the mad scene

Its that time of the year again! Not so much the festive season for this cynic, or for Christmas shopping since I’m too much of a miser to splurge on anything (on an unrelated note pls click on the ads on top k thx), but to make my annual yuletide pilgrimage to the concert hall. Yes, I am a big fan of Messiah, the proud owner of no less than 12 recordings and borrower of many more. Throughout recording history, the work has been through various permutations: historically informed practice, the overblown romantic styles, over-cadenza-rized bel canto versions, boy choirs, amateur productions, you name’em, I’ve got’em all. And that includes some unusual interpretations such as an R&B version produced by Quincy Jones and a performance in Chinese! Pretty impressive if I may say so, considering that I’m not even a baptised Christian. Nonetheless one need not be an abandoned geisha to appreciate Butterfly, for instance, and I believe the musical values of Messiah speaks for itself.

My first introduction to this work is through Bryn Terfel’s award winning Handel Arias CD. Till then I had thought coloratura was an area of solely reserved for the female voices, so to hear Bryn’s booming bass-baritone negotiate these rocky passages with fearsome ‘refiner’s fire’ was such a revelation!

Intrigued, I decided to attend my first performance, which turned out to be the SSO’s associate conductor Bart Folse’s last concert. The performance received a bad review on the Straits Times (our daily newspaper), but I was taken away by the fugal coloratura in many passages, its beautiful arias, and especially, the trumpet and timpani combo that gives the Hallelujah Chorus its glorious magnificence! One hardly needs to be a religious zealot to see why the work deserves every bit of its fame!

My most memorable performance, however, was the next SSO Messiah, held about 3 years after the one above and the first at the new Esplanade Concert Hall. Held on 16 December 2003, it just happened to be the day before my ORD date (last day of military service). The Hallelujah Chorus took on a whole new meaning that night.

FYI, the SSO does not perform Messiah every year, so the years that its off Messiah duty, other groups get to take over; I was looking forward to attending the Singapore Bible College’s concert last year, as I was very impressed by an excellent Rossini Stabat Mater they gave that year. Alas I had to leave for Oklahoma for a month-long study trip but coincidentally, the Oklahoma Symphony Orchestra had a performance exactly on the same day (4th December if memory serves me well), which I attended, conducted by a certain Maestro Joel Levine; not quite as prolific as the other Levine but slimmer and cuter (from what I can see high up on the balcony). I think Singapore’s standards are at the very least on par with that particular performance.

Anyway, I won’t be attending this year’s concert, the first SSO Messiah I’ve missed since my first, as I will be performing in Muar (a small town in Malaysia) that day. Frankly the thought of hearing the combined chorus of 3 groups is making my historically-informed heart uneasy;I wonder what Maestro Lim was thinking of since he’s usually quite skilled at tackling baroque practices with a modern orchestra. I would have gone out of habit but ah! T’was not to be… (guess which aria that line’s from?) So those of you who are going, please let me know what I’ve missed. Thanks!

Meanwhile, here is a Rejoice Greatly from the Chinese Messiah CD I mentioned, as performed by Mongolian coloratura soprano Dilber (go search her name on YouTube). Enjoy!

dilber-rejoice-greatly.wma

One of my objectives for setting up this blog is to share and discuss Asian artistes making news in the opera world, and let me say that this artist is easily one of the best opera singers today. So popular is he in mainland China that he hardly needs a reason to seek engagements outside, which is really a loss to the rest of the world.

I had first heard Liao (Surnames are placed in front for Chinese folks) back in 2001 when he was engaged for a solo recital at Victoria Concert Hall. His dark, booming voice is crowned by a shining resonance, apparently the result of studying with a coloratura soprano. Pronounciation is excellent, as well as lyricism, musical expression, and connection with the audience.

This was when he was a young star in the making. Regretfully, the presenter of said concert is no longer able to book him for future engagements, due to his high fees and over-booked schedule. His last engagement on our shores was in Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand, a performance that received ecstatic reviews but not exactly a program that showcases its soloists well (save for Huang “Butterfly” Ying’s portrayal of ‘the Angel’). Thankfully, I found these videos on YouTube while slacking off in the office one day:

I love, love, love, LOVE this song!!! This is a theme song of a Taiwanese drama series, originally performed by Taiwanese Yang Pei An (楊培安). Yang is a recently popular singer on a one-man mission to bring 80s style glam-rock back to the charts. Thankfully, the current political climate prevents Taiwanese artists from releasing records and performing on the mainland (I could be wrong so please feel free to correct me).Compositions, however, are a different matter. So the opportunity opened up for Liao to turn this song into a hit in the mainland. His manly, virile voice, a marked contrast to Yang’s unusually high male alto, just sends goosebumps through my skin and leaves my jaw dropping. Check it out to see what I mean!

