FENCES by John Sharpley and Robert Yeo / Opera Viva / Review

FENCES

Opera Viva

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

Sunday (19 August 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 August 2012 with the title "Home-grown opera breaks through barriers".

Only the second opera to come out of Singapore, John Sharpley’s Fences with libretto by Robert Yeo finally came to fruition after an eight year gestation. Opera Viva, Singapore’s second opera company, was specifically created to produce this opera about inter-racial love set in the turbulent 1960s of Singapore and Malaysia. The premise of the story was the brainchild of local opera connoisseur Leow Siak Fah, who himself played a major part in Singapore’s first opera, Leong Yoon Pin and Edwin Thumboo’s Bunga Mawar of 1997.

1961: Nora Ibrahim meets
Steven Lee in Malaya Hall, London

There are similarities between the two operas, chiefly a Romeo And Juliet-like love story involving members of families from different stations. While both protagonists of Bunga Mawar were Chinese, Fences sets up further barriers between Steven Lee and Nora Ibrahim, namely race, religion and nationality. Could true love overcome bigotry, chauvinism and politics?

The music by John Sharpley, a Texan who has lived in Singapore for half his life, was gratifyingly tonal. He did not quote or write Asian melodies, but neither could he completely escape from influences by Copland, Bernstein and Britten, which permeated his lyrical outpourings. The orchestration was sumptuous, sparing no details when he tried to simulate an Asian aesthete – scoring erhu, yangqin and dizi for Lee family scenes, with marimba and assorted percussion in the corresponding Malay episodes. 

The final duet at Tanjong Pagar Station:
A hotel is not a home,
so where do we go from here? 

The singers were expertly cast, veteran tenor David Quah and newcomer soprano Akiko Otao clicked surprisingly well. Their acting and body language were totally believable, supported by short but angst-ridden arias What is this Stink called Home? and What Coming Home Means respectively, loaded with powerfully charged words. Behind them, Nomer Son and Satsuki Nagatome (as the Ibrahims), Rueben Lai and Anna Ivanenko (the Lees) were convincing in the portrayals of paternal intransigence and maternal sympathy. 

The Geylang Serai riots:
Steven gets battered and bruised.

The well-honed chorus played a larger role than expected, its appearance inevitably fanning the flames of the heated sentiments of the moment. Where but in the context of this opera can the inflammatory phrases “kurang hajar” (debased person) or “Crush Lee Kuan Yew!” escape the censor’s scissors? The appearance of the first PM, clad in all white, also had the revisionist about it. His broadcast speech of 9 August 1965 was not clothed in regretful tears, but one of indignation and defiance.

9 August 1965: Singapore is booted out;
LKY standing tall,
is defiant rather than tearful.

Malay vs Chinese.
Islam vs Buddhism.
Malaysia vs Singapore.
Never the twain shall meet.

Chandran Lingam’s direction was clear-headed and effective. The two stages on which the sung dialogues of the families took place were representative of the gulfs which people and their societies impose on themselves. Never the twain shall meet; these were the metaphorical fences erected (hence the opera’s title) and stoutly defended to the death.

The sextet of confrontation.

The one major regret of this production was the lack of surtitles. With the orchestra superbly directed by Darrell Ang placed just in front of the stage, the sung English of the amplified singers was often rendered indecipherable and sometimes drowned out. A printed libretto was provided on the second evening, but the small print and dim lighting nullified the thoughtful gesture.

Steven and Nora plan a
new life together... in Australia!

Despite the technical difficulties encountered, Fences, a lesson on conflict, confrontation and ultimately compromise, is something societies that genuinely seek tolerance and forbearance can learn from. Musically and artistically, it represents a significant advance on the earlier efforts of Bunga Mawar. Let us hopefully not wait another 15 years for the next major Singaporean opera.

Akiko Otao as Nora and
David Quah as Steven.

Darrell Ang, John Sharpley and
Robert Yeo get their accolades. 

