the mad scene

The Mad Scene is proud to announce the return of our Expert Advice column, this time with bass-baritone Martin Ng on the panel (who like our previous columnist Rebecca Chellappah also humbly declines to be called an expert). Martin has contributed two columns to The Mad Scene, the first is as published below. Also, Martin will soon be seen in the SLO’s production of The Magic Flute as Sarastro come July so do get a ticket to support our local boy.

 5 Tips for Productive Practicing

Ed: Have you ever had times when you can spend hours in the studio and still feel like you”ve not accomplished much, or you have set out to spend a certain time to practise but just can’t get yourself in the mood once you’re in the studio? Alternately, there are times when you get so ‘in the zone’ , where everything falls into place without you having to try too hard, that hours fly by but it feels so fun that you just can’t stop? These days there are so many things to get done that unproductive practicing can be a real waste of time. How do you get the most out of your practicing? The Mad Scene consults Italy trained bass-baritone Martin Ng for some advice:

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1) Plan properly.

Just like going to the gym, you won’t be wasting time if you have a regime in mind. Go into the practice room knowing what you want to achieve at the end of the day. Have proper objectives, and plan out the exercises to work on them. They could be for high notes, to exercise your larynx, or simply to get more familiar with a song.

2) Don’t Force It.

We all have our good and bad days. If the voice is simply not working, don’t force it. Just take it slowly and try as much as possible. Too much and it you will risk hurting yourself.

3) Record Your Lessons

Buy a good recorder, record your lessons with it and listen to it. When you record your sessions with the teacher, you will hear her tips again, her advice and correction of your faults. Its almost like having another lesson.

Things to look out for when reviewing your lesson on tape: listen to what you are doing wrong, and to your teacher’s demonstrations on how to correct them. Listen to your own attempts at correcting the problem, and try to imitate the one that your teacher approves.

4) Don’t Over-Practise if Unsure

For beginners especially, don’t over-practise if you are unsure. If your voice has not achieved a security of placement or technique, don’t practice too much or you will simply undo what your teacher has tried to build.

But this is not an excuse for you to be lazy though! Other than technique, you can look at repertoire and learn new songs, work on your diction, your interpretation, and so on. So not working on technique doesn’t mean that there’s no work for you to do, it simply means that you should not practice unsupervised till such a time when you are secure enough to train on your own.

5) Know When to Stop

Make up your own mind on how much is enough, that no amount of practicing will make it better. Especially when a performance is looming, it’s easy to give in to panic and strain your physical resources practicing, thus putting the actual performance in jeopardy. Your technique is simply not going to improve in a big way in just a few days before showtime. Instead of trying to make it technically better when the performance is already close, work on the intenzione (intention). Apart from having a beautiful-sounding voice, there are many singers who can sing beautifully, working with style and emotion. As long as you bring out the flavour of the song, you will sing well. You may not have a better instrument at that point in time, but you can work at better expression to make yourself stand out.

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Thanks Martin for that bit of wisdom, and all the best for your performance of The Magic Flute. Ticketing details can be found on the Event’s Page.

 About Martin Ng:

Born in Singapore in 1977 and studies at the State Conservatory of Verona “Dall’Abaco”. Martin commenced his musical studies under Joy Chen and subsequently under Rudolf Knoll and Sergio di Bari. Martin is presently studying under Maestra Chu Tai-Li.

Martin won the International Singer of the Year Award in 2002 organised by the Singapore Lyric Opera and thereafter made his debut in 2005 with the company as Prince Yamadori in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. His other operatic roles include Timur in Puccini’s Turandot (SLO 2008), King Balthazar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night
Visitors (SLO 2005), Ferrando in Verdi’s Il Trovatore (Opus One Opera 2006-2007), Angelotti in Puccini’s Tosca (Opus One Opera 2006-2007), Colline in Puccini’s La Boheme (Opus One Opera 2006- 2007, SLO 2010).

Future engagements include Uberto in Pergolesi’s La Serva Padrona and bass soloist for Mozart’s Requiem.

This month’s issue of the Musical Theatre Newsletter includes an audition notice to submit your own 15 minute musical, and a side-by-side comparison between the musical Rent and La Boheme. The Mad Scene takes sole responsibility for reproducing the Business Times feature on producing local musicals that follows.

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A for AVATAR
First, did you know that Singapore also had a film entitled Avatar. It may not have made as much money as James Cameron’s Avatar but it did star Joan Chen, Lim Kay Siu. And it beat James Cameron by a good 5 years. Let me know which Avatar you prefer? Oh you never watched Avatar?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270841/

B. YALE UNIVERSITY
Why you should apply to Yale University (courtesy of Puah Guanhua who went to Columbia U)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270841/

C. YOUTH OLYMPIC GAMES SONG
Congratulations to Bernice Vollmond, Selly Marina, Shahdon, Juz Jumari, Elinor Coulson, and Michael Koh, for their fantastic performance of the song This is the Day, which was our entry for the song contest for the Youth Olympic Games. We made it to the top 10, but were outvoted by the online votes and the audience screams on the performance day.

D. SWEET CHARITY
Do please support our friends currently graduating from LaSalle’s Musical Theatre course, when they perform Sweet Charity
http://www.gatecrash.com.sg/?page=event_detail&actionForm=detail&eventID=641

E. SHORT MUSICAL FILMS
Congratulations to Chiam Sing Wei, Marilyn Wong, Rayve Tay and others on their highly successful short film “Love Song”: http://lovesongthemusical.wordpress.com/ Also congratulations to Foo Xiu Qi and her team for their short musical film, “Store-Bought Love”: http://store-bought-love.blogspot.com/ Both films were screened at GV Grand at Great World City. Is the start of a new generation of Singapore musical filmmakers?

F. MINI MUSICALS
Today the judges were out to select the mini (15-minute) musicals for staging in July 2010. We are waiting with bated breath for their verdict. Auditions will be announced soon.

If you have anything of interest, please let me know

Ken
6 March 2010
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‘Local’ musicals aim for the big time
by Sharon Cheah Ui-Hoon
The Business Times, Friday, March 5, 2010

There hasn’t been a made-in-Singapore musical that’s toured overseas yet - at least not in a big enough way that will make musical theatre fans around the world sit up and notice.

 That hasn’t stopped local theatre groups from ramping up their song-and-dance routines. Original musicals - not to mention witty revues - feature regularly on local stages and are set to increase, thanks to a growing interest in this genre.

