DONIZETTI'S L'ELISIR D'AMORE / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

DONIZETTI'S L'ELISIR D'AMORE

Singapore Lyric Opera

Esplanade Theatre

Friday (19 May 2017)

This review was published in The Straits Times on 22 May 2017 with the title "Sparkling comic opera charms".

It was a bold move by the Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) to mount a production outside of the usual canon of Verdi and Puccini operas. Although Gaetano Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore (The Elixir of Love) is not altogether unfamiliar (it was last produced here by New Opera Singapore in 2012), opening night of the Italian bel canto classic was unfortunately greeted by a house with many empty seats.

However, this new production directed by veteran Tom Hawkes was a light and sparkling affair true to the spirit of the comic opera. Its plot was simple. Village simpleton Nemorino (sung by Malaysian tenor Kee Loi Seng, reprising the same role in 2012) is enamoured of the confident and well-heeled Adina (Australian soprano Elena Xanthoudakis), and he thinks the elixir peddled by the smarmy quack Dulcamara (Singaporean baritone Martin Ng) will work wonders.

The contemporary setting at a seaside resort resembling Miami's South Beach was a nice touch with Justin Hill's atmospheric set, populated by the incessant vivacity of the SLO Chorus and Children's  Choir in Moe Kassim's pleasing costumes. It all made for a very satisfying background for the farce to unfold. 

A large part may be how a woman of Adina's stature comes to choose between suitors like the hangdog Nemorino and vainglorious military man Belcore (Korean baritone Song Kee Chang). But true love does these things to people, and Xanthoudakis' Adina was both a sympathatic and vulnerable portrayal.

The chemistry between her and the always-cowed Nemorino was somewhat uneasy even at the opera's happy end. Kee had his moments, not least in the hit aria Una furtiva lagrima, which rang bright and clear. He was also the centre of comedy when besieged by all the women after downing a second bottle of bordeaux. He thinks the elixir has worked, but the truth is: they all know of his unexpected coming to wealth and have begun texting with their handphones. 

Coming close to stealing the whole show was Ng's Dulcamara, whose mountebank manners and outrageous swagger (accompanied by a bevy of blonde nurses no less) made him one of the most pleasant “villains” around.

Also significant was a role of mezzo-soprano Jade Tan as the knowing Giannetta, a not so innocent high society girl, in a memorable SLO debut. Just to complete the cast, the matinee on Sunday would feature a younger main nucleus with Teo Kai Xin (as Adina), Jonathan Charles Tay (Nemorino) and Alvin Tan (Belcore).  

The SLO Orchestra conducted by Joshua Kangming Tan was generally excellent from the opening Prelude and all through the ensemble work, sensitive enough not to overwhelm the singers. Repetiteur Aloysius Foong ably provided piano accompaniment, while Yap Zi Qi's bassoon and Eilidh McRae's harp did the honours for Nemorino's hit aria. 

Despite decreased annual funding, the SLO still puts on a good show albeit once a year. Can one hope for next year's ambitious offering of Verdi's Aida to be no less of a hit?

LEONCAVALLO'S I PAGLIACCI & PUCCINI'S GIANNI SCHICCHI / Singapore Lyric Opera / Review

LEONCAVALLO'S PAGLIACCI &

PUCCINI'S GIANNI SCHICCHI

Singapore Lyric Opera

Esplanade Theatre

Friday (11 September 2015)

This review was published by The Straits Times on 14 September 2015 with the title "Delightful tales of a jealous clown and a witty rogue".

There is a popular title in operatic parlance known as Cav-Pag, which refers to the double bill of verismo operas, the tandem of Pietro Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana and Ruggiero Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci. Singapore Lyric Opera's latest recent double bill dropped the Cav component, opting instead for Puccini's single-act comic opera Gianni Schicchi, part of his trilogy known as Il Trittico.

This switch made for a lighter and less depressing evening, where not every lead character gets killed. Director Tom Hawkes cleverly linked the two operas with the common setting of a disused Italian theatre in the post-Second World War period for Pagliacci and then moving backwards in time for Schicchi.

It was a quite seamless transition which worked well because of an excellent cast which had some members singing in both operas. Central to these was Korean tenor Lee Jae Wook, a SLO regular, who gave a gripping portrayal of the homicidally jealous clown Canio in Pagliacci, and then helming the smaller role of young suitor Rinuccio in Schicchi.

Opposite him was Japanese soprano Sachiko Ito who was a sympathetic and free-spirited Nedda (Canio's actress wife), who gets offed by the opera's end, and then reappearing as the conniving Nella in Schicchi. The tightly cast Pagliacci also featured Singaporean baritones William Lim and Martin Ng, who acquitted themselves well as the vengeful hunchback Tonio and Nedda's ill-fated lover Silvio.

Schicchi was dominated by British baritone Adrian Clarke (above) in the title role, a worldly-wise rogue who cons a fussy Florentine family of its inheritance with a classic bait-and-switch. A combination of wit and smarminess made him likeable, gaining the audience to his side with every twist and turn in his scheming.

The SLO Chorus and Children's Chorus were well-trained for the crowd scenes of Pagliacci, adding much colour to the production. The SLO Orchestra conducted by Joshua Kangming Tan supported the music well. It was a revelation to hear both opera's “hit single” arias, often heard in isolation at opera galas, within their original contexts.

Canio's highly anguished Vesti La Giubba, sung as the lead clown dons his make-up and attire, was arresting in Lee's scene-stealing account. Similarly, Lauretta's O Mio Babbino Caro (O My Beloved Father) in Schicchi, sung as a daughter pleads for her father's intervention in the matters of love was beautifully delivered by young New Zealander soprano Marlena Devoe (below).

The set design by Christopher Chua with draped columns and pillars was simple and effective, as were Moe Kassim's costumes even though the GI uniforms in Pagliacci's looked like those of boy scouts. Despite SLO's constrained budget limitations, which allows the company only one major production a year, it offered very good value for its efforts.

That has been a given through the years. However judging from the smallish audience spread through three evenings, notwithstanding General Election weekend, is this a bad omen for the future of opera performance in Singapore?

All photographs by 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).