DVORAK'S RUSALKA / New Opera Singapore / Review

DVORAK’S RUSALKA

New Opera Singapore

Victoria Theatre

Sunday (20 August 2023)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 22 August 2023 with the title "Tragic, moving staging of Dvorak's Rusalka".

New Opera Singapore (NOS) has garnered an enviable reputation over the years with successful productions of operas that are not exactly household names. In the midst of the pandemic, it mounted online Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, while Gian Carlo Menotti’s The Telephone and Francis Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine saw the light of day in 2022. This year brought out the Singapore premiere of Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s opera Rusalka. Its fame outside of the old Czechoslovakia was long premised on a single hit aria.

 

Composed in 1900 with libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, this was a variation of Hans Christian Andersen’s well-known Little Mermaid story, about a water nymph who sacrifices her identity and  voice for the love of a human prince. It makes for a ridiculous story but unlike Andersen’s (or Disney’s) version, this one directed by NOS founder Jeong Ae Ree has no happy ending. Sung in English rather than the original Czech, and with helpful English and Chinese surtitles provided, there was also no mistaking its tragic narrative.

 

London-based soprano Victoria Songwei Li as the titular Rusalka was a stunning presence. Her multi-faceted acting abilities, which navigated from lovesick longing, through frustration and confusion to finally grief, was as moving as her singing. The unforgettable Song To The Moon (Mesicku Na Nebi Hlobokem or Moon Deep In The Heavens), which came early in the first act, was beautifully rendered in Czech, setting the tone for the dramatics to unfold.   

 

Excellent Latvian tenor Martins Smaukstelis as the ill-fated Prince, towered over Li in physical stature, but as the story goes, would have made for a very poor Tinder match. Destined to hear her voice only in the third act’s final duet, his earnest yet misguided strivings would get no satisfaction except in death.

 

The supporting cast was just as good, particularly mezzo-soprano Rebecca Chellappah as the smarmily evil witch Jezibaba, who was balanced by baritone Martin Ng’s Water Gnome with his woe-laden lines. Soprano Joyce Lee Tung as the seductive Foreign Princess was the Prince’s principal distraction, her striking red gown a stark contrast to adversary Li’s pallid one.

 

Tenor Leslie Tay (Hunter/Gamekeeper), soprano Lara Tan (Turnspit), water spirits Ashley Chua, Rachel Ong and Wen-Yu Tseng provided added commentary, levity and comic relief to the otherwise dark tale. Members of Symphonia Choralis (Chong Wai Lun, chorusmaster) had multiple roles, including playing wedding guests, mysterious denizens and wave simulations of the watery realm.

 

The inclined stage designed by RT+Q Architects was simple yet evocative, providing the illusion of depth and added dimension. The NOS Orchestra, a chamber sized outfit, conducted by Chan Wei Shing supported the singers well, and there was little to no risk of them being drowned out in the lush late-Romantic score.

 

Despite a lean annual budget, NOS has always delivered. From the quality of singing, fresh ideas in presentation to honest-to-goodness production values, this sympathetic production of Dvorak’s Rusalka would be no exception.   

Concert photographs by Chrisppics+ 

POULENC'S DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES / New Opera Singapore / Review

DIALOGUES OF THE CARMELITES

New Opera Singapore

Victoria Theatre

Friday (3 August 2018)

This review was published in The Straits Times (online edition) on 10 August 2018 with the title "Unconventional choice, but Dialogues of the Carmelites a landmark for New Opera Singapore".

New Opera Singapore (NOS) has done it again. By mounting the Singapore premiere of Francis Poulenc's 1957 opera Dialogues Of The Carmelites (Dialogues Des Carmelites), it defied the conventions of what operas should local companies be presenting. No Verdi, no Puccini, no Mozart, but no worries. NOS had Purcell, Britten and Monteverdi on its books, and has now added 20^th century Frenchman Francis Poulenc to its list of successes.

In reality, Carmelites should not have been a great surprise as it represented the last of last century's great tonal operas, conceived during the era when serious composers were pursuing atonalism and avant-garde agenda. Its subject, the 1794 martyrdom of the Camelite order of Compiegne during  the French Revolution's Great Terror, was also fertile for exploitation in musical drama.

Mother Superior Lidoine (Jennifer Lien)
leads the Requiem service.