 Besides Mark Chan’s new musical produced for the National University of Singapore’s Arts Festival (see other story), upcoming shows in the next few weeks including a restaging of Toy Factory’s December Rains - Singapore’s first Chinese musical - and a new offering by Sing’Theatre, a company started in 2006 specifically to stage musicals.
 Action Theatre’s Makan Drama Festival will even provide some samplers - three new musical numbers (with some dialogue) based on playwright Ovidia Yu’s play titled Hokkien Mee.

 The writing interest is definitely there, says Stella Kon, playwright who’s turned her creative energies towards writing musicals in recent years. She’s the chairperson of Musical Theatre Ltd (MTL), which was set up in 2005 to “incubate” original musicals.
 “It’s wonderful, and surprising as well, that there’s quite a lot of interest in writing musicals,” she says, adding that they saw decent turnouts at their workshops and incubation programmes last year. MTL also has a few original musicals in the making this year - a mini opera called Mee Pok Man, based on Eric Khoo’s film of the same name, and possibly, a musical based on the life of disabled athlete William Tan, to be staged during the Youth Olympic Games this year.

 The main reason why theatre companies like to put on musicals is because there is a ready audience which likes them, says Nathalie Ribette, artistic director of Sing’Theatre. She has an affinity for musicals. “Because I think theatre is to promote cultural diversity and exchange, and it’s easy to use music to do this,” says the Frenchwoman.
 Sing’Theatre’s 2007 production of No Regrets: A Tribute to Edith Piaf certainly made music lovers sit up, and this year, it hopes to sell as many as 4,000 tickets for A Singaporean in Paris.

 “It’s the biggest show for Sing’Theatre so far,” says Ribette, adding that as previous musicals have sold well, they’re quite confident about this one (being staged next month). The musical was written based on interviews done with Singaporeans living in Paris, while the songs featured are by well-known French musicians.

 While musicals might cost more to produce, they’re also easier to sell, she notes. Although there will be cases like the locally produced Victor/Victoria by Zebra Crossing Productions, which didn’t do well at the box office last year, despite its international star and cast.

 For Goh Boon Teck, artistic director of Toy Factory, musicals are about emotions - and the company is going big on musicals this year, with two Chinese ones slated for the stage. One is for Vesak Day, called Maha Moggallana, while the “blockbuster” will be the restaging of December Rains, which will raise the curtains of the bilingual theatre company’s 20th anniversary’s festival this year.

 “It was a big phenomenon in its time,” says Goh, of the Liang Wern Fook musical which was first written in 1996. Starring Kit Chan, the restaging will also have 13 shows, and even though it’s being performed only in August, about 1,000 tickets have been pre-sold.
 “Liang is known for his xinyao music, but we’re trying to make it more trendy in our restaging - so that it also appeals to a wider audience and not just the Chinese-speaking ones who are fans of Liang’s music,” says Goh.

 “Musical theatre has always been very popular in Singapore,” says Kenneth Lyen, Musical Theatre Ltd’s co-founder and creative director. He thinks the current increase in musicals may be a result of last year’s economic recession, and then this year’s improving economy - “causing an apparent ‘rebound’ in the number of new Singapore musicals staged”.

 “The arrival of two integrated resorts and the Youth Olympic Games has also given theatre companies renewed optimism, which emboldens them to stage more shows, including musicals. I foresee this trend to continue,” he notes.

 The major limitation is funding for local productions, he says, adding that if local writers and musicians are given the opportunity and funding support, they will be capable of producing musicals that can be international hits. Foreign imports (like Chicago, which comes here in April) tends to get funding more easily.

 So who should champion the musical? Proponents like Dr Lyen think that the National Arts Council should take the lead in supporting and also encouraging locally written musicals. “For example, there hasn’t been a Singapore musical in the annual Singapore Festival of Arts for the past 10 years.”

 Even with foreign competition like Chicago, directors like Goh think that there’s a big enough Singapore audience which appreciates “local” musicals, “because they feature local themes and topics, and our own culture”, he says. Nothing like a homegrown musical to make the local audience hum along, it sounds like.
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Bohemianism and Counter-Culture

 The 1996 Broadway rock musical Rent by Jonathan Larson is a modern expression of the Bohemian ideal. The musical is based extensively on Puccini’s La Boheme, incorporating musical themes, plot twists, and even lyrics of the opera. However, Rent also examines modern issues, such as homosexual relationships, AIDS, and drug addiction.

(click on the link to read more including a detailed analysis of similarities between Rent and La Boheme:

http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/bohem/trent.html

So I was walking along the streets of Taipei and who should I bump into but my BFF Paris Hilton!

Paris: “Hey did you see the feature on the SLO’s Boheme in the Business Times?”

Me: “No! Do you have a copy?”

Paris: “Yup, here it is. Did you know that they may do The Magic Flute and Salome next?”

Me: “O-M-G that’s hot!”

Paris: “Loves it! Ttyl!”

Well yeah that’s roughly how I got this feature of the Business Time’s coverage of Singapore Lyric Opera’s upcoming Boheme, opening on 29 Jan (THIS FRIDAY!):

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Business Times - 22 Jan 2010
OPERA
Doing her best to jerk opera to life
By CHEW XIANG

PRIMA donna Nancy Yuen straggles into the Esplanade’s rehearsal studio slightly late for our interview, apologising profusely and carrying her styrofoam packed lunch which she proceeds to eat outside, in the corridor. Yuen is the only Singapore-based opera singer who can claim significant successes on the big European stages but hers is as far away from diva behaviour as you can get.

Which isn’t really surprising in Singapore. Operas, and therefore opera singers, are rare and consequently don’t occupy a very exalted place in the national arts firmament. The Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) is the only professional troupe here and cobbles together stage productions at a rate of just one, or in good times, two a year. (The Singapore Symphony Orchestra, by contrast, has three or four concerts a month).

‘We just don’t have this tradition in Singapore,’ says Yuen, in an interview ahead of the SLO’s production of Puccini’s 110-year-old warhorse La Boheme (Yuen, naturally, is singing the star role of Mimi, the impoverished flower girl). ‘We have some good singers, we have a strong tradition of choral music but they are just so used to the choral mode, just standing there and singing, they are not used to act, to invest in the time and energy to be involved in movement on top of singing,’ she explains.

But Yuen is doing more than most people to jerk opera to life. The Hong Kong-born and UK-trained lyric soprano has taken a step back from a glittering career in Europe to come to Singapore and to help her husband Toh Weng Cheong, who is the chairman of the SLO. And when we met she’d just come from classes she teaches at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, where she heads the vocal studies programme and is doing her best to put into place a pipeline of trained singers and to beef up the level of appreciation in Singapore.

