the mad scene

I was pleasantly surprised when it was announced that Taiwanese Tai Hsiao Chun would be singing the Queen of the Night at the SLO’s upcoming Magic Flute, as I was quite impressed by her Lucia di Lammermoor in January in Taipei this year. No singer is perfect of course and since its my first live Lucia its unfair to make comparisons with the great sopranos on recordings, but suffice to say that the SLO had found in Tai Hsiao Chun a genuine coloratura soprano; displaying effortless, crystal clear, floating high notes while milking the traditional flute cadenza for all it was worth.

Now we know that the SLO hasn’t had the best of luck finding coloraturas sopranos (Tales of Hoffmann anyone?) But suffice to say that by my estimation Tai should be able to fill these shoes and then some. In fact, the Queen of the Night is Tai’s most performed role, having chalked up over 10 productions throughout her career, so Singaporean audiences should have something to look forward to come 22 July.

So naturally I had to meet up with Hsiao Chun for an interview, and what better way to discuss her upcoming gig in Singapore than by treating her to Ya Kun toast and curry puffs at Taipei Main Station? Unfortunately the soprano had just came from lunch after performing the Queen of the Night in a morning school production of The Magic Flute (NOW do you believe its her most famous role?), and wasn’t quite hungry enough for more snacks (which just meant more home-town goodness for me).

Regular readers of this blog know that I often refer to myself as a coloratura soprano trapped in a baritone’s body (a dramatic-spinto-lyrico-coloratura-soprano to be specific), so naturally its quite a thrill to be discussing favourite roles and divas with the real deal. Our conversation took place in Chinese and was instantly translated and transcribed in English (Singaporeans should not take for granted our ability to converse in multiple languages at the same time, sometimes up to 4 languages in a conversation conversation. You have no idea how much other people envy us for that.) Here’s the discussion that followed:

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The Mad Scene: Thank you for doing this interview with The Mad Scene. First I have to tell you that I loved your Lucia di Lammermoor in January. What are your feelings on that performance?

Hsiao Chun: Thank you! I felt that I gave a very committed in the performance, as I identified with the role very much. I did a lot of work to understand her mood and background, to communicate her feelings through her dialogue and interaction with other characters. During that performance I felt that I really am Lucia, having invested a lot of energy in the role. There was still a lot musically to work on, but hopefully with more opportunities to perform the role, I will have more room to develop it. To fully work on drama and music as a whole you need more opportunities for both sides to develop together onstage; and I am still continuing training. When you are preparing a role you won’t criticize yourself much, but after the performance I need to self-examine to improve. It would be wonderful if I could play the role again. Being able to repeat a role gives the singer much more license to improve and take chances.

The Mad Scene: As long as we are talking about repeating roles, the Queen of the Night is apparently one of your signature roles. How many times have you sung it?

Hsiao Chun: Wow many many times! Of course I am saying this in an Asian context, as we don’t have the opportunities like Europeans to perform the same role hundreds of times, but if I were to give a ballpark figure… over 15 times in 5 productions maybe. While I was a student in Tunghai (Taichung) and Cleveland, Taipei Symphony Orchestra (TSO) this January… I fact I just came from a TSO children’s concert production of The Magic Flute, today!

The Mad Scene: How do you identify with the role of Queen of the Night?

Hsiao Chun: She is a person who likes to control others; she always has a motive when approaching others, so that on the surface she looks good, but that is really just a way to get to her goal, which she will use any means to achieve it.

The Mad Scene: Some people say that she is really misunderstood, as her husband gave what should rightfully be hers to Sarastro, just because she is a woman. Do you agree?

Hsiao Chun: You could say that she has some vulnerability, but I think that she is really a villain, who acts nice when only when necessary, such as in the beginning when persuading Tamino to rescue her daughter.

The Mad Scene: What is your favourite part of The Magic Flute?

Hsiao Chun: Hard to pin down, I think all the music is nice. The plot can seem messy at parts, if not properly directed it can seem too solemn and boring, but taking the music in parts, every tune is lovely. As The Magic Flute is one of Mozart’s last works, and his health was not so good, it was probably understandable that some parts of the plot and music don’t connect very well, but still it’s a great piece of music drama.

The Mad Scene: How about a particular aria, if voice parts are not an issue?

Hsiao Chun: There are plenty of nice arias in the opera, even if the role may not be dramatically interesting. Acting wise probably Papageno, for his comical presence. I love the duet by Pamina and Tamino, the music is very well written, and also the trio of children, their music is so cute! Perhaps one of the 3 Ladies too, their music seems very meaningful and fun, especially when they are fighting each other while trying to seduce Tamino!

The Mad Scene: You want to sing the 3 Ladies? Don’t most Queen of the Nights prefer to move on the Pamina?

Hsiao Chun: Well her too, but don’t underestimate the importance of these three roles! They may not be leading parts with big arias, but their music requires a very high level of musicianship and technique. In fact its industry practice that a singer who has the three ladies on their resumes can ask for a higher fee than others.