For more traditional operatic fare, check out his singing of Largo al factatum from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Beyond the beauty of his voice, one can hear his effortless breath control, dexterous enunciation, clear projection and charisma. IMHO he certainly ranks up there with the best of them.So here’s my one-man campaign to the powers that be, re: the Singapore Lyric Opera and Singapore Symphony Orchestra. If anyone from these organizations are reading this, please book him now for a main Verdi role: Macbeth, Posa, Nabucco or the Requiem, or any traditional Italian role such as Rossini’s Figaro, Don Giovanni, Scarpia etc. Please please pretty please!!!!! Not only will I guarantee that I will be there, you will also receive invaluable publicity from The Mad Scene, as well as my undying loyalty. So please consider, especially for Macbeth (perhaps its time to dust off that old “Macbeth in the Corporate World” production back from the 90s). Thx!Till then, his upcoming performances include singing for the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic games (or so I’ve heard), so do look out for it.

The performance of Strauss’ Four Last Songs on 22 Nov at the Esplanade Concert Hall was textbook perfect, with every beat, every note in place to give a whole that shines from the sum of its parts. Although Soile required much of the first song to warm up, her voice is in fine form; full, resonant, and warm with dusky hues, filling up the auditorium with sound. Okka Kamu and the SSO led a fuss-free rendition of the work, no melodramatic slowing down in tempi, letting Strauss’ music shine as it is.

Orchestra and soloist achieved what is often taken for granted on recordings but so difficult to achieve in a live setting: perfect balance in dynamics. At no point did the orchestration threaten to drown out the soloist, not even in the climatic and pianissimo moments. Neither did Soile stick out in any untoward manner in pitch or musicality, this being rep that she has sung successfully in all the great halls. Her singing in the song cycle’s sublime 3rd and 4th movements were especially ravishing, and the orchestra played with apparent ease throughout, bringing out the hypnotic qualities from Strauss’ score that make this work so extraordinary.

Although no encores were given, the audience left satisfied at what is arguably one of the best concerts presented this year.

 Posted by Steven:

Found on the Arts Central Website:

 Monday 26 Nov, 9.00pm

 Cecilia Bartoli

Her record sales can rival those of a pop star and fans stand in line for 2 hours to get her autograph. This programme follows this hugely popular singer returning to Rome to launch her new recording Opera Prohibita (their words, not mine) and then to Los Angeles where some of her most ardent fans are.

I know I know, late as usual… But its free and better than never I guess, so do remember to tune in for a quick fix to your Monday blues!

Imagine my surprise this Sunday morning when I received an email from Natalie Dessay herself, asking me to go buy her new CD!

I have to tell you I am such a sucker for hype and packaging. The talent must be there of course, but a gorgeous CD cover such as this would give me all the more reason to buy, so this CD is definitely joining my collection. It is a collection of bel canto scenes, including the Italian Mad Scene of Lucia di Lamermoor, which she had recently sung to great success at the Met (she had previously recorded the complete role in its French version).

Sure her voice isn’t quite what it used to be, and not necessarily suited for this repertoire. However, I really admire the intellegence and intensity that she puts into all her performances, qualities that are reflected even in audio-only samples. IMHO it is a bigger waste to keep such a committed artist as Dessay restricted to no-brainer roles like the Queen of the Night, The Doll Olympia or Zerbinetta.

Plus with Dessay, one can pretty much take for granted that all the interpolated high-notes will be there!

Anyway, here is the program for the CD to be released soon:

Verdi La Traviata
E strano!… Ah, forse lui - Follie! Follie… Sempre libera

Bellini I Puritani
O rendetemi la speme - Qui la voce sua soave - Vien diletto

Donizetti Maria Stuarda
Allenta il pie, Regina - Oh nube che lieve - Nella pace del mesto riposo

Verdi Rigoletto
Gualtier Malde… Caro nome

Bellini I Capuleti e i Montecchi
Eccomi in lieta vesta - Oh! quante volte

Donizetti Lucia di Lammermoor
Eccola… Il dolce suono - Ardon gli incensi -
Spavanza Enrico - Spargi d’amaro pianto

Go to http://www.natalie-dessay.com for more info. You can also watch the video advertisement here.

