SONGS OF OUR FOREFATHERS III / Lirica Arts / Review

 

SONGS OF OUR FOREFATHERS III

Lirica Arts

Esplanade Recital Studio

Friday (26 September 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 30 September 2025 with the title "Chinese art songs take centre stage in Lirica Arts' adventurous series".

Besides presenting chamber opera productions, Lirica Arts led by local baritone Martin Ng also lives up to its name by promoting the cause of art songs. In the third concert of its Songs of Our Forefathers series, some 19 Chinese art songs were performed, illustrating the sheer variety within this genre.

The Chinese language provided several millennia of source material, from Han dynasty (c.200 BC to 200 AD) texts through to the present day. Although presented in Mandarin, projected surtitles in both Chinese and English were a boon.

Beginning with songs accompanied by pianist Beatrice Lin, the evening felt like a recital of German lieder. Chinese soprano Peng Ying opened with three songs, Li Yan’s The Green Jadeite Bowl (On The First Night of the New Year), Wang Long’s The Ornamented Zither and Fu Jing’s Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day), based on Han verse. Despite its sober content, the last asked, “Where is the wine shop?”, suggesting the ancients also had similar urges and vices as us. The songs were Romantic in idiom although through-composed rather than strophic in form.

Peng emoted well, her voice possessing heft, later flexing coloratura acrobatics in Xu Jingxin’s Fantasia of a Moonlit Night by the Spring River, which was spectacular. She also sang a Suzhou Pingtan number, Ode to the Butterfly, with lyrics by no less than Chairman Mao Zedong.

Local tenor Shaun Lee bared his heart and vulnerability in Huang Zi’s Homesickness and Liu Xue An’s Song of the Red Bean with words from the Qing dynasty. Baritone Ng’s songs juxtaposed polar sides of love relationships, Li Yan’s The Phoenix Seeking His Mate and To a Faithless Husband, the latter being a song of farewell after a change of heart.

Song dynasty polymath poet Su Shi’s words were celebrated after the intermission. Beijing Opera artist Tian Ping was introduced in Qingzhu’s The Yangtze River Flows East alongside tenor Lee. Her highly stylised singing, with nasal overtones, brought authenticism when heard on her own.

The union of Beijing opera and Western-styled singing in Huang Zi’s Song of the Southern Country in duet with Ng was however jarring in the extreme, like oil and water. Throw in Wang Yan Tong’s jinghu (the highest pitched huqin) with its piercing sonority in Yang Nailin’s Ode to the Pear Blossom, even voices struggle to get heard.

The highlight of the evening, also the longest song, was the world premiere of local composer Chua Jon Lin’s Melody of the River Town. Sung by baritone Ng, this was a contemporary work unafraid to experiment. String piano technique, including directly plucking the strings produced an otherwordly effect, over which Ng mused about separation and homecoming. Moving from a sedate pace to agitation, heavy chords and Bartok-like ostinatos were likely to move emotions.

The two-hour concert closed with all the performers joined by host Wenxia (also a soprano) for Zhong Xingmin’s Lan Ting Xu (Orchid Pavilion Preface), based on ancient calligraphy by Wang Xizhi, and popularised by Taiwanese singer-songwriter Jay Chou. The old met the new this evening and with its hits and misses, Lirica Arts is encouraged to continue searching and discovering.