It’s been getting a little better of late. Local television has been showing (foreign staged) operas at prime time on weekend nights. If money permits, the SLO might put on Mozart’s Magic Flute later this year, and more exciting still, Richard Strauss’s Salome next January.

But the lack of audiences is the perennial concern. Money is, not surprisingly, the biggest issue, Yuen says. ‘Finding money to support is a problem. We need more private sponsorship and also the government to help us.’ She notes with some regret that cities with a fraction of Singapore’s population seem to be able to sustain a vastly more vibrant arts culture.

The arts and money - a timeless theme, and one that is at the core of La Boheme, immensely popular ever since its premiere in 1896. The SLO’s production will be handled by veteran Australian director Andrew Sinclair, who worked on the 35-year-old production by John Copley in London’s Covent Garden - revived there only last month - when it was still new.

In this, by his count his tenth La Boheme, he will be updating the setting to Paris, in the 1930s, but is otherwise eschewing the gimmickry that many opera directors today are so fond of. ‘The music is timeless, the story, of four students in pursuit of their ideals - that is relevant always,’ he says. His directing credo is simple - pay respect to the text. ‘I have no time for directors who tell their singers, never mind what the text is about, just do this and this.’

Which is, in some quarters, a rather old-fashioned approach. Yet the art form has been around hundreds of years, and with opera now freely available on the Internet, in cinemas (at least those abroad) and on DVD in high definition, there’s no lack of alternatives of a sort for aficionados, even in an operatic wasteland like Singapore.

But there’s no substitute for the real thing up close. In between interviews I spent a few minutes listening to the Musetta, Kristin Symes, rehearse her aria Quando m’en vo - and marvel anew at the amount and beauty of sound a trained human throat can produce. ‘It’s a very different experience, hearing it live,’ notes Sinclair. ‘Nowadays we want everything packaged, easy to digest, but the beauty of this is that you never know what is going to happen when the curtain goes up.’

‘La Boheme’ by Giacomo Puccini will be performed at Esplanade Theatre, Jan 29 and 30 and Feb 1-3;

Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra,

Wang Ya Hui conductor;
Director: Andrew Sinclair;
Soloists: Nancy Yuen as Mimi, Kota Murakami and Simon Kyung Lee alternating as Rodolfo, Song Kee Chang as Marcello, Kristin Symes as Musetta

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Ticket information can be found on the Events Page.

So in one of my nightly prayers to Callas, I asked for something to the effect of: “I wish I could be back in Singapore to interview Nancy Yuen personally instead of coming up with some silly contest”, when lo and behold, the spirit of Callas appeared and said, “fret not my child, here is an interview all done up for you to publish.” Isn’t it wonderful what prayers can do for you?

Ok it didn’t exactly happen like that. Below are excerpts of an exclusive interview done by a newspaper journalist (who requests anonimity). Due to reasons of length, some of the more in-depthed questions had to be left out of the soon-to-be published article. Thank goodness then that there’s an  opera e-zine based in Singapore for the remaining questions to be published in!

And because these questions will not be appearing anywhere else, The Mad Scene is proud to present you with our third exclusive interview with Nancy Yuen (and the first one that for once is written by an actual journalist). Known to Singaporean audiences as “La Yuen” for the roundness of her tone, our diva discusses the opera scene in Singapore, being the new head of vocal studies in Hong Kong, and being classmates with Katherine Jenkins:

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The Mad Scene: Does it feel restrictive to be based here in a region with so little opera?

Nancy: It is, (limiting), yes and no. Personally I’m lucky that Bangkok Opera likes my work, there’s also Singapore Lyric Opera, on top of that I also sing in a lot of concerts in the region. I still keep my European links, every summer I go back and do concerts there. I just did a lot of (Puccini’s) Butterflies last year in the UK. It’s a personal journey, it’s never will be easy, I can only speak for myself, that I enjoyed working on different types of opera and over the years I have also acquired a lot of experience in working with different people.

I can’t complain, it’s not really restrictive, I don’t just sing Puccini or Butterfly, although it works out that every year, I have a production of Butterfly, which is fine. For instance last year I did four different operas, starting with Butterfly, then we did Tales of Hoffmann, then Thais – so I did two French operas – and the last one was Boheme (in Thailand). Prior to that I was doing Mozart, I was doing Traviata again, so it was quite varied. This coming year, I’ll be doing some Mozart operas. I’ll be working on the Marriage of Figaro in Bangkok, singing the Countess. Straight after Boheme I’ll be directing Cosi Fan Tutte in Hong Kong; I have a new position which is the head of vocal studies in the Music Department of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. It will take me away from Singapore for a while. For the first production they need a director, so my first job will be to direct. It’s a new challenge for me in a different place.

The Mad Scene: Are you happy with where your voice is right now?

Nancy: I’ve been singing 21 years as a lyric soprano so I guess destiny and fate is such that I’ll be staying (in this vocal range) and I won’t suddenly become a Brunnhilde. I’m very realistic and very contented, you’re given what you have so make the best out of it. To be honest, a lyric soprano has the widest choice, and I’m lucky I can sing coloratura, I can sing spinto, I can do Handel very comfortably, all the runs and the colour and the voice is strong enough to sustain bigger roles like Aida and Butterfly. It’s enough on the plate.

The Mad Scene: Any hope of hearing you as Elsa in Lohengrin, for instance?

Nancy: Funny you said that, I’ve just been asked whether that will be on my list eventually. I suppose, yes. In fact, things like Jenufa will be a choice, and some of the (Richard) Strauss like Capriccio. I’ve sung the Four Last Songs a number of times and I’ve done the final (trio) in concert (as the Marschallin and Sophie) on three different occasions. I love Strauss’s music very much.

The Mad Scene: Will you play Marschallin on the stage eventually?

That’s for sure, yes, yes, definitely if I start looking at it now, in another year or two it’ll be sort of maturing. A few years back I sang Sophie, which is where the voice is now, yes, very comfortable, the voice is in full swing and totally in control. And I can still spin all the high notes in any dynamics I want, which is exciting.

The Mad Scene: So does that mean we can soon see Lohengrin in Singapore?

Nancy: I don’t know if Singapore is ready and whether they have a budget for it, it’s a big orchestra. It needs a lot of planning and financial support. I think it’s about time that audiences here are exposed to Wagner’s music, I love it very much. From my student days I’ve always been attending concerts and productions, because I always feel I’m not a Wagner singer, so I’ll just sit there and relax and I totally enjoy the whole experience. I just objectively appreciate the music very much, the harmony, the leitmotifs are fascinating. The more you hear it the more you like it, and you never get bored. I’ve sat through concerts, five hours like Gotterdamerung, Die Meistersinger, totally alert and totally overwhelmed by how the singers memorise all those words and sing for five hours and still have that stamina! It’s fascinating. It is though an acquired taste, so hopefully Singaporean audiences will get to level of appreciation. It’s like anything you acquire, a good wine.

