the mad scene

After a year being a music student in a foreign country. So many thoughts to share, but only after my first char kwey teow and te tarik of course!

One of the things that I really like about Taiwan is their preference to sell things in packages; for example, meals usually come with the main course, a starter of soup or salad, and a drink. For a mere TWD90 (SGD2.50) you can get a small pizza, a side of fries and a drink. That barely gets you a main course at the coffeeshop in Singapore.

So I needed a new set passport photos taken, and was charged what I thought was a rather hefty price of SGD12. But the package turned out to be quite a good deal: 6 printed photos, a soft copy on CD-ROM, and, get this, AIR-BRUSHING!

Cos everyone needs to look good on their documents, representational images be damned! Yes the Taiwanese’s eye for beauty truly is impressive; try getting the photo booth at the Immigration Office at Lavender MRT to wipe out your acne marks! Brings a new meaning to the phrase “Ugly Singaporean” huh…

An excerpt from a book I’m  currently reading, The Ill-Tempered String Quartet by Lester Chafetz, about the joys of playing in string quartets as opposed to orchestras:

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…Amatuer orchestras rarely perform Haydn symphonies, because they require small forces and clean playing. The (professional) conductors prefer to play romantic works which require large forces and diverse instrumentation, often bringing in “ringers” from professional ranks to take the front chairs for performances or fill special requirements in the score such as bass clarinet or a harp. A good proportion of the conductors of amatuer orchestras aspire to direct opera. They would much rather be involved with opera than symphonies. After they begin feeling comfortable in their posts, they schedule performances of the Mahler works with voice…

…The conductors serve at the pleasure of the orchestra members, and one too many performances where the orchestra accompanies singers incurs the displeasure of its membership… (operas and vocal works) are sometimes apporoximated in a concert performance with the solo singers standing in front of the orchestra and a chorus massed in the rear. In many such concert performances, the performers outnumber the audience. An amatuer orchestra serves as recreation for its players and as a stepping-stone to recognition for its conductor.

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For some reason, the references to amatuer orchestras performing Mahler works reminded me of this:

My sincere apologies for the lack of posts recently, as its exam period and I have simply been swamped with books and scores. Things are back to normal now so do check back for updates.Anyway, this is not really relevant but I came across this really touching video and thought that I would share it with you guys:

500 SPAM MESSAGES FROM THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY TODAY! THEY REALLY ARE CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!

Not opera related, but OMG I just found my new role model!

 What happens to music students after 3 cans of beer:

Its a clever ploy that my school choir teacher has cooked up: as the amatuer choir that she is also choral master to is performing Mendelssohn’s Elijah on 17 June, why not get the school choir to sing excerpts of the piece in our bi-annual recital? Hopefully some of us would be willing to join her amatuer choir and provide some semi-professionally-trained vocal power.

Unfortunately it didn’t quite turn out that way: out of 20-odd voice students, only ONE took up the offer to sing this beloved oratorio in its entirety, with a full-cast of over 80 choir members, a full orchestra, professional soloists and conductor. And that person happens to be a mad foreigner with too much time on his hands. (Though I have to say that I’m not the only one: ironically some non-music students who are only helping us out in the school choir are also joining this performance.)

I think its wonderful that I get to perform the same work twice over the same period of preparation. Coming from a theatre background where even the most amatuer shows get a run of at least 3 performances, I understand that it takes multiple experiences with a live audience to wholly delve into your part, to get more into the nuances and flow of what you are trying to put across. Of course one can (and should) get the most out of the rehearsal process, but the energy that a live audience creates is markedly different from privately rehearsing. Lessons learnt during the previous performance can be put to use immediately.

In a recital or concert setting, many musicians spend months preparing their programme, only to find that for all the hard work we have put in, the single performance that we have been working towards is over in the blink of an eye. So with the opportunity to perform Elijah twice over the course of one month, I feel like I’m really getting into the heart of the piece.

Part of the rehearsal process involves moving from the choral master’s sessions (my school teacher) to the orchestral conductor’s, two different professions with very different demands: whereas the former is concerned with tidiness of the chorus and getting a nice, round choral tone, the latter is concerned with coaxing out as much dramatic energy as possible. As a chorus member it is our job to add in the conductor’s physcally demanding new requirements (lots of heavy singing), while not forgetting the fundamentals the chorus master has instilled in us, contradictary as it may seem.

So the school performance (with piano accompaniment) took place on 12 May 2010, to mixed reviews from the performers ourselves, mainly that the programme of excerpts is too demanding and tiring for what is after all a chamber-sized choir. However as many audience members (fellow classmates) have heard Elijah but for the first time, they are still sincerely moved by the beauty of the music that we performed. With one performance down and having already mastered my bass parts, I can’t wait for orchestral rehearsals to start, so that I can get the final picture.

Meanwhile I’m jogging more that usual so that I won’t get too tired again on the day of the performance. With over two hours of stage-time and a complete run-through that afternoon, we will be required to stand and sing continuously for almost 6 hours. Yeah performance art certainly is not for the faint-hearted!

So while I’m immersed in all this Elijah goodness, I’m also working on all the title roles 4 arias, because you know, why not? I’ve already sang one back in Singapore and found that the part fits my voice really well, so hopefully it will work out to be a good role for me. Meanwhile orchestra rehearsals are starting soon as the performance is drawing nearer. Wish me luck on this one!

OMG so cute!!!

Political campaigning here is so advanced, that publicity banners even come in 3D versions: