pianomania

Sunday, 29 March 2026

VERDI'S MACBETH / Lirica Arts / Review

VERDI’S MACBETH

Lirica Arts

Victoria Theatre

Friday (27 March 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 30 March 2026 with the title "Bold staging of Verdi's Macbeth by rising opera company Lirica Arts".

Lirica Arts, a local opera company formed just four years ago, has produced its second fully-staged opera since its very encouraging debut with Gioachino Rossini’s L’Inganno Felice in 2022. Giuseppe Verdi’s first Shakespearean opera Macbeth, which premiered in 1847 and revised in 1865, was a very brave and ambitious choice, but one the opera scene here really needs having had multiple La Traviatas, La Bohemes and Carmens.

The two Martins:
Martin Ng's Macbeth with
and Martin Ohu's Banco

Verdi’s Macbeth has exactly the same plot as Shakespeare’s play, with the same sequence of events but the added dimensions of music and being sung in Italian. It was first presented by Singapore Lyric Opera in 2001 conducted by Lim Yau, and 25 years later, this production with The Philharmonic Orchestra was led by his son Lin Juan.

Zhang Jie's Lady Macbeth
commands King Duncan be killed.

With familiar characters and a story easy to follow, it was left for stage director Tang Xinxin to pique the imagination of the audience. Her task was considerably aided by baritone Martin Ng (artistic director of Lirica Arts) in the titular role, and soprano Zhang Jie as his infamous spouse. Ng’s transformation from humble Thane of Glamis to blood-thirsty King of Scotland was the stuff of tragedies, where self-doubt gradually turned into fatal ambition with all nuances in between.

Good as Ng was in his chest-beating stentorian arias, it was Zhang’s Lady Macbeth who delivered the tour de force. Her blood curdling La Luce Langue (The Light Fades) and sleep-walking aria Una Macchia E Qui Tuttora (Out, Damned Spot!) were solo high points, with deserved accolades from the audience.

Their respective deaths were strangely low key. She in her blood red gown just walked into the shadows, while he was unceremoniously dispatched by excellent tenor Jonathan Charles Tay’s MacDuff. Supporting them were South Korean bass Martin Ohu as the short-lived Banco (Banquo) and tenor Jonathan MacPherson as Malcolm, the new king.

Banco's ghost returns to haunt Macbeth.

The 18-strong Lirica Arts Festival Chorus (Chorus master Terrence Toh) was very effective in the crowd scenes, singing the famous chorus of exiles Patria Oppressa! (Oppressed Homeland!) and scenes involving the Witches (which had nine members rather than just three). Significant in community outreach was the inclusion of three students from Art:DIS (Arts & Disability Singapore) among the refugees.

The Birnam Wood marches forward
to confront Macbeth.
Photo: Pianomaniac

Set and lighting design by Dorothy Png was particularly evocative with the dark hues employed in scenes involving supernatural elements. The Lion Rampant to represent Scottish monarchy was historically accurate and smart use of AI-generated backdrops helped cost-savings without looking cheap. Costume design by Hayden Ng, subdued for the oppressed and bolder shades for main characters, contributed to generating the right atmosphere.

The two Jonathans:
Jonathan Charles Tay's Macduff
declares Jonathan MacPherson's Malcolm king.

The 2001 production of Macbeth may have been more opulent owing to a bigger budget, but Lirica Arts must be credited for even attempting this at the time when arts funding for classical opera is comparatively conservative. Lirica Arts is now ready to join the esteemed ranks of the more established Singapore Lyric Opera and New Opera Singapore.

There are two further shows on Saturday evening at 7.30 pm and Sunday afternoon at 4 pm.

Photo: Pianomaniac

All professional photography

by Chris P.Lim

Saturday, 28 March 2026

SUKA MAKAN: OAK AND EMBER @ LOYANG CRESCENT

This is one of the more unusual places to catch a meal. Located within an industrial complex at Loyang Crescent, on the 9th storey roof garden of a tower block at the Toll Offshore Petroleum Services (TOPS), is Oak and Ember. This bistro-type restaurant serves all the comfort foods for those with a taste for Western cuisine. Sandwiches, salads, ribs and steaks are de rigueur here, with hearty portions that are hard to dislike.

This seems to be a favoured hangout for the Gouw family boys, since they all live in Singapore's northeast. Getting there is a bit of a trek, having to drive through the Loyang industrial estate, and enter one of the gated complexes. Once you've found the way, it's easy and parking is free when we usually congregate for Sunday lunch. Just park at the multi-storey car park and take the lift to the 9th floor. Here are the photos.

Classic fish and chips.

Salmon steak and salad.

Ham and cheese sandwich

Chicken chop with fries

Smoked ribs in BBQ sauce

Rib-eye steak

A very industrial view
does not spoil the appetite!