The Mad Scene: We’ve got free concerts like Opera in the Park, is that helping, do you think audiences are responding to it?

Nancy: Yes and no. Singaporeans are quite mean, if it’s free, they’ll all turn up. The concerts in the park, they are all packed, thousands and thousands of people. Friends of mine, I tell them, please come and watch Boheme, they say, oh the tickets are so expensive. I said, please, this is nothing! It’s heavily sponsored. And yet, there is a huge crowd who will support some pop singers, paying $300 and giving them huge bouquets of flowers – they don’t mind that, clearly there’s money there. It’s worth it (Boheme) – when you hear a good concert, it stays with you.

The Mad Scene: But now we’ve got a significant proportion of expats in Singapore, they do form a large part of the audience for classical and opera. Is there hope there?

Nancy: I think so, yes, but then the expats come and go, they are not the core. We need to go to the heartlanders and encourage them to come out and appreciate it, and give western classical music a chance.

The Mad Scene: Should more be done with recordings, or on Youtube etc.?

Nancy: There’s a lot there already, but as a live performing artist, I really encourage my students to go and see any kinds of performance as many times as possible. It’s something else to hear it through the machine, through the computer, and hear something completely different (in the theatre). You cannot imagine! A lot of people including my husband say so-and-so’s voice is absolutely minute, they are so used to listening to the CD, there, the voice is so rich, and agile. I heard Cecilia Bartoli live, I’ve heard Kathleen Battle live — (their voices are) tiny! It’s very clear, but it’s nothing like what you imagine when you hear it on the CD. You got to hear it live.

The Mad Scene: We were talking about technology and now there’s the trend of putting people like Katherine Jenkins, Bocelli in opera – what do you think of that?

Nancy: Not much really. There will always be crossover.

The Mad Scene: Will it help build an audience for serious classical?

Nancy: Not really. It’s a difference audience. These are the corporate people, they look at the face; even in the UK they are doing a new programme (reality TV with Katherine Jenkins). Bless her heart she’s my fellow schoolmate, we studied in the same Royal Academy of Music. It’s a big success for her personally, but it’s all commercialised. It’s what productions, CD and TV companies have cooked up – how are we going to make the next million, what new ideas can we come up with. So it’s not really expanding western classical music by any means. I’m sure in another few years they can find another Katherine Jenkins or whatever, to find new ways of promoting. It’s like Vanessa Mae – very successful artist, sells a lot of CDs, but people in the business know that she’s not comparable to Heifetz, I’ve heard her live. It’s different kinds of audience.

It’s always the purists who say, I’m not going to hear that, unless there’s a free ticket. It’s like Il Divo, They sell the package. These are all very good looking guys, they have a voice, miked up, package them nicely in Armani suits – and it sells! I doubt that (people will be drawn to the opera house because of Il Divo). Very few people will be going to both, it’s a different kind of audience, completely.

The Mad Scene: One final question. You’re an Asian, and a lot of the repertoire you’re singing is the culture of France, Germany, Italy, England – is there a problem for you there?

Nancy: Not really. I was born and bred in Hong Kong, so Chinese was my mother tongue, but from the age of 20 I was in London, more of my friends at that time were English. I was then still young enough to assimilate, because I was in a totally new environment, you either survive or die! You get used to their rhythm of life, and their sense of humour. The best compliment is my best friend there .. just forgot that I wasn’t brought up there, she just treated me as if I was a total native. We share the same jokes, she tells me about her traditions like Christmas. I read all the novels, like Mills & Boon and what not, and Harry Potter, and watch the television that everybody else is watching. In that way over a period of time, I allow myself to be assimilated.

So I always picture myself as a brain with different parts – one part of me is the Chinese part and the others is the English side, and the rest – I also spent three, four months in Germany, I had a scholarship at the time to study in Germany doing some songs, and I have friends who live in France, so I visited France quite often. Europe is so small, you go round. If you don’t feel you are a stranger, people will treat you like one of them. I’m lucky enough that I’ve never faced that racial prejudice – maybe I didn’t notice it. But I just throw myself in whatever is happening, and be comfortable – people take you as who you are, rather than what your look is. Usually after the first five seconds of initial shock they just appreciate you as you are.

I don’t keep to myself, stick myself in the Asian community, I got used to it, and it helped me land my first job and one job led to the next. But for the art form I’ve chosen it’s a western tradition, there’s no reason for me to (cling to the Asian identity).

The Mad Scene: Is that why opera is not taking off in Asia – in Japan it’s very popular, Korea too.

Nancy: Japan, Korea as well, and in China, it always has had a very strong classical music following, no problem there, some of the local singers make a good living out of it. But the rest of the Asian countries it’s difficult – there’s nothing in Malaysia, hardly anything in Indonesia, and a little bit of something in the Philippines, and in Singapore in relation to the population it’s also rather small. Hong Kong is a bit better. Taiwan, funnily enough, has very strong support. I suppose it has to do with the history of each individual country.

It’s like when I was Brisbane, we did six performances of Madame Butterfly, in a 2,000 seat theatre and it was all sold out, but they only have a population of 1 million. Here we have what, 5 million, and we cannot fill up the hall. The interest is different – the people there are more supportive, they give you a lot of free publicity. The pictures were all over the city, on the back of the bus, side of the bridge, so people know all about it.

The Mad Scene: Is there a concern still, in Singapore, that it’s seen as a very elitist art form?

Nancy: I guess, to a certain extent. Singapore is a very funny society. We have the English speaking, and the Chinese speaking, and for such a small country we go and split it into half! It took me a long time to get used to that concept. I’m very comfortable in either language, I can easily converse in Mandarin, Cantonese is my mother tongue, so I guess I’m one of those … but what we regard as the Chinese-speaking people will think I belong to the English speaking, English educated type, which is sad. Just mingle and not classify people. Hopefully it’ll change and we’ll have more support from people all round.

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Once again, La Yuen stars in the SLO’s production of La Boheme from 29 Jan to 3 Feb 2010. Check out the Events Page for details.

