An Evening with Tchaikovsky

On Saturday, 24 October, Victoria Concert Hall welcomed a sold-out audience for An Evening with Tchaikovsky, presented by BespokeArts. British-Chinese pianist Noah Zhou returned to Singapore to join conductor Amanda Kye Tan and the Last Minute Artist Orchestra (LMAO) for a programme of three Tchaikovsky favourites: the 1812 Overture, Piano Concerto No. 1 and Symphony No. 5.

It was a return engagement of sorts. Zhou and the orchestra first worked together last November at SOTA Concert Hall, where he performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Read our post on that concert.

The Programme

The first half paired the ceremonial grandeur of the 1812 Overture with the evening’s centrepiece, the Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat minor. After the interval, the orchestra returned for Symphony No. 5 in E minor, with its recurring “fate” theme running through all four movements.

The 1812 Overture

The evening opened ambitiously with the 1812 Overture. Violas and cellos led the solemn opening hymn, and the music built towards the battle, with the French and Russian themes in direct confrontation. The tubular bells rang out for the triumphant closing section.

Noah Zhou in Tchaikovsky’s First

The First Piano Concerto asks a great deal of its soloist, from the famous opening chords to the dazzling finale. Zhou played with power and precision, with a big, full sound in the concerto’s chords and clear technical command in its virtuoso passages. One reviewer described the playing as Horowitzian, praising the octave passages in particular.

As with any performance, listeners will respond in different ways, but the audience in the hall was warm: there was applause after the big cadenza that ends the first movement, and cheers when the finale came to its close.

The Piano

Zhou performed on a C. Bechstein D282 concert grand, brought in specially for the concert, with Bechstein Music World an official partner of the evening. The instrument more than held its own through the concerto’s heavy demands.

Conductor and Orchestra

Under Amanda Kye Tan, the Last Minute Artist Orchestra gave a solid account of a demanding programme, supporting Zhou with energy in the concerto. The orchestra, which brings together musicians from many backgrounds, took on three of the most beloved works in the repertoire. As the programme notes shared, several of the players were performing these pieces for the very first time, after years of hearing them in concert halls and on recordings.

Two Encores

Zhou rewarded the audience with two encores, offering a nice contrast. The first was Tchaikovsky’s Chant élégiaque, Op. 72, No. 14, a gentle, lyrical miniature that brought the evening back to a quieter, more intimate scale. The second was the Liszt–Horowitz arrangement of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 15, also known as the Rákóczi March, a virtuoso showpiece to send everyone home on a high.

Looking Ahead

BespokeArts’ next concert will be Greg Niemczuk in Recital: Chopin, The Poet of the Piano, on 16 January 2027 at 7 pm at the Bechstein Music World Event Hall, supported by Bechstein Music World.