Marc Rochester’s ST Review Of A Choral Performance Appears To Dismiss At Least 60 Other Choir Groups On Monday (23 Jul), you might have come across The Straits Times (ST)’s review of a concert by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra (SSO). But because it’s a premium article, you might have missed it altogether. In case you did, here’s a quick introduction: Written by ST’s premier classical music critic Dr Marc Rochester, the review praised SSO’s musicians and conductor. But in doing so, Dr Rochester dissed at least 60 choral groups from around the world. He wrote: In another part of Singapore this weekend, an International Choral Festival was taking place, but I doubt if any of those choirs exhibited the discipline, richness of tone and sheer professionalism of this 95-strong body of singers. The 95-strong body of singers he was referring to were the Singapore Symphony Chorus and Youth and Children’s choirs, which performed with SSO. The International Choral Festival in question was the 5th Singapore International Choral Festival, which attracted groups from Canada, Poland, South Korea and Taiwan. Citing the experience of these groups, one reader criticised Dr Rochester for brushing them off without even attending the Festival. In a Facebook […]
6 years ago
