Energetic performance by SSO, with a show of maturity from Chloe Chua

The Singapore Symphony Orchestra's (SSO) associate conductor, Berlin-based Venezuelan Rodolfo Barraez, directed a compact programme of modern music in the first half, followed by a highly popular Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, with 18-year-old Singaporean violin soloist Chloe Chua.

- Mervin Beng

CONCERT CHLOE CHUA/TCHAIKOVSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO Singapore Symphony Orchestra - Rodolfo Barraez (conductor), Chloe Chua (violin) Esplanade Concert Hall Aug 22

American composer and conductor Bernard Herrmann's score for Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 classic Vertigo is just one of many he has written for classic films ranging from Citizen Kane (1941) to Psycho (1960).

His short, three-movement Vertigo Suite is set around a story of love, obsession and murder, and a detective's fear of heights. Just the movement names - Prelude, The Nightmare and Scene d'Amour (Love Scene) - show how integrally the score ties in with the storyline.

Barraez revels in highly emotive, programmatic music, directing with great vigour and purpose. The SSO's playing was gripping, and tender in the final movement.

Herrmann's music is totally brilliant within its role of accompanying the film. As concert music, it was less than ideal, as it meant that the two latter movements needed to adhere to the script, had no room for deviation and no space for the traditional classical coda - the beloved concluding chords of a piece.