To show how much we at The Mad Scene care about the plight of Haitian earthquake victims, we bring you a special message from Madonna:
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Help my friend in Haiti

 Dear Friend,

I’m sure that you, like me, have been heartbroken by the images coming out of Haiti since the devastating earthquake shook the impoverished nation on Tuesday. My prayers are with the people of Haiti. I can’t imagine the terrible pain and suffering they are experiencing. Sadly the depths of the tragedy are just becoming known and the need for our support grows more urgent with every passing moment.I have given a donation of $250,000 to assist Haiti’s earthquake victims through Partners in Health, one of Haiti’s leading health care providers. I urge all of my friends and fans around the world to join me collectively to match my contribution or give in any way you can.Please donate to Partners in Health now: http://www.raisingmalawi.org/Haiti

In an attempt to find more material for this blog I thus present to you the monthly newsletter of Musical Theatre Limited, with kind permission from editor Dr Ken Lyen.

The newsletter is helpful to know the latest musical theatre events happing in Singapore, as well as performance opportunities for aspiring arts practitioners. I myself have taken part in many events and attended even more, and I can say that they are all lovely experiences. As many of you have responded in the readers’ poll that you’d like to read more musical theatre events in addition to opera, I hope this newsletter will be helpful to you.

So yeah, here goes…

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Wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

1. PROSCENIUM
Do please support Walter Wong’s Proscenium: a triple bill of three new plays:
www.prosceniumproduction.blogspot.com
January 8-10 January 8 pm at The Playden, The Arts House

2. CHESTNUTS
Please go and watch Jonathan Lim’s annual Chestnuts is on 28-30 December 2009

3. TED TALKS
Do please explore the inspiring TED talks at http://www.ted.com. Below
are some of my favorites:

a) Elizabeth Gilbert on nurturing creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

b) Liz Coleman call to reinvent liberal arts education
http://www.ted.com/talks/liz_coleman_s_call_to_reinvent_liberal_arts_education.html

c) Clay Shirky on institution versus collaboration
http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_on_institutions_versus_collaboration.html

d) Larry Lessig on laws that choke creativity
http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html

e) Mae Jemison on teaching arts and sciences together
http://www.ted.com/talks/mae_jemison_on_teaching_arts_and_sciences_together.html

f) J.J. Abrams’ mystery box
http://www.ted.com/talks/j_j_abrams_mystery_box.html

g) Dan Pink on the surprising science of motivation
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/dan_pink_on_motivation.html

4. ANIME INTERPRETATIONS
I guess these interpretations of classic musicals are good for a laugh:

a) Les Miserables the anime musical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEKsfDwS1XU

b) Memory anime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__7Tyqutcsg

c) Phantom of the Opera anime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LJHOGroGrc

 Looking for Musical Writers:

Please contact us if you wish to write a full length musical.

If you have written some original songs and would like to sing them at
our regular songwriters’ showcase, please contact Desmond Moey
,

Happy Holidays!

Ken
http://www.musicaltheatrelimited.org/

 Guest contributor Christopher offers his take on the recent Belle Epoque! performance by Arsmedia:

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A few weeks ago, we had an evening of “romantic” operatic highlights, and now we have an evening of operetta highlights (and art songs). I couldn’t resist comparing the two.

The evening of operatic highlights had professionals doing the right things, yet the response was lukewarm at best. The operetta highlights, on the other hand, presented 7 non-professionals doing “wrong” things, yet the response was thrilling.

Why do I say that they were doing the “wrong” things ? Vocally and technically, there were obvious short-comings: the ringing high-notes, the support and the breath-control , accurate pitching and dynamic balance between singers, trademarks of good classical singing, could have been better during certain parts on the evening. In fact one could find many faults if he wants to nit-pick. But unlike the earlier show, this was a performance where the sum added up to something much larger than its parts, and the audience had a very enjoyable time. 

Operetta is a relatively unpopular genre of music locally, so I would not expect a big turn out, and I thought the organisers was wise to use the Esplanade Recital Studio, but I was wrong as almost every seat was taken up. There were more expatriates (nearly 60%) than locals, many came in fairly formal attire and some ladies even sported elaborate hair-dos and head-dress. It did induce a deja-vu feeling of being in a European comique theatre. Perhaps it was due to the patronage of the European Commission as well as sponsorships from the Italian Cultural Institute and the Ambassade de France a Singapour.

We had three expatriate sopranos (French, Italian, and Australian), two local tenors and two local baritones, all residents in Singapore. Some were trained as classical bel-canto singers, others as musical theatre artists.

The success of Belle Epoque! lies in the successful creation of a party atmosphere; it was just so fun to watch this performance. The success of operatta performances lies in the ability to create that fun mood.

This success must be attributed to the great creativity of music director Dr Robert Casteels and director Nicole Stinton, who had tastefully put together a programme of selections from The Merry Widow, The Mikado, The Land of Smiles and other operettas, Erik Satie’s French songs, and Tosti’s Neapolitan songs. The creative team cleverly stitched these piano-vocal works together, gave it a simple storyline, and wrote linking music between the individual pieces, thus creating a “new” operetta, a big departure from the usual item-by-item presentation. Nicole Stinton also doubled as Emcee, narrating the story line.

Tenor Brendan-Keefe Au started the evening with Tosti’s “Tormento”. His voice was a bit restrained, and he was careful in vocal placing. Italian soprano Sabrina Zuber and French soprano Florence Coullet then further warmed up the audience with good stage performances of the next two items.Baritone Eu Jin Hwang dances well, and sang a beautiful duet with Florence Coullet. Tenor Timothy Huang sang with convincing acting and funny facial expression, adding to the delightful mood. The first half of the operetta was distinctly French (the setting was 1920 Paris) with Satie as the major contributor. By now, the acting was so funny that the audience was totally absorbed, and nobody noticed the vocal short-comings anymore. Brendan Keefe Au even sang while lying on the floor like Anna Netrebko! The ending of the first-half had performers running-about and dancing on chairs, creating such a rioteous atmosphere that it broke the ice among the audience. During intermission, the audience was so enthusiatic that they did not even leave the studio-hall but stayed to chat with their neighbours.

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The second half opens with the famous “Three little maids” from Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Mikado,sang interestingly with comical acting from the three sopranos. Baritone Jimmy Teng had his first solo with Tosti’s “Marechiare”. Honestly, the joke that Captain (Jimmy Teng) rejecting the approach of Clo Clo was not funny at all, BUT, with his serious look and the comical costume, and the audience was laughing hilariously. Jimmy Teng’s acting was so funny that, despite his expressionless look, it was just like a parody and certainly won a lot of applause in the evening.The encore for the evening was even more riotious: featuring can-can dancing from performers who couldn’t even raised their legs to knee height! the audience was so thrilled that they clapped, whistled, hummed along and stamped their feet on the floor, all so spontaneously done without prompting (unlike the over-done “Brindisi”) . It showed how much the audience had enjoyed the evening.

