pianomania: INVICTUS / Art Song Recital by Shaun Lee & Nicholas Ho

INVICTUS Art Song Recital

SHAUN LEE, Tenor

NICHOLAS HO, Piano

Baroque House, 29 Rowell Road

Sunday (8 October 2023)

Baroque House is a pre-war shophouse located in the heart of Little India. Located on 29 Rowell Road, it has become a cosy and informal space for arts events and private dining. Its insalubrious location just a stone's throw away from Singapore's seediest red-light district seems just like the right place for serious and good art to flourish. Bohemian chic? Its entrance even has a neon sign (by Sonia B.Ong) that challenges one to ponder the idea that art and grim reality could sit comfortably side by side.

The performing space is on its second floor, overlooking residences which have yet to be gentrified. A bright red Baldwin baby grand piano, in good tune, rests invitingly in a space that sits about 25-30 people. There is no ceiling, and one gets to peer at the roof, one side decorated with an old stucco relief and the other bare brick. The sound can get quite resonant especially with the reverberation from Shaun Lee's stentorian tenor voice.

The 30-minute art song recital was a classic case of quality rather than quantity, as he and pianist Nicholas Ho made every minute count. The matinee opened with five songs by Ho, settings of words by James Joyce. His music is lyrical in the best tradition of Romantic songwriters, and have highly detailed piano parts which only a virtuoso pianist can conceive of. Shaun's voice thus had to transcend the pianist's multitudes of notes, and he did so admirably.

Ho's songs were a summation of the Romantic art song tradition, from Schubert and Schumann to present day composers like the late Ned Rorem. These were amply reflected by the choice of the other songs on the programme, including Samuel Barber's The Daisies, Richard Strauss' Zueignung, Wagner's Schmerzen (from Wesendonck Lieder) and Rachmaninov's Zdes Khorosho (How Fair This Spot).

That this young Singaporean's early song cycle could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the greats of vocal writing is a testament to his artistic vision and assimilative abilities. The recital closed with Ho's Invictus (words by William Earnest Henley), a song influenced by Rachmaninov's big chords and heroic gestures, well realised in its final lines, "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul".

American pianist Tedd Joselson and
celebrity surgeon Susan Lim also attended.

The small audience, including luminaries from Singapore's high society, clearly enjoyed this musical offering, and one looks forward to more such events in this exciting and edgy venue.