brahms. Including Schumann’s 2nd and rarely heard 3rd Violin Sonatas, Brahms’ c minor Piano Trio, and the most recent solo piano works of T. Adès, the Blanca Variations from Adès’ opera ‘The Exterminating Angel’ and his 3 Mazurkas.

Our first evening also featured tenor Adrian Poon who presented the 2 Rain Songs from Brahms’ Song Cycle Op. 59 No. 3 & 4 before giving way to Luca Buratto and Tang Tee Khoon for Brahms’ G major Violin Sonata.

On our second evening, we ventured into the musical poetry found in the mature and late years of Brahms.  The evening opened with his tragic c minor Piano Quartet which boasts, in its slow movement, one of the most glorious cello solo openings ever written; and his well-loved 2 Songs for alto, viola and piano, written 20 years apart, for Brahms’ close friend Joseph Joachim, closed the first half of this evening.

The Poetry in Life – Schumann, Adès, Brahms then concluded in its entirety with the spacious Brahms Clarinet Quintet in b minor, his last chamber music work, known for its perfect expression of melancholy.

Pictured here are clarinetist Florent Héau with Daniel Chong, Tang Tee Khoon, Jessica Thompson, and Giovanni Gnocchi.

The Poetry in Life – Schumann, Adès, Brahms is an exploration of Schumann’s literary life that spilled wholeheartedly into his musical creative output in songs, solo piano music and chamber music; a look into the works of contemporary British composer Thomas Adès, for whom the intertwining of literature and music comes so naturally; and which closes with the musical poetry found in the mature and late years of Brahms, a younger German Romantic discovered at age 20 and hailed by Schumann himself as the ‘chosen one’.

Our first evening, was crafted around one of Schumann’s most well-loved song cycle Frauen-Liebe und Leben Op. 42 (Woman’s Love and Life),
written in the year of his marriage to Clara Schumann, contrasted with his last song cycle, Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart Op. 135, another biographical set, where Schumann goes into the heart of Mary Stuart’s tragedy.  These sandwiched works by Thomas Adès derived from his opera “The Tempest”, based on Shakespeare’s final masterpiece and adapted spaciously to allow Adès the creation of a magical world with huge emotional and musical range.

Pictured here are Daniel Chong, Florent Héau, Giovanni Gnocchi and Luca Buratto working on Adès’ Court Studies based on ‘The Tempest’ his opera.

Cello Suite No. 2 in d minor BWV 1008
Violin Partita No. 1 in b minor BWV 1002
Cello Suite No. 4 in E flat major BWV 1010

– Intermission –

Violin Partita No. 3 in E major BWV 1006
Cello Suite No. 6 in D major BWV 1012
Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major BWV 1005

~ with solo British cellist Colin Carr and Singaporean violinist Tang Tee Khoon

Cello Suite No. 1 in G major BWV 1007
Violin Sonata No. 2 in a minor BWV 1003
Cello Suite No. 3 in C major BWV 1009

– Intermission –

Violin Sonata No. 1 in g minor BWV 1001
Cello Suite No. 5 in c minor BWV 1011
Violin Partita No. 2 in d minor BWV 1004

~ with solo British cellist Colin Carr and Singaporean violinist Tang Tee Khoon

Towards the end of Beethoven’s Heroic Years, there was an exploration of a new expansiveness, gentleness, brevity and compression in his work.  In TTK Grand Series’ first collaboration with ‘VCH Presents’, we brought to audiences Beethoven’s compact and intimate String Quartet Op. 95 ‘Serioso’, his gentle Sonata for Piano and Violin Op. 96, and the noble Piano Trio Op. 97 ‘Archduke’ (one of the many works dedicated to his generous patron, Archduke Rudolph, the youngest brother of the Emperor).  

Through this one special Evening Concert at the Victoria Concert Hall, audiences joined us as we explored these later years from Beethoven’s middle creative period, when we start to see a disappearance of large-scale orchestral works from Beethoven’s output, after a prolific and impactful period of 10 years prior, when he churned out his triumphant 3rd, 5th and 6th Symphonies, Violin Concerto, the ‘Razumovsky’ Quartets, the ‘Waldstein’ and ‘Appassionata’ Sonatas, amongst others.

When Beethoven moved to Vienna in 1792 as a young 22 year-old, he was mostly engaged as a performer. It was Beethoven’s first patron Prince Karl Lichnowsky, who not only provided him with a roof over his head, but also opportunities to perform his fresh new compositions at weekly soirées held at Lichnowsky’s home.

There, Beethoven started to establish himself as a composer and for the next 10 years (now known as the early period of his creative life), received continuous paid commissions for works he was able to make uniquely different from one another, while retaining a recognizable personal style.