A Few Words With JOHN SHARPLEY, Composer of the opera FENCES

A SHORT INTERVIEW 

WITH DR JOHN SHARPLEY, 

Composer of 

Singapore's latest opera 

FENCES

produced by 

Opera Viva Singapore

18 and 19 August 2012

Lee Foundation Theatre, 

Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

7.30 pm

Could you remember what you were doing on 9 August 1965?

I was 9 years old then and likely on a family summer holiday in the Texas Hill Country. I can imagine myself filled with fantasy exploring some forest or river, discovering my own sense of freedom.

As all of us will already know, Fences will only be the second opera written in the grand scale in Singapore after Leong Yoon Pin’s Bunga Mawar of 1997. That’s quite a responsibility. How did you get about deciding on the musical idiom you will work with for the opera?

For me, musical idiom is a very individualised concern. It must be sincere and hence, original! Having lived, studied, worked and travelled in Singapore and Southeast Asia for the past 27 years, I believe that there are many local musical and cultural influences that are fully instinctive to me. I trusted my instinct to guide me through the composing of Fences.

Even though every new composition of mine brings a new blossoming there is a continuity in my musical language or style. This is what I would call the composer’s “voice”. Consequently the musical idiom for Fences is both steeped in my musical past and mingled with the stimulating challenges from the libretto to Fences.

The music to Fences is what I would call extended tonality / modality. I believe that a musical idiom for opera should be rich, multi-layered and dramatic. It must be able to convey emotions, anticipation and surprise.

Will this be a Singaporean opera or an American opera about Singapore?

This is a tricky question. To begin with I do not think of myself as an American composer. Rather, I am a composer born in America. Singapore has been my home for about one half of my life. I feel more Singaporean than American! I have also lived in France and Australia. Likewise, Fences is an opera from Singapore. Of course the story is unique to Singapore and Malaysia. Even with the Southeast Asian influences, the music is unique to me. I do not try to be anything else but myself. Does all this make Fences a Singaporean opera? I leave you the reader to decide for yourself.

You have always had a special and highly lyrical way with words set to music. How did you respond to Robert Yeo’s libretto? Was it one very amenable to musical settings? How close did you work with him to make words into musical sense?

All the music to Fences is my response to Robert’s spacious and rich libretto. Robert and I worked closely together over many years with constant dialogue. This was a wonderful process and a true collaboration. I am honoured to have worked on Fences with Robert. 

I remembered the reading of scenes from Fences with piano accompaniment held in 2006 at the University Cultural Centre which was very interesting and held great promise for the opera’s production. How has the music and development of the opera transformed since then?

The story, music and libretto have altered considerably since the reading in 2006. There have been subsequent performances and reading of excerpts, workshops and periods of revisions. Essentially, Robert and I have endeavored to distill the story into a taut dramatic line. Such is far from easy to accomplish. In fact, operas often continue to be revised well after their premieres.

Eight years is a rather long gestation for Fences. There must have been many struggles, ups and downs in its coming to being. Would you like to relate some of these to us?

Of course there are ups and downs! How could this be opera otherwise! In fact, I am always reminded that opera is both drama on stage and off stage.

To be truthful, I have come to the sad conclusion that Singapore is not yet ready for serious opera. Perhaps it is in the general mindset of organisers, practitioners and audiences that performing art should simply be entertaining, not cathartic and thought-provoking. This, I believe, has been the root of my greatest struggle - to exist in an artistic community that is not particularly conducive towards and producing of the highest levels of artistic exigence, expertise, support, understanding and with a generosity of spirit. Please know that there are a few who do truly possess these qualities but they are a very small minority (who also struggle). Maybe one day but not today! I will not give up!

How would you like your audience to approach, respond to and remember Fences?

My hope is that Fences be a dramatic and emotional journey culminating in a cathartic experience. There is at the heart of Fences a soulfulness. I pray that such will be conveyed and perceived and that serious opera may take a deeper root in Singapore.