AMORE! / Singapore Lyric Opera

This is really very early in the year for a concert by the Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO). Singapore's oldest opera company brought out its A list of singers for this recital of opera's most popular bleeding chunks - arias, duets and ensembles. At its helm was Artistic Director soprano Nancy Yuen, flanked by Spanish tenor Israel Lozano (undoubtedly SLO's best Pinkerton), relative newcomer Taiwanese mezzo Jo-Pei Weng and veteran Korean baritone Song Kee Chang. The orchestra was provided by pianist Boris Kraljevic.

Amore! was the title of the concert, but it was Nancy who clarified that most of the concert was not just about love, but friendship. Friendzone! would not have been a catchy or marketable title so Amore, it was. In nearly 100 minutes without intermission, the audience was treated to some of opera's best and most beloved highlights. Here are the photos from a most enjoyable early evening.

The concert opens with a familiar duet:
the Flower Duet from Delibes' Lakme
from Nancy Yuen and Jo-Pei Weng.

Why do we think of British Airways
whenever this duet is sung?

It's the men's turn:
Israel Lozano and Song Kee Chang
in the duet Au fond du temple saint
from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers.

Un voce poco fa from
Rossini's The Barber of Seville.

Rosina & Figaro's duet Dunque io son
from The Barber of Seville.

Mimi's aria Si, mi chiamano Mimi
from Puccini's La Boheme.
A Nancy Yuen speciality.

O soave fanciulla
from Act One of La Boheme.

Act 3 ensemble Addio dolce svegliare
from La Boheme

Aria Per me giunto... Io morrow
from Verdi's Don Carlo

Mira o Norma from Bellini's Norma

La donna e mobile
from Verdi's Rigoletto

Rigoletto & Gilda's duet
Eil sol dell'anima la vita e amore 

The Quartet Bella figlia dell'amore
from Verdi's Rigoletto

The final ensemble Im feuerstrom
from Strauss' Die Fledermaus

Agustin Lara's Granada

Salvatore Cardillo's Core n'grato (Ungrateful Heart)

Denza's Funiculi Funicula

Di Capua's O Sole Mio

Encore time: Brindisi (Drinking Song)
from Verdi's La Traviata.

Bravissimi! Take a bow!

AN EVENING OF OPERA HIGHLIGHTS NOT TO MISS: AMORE! BY SINGAPORE LYRIC OPERA

 

Love opera and its most passionate moments? Enjoy favourite arias, duets and ensembles in Amore! with Singapore Lyric Opera’s A-list of soloists including artistic director soprano Nancy Yuen, Spanish tenor Israel Lozano, Taiwanese mezzo-soprano Jo-Pei Weng and Korean baritone Song Kee Chang. They will be partnered by Boris Kraljevic on the piano.

Highlights from these operas (sung in original languages):

DELIBES Lakme

BIZET The Pearl Fishers

ROSSINI The Barber of Seville

PUCCINI La Boheme

VERDI Don Carlo

BELLINI Norma

VERDI Rigoletto

J.STRAUSS Die Fledermaus

Popular songs including Granada, Core ‘ngrato, Funiculi Funicula and O Sole Mio.

AMORE!

Singapore Lyric Opera

Esplanade Recital Studio

Sunday, 25 January 2026 at 5 pm

Get your tickets here:

Amore! – Celebrating Opera’s Passionate Moments | SingaporeLyricOpera

Nancy Yuen & Israel Lozano

BIZET'S CARMEN / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

 

BIZET’S CARMEN 

Singapore Lyric Opera 

Victoria Theatre 

Friday (25 April 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 28 April 2025 with the title "Stripped down Carmen buoyed by pleasing leads".

When the Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) last mounted a production of Georges Bizet’s Carmen in 2011, times were very different. It was then the only opera company in Singapore with a proven track record, but its primacy has diminished with the rise of younger opera companies which have been equally serious in their missions. 

Photo: Singapore Lyric Opera

For its 35th anniversary year, SLO fell back on this old favourite as its only major production. Directed by Nancy Yuen as a semi-staged opera, it was decidedly low budget but had high production values. Accompanied by SLO Chamber Orchestra conducted by Joshua Tan, the music came first before all else, and this was what truly mattered. 

Photo: Singapore Lyric Opera

The Singapore debuts of three French singers, Mathilde Ortscheidt in the titular role, Samy Camps as Don Jose and Edwin Fardini as Escamillo, were instant hits. Ortscheidt’s Carmen, standing out in her bright red outfit, was the real thing – attitudinous and seductive. This was in marked contrast with the brow-beaten Don Jose, whose pathos was well portrayed by the heavily-tattooed Camps. 

Carmen’s famous Habanera, about a bird that refuses to be constrained, and Jose’s Flower Song were the easily recognisable solo arias to which the opera successfully pivoted around. Their chemistry sizzled, pitting Carmen’s contempt opposite Jose’s haplessness. 