2015 Honens Prize Laureate, Italian pianist Luca Buratto and Tang Tee Khoon joined the audiences on a journey this evening through Beethoven’s joyful Sonata for Piano and Violin Op. 12 No. 3 dedicated to Antonio Salieri, his intricate Solo Piano Sonata ‘Pastorale’ Op. 28, and the turbulent Sonata for Piano and Violin Op. 30 No. 2.

In Beethoven’s late creative period, we see his ability for expanse and for brevity in his works. Duo partners Colin Carr and Thomas Sauer brought to audiences on the second evening of Beethoven Last Years, Beethoven’s two final Sonatas for Piano and Cello Op. 102, widely considered as the first works from Beethoven’s late creative period.

Tang Tee Khoon, Yuki Kasai, Jessica Thompson and Olivia Jeremias then followed with Beethoven’s lyrical and warm String Quartet Op. 127, the first in the set of his late string quartets, where we see his late style and outlook emerge while still keeping to the traditional four movement structure.

Click here for a review from Straits Times.

Beethoven Last Years was a project that brought audiences through the final years of the life of Ludwig van Beethoven. During these last years, Beethoven favored composing for the genre of string quartet ~ perhaps because he felt this combination was the perfect channel for his own personal expression.

Beethoven Last Years saw for the first time, Beethoven’s late string quartets ever being brought live to Singaporean audiences. American pianist Thomas Sauer, frequent collaborator of international artists like Midori and the Juilliard String Quartet, opened our first evening with Beethoven’s penultimate Solo Piano Sonata Op. 110.

Yuki Kasai, Tang Tee Khoon, Jessica Thompson and Olivia Jeremias then continued the night with Beethoven’s String Quartet Op. 132, which famous slow movement is his song of thanksgiving for having recovered from a near-fatal illness.

In 1917, Debussy wrote his last major composition, the Sonata in g minor for violin and piano. Dedicated to Gaston Poulet, Debussy’s performance of this work’s premiere with him was also his last public performance. Debussy told Gaston Poulet that the sonata should be played with intensity and energy. And that we did ! It was a treat to perform for such a warm and attentive audience. The Debussy was followed by Ravel’s Sonata for violin and piano No. 2, known for its American influences and blues-inspired middle movement. And we closed the recital with the popular and passionate Franck Sonata for violin and piano in A major, written as a wedding gift for Ysaÿe, the great Belgian violin virtuoso.

There is nothing more satisfying than playing for a warm receptive crowd. You were really getting into the groove with us !

On the second night of Transcending the Ordinary, Sam Haywood opened the concert and helmed the first half of the evening with Schubert’s final piano sonata D.960 in B flat major. Outer worldly and beyond the ordinary, Schubert brought us into his timeless world with this almost 40-minute work.

In the second half, Schubert’s String Quintet in C, one of the most corner-stone works in the classical chamber music repertoire, made its appearance. It is always a treat for musicians to play this work, and an epic journey in emotions for the audiences. We were fortunate to be sharing this experience in a wonderfully intimate and acoustically beautiful place – the Esplanade’s Recital Studio, where every breath and gasp can be heard.

In 2 evening concerts, Colin Carr, Mariko Hara, Sam Haywood, Olivia Jeremias, Yuki Kasai and Tang Tee Khoon came together to bring audiences through a journey of the late works of Viennese composer, Franz Schubert.

On the first night, the popular Arpeggione Sonata brought us gently into the intimate world of Schubert. This intimacy was then followed by one of the most virtuosic works for violin and piano – Schubert’s Fantasy in C, which brings audiences from timeless sublime to joyous elation.

The programme turns dark after intermission, with the relentless and dramatic String Quartet in d minor, ‘Death and the Maiden’.

Click here for a review from Straits Times.

Tang Tee Khoon, Sam Haywood and Matthew Huber came together to present an elegant evening of chamber music featuring the works of the great German Romantic composers Felix Mendelssohn, Clara and Robert Schumann, and Johannes Brahms – telling a musical tale of their love and friendships.

Click here to access fun musical facts and content in the mini-website we created specially for this project.

Click here to read the concert review on Straits Times.

Tang Tee Khoon and Sam Haywood went on a journey with audiences through the history of classical Russian music, travelling through almost a 100 years with the music of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, Stravinsky, and Julius Isserlis.

Read the review of the concert here.

Tang Tee Khoon and Sam Haywood presented a recital at the Jubilee Hall to an appreciative attentive audience. In this night’s classical programme was an early sonata by Mozart, Strauss’ romantic and heroic sonata for violin and piano in E flat major, Beethoven’s characterful ‘Spring’ Sonata and the well-known Zigeunerweisen by Spanish composer, Sarasate.

This concert featured a special loan of a Bösendorfer Grand Piano by Yamaha Music (Asia) Private Ltd.