VERDI'S MACBETH / Lirica Arts / Review

 

VERDI’S MACBETH

Lirica Arts

Victoria Theatre

Friday (27 March 2026)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 30 March 2026 with the title "Bold staging of Verdi's Macbeth by rising opera company Lirica Arts".

Lirica Arts, a local opera company formed just four years ago, has produced its second fully-staged opera since its very encouraging debut with Gioachino Rossini’s L’Inganno Felice in 2022. Giuseppe Verdi’s first Shakespearean opera Macbeth, which premiered in 1847 and revised in 1865, was a very brave and ambitious choice, but one the opera scene here really needs having had multiple La Traviatas, La Bohemes and Carmens.

The two Martins:
Martin Ng's Macbeth with
and Martin Ohu's Banco

Verdi’s Macbeth has exactly the same plot as Shakespeare’s play, with the same sequence of events but the added dimensions of music and being sung in Italian. It was first presented by Singapore Lyric Opera in 2001 conducted by Lim Yau, and 25 years later, this production with The Philharmonic Orchestra was led by his son Lin Juan.

Zhang Jie's Lady Macbeth
commands King Duncan to be killed.

With familiar characters and a story easy to follow, it was left for stage director Tang Xinxin to pique the imagination of the audience. Her task was considerably aided by baritone Martin Ng (artistic director of Lirica Arts) in the titular role, and soprano Zhang Jie as his infamous spouse. Ng’s transformation from humble Thane of Glamis to blood-thirsty King of Scotland was the stuff of tragedies, where self-doubt gradually turned into fatal ambition with all nuances in between.

Good as Ng was in his chest-beating stentorian arias, it was Zhang’s Lady Macbeth who delivered the tour de force. Her blood curdling La Luce Langue (The Light Fades) and sleep-walking aria Una Macchia E Qui Tuttora (Out, Damned Spot!) were solo high points, with deserved accolades from the audience.

Their respective deaths were strangely low key. She in her blood red gown just walked into the shadows, while he was unceremoniously dispatched by excellent tenor Jonathan Charles Tay’s MacDuff. Supporting them were South Korean bass Martin Ohu as the short-lived Banco (Banquo) and tenor Jonathan MacPherson as Malcolm, the new king.

Banco's ghost returns to haunt Macbeth.

The 18-strong Lirica Arts Festival Chorus (Chorus master Terrence Toh) was very effective in the crowd scenes, singing the famous chorus of exiles Patria Oppressa! (Oppressed Homeland!) and scenes involving the Witches (which had nine members rather than just three). Significant in community outreach was the inclusion of three students from Art:DIS (Arts & Disability Singapore) among the refugees.

The Birnam Wood marches forward
to confront Macbeth.
Photo: Pianomaniac

Set and lighting design by Dorothy Png was particularly evocative with the dark hues employed in scenes involving supernatural elements. The Lion Rampant to represent Scottish monarchy was historically accurate and smart use of AI-generated backdrops helped cost-savings without looking cheap. Costume design by Hayden Ng, subdued for the oppressed and bolder shades for main characters, contributed to generating the right atmosphere.

The two Jonathans:
Jonathan Charles Tay's Macduff
declares Jonathan MacPherson's Malcolm king.

The 2001 production of Macbeth may have been more opulent owing to a bigger budget, but Lirica Arts must be credited for even attempting this at the time when arts funding for classical opera is comparatively conservative. Lirica Arts is now ready to join the esteemed ranks of the more established Singapore Lyric Opera and New Opera Singapore.

There are two further shows on Saturday evening at 7.30 pm and Sunday afternoon at 4 pm.

Photo: Pianomaniac

Photo: Pianomaniac

All professional photography 

by Chris P.Lim

The review as published 

in The Straits Times:

Bold staging of Verdi’s Macbeth by rising opera company Lirica Arts | The Straits Times

A PHILHARMONIC NEW YEAR'S EVE GALA CONCERT / The Philharmonic Orchestra / Review

 

A PHILHARMONIC NEW YEAR’S EVE 

2026 GALA CONCERT

The Philharmonic Orchestra

Victoria Concert Hall

Wednesday (31 December 2025)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 3 January 2026 with the title "This New Year's Eve gala concert created orchestral fireworks".

The year 2025 has been an unbelievably productive year for Singapore’s community, youth and student orchestras. Even without the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, one could still have witnessed concerts of works like Gustav Holst’s The Planets, Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, Gustav Mahler’s First Symphony, Richard Strauss’ Also Sprach Zarathustra and Ottorino Respighi’s Roman Festivals. The final word came from The Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO) in its annual New Year’s Eve Concert led by resident conductor Lin Juan.