Posted by Der Feldmarschallin

Richard Strauss was awaiting de-Nazification in a self-imposed exile in Switzerland when he came across a poem by Joseph Eichendorff. The poem is about an old couple walking hand in hand in the sunset. Weary at wondering, they finally asked “Is that perhaps death?” (Strauss changed the word “that” to “this” in his song “Im Abendrot, a gesture of making himself as the first person?), infusing it with a theme from his tone poem Tod und Verlärung (Death and Transfiguration).

His wife, Pauline, often acts as his muse (think of Symponia domestica, Intermezzo and the op 27 songs which he dedicated to her as their wedding gift among others). Strauss first met Pauline de Ahna, a soprano with a reputation for having a nasty temper (also known as “the shrew of Munich“), in August 1887. She was the lead soprano for his first opera Guuntram together with tenor Heinrich Zeller. However, Zeller had difficulty with the score and Strauss (being the conductor) made him go over several passages again. Finally, jealous of all the attention the tenor was having, she complained to Strauss about the lack of interruption from him and Strauss replied that she knew her role well. She screamed at him saying that she wanted to be interrupted. What happened after that comes from this account by Lotte Lehmann, the great German soprano, as told to her by Strauss himself:

An argument arose between her and the young conductor finally reached its climax when she threw the score from the stage onto his head, shrieked some frightful insults and leaving the rehearsal, rushed to her dressing room.

Strauss. terribly annoyed, laid down his baton and without knocking, entered Pauline’s room. The orchestra members, waiting outside through the closed door heard wild shrieks of range and fragmentary insults- then all was quiet. Turning pale, each looked at the other; who had killed whom? A delegation of orchestra members approached the threatening door, and gave a shy knock….

Strauss opened the door and stood at the doorway beaming. The orchestra representative stammered that the orchestra is so horrified by the behavior of Fräuling Pauline de Ahna that they feel they owe it to their honored conductor Strauss to refuse in the future to play in any opera in which she might have a part. Strauss smiled to them and said “That hurts me very much, for I have just become engaged to her.”

Strauss finished this song on the 6th of May 1948 and set three other poems by Hermann Hesse and he then completed the three songs in the following order:Frühling, Beim Schlafengehen and finally Sepetember (completed on September 1948).

Strauss died on the 8th of September 1949 without ever hearing the songs performed commenting “Dying is just as I composed it in Tod und Verlärung.” Whether Strauss himself intended on these four songs as a cycle is still a mystery; his editor Ernst Roth was the person who gave them the order most commonly performed today: Frühling, September, Beim Schlafengehen and Im Abendrot, as well as giving them its current title Vier Letzte Lieder (Four last songs). Pauline herself passed away in 1950 and nine days later, an aging Kirsten Flagstad whom Strauss himself has chosen as the first performer of these songs gave its premiere in London’s Royal Albert Hall on 22nd May 1950. A pirate recording of this premiere appears on several labels, and most recently on the Testament label. Unfortunately as it was recorded “by an audience” one has to withstand the really bad sound quality.

Song-cycle or not, the songs have won the hearts of many people as well as many sopranos, for that matter. Schwarzkopf, della Casa, Jurinac, Caballé, Grummer, Bonney, Augér, Fleming, Nilsson, Freni, Steber, Hendricks, Tomowa-Sintow, Mattila, Voigt, Popp,Welitsch, Eaglen, Stemme and others are just some of the names that have performed this work to great success.

In celebration of a major soprano gracing our fair shores of Singapore (for the uninformed, Soile Isokoski will be performing the Vier Letzte Lieder on the 22nd of November @ Esplanade), we have decide to upload four live recordings by four sopranos (or three sopranos and one mezzo) for you to download….These performances are not those you find on commercial cds, so you’d have to make some allowance for sound quality;-)

Frühling (Leontyne Price in 1983, live) 01-track-01.mp3

September (Marilyn Horne in 1959, live) 02-track-02.mp3

Beim Schlafengehen (Gundula Janowitz in 1969, live) 17-vier-lezte-lieder-3-beim-schaf.mp3

Im Abendrot (Jessye Norman in 1969?, live) 04-track-04.mp3

Want to hear more from these artistes? Check out these studio-recorded releases from Amazon:

Read also Steven’s previous post on Soile Isokoski’s upcoming debut with the SSO.

 

Katherine Broderick, a young British singer at only 25 years of age, made a sensation debut with the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory orchestra on 17 Nov 2007. Although only programmed to sing 3 songs, it was all she needed to win the crowd to her side before rewarding us with 2 more encores.