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This show had certainly put me in a festive mood in time for Christmas. I strongly recommend the organisers to stage a revival ASAP, and for readers of The Mad Scene to attend.

 SHE MADE IT! You know that Singapore has finally become a global arts hub when a top diva like Angela Gheourghiu would rather perform at our Esplanade Concert Hall than at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Milan’s La Scala or Opera di Roma (among many others). Forget their promises of new productions, DVD recordings or HD broadcasts, Angela would rather have a Singapore Sling and durians during intermission thank you very much.

To celebrate this momentous occasion, The Mad Scene has invited not one but two guest reviewers to cover the event. They are ST, our regular CD reviewer whose early days were spent being stupefied by LPs of Joan Sutherland (stupefied - stupenda… geddit?) and Christopher, who loves nothing more than observing every nanosecond of Elizabeth Swarzkopf’s recordings with score in hand. Here are their reviews:

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ST’s Review

Opera Gala Performance (10.10.2009 at the Esplanade Concert Hall)

Singapore Sun Festival 2009
Angela Gheorghiu, soprano
Marius Manea, tenor

Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paoli Olmi

Programme

1. Verdi - Overture to La Forza del Destino
2. Verdi - La Traviata “Parigi o cara”
3. Catalani – La Wally “Ebben? Ne andro lontana”
4. Puccini - La Boheme “Che gelida manina”
5. Verdi - Prelude to Act 1 La Traviata
6. Donizetti - L’Elisir D’amore “Caro elisir”

Intermission

7. Verdi - Overture to Giovanna d’Arco
8. Mascagni – L’Amico Fritz “Suzel bon di”
9. Verdi – Luisa Miller “Quando la sere al placido”
10. Puccini – Madama Butterfly “Un bel di vedremo”
11. Mascagni – Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana
12. Puccini – La Boheme “O soave fanciulla”

Singapore opera lovers’ much anticipated evening has finally arrived. The concert hall was almost a full house on 10 October 2009. Under the direction of Maestro Paoli Olmi, the orchestra started off the evening with the dramatic overture to Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino”. Upon the conclusion of this famous overture, the star of the evening, Angela Gheorghiu appeared on stage with her co-star, tenor Marius Manea amidst enthusiastic greetings.

As a reward to the enthusiastic audience, Gheorghiu was in fine voice throughout the evening. She also showcased no fewer than 3 outfits (at least one was rather revealing). On the official programme, she sang 2 arias and participated in 4 duets.

The La Wally aria was a bit wobbly at times but the ever popular “Un bel di, vedremo” was radiant and moving. In the duets, she was in turn teasing as Adina (L’Elisir D’amore), and shy and charming as Suzel (L’Amico Fritz). She was musically perfect in the opening “Parigi o cara” but the performance did not suggest Violetta’s tragic condition at all. Perhaps this was the first vocal item of the evening and the singers were not quite warmed up yet. The “La Boheme” love duet at the end of the programme showcased some really beautifully held high notes.

Compared to her famous recordings, the real thing when heard live had a softer quality, bit less metal in it, more velvet liked.  Compared to Moffo’s voice in the 50s and early 60s, both had beautiful lyric voices but Moffo’s voice could be more harsh and metallic when forced.  Ghoerghiu’s was smoother, always maintaining that velvet quality and thus making it sound more beautiful.

The Romanian tenor Marius Manea was a singer new to me. His voice was that of a lyric tenor, with colours that are reminiscent of Nicola Gedda even if not as polished. Perhaps with time he would be adding heavier roles to his repertoire. He made a tentative start in “Parigi o cara”, then settled down and sang a good “Che gelida manina”. In the duets, he was most charming as Nemorino (L’Elisir D’amore) and Fritz (L’Amico Fritz), and was suitably ardent in the Boheme love duet. The recitative leading up to the Rodolfo’s famous aria in Verdi’s Luisa Miller might have been a shade too heavy for his voice at the moment, but the aria itself was beautifully phrased. He demonstrated superb breath control and ended the aria with its high option which earned much applause from the audience.

The singers sang no less than 5 encore pieces. Gheorghiu started off with a ravishing account of Puccini’s famous “O mio babbino caro” which brought down the house. She then sang that Romanian song “Muzica” which she recorded and sang often at concerts. Manea then took over and sang “No puede ser”, a Spanish aria first introduced to me by Placido Domingo at the first 3 Tenor Concert in 1990. Haunted by that vivid memory of the great Placido Domingo, I found Manea’s voice a shade too light for this excerpt. Perhaps an aria from “L’Elisir D’amore” or “La Traviata” would suit his voice better for the time being. The 2 singers then joined forces to sing Lara’s “Granada” and concluded the concert with that obligatory “Brindisi” from “La Traviata”.

Throughout the evening, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra provided splendid support under the direction of Maestro Paoli Olmi. In addition to the overture from “La Forza del Destino,’ they also played the overture to “Giovanna d’Arco” and gave beautiful accounts of Prelude to Act 1 of ”La Traviata” and the famous “Intermezzo” from “Cavalleria Rusticana” by Mascagni. I am sure most audience members went home very happy after the 2 hour concert.

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Christopher’s review:

Angela Gheorghiu, Marius Manea, Paolo Olmi with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra delivered an excellent selections of 19th century Opera highlights at the Esplanade on 10 October. The most well known amongst Singapore audiences, Angela Gheorghiu certainly lived up her reputation as an international artist, but that did not stop conductor Olmi from stealing a lot of the limelight from her.

Structurally, the concert program came with a symmetrical plan:

Orchestral
Duet
Soprano aria
Tenor aria
Orchestral
Duet
—-intermission—
Orchestral
Duet
Tenor aria
Soprano aria
Orchestral
Duet

The conductor certainly had given thought to such a symmetrical line-up, allowing the soloists to demonstrate their virtuosity at the same time permitting the orchestra to show off fireworks as well. The opera selections was balanced with excerpts from all the major Italian opera composers of the 19th century.

The conductor gave a very balanced chiaroscuro between the soloists and the orchestra. He gave the soloist the liberty of tempo-rubato, yet was able to direct the orchestra to come in precisely. Difficult recitative and fast passages are well supported showing the artistry of the maestro.

Angela was just a little restrained at Verdi “Parigi o cara” (then again, Violetta was ill, and expected to have a restrained dynamics), but fully warmed up at Catalani’s “Ebben”, in which she displayed her full dynamic range, great sensitivity towards Catalani’s subtle tonal changes, and her beautiful portamento. She got better and better, and her Puccini “Un Bel Di Vedremo” was the best moment of the concert. Even though it was a concert performance, her delivery was so convincing that it had the presence of a staged performance.

