Welcoming the new year with feel-good concert

As to be expected, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra's annual Chinese New Year concert - Rhapsodies Of Spring was a festive and celebratory affair. Conducted by Quek Ling Kiong, it opened with Tang Jianping's Overture For The New Century Concert.

- Chang Tou Liang

An apt greeting for the Year of the Snake, this was a richly orchestrated fantasy on Nie Er's well-known Dance Of The Golden Snake.

Vibrant and vigorously percussive, that was followed by Peng Xiuwen's The First Lunar Month, from a cycle of 12 pieces that represented a Chinese calendar year, which was equally raucous and rousing.

There were two concertante works on the subject of spring which highlighted impressive soloists, both members of the orchestra.

The first had graceful kebayaclad Zhang Li on the liuqin in Wang Huiran's Spring On Yi River. This high-pitched plucked instrument waxed lyrical in a slow introduction before breaking out into a lively and dazzling dance.