Her first number Porgi Amor, did not go well; the restraint required by the music seems discomforting to her and it showed with quivering vocal lines. But on the 2nd piece, Come Scoglio with its declamatory recitative, we started to see her true vocal nature: a dramatic soprano by birth, with a voice that’s still youthfully tender but already planted with significant vocal size as well as the bronze and silver timbre that characterizes true dramatic voices. The coloratura passages were an ill fit, but it was redeemed by her ability to execute sudden shifts in volume.

And in Dich, teure Halle, we finally found the music that brings out the best quality of the voice; a big, glorious sound that is now given free rein to bounce off the walls of the concert hall and envelope us with its aural glory. The bravi by a few audience members were well deserved.

Parts of Broderick’s singing showed a girlish vocal colour, sort of like young Charlotte Church given an amplifier with the bass turned up, with a typical English way of musical phrasing. I was also concerned with her need to place both hands on her solar plexus, abdomen and upper chest throughout her performance, which may be an artificial means to summon more volume. Nonetheless it is a magnificent voice and with more maturity and hard work, we might just have a Turandot or Bruunhilde in the making. Lets just hope she remembers to come back! (2 encores, O mio babino caro and Musetta’s Waltz were given, nothing especially worth mentioning except that IMHO if she’s gonna take on Puccini, perhaps Vissi d’Arte or Tu, tu picolo addio mio, Butterfly’s final ode to her son, might have fit her better and win her more of the audience’s affection).

Broderick was aptly accompanied by the Conservatory Orchestra led by Taiwan-born Singaporean Wang Ya-Hui, an experienced lady whose resume includes collaborations with Renee Fleming. While I do not claim to be an expert in symphonic music, I was drawn-in by their rendition of Beethoven’s Eroica symphony (his 3rd), especially with the dramatic depths that was presented on the 2nd ‘funeral march’ movement. Wang’s flamboyant style was as clear and direct as it was entertaining, lending a perfect visual accompaniment to the music.

As an aside, a friend was discussing Wang’s choice of concert outfit which we both loved; As women conductors are gaining prominence, I’m not quite sure of what is deemed as ‘appropriate’ numbers for the maestras; on one hand there’s Marin Alsop’s masculine pantsuits that’s complemented by her short hair, and on the other hand is Eve Queler of Opera Orchestra of New York whose colourful sequinned gowns are every bit a flashy as her leading ladies. Wang took the middle ground of both extremes with a flowing black gown and matching jacket that was a perfect combination of elegance and formality, with a few sequin patterns on the jacket lending some extra sparkle.

Overrall, it was an enjoyable evening given by enthusiastic young students (inc luding the soloist). I look forward to attending such future events.

Sometime in the mid-nineties, while I was a mere adolescent bopping along to Madonna’s Secret, Cecila Bartoli and Jennifer Larmore were battling it out for the title of the world’s favourite mezzo. A decade after, the dust has settled but the winner is yet unclear; Cecilia has seemingly retired from the stage, performing opera only in Zurich and going public only once in a while with a revolutionary new record and concert tour that will take the classical recording industry by storm, such was the case with her landmark Vivaldi Arias album and her new CD Maria.

Meanwhile, Larmore has parted ways with her original record company Teldec, and now participates freelance in many recordings for various companies with varying degrees of success. It is on the stage where she has earned her keep, taking over where Marilyn Horne and Cecilia has left off with much success of her own. Hopefully, her new association with Chandos Records will now revive her dormant recording career back to life.

I have to confess that I am a big, big fan of Chandos Records’ Opera in English series. The combination of being able to understand the text of my favourite music as well as the energetic, dynamic playing from underrated conductor David Parry and his orchestras make many titles from their extensive catalogue winners in my book. There is an essence in understanding words within the music that you don’t get through translations in the CD booklet or supertitles. Although many singers don’t quite match up to the Sutherlands and Pavarottis , they generally do a good job by their own standards.

Jennifer Larmore’s new recording is a great addition to this catalogue. It is a collection of favourite operatic mezzo arias sung in English, sung with her trademark ruby-rich voice that is also capable of much flexibility. As a nod to her bel canto and baroque origins, we find beautiful, seasoned renditions of Tell Me, My Beating Heart, That Ungrateful Man Betrayed Me, and Iris Hence Away, the latter the only selection sung in its original language. Larmore’s pronounciation is generally fine, although one requires repeated listening to make out the words, such is the nature of singing.