Sung in English instead of French, directed by Kyongsu Kathy Han and conducted by Chan Wei Shing, this production was furthered by a very strong cast of principals as the ill-fated nuns. The protagonist Blanche (soprano Victoria Songwei Li) as aristocrat-turned-novice sparkled as she alternated between hope and fear, finally finding a resolution in extreme courage. Beside her, Sister Constance (soprano Capucine Daumas) was a light-hearted and playful presence, the perfect foil.

The Mother Superiors were well contrasted, soprano Patricia Sands as the long-suffering and terminally-ill Madame de Croissy and soprano Jennifer Lien (fresh from her leading role in the other significant Poulenc opera La Voix Humaine) as the plain-speaking and more cheery Madame Lidoine. Between them, mezzo-soprano Rebecca Chellappah was a rock-steady Mother Marie, close confidante to the beleaguered ladies. Their voices rang well over the discreet orchestral manoeuvres from the pit.

Blanche (Victoria Li) with
Mother Marie (Rebecca Chellappah)

Men had much smaller parts, including tenors Reuben Lai (Father Superior) and tenor Shaun Lee as Blanche's brother the Chevalier. The touching scene between Blanche and Chevalier came closest to a conventional operatic love duet, but had the former rebuffing the latter's pleas to flee the oncoming crisis. The men's black suits also contrasted markedly against the light pastel nuns' habits and ultimately white, symbolising innocence and purity.

The sets in all three acts by Allister Towndrow were monochrome and starkly effective, with series of screens adding layers of dimensions. The shadow of the guillotine loomed ever so ominously through the First Act, and when the heart-wrenching final scene beckoned, there were to be no falling blades.

Execution by decapitation was depicted symbolically. With the chorus of nuns (including NOS Artistic Director Jeong Ae Ree in a cameo role) singing the poignant Salve Regina and each walking through the scaffold and towards oblivion, their voices diminished and decimated until there were only two. Blanche's final act of sacrifice with her sisters in faith could not have been better depicted.

This production marked yet another important landmark in the short history of New Opera Singapore. It produces only one opera a year, but making that count is what that really matters.

The main cast (from L): Sands, Daumas, Li,
Chan, Han, Jeong, Lien & Chellappah.

Production photos by Chester Chew, applause photos by Pianomaniac.

REBECCA CHELLAPPAH & FRIENDS IN CONCERT / Review

REBECCA CHELLAPPAH

& FRIENDS IN CONCERT

Esplanade Recital Studio

Thursday (25 September 2014)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 27 September 2014 with the title "Magical evening of great lieder music".

There appears to be an unusual efflorescence of song recitals and vocal events taking place over the coming week and a half. It seemed a pity that this excellent recital by Rebecca Chellappah, one of Singapore’s precious few mezzo-sopranos, had to coincide with the opening of the 4^th Singapore Lieder Festival. Splitting a potential audience meant that only about 50 people were in attendance for this very engaging evening of art song.

Chellappah did not prioritise bringing out popular crowd-pleasing songs but instead worked on the intimate relationship of setting words to music. All of her repertoire choices were thoughtfully and lovingly made, each highlighting the elusive art that separate great songs from merely good ones. Not all of these are well-known, but she had what it took to make them sound convincing.

Erich Korngold’s Abschiedslieder (Songs of Farewell), sung in its original German, was coloured with the dark hues and Romantic sensibilities that unite these with the better known Mahler lieder. Far from being lugubrious, Chellappah lifted the four songs with an air of wonder above the bittersweet contemplation. The best known number Mond, so gehst du wieder auf (Moon, So You Rise Again) was sensitively sung, with Lim Yan’s accompanying piano providing a veil of opulent harmonies.   

Manuel de Falla’s Seven Popular Spanish Songs are familiar enough, but has anyone checked out the lyrics? From Chellappah’s facial expressions, one could tell which songs spelled regret, resignation, disgust or despair. Here she was partnered by her husband Billy Greenan on the guitar, which added a further dimension of authenticity.

The balance of the programme was accompanied by a piano trio, a rarity in itself. In Englishman Roger Quilter’s Three Pastoral Songs, the music was fairly straight-forward. The simple rusticity and folksong charm of it all was easy to bring out, even in Cherry Valley, which was lightly tinged with the impressionism of Debussy.

In the American songs cycles, the balance between voice and instruments was trickier. Chellapah had to rise above Siew Yi Li’s violin, Lin Juan’s cello and Lim Yan’s piano, as not all the scoring was texturally light or transparent. But when she did, the effect of the often poignant songs was close to magical.

