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.

JOHANN STRAUSS JR'S DIE FLEDERMAUS / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

JOHANN STRAUSS JR’S

DIE FLEDERMAUS

Singapore Lyric Opera

Esplanade Theatre

Saturday 17 December 2022

This review was published in The Straits Times on 21 December 2022 with the title "Soprano Joyce Lee Tung steals show in Singapore Lyric Opera's Die Fledermaus". 

 

This is the season for uncorking champagne bottles and what could be more appropriate than another airing of Johann Strauss the Younger’s evergreen and bubbly-induced operetta Die Fledermaus? Singapore Lyric Opera’s most recent crack at this hoary old chestnut had much to recommend, reminding one and all why we love the festive season plus a few good jokes or two.

 

Directed by Tang Xinxin and accompanied by the SLO Orchestra conducted by Joshua Tan, an ebullient Overture presenting all the memorable melodies got the show off to a good start. The operetta’s comedic plot was one of mischievous vengeance and the usual farce of mistaken identity, culminating in a New Year’s Eve ball at Prince Orlofsky’s.

 

All three members of the Eisenstein’s dysfunctional household contrive to attend the high society event with assumed foreign identities, and the deceptions with predictable misunderstandings inevitably take place. Tenor Jonathan Charles Tay’s Eisenstein and soprano Shimona Rose’s Rosalinde were splendid antagonistic twin pillars of the action, their repartee effected under disguise being a very funny aspect of the story.

Eisenstein becomes Marquis de Renard while
Rosalinde becomes the Hungarian countess
at Orlofsky's ball.

 

They were, however, upstaged by soprano Joyce Lee Tung stealing the show as their housemaid Adele, who has aspirations as an actress. Adele’s Laughing Song (Mein Herr Marquis) in the second act acted like the pivot around which all action was built. She nailed the role with striking aplomb.  

Adele becomes transformed
into a budding actress at Orlofsky's ball.

 

The threesome was well supported by baritone Martin Ng (as Falke, who hatched the plot of revenge against Eisenstein), tenor Kee Loi Seng (Alfred, Rosalinde’s hopeful paramour), baritone William Lim (Frank, conniving prison governor) and tenor Leslie Tay (Blind, hapless attorney), the last who could not resist cross-dressing again, this time as a very unvoluptuous Wonder Woman. Ironically, the usual cross-dressing role of Prince Orlofsky, usually by a mezzo-soprano, was instead sung pretty convincingly by countertenor Chan Wei En.

 

While the First Act, set at the Eisenstein’s domicile, dragged somewhat, everything came to life in the glittering Second Act, with cast, SLO Chorus and dancers at full tilt. Here the operetta’s dizzy heart flowed unabated without contrived and time-consuming setpieces. The blazing Unter Donner und Blitzen (Under Thunder and Lightning) Polka was danced to animated choreography by Andy Benjamin Cai.

 

Leading into the Third Act saw the non-singing role of inebriated prison attendant Frosch portrayed by Alaric Tay (of The Noose fame). Ten minutes of stand-up comedy was just about right, with references to past inmates being incarcerated for refusing to wear face-masks, and the ongoing football World Cup, particularly the Messi state the gaol was in.

 

The deliberately uncredited set design was simple and effective, incorporating Wiener Werkstatte (Vienna Workshop) elements into light fixtures and furniture – a nice touch. Overall, this was both a stylish and enjoyable production which reflects the typically excellent yet underrated work undertaken by Singapore’s premier opera company, which labours under a chronic lack of capital. May the coming year ahead see a continuation of similar high standards. 

All photographs by courtesy of 

Singapore Lyric Opera.

VERDI GALA: A BICENTENARY CELEBRATION / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

VERDI GALA:

A BICENTENARY CELEBRATION

Singapore Lyric Opera

Esplanade Concert Hall

Friday (24 October 2013)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 26 October 2013 with the title "Concert of Verdi highlights a success".

Following hot on the heels of a successful La Traviata, the Singapore Lyric Opera celebrated Giuseppe Verdi’s birth bicentenary with a two-hour long concert of operatic highlights. Given that just five of the great Italian’s operas have ever been performed in Singapore, the eleven represented this evening seemed impressive, but this was just the uppermost tip of a gigantic undiscovered iceberg.

There was a goodly mix of the familiar and the less familiar, but all the qualities that made Verdi great – lyricism, dramatics and expert settings of words - were delved upon. Conductor Darrell Ang gave a brief introduction on the legacy, and then let the music sing for itself. It was a pity that the usual brief synopses of the arias and characters were not included in the programme booklet. That would have given the audience a better understanding of the contexts of each item presented.

