Highlights from New Opera Singapore's OPERA COMIQUE (IN THE OFFICE)

OPERA COMIQUE (IN THE OFFICE)
New Opera Singapore
The Chamber @ The Arts House
Saturday (6 August 2011)

Here it is in pictures, the debut of Singapore newest Western opera company, New Opera Singapore. I was fortunate to get "ringside" seats, close to the action and passion. The future of opera in Singapore looks in very good hands indeed. A review will follow.

Jonathan Charles Tay & Lim Yanting 

open with Beethoven's Jetzt Schatzen (Fidelio). 

Moira Loh joins Yanting for 

Arditi's Il Bacio (The Kiss).

Yap How Joo is the lecherous towkay 

in Verdi's Questa o quella (Rigoletto) 

and later sang a Chinese song 

while his staff looked on idly.

Shaun Lee played the luckless and 

loveless office boy in Verdi's Il Poveretto 

and Donaudy's O del mio amato bene.

Bel canto heaven: Teng Xiang Ting 

sings Bellini's Ah non credea mirarti 

(La Sonnambula) 

while David Charles Tay puts a shine 

on Donizetti's Una furtiva lagrima 

(L'elisir d'amour).

The twins, David and Jonathan Tay, 

join Xiang Ting for 

Lehar's Dein ist mein ganzes herz 

(The Land of Smiles).

Daniel Foong snarls in Mozart's Se vuol ballare 

(The Magic Flute) and takes 

Yanting's hand for La ci darem la mano

(Don Giovanni).

Femmes fatales all: 

Bethea How in Die holle rache 

(Mozart's The Magic Flute), 

Alexandra Ioan flirts with 

Musetta's Waltz Song (Puccini's La Boheme) 

and Yanting vents her fury in 

Vivaldi's Agitata da due venti 

(Vivaldi's Griselda).

Jonathan Tay expresses his love in 

Tchaikovsky's Lensky's Aria (Eugene Onegin), 

while David Tay and Xiang Ting 

get close up for Puccini's O soave fanciulla (La Boheme).

Xiang Ting's coloratura display in 

Gounod's Juliette's Waltz Song (Romeo et Juliette) 

and the company of ten singers join up 

for the finale of Act Two of 

Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus.

Bring out the bubbly for Du und du 

from Strauss's Die Fledermaus.

New Opera Singapore's chairman 

Jeong Ae-Ree makes a speech, 

while VVIPs grace the evening's proceedings.