Lori Laitman’s Daughters explored the relationships between mothers and daughters and the sense of loss engendered on departure or death. Stella Remembered with words by Karen Gershon was particularly moving, as a mother is willing to trade a truckload of photographs just to see her daughter turn around again. A Letter to My Daughter, a setting of Anne Ranasinghe’s poem, was so soothing that audible snoring from the back of the hall was heard at its conclusion.

In Jake Heggie’s Some Times of Day, the musical idioms of Americana stood out. It was jazzy and syncopated in The Minuet, a waltz-rhythm dominated the ironic song Simple, while a country feel pervaded The Best Time of Day. With all the serious stuff behind her, it was left for Chellappah to relax and luxuriate in this enchanting closing act. In many ways, this recital was a mini Lieder festival in itself.  

Photographs by the kind permission of 

Mrs Greenan and friends.

SING MESSIAH! / Review

SING MESSIAH!

Celebration Chorus, Messiah Singers

Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra

Esplanade Concert Hall  

Sunday (22 December 2013)                                           

This review was published in The Straits Times on 24 December 2013 with title "Sing-along success of Yuletide season".

The performance of Handel’s oratorio Messiah has been synonymous with the Yuletide season such that the Christian celebration seems incomplete without it. It had been a staple of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and its choruses, but the ritual was taken up this year by the Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra, Celebration Chorus and Messiah Singers led by charismatic young conductor Adrian Tan (below).

Another difference was the element of mass audience participation in the spirit of those sing-along Messiahs so popular in England and USA. But are reticent Singaporean audiences ready for such an undertaking?

It helped that hopefuls were primed weeks before with rehearsals led by Greg Petersen and Tom Anderson, with the help of downloadable scores. On the day, audience members in the stalls were armed with choral albums, tablets and iPads to do their part. Conductor Tan cajoled with good humoured needling and the stage was set.

A complete Messiah would have taken two and a half hours, so selections of arias and choruses from all three parts made up a quite digestible 90 minutes for the capacity house. In the less familiar and more difficult fugal choruses like And He Shall Purify, the audience was predictably quiet, but it warmed up considerably for the popular For Unto Us A Child Is Born.

The large chorus on stage projected strength in numbers even if it does not match the finesse of the much smaller Singapore Symphony Chorus which has made a habit of performing from memory. The orchestral accompaniment was more than acceptable even when perfection in cues and execution could be found wanting at times.

The soloists was an A-list of Singaporean (no foreign talents here) singers led by soprano Yee Ee-Ping whose aria Rejoice was an imperious show of coloratura prowess. Mezzo-soprano Rebecca Chellappah projected gravitas in He Was Despised while baritone William Lim was rock-like and unshakeable in the dramatic Why Do The Nations. Tenor Reuben Lai had a pleasant ring to his voice but struggled to hit the highest notes in Comfort Ye and Ev’ry Valley.

The perennial question as to whether one should stand for the Hallelujah Chorus was unequivocally decided by the conductor. Like King George II who did so more than 270 years ago, there were to be no sitters and the effect was quite stunning. Not only did the audience erupt in full voice, the visual spectacle of seeing Esplanaders on their feet was one not easily forgotten.

The ploy was a canny one, as after the final choruses Worthy Is The Lamb and Amen were concluded, there was a spontaneous standing ovation. Whether this was self-congratulatory or not is debatable, but there looks like more D-I-Y Messiahs to come in the near future. 

CD Reviews (The Straits Times, June 2011)

MAHLER Symphony No.2 “Resurrection”
Orchestra of the Music Makers / CHAN TZE LAW
OMM Live! / *****

It is often said that recordings can never replace the experience of a “live” concert. However if that concert happens to be one of massive significance, a recording of it becomes a treasured document. 10 July 2010 at Esplanade Concert Hall presented such an event, one that marked a definitive coming of age of classical music in Singapore. The goosebumps generated by the Orchestra of Music Makers in Mahler’s Second Symphony on that magical evening may be relived over and over.

It is not just that the young group of musicians (average age: 21 years) performed like professionals that impressed, but their ability to live their dreams in playing of such confidence, assurance, and ultimately passion. Strings were especially fine, woodwind solos shone, while brass chorales (on and offstage) had a memorable burnished quality. Even the solo voices of Rebecca Chellappah and Jeong Ae Ree have been lent an extra shine on this recording. The sheer sweep, masterfully guided by Chan Tze Law, kept this listener transfixed, all through its 78 minutes. Now who needs to rush out to buy Sir Simon Rattle’s latest recording?