Romanian Tenor Marius Manea was straight into form with the first “Traviata” duet, displaying great dynamic range. His “Che Gelida Manina” was taken with a slower tempo, creating a more pensive feel while displaying fine technical control leading up to the sustained high “C”. He executed agogic accents to enhance the intense emotion, excellent enunciation of consonants and ringing vowels. He was at his best in Verdi’s “Quando le sere al Placido”. There were great moments when he dared to use a rough, raw quality in the voice to display great emotions… Ah!!! That natural quality bites so well that the audience gave him a standing oviation at the end of this aria.

Next the duet selections:

In the first duetto, Verdi’s “Parigi o cara”, the orchestra was slightly overpowered by both soloists, especially during the pizzicato of the strings. This duetto ended wonderfully with the voices of both soloists ringing down the hall, and the conductor sensitively ended the orchestra to let that ringing echo on.

The second duetto, Donizetti “Caro Elisir” was a difficult selection. Particularly the opening recitative, there were a lot of changes in tonality within every phrase, and the soloist would experience difficulties in maintaining the tone centre. Especially in the tenor’s part, where he had to be just that little “off-pitch” to make act out the effect of the magic elixir is having on his character, but too much of which becomes unmusical. This was probably the most virtuosic piece in the entire concert, and the conductor rightfully chose it to close the first half of the concert. Alas, there was an inappropriate clapping midway when Angela (as Adina) sang “Bravissimo! La lezionn ti giova”, where, as in many stage productions, the audience entered with applause.

The third duetto, after the exciting Verdi “Giovanna d’Arco” overture (more about that later), is the jovial Mascagni “Suzel, Buon di!”. The soloists are totally at ease, their light-hearted acting added a lot of presence to the music, and the beautiful duet weaved on, to a magical moment of allargando (Alas, a cough from audience ruined the moment).

The forth duetto, Puccini “O suave fanciulla” was the best performed item in the entire concert. Such beautiful singing and music making for such a well-written opera, the magic of the moment was so lovely that this reviewer is not going to spoil it by going into details. Rightfully this piece ended the concert with the soloists walking towards the exit.

Now the orchestra selections:

The overture to “La forza del destino” opened the concert with a big bang. Immediately it showcased the virtuosity of the woodwinds and brass as well as well articulated strings. Immediately, it established the artistry of the maestro and the well-rehearsed orchestra (both relatively unknown to Singapore audiences).

The prelude to Act 1 of “La Traviata” allowed the soloists to rest and prepare for the demanding “Cherry Duet” to come. To this reviewer, this was the only weak part of the whole concert, where the strings sounded a little untidy, but it was forgivable.

The overture to “Giovanna d’Arco” after intermission was the best performed orchestral piece. This piece is probably the least known to audience, so the freshness added to the magic fireworks. Once again, the clean teamwork showed the commanding power of the conductor. The ensemble effect was so exciting and aptly opened the second half of the concert.

“Intermezzo” from “Cavalleria Rusticana” showcased the best of the string playing, satin-like and sensual, the singing tone of the violins were well supported by the cellos and double basses. It was an impressive performance of this well-known piece.

Finally, the encores: Angela was in total command as the diva. She sang “O mio babino caro” (excellently) and her usual romanian “Muzika” (with “BOOMZ”). Manea sang a Spanish song “No puede ser”, which was free and exciting, leading to the soloists to sing another infectious Spanish song, the popular ”Granadas”.

At this time, the audience were so receptive that Verdi “Brindisi” from “La Traviata” was certainly appropriate to close the evening. Angela asked the audience to sing along, and the conductor turned around and signalled to the audience to follow him. He did more than the usual “interative” portion, and actually asked the audience to follow his dynamic (sorry to say that the audience did not understand his conducting, but what a nice way to end the concert). This was really a fun piece, and nice way to end a magical night of music.

What do i dislike about the concert? Actually the audience was well behaved and had very little interruption (except for the really unforgivable cough for the Cherry Duet). But this reviewer could not resist complaining about Angela’s gowns and hair-do: she had three gowns: a tacky black gown for the first half of the concert (that was more fitting for getai than a gala), a cerrulein-blue gown for the first part of the second half, and a revealing (and distracting) red gown for the second part of the second half (others might have appreciated the almost see-through lace more; as Bruno would say, “she must produce a lot of milk!”). She highlighted her hair with blue-green colours (terrible) and she certainly needed to re-bond her hair (unless she was planning to sing some mad scenes!)

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So now that our reviewers have stated their case, how did YOU find it?

poll by twiigs.com

We’ve one more day to go before Angela graces our own Esplanade Concert Hall. In anticipation to her big debut, our own CD reviewer ST weighs in on her new recording of Madama Butterfly:

Angela Gheorghiu (soprano) Cio-Cio-San

Jonas Kaufmann (tenor) Pinkerton

Enkelejda Shkosa (mezzo-soprano) Suzuki

Fabio Capitanucci (baritone) Sharpless

Gregory Bonfatti (tenor) Goro

Orchestra & Chorus of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia conducted by Antonio Pappano

This is a keenly anticipated recording of the much loved opera. It is very rare nowadays for a recording company to issue a complete opera recording made in the studio. This is especially so when there are already numerous outstanding sets in the catalogue. Famous sets of the past have featured legendary stars like Maria Callas (1955 with Nicolai Gedda under the direction of Karajan), Renata Tebaldi (1958 with Carlo Bergonzi under Serafin), Victoria de los Angeles (1954 with Giuseppe di Stefano under Gavazeni, 1960 with Jussi Bjorling under Santini), Renata Scotto (1967 with Carlo Bergonzi under Barbirolli) and Mirella Freni (1974 with Luciano Pavarotti under Karajan again). De los Angeles, Tebaldi, Scotto and Freni have each made 2 versions of this opera.

EMI, the company that issued the current recording has no fewer than 4 versions in their catalogue (2 versions with Victoria de los Angeles, the 1955 Maria Callas version and the 1967 Renata Scotto version). The current recording was recorded in 2008, more than 40 years since EMI issued the last studio Madama Butterfly featuring Scotto. Perhaps this decision was made because of the success of the partnership between Antonio Pappano and Angela Gheorghiu in recording Puccini’s music. Their recordings of La Rondine, Tosca and Il Trittico were justly famous. This recording also appeared in HMV just 1 week ahead of Angela Gheorghiu’s appearance at the Singapore Sun Festival 2009.