OAK AND EMBER

25 Loyang Crescent

9th floor, Block 103A

Singapore 508988

Tel: 8655-5513

Oak & Ember Singapore

Friday, 27 March 2026

CONCERT SERIES: SIBELIUS & BRAHMS / Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Orchestra / Review

CONCERT SERIES: SIBELIUS & BRAHMS

NAFA Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (26 March 2026)

Singapore has become a city of orchestras, and if one wondered how that came about, it would be prudent to check out the musical education institutions and their student orchestras. Much has been written about the Yong Siew Toh Orchestral Institute, and its now time to also focus on the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts Orchestra (NAFA Orchestra). NAFA’s School of Music is the older institution, having being founded in the 1984 (YST arrived in 2003), and its orchestra benefits from the experience of Singapore’s most senior living conductor, Lim Yau.

Lim’s career has taken him to the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Singapore Lyric Opera, the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and The Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Chorus, and now NAFA. Literally thousands of musicians in Singapore – professionals and amateurs, adults and young people – have made serious good music under his guiding wings for the past four decades. In this respect, his legacy extends further than that of Choo Hoey or Lan Shui, and older pioneering figures like Paul Abisheganaden and Goh Soon Tioe.

NAFA Orchestra’s concert opened with Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, and the young musicians barely needed to warm up to create a warm sonorous atmosphere. String tremolos and a very confident quartet of French horns (who were in tune throughout) established the main theme of the opening Intermezzo, and the festive procession of Finnish self-determination kicked off from there. The velvety string sonority continued in the Ballade, where solo cor anglais also got a rare moment to shine. The concluding Alla Marcia strided with purpose and direction, little wonder how this suite came to symbolise the pride of Finnish nationalism.

Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor (Op.47) is now a staple of young violin virtuosos, and 4th year student Zhu Zunzun boldly stepped up to the challenge. From the outset, she brought out a robust and brawny tone, beginning with quiet mystery and later embracing the unlikely lyricism of this rough-hewn work. She was never overwhelmed by orchestral forces, instead projecting with authority, including in the first movement’s two very thorny cadenzas.

In the slow movement, the tension was built up organically to a fine climactic high. Only in the fiery finale’s “Polonaise for polar bears” did her technique fall somewhat short, finding some difficulty in matching its quicksilver pace. However that treacherous passage of harmonics was negotiated with perfect intonation, its tight-rope act surmounted before closing in a brilliant flourish to cue in loud and prolonged applause.

The concert’s second half belonged to Brahms’ Second Symphony in D major (Op.73), sometimes referred to as his “Pastoral” due to its congenial spirit and overall warmth. The orchestra employed was not a particularly big one, and a spirit of chamber music was to be upheld this evening. The quartet of French horns shone again in its opening, something which wasn’t always a guarantee during the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s early years.

I still remember SSO’s first attempt at this symphony at the Singapore Conference Hall in January 1980, and in many ways, NAFA Orchestra has already surpassed its forebears. The famous quote of Brahms’ Wiegenlied (Op.49 No.4) was a curious look at nostalgia without being over-sentimentalised, and the movement’s development was excellently handled.

The slow movement came like a veil of dark clouds, but Lim’s magisterial handling of its narrative ensured that sunshine was not too far away. Notwithstanding a French horn fluff along the way, the playing reflected that certainty with immediacy. The Allegretto grazioso chattered along amiably with woodwinds including an excellent oboe solo holding court in this cheerful scherzo-like movement.

Then came the valedictory finale, where Allegro con spirito started with hushed tones, but the joyous spirit could never be suppressed for long. The outburst of good feelings was palpable in the playing throughout, and there should be no apology for Brahms’ happiest and most optimistic symphony. Lim Yau and his NAFA charges did themselves proud in this performance, and the audience heartily concurred.

Thursday, 26 March 2026

MODERN ART ONE CAN RELATE TO: THE WORLD (POSTCARDS) @ ESPLANADE TUNNEL

More modern art one can relate to. Were you a stamp collector sometime earlier in your life? Yes, I was, for much of my primary school days and up to early secondary school, after which I "graduated" to classical music. I remember the thrill finding a new postage stamp which I never had to add to my collection. Stamp collection or philately was fun, and addictive, the sort of thing record collectors would do. Getting a complete set of stamps of a particular series provided the same buzz as getting the complete Vladimir Horowitz on RCA Victor.

This visual art presentation by Singaporean artist Lai Yu Tong revived some memories of my philatelic obsession during those 1970s primary school days. My parents agreed that stamp collecting was a positive thing to keep a young person out of trouble. And it was educational, a buzz word for me whenever I wanted to persuade my parents to indulge me. True, with stamps you learnt about the world's nations without leaving your home, about geography, foreign currencies and sometimes history related to the topics depicted in the stamps. Yes, I also learnt that Eire and Suomi were what Ireland and Finland were known to their citizens.

The only Singapore entry in the
collection of 33 postcards.

In those days, you can send a large
and heavy envelope with $1.

Lai's postcards are simple, filled with a single pastel shade backing designs of common day objects created by erasing the colour off the paper. What caught my attention were the stamps, most of which date back many decades, from a time stamps were cheaply massed produced with the simplest designs and colour (usually one, other than black and white). Nostalgia. Some of which still sit in my stamp collection in some dusty corner of my apartment.