the mad scene

OMG so cute!!!

This little boy learns about rejection early on:

Here are two fascinating documentaries I’ve seen on YouTube recently. The first is British comedian and Wagner devotee Stenphen Fry’s first ever journey to Bayreuth, where he explains Wagner’s concept of integrated music drama, as well as Hitler’s later influence on his music and its effects on the present day image of Wagner. This series has only been featured on OperaChic recently, but if you haven’t seen this series yet or don’t watch OperaChic, I second her original recommendation of it:

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Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un7G1JRYhGM&feature=related
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH0C41S4GRg&feature=related
Part 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vKVm9awuoA&feature=related
Part 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIsrKIR8vzY&feature=related
Part 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmWu2wZyTV0&feature=related

Next, period instrumentalist John Eliot Gardiner explores the origins of Beethoven’s symphonies, whom he claims to have ripped off the French revolutionary songs of its time. As usual he takes the authentic instrument approach over the top by engaging the services of chorus members who’s great great grandparents may have sung those revolutionary songs.

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Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=750l1oPgvlA&feature=related
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOwzp2dUaR0&feature=related
Part 4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbNrZYs9zY0&feature=related
Part 5:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iERZZvw-uzk&feature=related
Part 6:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73RoC15DpDA&feature=related
Part 7:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-liuvewa3E&feature=related
Part 8:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n74sIU2JnI&feature=related
Part 9:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXOPfeeDGDw&feature=related

Here is a feature interview published in April, of Rebecca Chellappah by Timeout Magazine’s classical music writer Derek Lim. Yeah the discussion about Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen may be old news, but since she will be singing Mahler again in July I thought it’ll be interesting to bring your attention to it. Enjoy!

http://www.timeoutsingapore.com/music/feature/rebecca-chellappah-profile

An expat does not quite enjoy his experience attending performances at our erm… “Opera House”. Please send me a note if you actually get his point.

http://www.angryangmo.com/2009/03/18/problems-watch-opera-singapore/

Ah pek Placido Domingo interviews the girls of the Met’s Der Rosenkavalier: Susan Graham, Renee Fleming and Christine Schafer. Even after decades of working in America his accent is still as thick as ever.

-Is it just me or does the maestro have a slightly salacious look in his eyes as he watches Renee and Susan climb into bed?

 Local tenor Leslie Tay returns to Singapore for a fund-raising recital. Details below:

 —————————————

Of God and Beasts (A Benefit Recital) - with Tenor Leslie Tay and
pianist Neo Ming Wei

Where:
YMS Arts Centre Auditorium, 54 Waterloo Street (closest MRT: Bras
Basah, City Hall, Dhoby Ghaut)

When:
Friday 18 June 2010, 7.30pm - 8.40pm

How much:
$20 General Admission (Contact leslietay78@gmail.com for tickets)

About the recital:
The all-American repertoire of this recital includes Dougherty’s detailed “Review” of a Carnegie Hall recital, Heggie’s sex-crazy “Animal Passion”, Bernstein’s gorgeous “A Simple Song”, Corigliano’s dramatic “Aria of the Worm” and Sondheim’s touching “Not While I’m Around” from Sweeney Todd.

About Leslie Tay:
A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music where he was in the studio of Arthur Levy (teacher of Broadway star Audra McDonald and Met Opera stars Joseph Kaiser, Elizabeth Futral and Hao Jiang Tian), Leslie Tay made his Carnegie Hall debut in 2009 in the role of Guillot in Massenet’s opera Manon with New York Lyric Opera. Specializing in character tenor parts, his roles include Monostatos (Die Zauberflote -
Bronx Opera), Goro (Madama Butterfly - Opera Company of Brooklyn), Tanzmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos - Brooklyn Repertory Opera) and Oronte (Alcina - New York Opera Forum). He was a Resident Artist with Dicapo Opera in NYC during the 2009-2010 season.

For more information, visit him at http://leslietay.net

Help build Leslie Tay’s opera career through the following ways:

1) buying a ticket to come watch the recital
2) making a donation if you are unable to attend (contact leslietay78@gmail.com for details)
3) buying tickets for your friends to come watch if you are unable to attend
4) encouraging your friends to come watch the recital

The proceeds of the recital will go towards my cost of attendance at these upcoming training programs:

1) OperaWorks, Los Angeles (June - July 2010)
http://www.operaworks.com/

2) International Vocal Arts Academy, Montreal (August 2010)
http://www.ivai.org/

3) Boston Conservatory, Graduate Performance Diploma (Aug’10- May’12)
http://www.bostonconservatory.edu/

Any donation amount you can give is deeply appreciated ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100 or even more!). Please feel free to contact me for more information about the recital, making a donation or the upcoming training programs.

Thank you so much for your support!

Warmest regards
Leslie Tay

 

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.

The third Opera in the Park concert will take place at the Botanical Gardens on Saturday, 6pm on 19 June 2010. See you there!

Conductor: Joshua Tan Kang Ming

Singers:
William Lim - baritone
Melvin Tan - tenor
Suminah Kusuma - alto
Khor Ai Ming - soprano
Cherylene Liew - soprano
Fiona Knight - soprano

Programme:

Bizet
Prelude ‘Carmen’
“Parlemoi de ma mère” from Act 1 of ‘Carmen’
“Habanera” from Act 1 of ‘Carmen’
“Votre Toast” from Act 2 of ‘Carmen’
“March of the toreadors” from ‘Carmen’
“Au fond du temple saint” from ‘Les Pecheurs de Perles’

Verdi
“Va pensiero” from ‘Nabucco’
Overture from ‘La forza del destino’
Anvil chorus from ‘Il Trovatore’

Puccini
“Quando m’en vo” from ‘La Boheme’
“Nessun Dorma” from ‘Turandot’

J. Strauss
“Csardas” from ‘Die Fledermaus’
“Chacun à son gout” from ‘Die Fledermaus’
“Brüderlein” from ‘Die Fledermaus’

Delibes
“Dôme épais” from ‘Lakmé’

A. L. Webber
“All I ask of you”
“Amigos para siempre”

Programme subject to change.
As at 12 May 2010

 

This article from Opera News tracks the progress of China through the eyes of two generations of Western-based singers: Metropolitan Opera house bass Tian Hao Jiang and 2007 Cardiff Singer of the World winner, bass-baritone Shenyang. Its interesting for so many reasons, not least for featuring two Asians who have made it through the international opera scene (and not by playing a suicidal geisha), their first person perspectives of a country making it through tumultuous times, and the love and kindness of Renee Fleming:

http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2010/5/Features/Face_to_Face.html

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