JOHANN STRAUSS JR'S DIE FLEDERMAUS / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

JOHANN STRAUSS JR’S

DIE FLEDERMAUS

Singapore Lyric Opera

Esplanade Theatre

Saturday 17 December 2022

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 December 2022 with the title "Soprano Joyce Lee Tung steals show in Singapore Lyric Opera's Die Fledermaus". 

 

This is the season for uncorking champagne bottles and what could be more appropriate than another airing of Johann Strauss the Younger’s evergreen and bubbly-induced operetta Die Fledermaus? Singapore Lyric Opera’s most recent crack at this hoary old chestnut had much to recommend, reminding one and all why we love the festive season plus a few good jokes or two.

 

Directed by Tang Xinxin and accompanied by the SLO Orchestra conducted by Joshua Tan, an ebullient Overture presenting all the memorable melodies got the show off to a good start. The operetta’s comedic plot was one of mischievous vengeance and the usual farce of mistaken identity, culminating in a New Year’s Eve ball at Prince Orlofsky’s.

 

All three members of the Eisenstein’s dysfunctional household contrive to attend the high society event with assumed foreign identities, and the deceptions with predictable misunderstandings inevitably take place. Tenor Jonathan Charles Tay’s Eisenstein and soprano Shimona Rose’s Rosalinde were splendid antagonistic twin pillars of the action, their repartee effected under disguise being a very funny aspect of the story.

Eisenstein becomes Marquis de Renard while
Rosalinde becomes the Hungarian countess
at Orlofsky's ball.

 

They were, however, upstaged by soprano Joyce Lee Tung stealing the show as their housemaid Adele, who has aspirations as an actress. Adele’s Laughing Song (Mein Herr Marquis) in the second act acted like the pivot around which all action was built. She nailed the role with striking aplomb.  

Adele becomes transformed
into a budding actress at Orlofsky's ball.

 

The threesome was well supported by baritone Martin Ng (as Falke, who hatched the plot of revenge against Eisenstein), tenor Kee Loi Seng (Alfred, Rosalinde’s hopeful paramour), baritone William Lim (Frank, conniving prison governor) and tenor Leslie Tay (Blind, hapless attorney), the last who could not resist cross-dressing again, this time as a very unvoluptuous Wonder Woman. Ironically, the usual cross-dressing role of Prince Orlofsky, usually by a mezzo-soprano, was instead sung pretty convincingly by countertenor Chan Wei En.

 

While the First Act, set at the Eisenstein’s domicile, dragged somewhat, everything came to life in the glittering Second Act, with cast, SLO Chorus and dancers at full tilt. Here the operetta’s dizzy heart flowed unabated without contrived and time-consuming setpieces. The blazing Unter Donner und Blitzen (Under Thunder and Lightning) Polka was danced to animated choreography by Andy Benjamin Cai.

 

Leading into the Third Act saw the non-singing role of inebriated prison attendant Frosch portrayed by Alaric Tay (of The Noose fame). Ten minutes of stand-up comedy was just about right, with references to past inmates being incarcerated for refusing to wear face-masks, and the ongoing football World Cup, particularly the Messi state the gaol was in.

 

The deliberately uncredited set design was simple and effective, incorporating Wiener Werkstatte (Vienna Workshop) elements into light fixtures and furniture – a nice touch. Overall, this was both a stylish and enjoyable production which reflects the typically excellent yet underrated work undertaken by Singapore’s premier opera company, which labours under a chronic lack of capital. May the coming year ahead see a continuation of similar high standards. 

All photographs by courtesy of 

Singapore Lyric Opera.