However, points are deducted for taking on music that’s clearly out of her capabilities. O Fatal Gift and Love Like Mine Is the Light Of Creation, music that requires a dramatic voice with more heft, finds her a tad underpowered even by recording standards. Ditto for the soprano standard Juliet’s Waltz that finds her flexible voice stretched beyond its means. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed them as the meaning of the songs are now made obvious to me. I never realized how camp the words of O Fatal Gift were: “vainly I curse my beauty’s power!”

My favourite selection by far is another bel canto fave, the duet See O Norma. Susan Paterson takes the soprano part. Despite the dodgy translation, sparks really fly between these two. The extended ending is truly spectacular, which will surprise even seasoned listeners of this opera.

Wondering what the song titles are? How about taking a guess? Post your answers in the comments section. Here once again are the songs mentioned earlier by their translated English titles:

a) Tell Me, My Beating Heart

b) That Ungrateful Man Betrayed Me

c) O Fatal Gift

d) Love Like Mine Is the Light Of Creation

e) Juliet’s Waltz (doh if you don’t get this one!)

f) See O Norma (ditto)

Listen to clips of the CD via the Amazon link below. Answers are not provided on these pages but the readers comments might give you better hints

 

By the way, Larmore doesn’t lose out to Bartoli in the heaving bosom department either; Check this out!

HUAT AH!!!!!!!!

The promised review of Dimitri’s recent debut concert had been delayed due to a mix-up in communication. Nonetheless, its better late than never; so here it is. Read it for old time’s sake if nothing else.

Dimitri Hvorostovsky - Baritone

Ruxandra Donose - Mezzo-Soprano

Russian National Orchestra

Alexander Vedernikov

20 October 2007

Alright, Dimtri has a great voice, just like everything the reviews say. Dark, earthy timbre, smooth connection throughout the registers, magnetic stage presence, etc. Its just that…

You know how some singers tend to sound a little different live when compared to their recordings (by recordings I mean YouTube videos of course.)? Dimitri’s voice, beautiful as it is, seemed to lack that extra sheen, what some folks describe as brightness, squillo or focus. The voice can be heard above the Russian National Orchestra, but falls just a few decibels short of comfortable from the last row of our 3,000+ seater. It is nonetheless a magnificent instrument whose virtues I have described in the opening paragraph, which I’m grateful for given the dearth of good low male voices that can be heard in these parts.

As with Renee’s concert which I’ve also enjoyed, it’s a pity he did not plan more rep which he is known in top houses for. There’s the obligatory Russian arias from Prince Igor and Rachmaninov’s Aleko, both of which he pulls off with admirable artistry if a tad muffled by the orchestra, but his reputation as one of the top Verdi baritones of his generation is pretty much hidden here. His only Verdi selection, Iago’s Credo, seemed in my opinion to be too big a part for him vocally. I was proven right when the climatic high-note was completely drowned out by the crescendoing orchestra. Instead of Germont’s aria Di Provenza or Posa’s Death Scene, both which he has sung to tremendous success, he had to go with this selection instead. Truly a wasted opportunity. At least Renee sang Song to the Moon.

It was in the highlights of Rossini’s Barber where he gave us our money’s worth. His beautiful voice certainly qualifies for the bel canto rep, and while he lacks natural comic chops, his virtuosic meandering of Largo al Factatum and Dunque io son’s fast pattering held our attention.

Oh yes, and then there’s his lesser-known co-star, Romanian mezzo Ruxandra Donose. With more to prove than her illustrious co-star, she got off a rocky start with tepid, sloppily paced renditions of mezzo standards Che faro senza Euridice and Mon coeur s’ouvre a ta voix. We admired the voice but loathed the interpretations. It is not untill the 2nd half that she revealed her true artistic self: A bel canto singer. Her flexibility in Una voce poco fa and Dunque io son won raves, as was her encore number Non piu mesta. With warm chest tones and brilliant, shiny high notes, her biggest coup was in imbibing her generous ornamentations with genuine sparkle and charisma.

The Russian National Orchestra led by Alexander Vedernikov earned their share of applause, playing with a warmth unusual in the admittedly few orchestra concerts I’ve attended. I won’t go in detail into various aspects of their playing, but suffice to say I have never heard the William Tell Overture, so often the subject of parody, played with such beauty and finesse. Special mention goes to the first cellist, who played an especially fine solo in the work’s first movement. The night’s “bravos” were a tribute to their performance as much as to the soloists.

Overall, this evening was a success for IMG Singapore, who had organized this event as part of the inaugural Singapore Sun Festival, only their second event after Renee’s debut earlier this year. Tickets can always be cheaper of course, but keep up the good work guys!