The quartet of two locally-based and two Australian singers was generally well cast. Of the latter, tenor Jason Wasley exuded an easy and laid-back charm in the well-known De miei bollenti spiriti (La Traviata) and Quando le sere al placido (Luisa Miller) without fully extending himself. Baritone Christopher Hillier struggled somewhat to overcome the orchestra in an aria from Attila, but exhibited both emotion and fine control in Giorgio Germont’s ballad Di provenza il mar from La Traviata. Together, both voices blended very idiomatically in the duet Solenne in quest’ora from La Forza del Destino.

Mezzo-soprano Anna Koor, usually a coquettish presence, was given pitifully small parts. She made most of the bel canto melody, however brief, in Oh, dichiuso e il firmamento (Nabucco), but the onomatopoeic and drumming beat in Rataplan (La Forza) with the chorus was underwhelming.  

That leaves soprano Jessica Chen (above, with conductor Darrell Ang), head of voice at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, who completely stole the show. Remembered for her chilling portrayal of Turandot  in 2008,  she brought a wondrous range and intensity to the recitative and aria of Ecco l’orrido campo (Un Ballo in Maschera), her perfect intonation and emotional heft carried into Pace, pace, mio Dio (La Forza). She garnered the loudest cheers, and deservedly so. And if one wondered if claques existed in Singapore, they most certainly do.

The Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra has improved vastly over the years in terms of sensitivity and instrumental prowess, which showed in purely orchestral numbers from La Forza, I Vespri Siciliani and Aida.  The small choir of 25 women’s voices (men are a particularly rare resource here) coped well in the Witches Chorus from Macbeth.

The four solo voices came together mellifluously for the marvellous Quartet from Rigoletto and that indestructible Brindisi (Drinking Song) from La Traviata which closed the concert. Taken at an all-too-leisurely pace, that built-in encore was itself encored, the second time at a slightly more champagne-infused mood which brought on a standing ovation.

All photographs courtesy of Singapore Lyric Opera.

MOZART'S DON GIOVANNI / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

MOZART’S DON GIOVANNI
Singapore Lyric Opera
Esplanade Theatre
Saturday (25 February 2012)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 27 February 2012 with the title "Don of a new age".

Considering that Don Giovanni is widely regarded as Mozart’s greatest opera, it comes as some surprise that the Singapore Lyric Opera had waited some 20 years to stage it. This may be due to the fact that there had been two previous productions in Singapore during the late 1980s and mid-1990s by groups from Britain and Hungary. This, the first featuring all Asian voices, however has much to recommend.

First, veteran director Tom Hawkes does not tamper with the story or setting as a tragicomedy and morality tale, instead allowing the relationships between the characters to be clearly defined. The two lead baritones, Song Kee Chang’s Don Giovanni and Huang Rong Hai’s Leporello, shared a marvellous chemistry together as master and serf (above). Huang’s comical mix of hero-worship and contempt for the Don was well characterised, as was Song’s nonchalant and callous way with women.

The excellent supporting cast was completely Singaporean, now achievable because a critical mass of experienced and young local opera singers exists today. Rising to the fore was soprano Cherylene Liew’s sympathetic portrayal of purity and goodness in the role of Zerlina (above). Her two arias Batti batti, Vedrai carino and the famous duet La ci darem la mano with the Don call to notice an impressive new talent.

But why was tenor Melvin Tan’s believable Don Ottavio denied his few minutes in the limelight of Il mio tesoro? Its excision to keep the show under three hours (the final curtain came down one minute before eleven) seemed cruel. He and relative veterans Nancy Yuen (Donna Anna), Yee Ee Ping (Donna Elvira), William Lim (The Commendatore), Martin Ng (Masetto) and the dependable SLO Orchestra conducted by Joshua Kangming Tan provided a firm bedrock to the proceedings.

Unlike the two previous productions which barely had sets to speak of, Christopher Chua’s backdrops were effective and simple, with an emphasis on stone that seemed to pre-empt the arrival of the stone guest for the final dinner scene. The Don’s fire and brimstone comeuppance, a rare scene with three low male voices (below) and an opportunity for special stage effects, however seemed a tad underwhelming.

With the unrepentant philanderer safely dispatched to Hades, the final sextet was a joyous denouement but was the descending image of a crucified Jesus Christ’s head appropriate? Surely this sent mixed signals about sin, recalcitrance and eternal damnation. Or had the Don made yet another one of his audacious escapes?

This production of Don Giovanni plays at Esplanade Theatre 8 pm this evening (Monday 27 February) and runs till tomorrow (Tuesday 28 February).