OPERA GALA SPECTACULAR / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

OPERA GALA SPECTACULAR

Singapore Lyric Opera

Victoria Concert Hall

Thursday (2 February 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 4 February 2023 with "Wobbly start to gala, but hits please crowd."

 

Remember those concerts by The Three Tenors, which rehashed popular operatic arias for fun, fame and fortune? The Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) attempted something similar for its annual gala, but with two tenors and two sopranos. There was neither time nor space for baritones or mezzo-sopranos, but given the breadth of repertoire, they did not seem to be missed.

 

Credit goes to the very fine Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra conducted by Joshua Tan, which gave polished accounts of Verdi’s Overture to The Force Of Destiny and the beautiful Intermezzo from Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. More importantly, it provided an ever-steady source of support, keeping up with singers who were not always conscious about keeping time.

 

It must have been an ordeal accompanying soprano Bing Bing Wang in the bel canto showstopper Casta Diva from Bellini’s Norma. She had not fully warmed up and was cruelly exposed, struggling with breath control and pacing throughout the otherwise seamless aria. She thankfully recovered somewhat for the Jewel Aria from Gounod’s Faust, which was less than glittering when taken at a more cautious tempo.

 

Questions also arose as to why tenor arias had to be shared by veteran Warren Mok and the younger Samuel Huang. Either on their own could have easily surmounted the challenges of La Donna e Mobile from Verdi’s Rigoletto, Recondita Armonia from Puccini’s Tosca and the ubiquitous Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot, but they opted for a safer option with division of labour.

 

Was that even necessary, as when they did sing solo, both were quite excellent. Mok’s take on E Lucevan le Stelle from Puccini’s Tosca and Dein ist Mein Ganzes Herz from Lehar’s The Land Of Smiles showed he had not lost his famed vocal lustre. Huang, while less powerful, was no slouch in De’ Miei Bollenti Spiriti from Verdi’s La Traviata and Pourquoi Me Reveiller from Massenet’s Werther.

 

SLO Artistic Director and soprano Nancy Yuen’s choice of two lesser-known arias, The Trees On The Mountain from Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah and Oh! Quante Volte from Bellini’s I Montecchi e I Capuleti, was very astute. Both numbers highlighted mellifluous beauty and displayed her exemplary breath control to best effect. It is so difficult to sing high registers softly and in perfect intonation.

 

Best moments of the concert came in real duets, none more passionate than Vogliatemi Bene from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, brought out with much ardour by Wang’s Cio Cio San and Mok’s Pinkerton. The final scene from Verdi’s Aida, O Terra, Adio, was no less moving from Yuen and Mok. The unfortunate ommission of Parigi O Cara from Verdi’s La Traviata, although listed in the programme booklet, is only best known to the pairing that did not sing together.

 

All four singers came together for some waltzing and carousing in Lippen Schweigen from Lehar’s The Merry Widow, and three encores, Leoncavallo’s Mattinata, de Curtis’ Non Ti Scordar Di Me and di Capua’s O Sole Mio (with the usual antics about who could hold the longest notes*), brought down the house.                 

* That was the irrepressible Warren Mok, unsurprisingly.