CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL OPERA DEBUTS IN SINGAPORE

The Cambridge International Opera made its Singapore debut, performing at Singapore's newest concert venue, the Far East Auditorium of the Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre on Wednesday 5 April 2017. The newly formed opera company featured five young singers who have studied and graduated from various colleges in Cambridge and the United Kingdom, and have been active in the college choral and vocal scene.

Its concert, part of an Asian tour which included also Hong Kong and Bangkok, featured a wonderful range of popular arias, duets and ensemble scenes from the great operas. These were mostly in Italian and French, with an odd aria sung in English. It was an enjoyable and entertaining evening, not unlike New Opera Singapore's concerts featuring young artists, but without the farcical comique plots and over-acting. Some of these singers could become big names in the international opera circuit in the future, but this was a promising start.

Counter-tenor Tim Morgan had one of
the most impressive voices, starring in
Handel's Ombra mai fu (Serse) and an aria
from Israel in Egypt. 

Tenor Rob Humphries sang some bel canto favourites
like Donizetti's Una furtiva lagrima (L'elisir d'amore)
 and Cilea's Federico's Lament (L'arlesiana) 

Humphries is joined by baritone Lawrence Halksworth
in what else - Bizet's Au found du temple saint
from The Pearl Fishers.

Morgan and soprano Billie Robson
in Pur ti miro from Monteverdi's
L'incoronazione di Poppea.

Mezzo-soprano Simone Ibbett-Brown
is a name to look out for. She sang popular arias
from Samson et Dalila, Carmen and La Favorita.

Halksworth gets an audience in
Come un'ape from Rossini's La Cenerentola

The British Airways theme song,
the Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakme
sung by two Brits!

A scene from Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro.

Billie Robson, who is also the Artistic Director
of CIO, is devoted to her art as she sings
Puccini's Vissi d'arte (Tosca).

The quartet from Verdi's Rigoletto.

The other half of the Verdian quartet (Rigoletto).

As an encore, Tim Morgan reprised
Handel's Largo, now sounding even better!

The full cast with pianist John Wright (2nd from right).

  

Cambridge International Opera was presented by the Hong Kong based impresario Christine N Concerts.

CRISTINA ORTIZ Piano Recital / Review

CRISTINA ORTIZ Piano Recital

Victoria Concert Hall

Sunday (26 February 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 28 February 2017 with the title "Recital with distinct colour and texture".

It seems almost strange that the eminent Brazilian pianist Cristina Ortiz, veteran of the world's great concert stages and many well-regarded recordings, has never performed in Singapore until this evening. Now in her mid-sixties, she cut an elegant and sprightly figure, much of which translated well in her varied and very demanding solo recital.

Straight off, her playing stood out for its distinct colour and sense of texture, evident in the opening Sonatine by Maurice Ravel. Its formal lines were well-crafted through three movements. Limpid and crystalline in the first, this gave way to a drier but no less nourished sound for the neoclassical central Minuet before reaping a whirlwind in the vertiginous finale.

What struck this listener was not how virtuosic a work was, but how the music flowed through her fingers. This organic approach continued into Chopin's Third Sonata in B minor, often fodder for the world's piano competitions. Here she let the music breathe, and the feeling of urgent development was heightened with the exposition repeat judiciously omitted.

The Scherzo did not come across like a study for fast fingers, much to her credit. The Largo slow movement was no mere nocturne either, but an deeply felt expression of sadness. All this built up to a barnstorming finale, where despite a stumble of missed notes in the middle did little to faze her as she closed the first half with thrilling aplomb.

The second half was even better. Replacing the originally programmed Beethoven Moonlight Sonata with three Debussy pieces, she began appropriately with Clair de lune. The music was simplicity itself, but her use of the Steinway grand's pedals was exemplary. Creating a wash of shimmering sound was perfect for the watery realm of Poissons d'or (Goldfish, from Book Two of Images) and made ecstatic riding on the waves of L'Isle Joyeuse (The Isle of Joy).

In repertoire from her homeland, Ortiz has few peers. The three pieces by Heitor Villa-Lobos were well contrasted, beginning with A Lenda da Caboclo (Legend of the Half-Blood) and Valsa da Dor (Waltz of Anguish). The lyricism of its folkloric subjects came through winningly, and more importantly, that feeling of saudade (the typically Brazilian sense of longing and sadness) became all the more palpable.

The recital closed with the coruscating Festa no Sertao (Jungle Festival, from Ciclo Brasileira) with cascades of octaves and chords, and a central whimsy of dizzying nostalgia. The small but enthusiastic audience was rewarded with three rarely-heard encores from a pianist who could have played all night.

Two of English composer York Bowen's 24 Preludes made for lush hearing with luxuriant and occasionally bluesy harmonies, and Brazilian Fructuoso Vianna's Corta-Jaca, a virtuoso study which cleverly incorporates popular folktunes. A repeat visit by Cristina Ortiz could not come any sooner.

DO NOT MISS: Singapore Debut Recital by Eminent Brazilian Pianist CRISTINA ORTIZ

DON'T MISS THIS 
EXCITING PIANO RECITAL!

SINGAPORE DEBUT RECITAL by

CRISTINA ORTIZ

Programme includes:

RAVEL Sonatine
CHOPIN Sonata No.3 in B minor, Op.58
BEETHOVEN Sonata in C sharp minor
  Op.27 No.2 "Moonlight"
VILLA-LOBOS A Lenda Do Caboclo
   Valsa da Dor, Festa no Sertao

Victoria Concert Hall at 7.30 pm
Sunday, 26 February 2017 
Tickets available at SISTIC

http://www.sistic.com.sg/events/cristina0217

Cristina Ortiz is one of the most prominent of Brazilian pianists today. Winner of the 1969 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition as a teenager, she has gone on to play with the world's great orchestra and made many excellent recordings on the EMI, Decca, Collins Classics and Naxos labels. Her specialities are works of Romantic composers and the music of her homeland Brazil, particularly the piano pieces of Heitor Villa-Lobos.

Do not miss this rare recital presented by Christine N Concerts.