Filled with lollipops, it resembled the Vienna Philharmonic’s New Year’s Day Concert or the BBC’s Last Night of the Proms, but more importantly it was a showcase of the virtuosity of Singapore’s younger generation of professional and part-time musicians.

Beginning with Carl Maria von Weber’s Oberon Overture, one would be immediately impressed by the French horn solo which opened the work. The orchestra did not need too much time to warm up before delivering a performance of verve and ebullience.

Arguably better was Czech nationalist composer Bedrich Smetana’s The Moldau from Ma Vlast (My Country), a programmatic work which recounted the course of the beloved river that flows through Prague. Beginning with a trickle from solo flute, the melody which shares a common source as the Israeli national anthem (Hatikvah) soon built up to an impressive swell. Patriotic fervour setting hearts aflutter could only be the just result.

Lighter in heart were the four movements from Claude Debussy’s Petite Suite, originally a work for piano four hands, orchestrated by Henri Busser. En Bateau (Sailing) could have been a tad dreamier, but there was no mistaking the dance rhythms of the Cortege and Menuet movements, before closing with the lively and energised Ballet.

Photo: Andrew Bi Photography

After a half-hour intermission where downing of complimentary champagne was an annual ritual, more ballet music flowed. Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s Pas de deux (Andante Maestoso) from ballet The Nutcracker has to be his most glorious melody, and when so sumptuously played, fully deserved the cheers that followed.

Photo: Andrew Bi Photography

Castanets, triangle and drums coloured the brief pages of Alexander Glazunov’s Spanish Dance from ballet Raymonda, a prelude to the main course of Georges Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite No.2. Arranged by Ernest Guiraud, it is less often heard than Suite No.1 but has some the incidental music’s most beautiful moments.

A rustic and drone-filled Pastorale, and ensuing Intermezzo were well-played, but there could not be more tender music than the Menuet, which showcased Teo Shao Ming’s beautiful flute solo accompanied by Nigel Foo’s harp, later to be joined by Samuel Phua’s saxophone. This set the stage for the finale, a rollicking Farandole which has become a proper Christmas favourite with its infectious foot-tapping rhythmic beat.

Those inclined to rhythmic clapping were indulged in a perennial favourite, Johann Strauss the Elder’s Radetzky March, which preceded the obligatory balloon drop, and a rush to witness the pyrotechnics over Marina Bay. This was a sure sign that 2026 promises more orchestral fireworks.

A PHILHARMONIC NEW YEAR'S EVE 2025 GALA CONCERT / The Philharmonic Orchestra / Review

 

A PHILHARMONIC 

NEW YEAR’S EVE 2025 GALA CONCERT 

The Philharmonic Orchestra 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Tuesday (31 December 2024)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 2 January 2025 with the title "Philharmonic Orchestra's spirited New Year's Eve concert of dance favourites".

Since 2011, the last concert of the calendar year is the reserve of The Philharmonic Orchestra (TPO), which just performed its thirteenth edition of the New Year’s Eve Gala Concert. Conducted by Lin Juan, this year’s dance-themed programme of popular lollipops harks back to Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s Familiar Favourites concerts of old conducted by his father Lim Yau. 

Lim Junior is very much is own man, and so was Johann Strauss the Younger, whose Overture to the operetta Die Fledermaus opened the evening. Its new year’s eve ball setting of sly pranks and champagne was wholly apt, but it took the brass some time to warm up. Before long, the band was up and running, filled with the high spirits to uncork the bubbly. 

Photo: Andrew Bi Photography

Next came another ballroom hit, the Polonaise from Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s opera Eugene Onegin. The opening unison brass fanfare was spot on, and the regal rhythm of Polish nobility very well judged as to make this the most polished performance (pun intended) of the evening. 

Everybody thinks they know Jacques Offenbach’s Overture to Orpheus in the Underworld, but that is limited to just the last two minutes, the ubiquitous high-kicking Cancan. But what about all the music before that? 

A wealth of detail was revealed, including sumptuous solos from concertmaster Wilford Goh’s violin and clarinettist Benjamin Wong. And has anyone noticed that a repeated oboe motif shares the same notes as the introduction of Zubir Said’s Majulah Singapura? A pure coincidence, of course. 

After an intermission in which the audience had a boost of alcohol, Johannes Brahms’ rambunctious Hungarian Dance No.6 got the feet tapping once more. The slow opening section had some hesitant playing but the fast bits were tautly driven and exciting in delivery. 