Gheorghiu has never performed the role of Cio-Cio-San on stage, although she has sung Un bel di vedremo in concert many times. In this studio recording, she gave a most outstanding portrayal, coping splendidly with the lyrical Act 1 and the dramatic requirements of Acts 2 and 3. The transformation from girlish child bride to tragic heroine who died for honour was most convincing. Butterfly’s entrance music was radiantly phrased with the optional D flat at the end nicely executed. The love duet was ravishing. Un bel di vedremo sounded casual in a conversational manner. That was perfectly logical as Cio-Cio-San must have pictured Pinkerton’s return countless times during the past 3 years. The dialogue with Sharpless was heart breaking. The wonderful moments after sighting of the ship leading into the flower duet was loaded with joy and tears. The final suicide aria was suitably dramatic and emotional.

Compared to some of her great predecessors, she was perhaps not as dramatic and detailed as Callas but definitely has a much sweeter voice. Victoria de los Angeles was perhaps more yearningly tender but Gheorghiu coped with the high notes and dramatic outbursts better. Her tone was not as ample as Renata Tebaldi’s but she was dramatically more convincing. She also sounded more girlish than Renata Scotto and her voice did not spread under pressure as Scotto’s did occasionally in 1967 (more so when she recorded the part again for CBS in the late 70s). Her interpretation was close to that of Mirella Freni in the famous Karajan recording from 1974.

The young German tenor Jonas Kaufmann sang Pinkerton in this recording. He has the spinto ring in his voice that makes him a suitable candidate for the roles of Don Jose (Carmen) and Radames (Aida). It was a more robust performance than that of Gedda (Karajan 1955), but Gedda sang with equal charm and probably more grace. Kaufmann’s manner was more refined than that of di Stefano (Gavazeni 1954) and he sounded somewhat more effortless and graceful than Bjorling (Santini 1960) who was ill when the Santini recording was made in 1960. However, Bergonzi (Serafin 1958 and Barbirolli 1967) and Pavarotti (Karajan 1974) were even better. The 2 Italian tenors contributed the most charming and graceful Pinkerton in gramophone history when they made those recordings during their sovereign best.

Enkeledja Shkosa contributed a competent Suzuki. Fabio Capitanucci was a sympathetic Sharpless. The smaller parts were all adequately taken.

Pappano paced the work well. The performance was nearer to that of Sir John Barbirolli’s (1967) than Karajan’s (1974). The chorus and orchestra performed beautifully for him. Recording quality was excellent, probably the best among all recordings of the work. Sound quality was predictably head and shoulders above those made in the 1950s and 60s. The recording balance was superior to that of Karajan’s (1974) where the soloists occasionally got drowned in the loud orchestral sound.

As for the layout of the 2 CDs, the break took place immediately after Un bel di vedremo and that was ideal in my opinion, short of presenting the opera on 3 CDs (1 CD for each Act like Karajan’s version in 1974) which of course would cost more.

I am sure everyone has a favourite version of this opera and a favourite diva for the title role. The new set is not likely to replace any of the old favourites, but it certainly deserves to be ranked among the finest. It has recently won the prestigious Best Opera Record Award for the year 2009 from Gramophone Magazine. For anyone looking a new studio recording of this opera, this new version can be warmly recommended.

Our CD reviewer ST spotlights this talented young soprano’s debut CD, now available for borrowing at the Esplanade Library: 

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Miah Persson, soprano

Swedish Chamber Orchestra

Sebastian Weigle, conductor

Catalogue no.: BIS-SACD-1529

Track Listing

1. Schon lacht der holde fruhling KV 580

2. Ch’io mi scordi di te? KV 505

3. Nehmt meinen dank KV 383

4. Lungi d ate, mio bene (Mitridate, Re di Ponto, KV 87)

5. Un moto di gioia KV 579

6. Deh vieni non tardar (Le Nozze di Figaro, KV 492)

7. Come scoglio (Cosi fan tutte, KV 588)

8. Ruhe sanft mein holdes leben (Zaide, KV 344)

9. Exsultate, jubilate KV 165

This is a singer new to me. The album was released some time in 2006 and I found it in the Esplanade Library. It was named after the alternative aria written for Susanna from The Marriage of Figaro (track 5 of the album) and literally meant “A surge of Joy”. The cover of the CD featured a pretty young lady smiling to the camera; how aptly named the album was.

This talented young Swedish soprano graduated from the University College of Opera in Stockholm in 1999 and has been active in Europe, appearing in most of the major opera houses. Her roles included Pamina, Susanna, Sifare, Sophie and Fiordiligi. This was her first recital album and she offered a repertoire very similar to what Cecilia Bartoli recorded for Decca in the 1990s. Practically every aria featured has been recorded by Bartoli (except perhaps the excerpt from Zaide and the concert arias KV 580 & 383, all sung in German) and that invited direct comparison.

On listening through the album twice, it was evident that Persson possessed a warm voice. It was fresh, youthful, beautiful, rounded and even in scale. She was technically accomplished. Her voice was flexible enough to tackle the difficult coloratura of Exsultate, jubilate as well as those cruelly written divisions of Come scoglio. The long aria from Mitridate where Sifare bids farewell to his beloved Aspasia was movingly sung, trills were nicely executed. Deh vieni non tardar was suitably seductive (she was an outstanding Susanna in Covent Garden). The title track did inject a surge of joy. The aria from Zaide was beautifully sung with superb breath control. The second verse of Nehmt meinen Dank was decorated in a way that was new to me. The florid division of the concert aria KV 580 was well managed. Ch’io mi scordi di te KV 505 was movingly performed with a nice flow of melody. The high notes were securely placed. Musically speaking, all the pieces turned out very well. There were no smudged divisions nor sour notes. Everything was musically correct. It was an enjoyable listening experience. If I have bought a ticket to attend a concert and heard all these, I have reason to be very happy at the end of the evening.

I had 2 minor comments though. Although equally accomplished technically, Persson’s enunciation of Italian text could not match that of Bartoli, who was of course native Italian. The fact that Bartoli could enunciate the text better helped her enormously in her recordings to project some of the characters better and thus making some of these pieces even more immediately unforgettable to the listener.

In addition, there was a feeling of similarity when going through the programme. There was not enough differentiation between the some of the characters and pieces. Perhaps more stage experience would have helped her in this aspect.

But please do not let these minor comments deter you from exploring this talented young singer’s artistry. This was an enjoyable debut album for the young soprano, whose voice and technique promise much for the future. She was adequately supported by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and conductor. The recording quality was clear and warm, with good balance between soloist and orchestra. As I have said, if I have bought a ticket for this concert, I will be very happy at the end of the evening.