Photo: Singapore Lyric Opera

In between them, Escamillo was the coolest dude in flared pants, and one has seldom encountered a more laid-back version of the Toreador’s Song thought possible. In this production set in Singapore of the 1960s, he was a boxer operating in one of those amusement Worlds, rather than a bullfighter. 

Photo: Singapore Lyric Opera

Nostalgia ruled, and one will be tickled by the period costumes, reminiscent of those worn by the cast and extras of local television series Growing Up. Crowd scenes involving the SLO Adult and Children’s Chorus (Terrence Toh, Choirmaster) were good fun, especially spotting the Ah Bengs, Ah Lians, samsengs (hoodlums) and matas (police) among them. 

Photo: Singapore Lyric Opera

The close of the second act, with all the singers heroically proclaiming their independence (a la Les Miserables), seemed a tad puzzling. Who and what were they trying to be independent of? The British, Malaysia or the ruling political party? It was something worth pondering, given the proximity of the looming General Elections. 

While the French threesome shined, they were well-supported by a cast of Southeast Asian and local singers. Filipina soprano Nerissa De Juan was a rare find as the virtuous Micaela, while Cherie Tse (Frasquita) and Priscilla Fong (Mercedes) lit up the stage as Carmen’s sidekicks. 

Photo: Singapore Lyric Opera

The third act’s card-playing scene involving the three ladies was particularly poignant, laying out their divergent fortunes. Two will discover love and lucre, while Carmen will find only death, a premonition for the final act to come. Kee Chun Kiat (Remendado), Edward Kim (Dancaire), Jermyn Leong (Captain Zuniga) and Li Yizhe (Morales) completed a close to perfectly-assembled ensemble. 

There were minimal sets, but that was part and parcel of this production, and all power to the SLO.

PUCCINI'S WOMEN / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

 

PUCCINI’S WOMEN 

Singapore Lyric Opera 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Saturday (19 October 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 22 October 2024 with the title "Singapore Lyric Opera gala presented beginner's guide to Puccini".

In lieu of a fully-staged opera production this year, Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) presented a gala commemorating Italian composer Giacomo Puccini’s 100th death anniversary. No opera composer quite matches his popularity, and it must have been daunting to fit excerpts from all his twelve operas within just 100 minutes. 

“A Beginners’ Guide To Puccini” might have been the title for this concert accompanied by the SLO Orchestra under Joshua Tan. This primer was greatly assisted by narrator Mik Rossi playing the composer with wry wit and humour, complete with Italian-accented English and a suitably bushy moustache to match Puccini’s own. 

The operatic highlights were performed in chronological order, from little-known Le Villi (1884) to monumental Turandot (1924). Casting was reliant on veterans of the local opera scene, including sopranos Nancy Yuen (SLO’s artistic director) and Jessica Chen, Korean tenor Lee Jae Wook and local bass-baritone William Lim. Making her SLO debut was Australian soprano Daniela Leska. 

Puccini’s rarities were heard alongside his popular numbers, and that was no bad thing. Who would otherwise have heard Se com voi piccini io fossa (If I Were Tiny Like You) from Le Villi, or Questo amor, vergogna amor (This Love, My Shame) from Edgar (1889), sung with tenderness and feeling by Chen and Lim respectively? This presented the best opportunity for such an airing. 

The highlights became more familiar, like Lee’s entry with Donna non vidi mai (I Never Saw A Woman Like Her) from Manon Lescaut (1893). With La Boheme (1896), the concert entered into “greatest hits” territory, and SLO’s most celebrated duet of Yuen and Lee was united for O soave fanciulla (O Lovely Girl), spine-tingling in its ardour and intensity. 

Joined by Lim and Leska, the quartet accounted for Addio dolce svegliare alla mattina (Farewell, Sweet Wakings In The Morning) from Act Three, which had two couples breaking up for vastly different reasons. 

Puccini’s most popular arias, Vissi d’arte (I Lived For Art) and E lucevan le stelle (And The Stars Were Shining) from Tosca (1900) and Un bel di (One Fine Day) from Madama Butterfly (1904), were lovingly rendered by Yuen, Lee and Chen respectively. The SLO Adult Chorus (Chorusmaster: Terrence Toh) finally made its appearance in Te Deum from Tosca accompanying Lim’s villainous Baron Scarpia and the wordless Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly. 

Space does not permit a listing of all excerpts, but the operas La fanciulla del West (Girl of the Golden West, 1910), La Rondine (The Swallow, 1917) and the trilogy of Il Trittico (1918) were all represented. Who sang the beloved O mio babbino caro (O My Beloved Father) from Gianni Schicchi? That honour went to Leska, who did not disappoint. 

From Turandot came the ubiquitous Nessun dorma (None Shall Sleep) from Lee, but the last words had to go to Puccini’s quintessential woman bar none, the vulnerable and self-sacrificial heroine Liu, with Yuen’s touching delivery of the aria Tu, che di gel sei cinta (You, Who Are Bound In Ice). Just memorable.