And who was not waiting for that sine qua non of Viennese waltz classics, Strauss’ On The Beautiful Blue Danube? The most difficult part, its slow introduction, was atmospheric with a quartet of French horns acquitting themselves well, before the delicious lilt of three-quarter time taking over. When one imagines being transported to Stadt Park, Prater or Schonbrunn, the musicians are doing something right. 

Photo: Andrew Bi Photography

Closing the concert was Soviet-era Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian’s five-movement Masquerade Suite, popular for its circus-like feel and gorgeous melodies. It does not come more populist than the rousing Waltz, with its oom-pah-pah rhythm nailed down with authority. 

Far more subtle was the Nocturne, with Goh’s violin solo alternating between sinuous and sensuous. A light-hearted Mazurka, sublime Romance (with Muhd Raimi’s lovely trumpet solo) and uproarious Galop brought out the cheers. 

Conductor Lin Juan gets the 
audience to clap and to stop.

As per Vienna Philhamonic tradition, Johann Strauss the Elder’s Radetzky March, with synchronised clapping from the audience, had to be performed. The obligatory balloon drop - to bid the old year farewell and greet the new - has now become de rigeuer in TPO concerts. That, we can proudly claim to be Singaporean.

Photo: Andrew Bi Photography

Here's wishing one and all 

a happy and fulfilling 2025!

Pyrotechnics over the Bay
to usher in 2025.

SIBELIUS COMPLETE SYMPHONIES III / The Philharmonic Orchestra / Review

SIBELIUS COMPLETE 

SYMPHONIES III 

The Philharmonic Orchestra 

Victoria Concert Hall 

Sunday (3 March 2024) 

This review was reviewed in The Straits Times on 5 March 2024 with the title "Philharmonic Orchestra's perfect end to near-perfect Sibelius symphony cycle". 

Part Three of The Philharmonic Orchestra’s complete cycle of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius’ seven symphonies was a bit of unfinished business left over from the Covid-19 pandemic. Having performed the first four symphonies in 2019, this final concert of the last three symphonies was originally scheduled for a date in March 2020 when the virus intervened. 

Lim Yau addresses the audience,
thanking them for choosing
Sibelius over Swift.

This was a classic case of “better late than never”, as the young musicians and their highly experienced Music Director Lim Yau being four years older, were also wiser as well. While this orchestra may be considered “old hands” in Sibelius, having completed its first cycle in 2007-2008, there cannot have been more than a handful of players from 16 years ago onstage this time around. 

Symphony No.5 in E flat major (Op.82) got off to a rocky start when French horns spilt the notes of the spread-out opening chord. The ship had to be steadied straight away, and the recovery was a nervy one. With the end of the introduction and into the Allegro proper, an even keel was maintained. That was when the music broadened, and a palpable sense of release from the earlier tension. 

By the central slow movement, the ensemble was a well-oiled machine, creating the expectant atmosphere for the finale’s prestidigitation of strings and sonorous sequence of bell-like French horn chorales. The build-up to the valedictory close was also excellent, and the closing chords suitably emphatic. 

Symphony No.6 in D minor (Op.104) followed after the intermission. For this least performed, least neurotic and most underrated of symphonies, the orchestra gave the best case possible. Its sunshine-filled opening was a showcase for high strings, and with the entry of woodwinds, the music radiated the warmth and clarity of fresh spring water in summer. 

Despite its minor key, the optimistic vibes were unmistakable, undimmed even with brass interjections and growling low strings. Lightness and litheness of textures were maintained through its four movements, up to the unassumingly hushed close. 

As persuasive as the Sixth had been, it played out like a prelude to Symphony No.7 in C major (Op.105) that followed almost immediately. Arguably the consummation of Sibelius’ mastery of the symphonic form, its 22 minutes constituted the shortest symphony by far, but was also his longest unbroken single movement. This paradox found fertile soil in the ever-resourceful minds of Lim and his charges. Something almost as mundane as its opening scale, rising from the depths, was made to sound vital. The dissonances and ambiguous tonality kept the mind guessing before finally brassily resolving in a reassuring C major. From there, the performance never looked back. 

The scherzo-like central section, both agitated and playful, provided much-needed contrast, then culminating in one almighty Mahlerian super-chord at the climax. This ensemble showed exactly why Sibelius never brought out an eighth symphony. Seldom has a final C major chord sounded this glorious or definitive, the perfect end to a near-perfect symphony cycle.