Of course the Queen of the Night is also a supporting role albeit a bigger one, but one shouldn’t underestimate its challenges, which are very different from a role like Lucia for instance. The first aria has only one high ‘F’, so many non-coloraturas can still sing it in concert. However the second aria is so sustained in that high register that it requires a true coloratura voice to pull it off. You need to sing no less than 4 high ‘F’s! Dramatically too, because you have so little stage time you need to make an impact right away, to show the explosiveness of her anger the moment you get onstage.

The Mad Scene: Of all the roles you have sung, which is your favourite, and why?

Hsiao Chun: That’s really hard to say because I only sing the roles I love. When I research a role I may decide that I don’t like them, maybe like Queen of the Night I may not like her character, but dramatically and musically there’s so much I can do! With Lucia I think she’s such a poor thing… Gilda too, such poor things, and so many lovely things you can do musically, it really helps you really connect with the role and moment.

The Mad Scene: Who are your favourite Lucias and Queen of the Nights?

Hsiao Chun: For Lucia, Joan Sutherland, Gruberova, and Callas I guess, though not in any particular order. I find them all to be very good even with some defects here and there.

The Mad Scene: What if a friend asked for recommendations, whose recording would you recommend?

Hsiao Chun: Gruberova. Maybe it’s because I find many similarities between my voice and her’s.

The Mad Scene: And for Queen of the Night?

Hsiao Chun: Gruberova too! But I also saw a Dessay performance on YouTube; she had a very interesting interpretation where she played the Queen like a very kind mother, so that when she expressed anger, such as in the 2nd aria, she takes it in a slower, less explosive manner. I found it a very interesting take.

The Mad Scene: Well Dessay was the one who said that bit about the character being misunderstood, that I asked earlier…

Hsiao Chun: That’s one angle you can play with for sure, but that really depends on how the director sees the role, not so much for the actor to say. But if I am the director, I might want a soft, feminine character, someone who is heartbroken because my daughter refused to listen to me; if the director requests I can do that too. But to sing such high notes, its easier if you sing it fast, so part of the reason why Dessay so impressed me is because she could sing it at such a slow speed, to match the mood she wants to portray. It really depends on the singer if she is suited to sing at such a slow speed.

But however you choose to see the role, you have to portray the depth of her anger. Some singers choose to just show the anger, because they want to meet a goal and are losing patience; some are sad and angry because they lost a daughter, whereas some just want to kill. It really depends on what the directors want from the singers. But ultimately she is really furious in that crucial scene so it’s important for the singer to communicate that.

The Mad Scene: What if you are the director? Which side of her character would you choose to portray?

Hsiao Chun: Having sung the Queen so many times I would want to try every take. I may need up to 100 productions to fully explore the role! She may be a small role but she exerts a lot of influence, especially on Tamino and the audience. If you think that Tamino is being lied to in the beginning, it’s because he is moved by the emotions in her opening aria, more so than just the portrait of Pamina; so we have two ways to present her opening aria: either as a manipulator or simply a portrayal of genuine sadness.

The Mad Scene: Any other favourite singers?

Hsiao Chun: Well there is this Italian soprano, whose name I can’t recall now… I saw her sing a fantastic Traviata at 50 years old! In fact I saw clips of her Traviata at 30 and at 50, and I’m impressed by how little difference the voice sounded after so many years!

The Mad Scene: Let me guess who she is: Mirella Devia?

Hsiao Chun: Yes Devia! She has such a marvelous technique that she could still sing roles like Lucia at 60! And there is another singer I’ve heard, who also sang Queen of the Night at 60. Her name starts with ‘M’…

The Mad Scene: Edda Moser?

Hsiao Chun: Yes! Can you imagine still singing those high ‘F’s at 60? Amazing!

The Mad Scene: What is your impression of Singapore?

Hsiao Chun: Only good things really, that it’s a very good country, very efficient, and very clean. I’m guessing that the people should be very close. I’ve seen Money No Enough recently and have quite a good impression of your country.

The Mad Scene: That’s interesting, most Taiwanese I’ve met refer to I Not Stupid as the only Singaporean movie they’ve seen.

Hsiao Chun: Oh I didn’t see that, but Money No Enough just happened to be on TV so I watched it, so that I can learn more about Singapore.

The Mad Scene: OK, what is your favourite Mad Scene, and why?

Hsiao Chun: Oh Lucia of course! It’s so thrilling for me to sing it! Also I would love to sing the role of Ophelia in Thomas’s Hamlet. I’ve studied it in the studio but unfortunately have had no chance to play it. I Puritani too; I heard a rumour that I think Hong Kong is doing it, but I don’t have their contact.

The Mad Scene: Oh you could ask our Pamina perhaps, since she is now based in Hong Kong… but that’s provided she doesn’t want to sing it herself of course. You should know that we Singaporeans love her lovely round voice so much that we simply refer to her as “La Yuen”. So lastly, tell us why we should all attend SLO’s The Magic Flute?

Hsiao Chun: Because it’s a very interesting work, one of the best operas and theatre pieces really. You can see all kinds of characters in it. Good music and drama, and probably good singing too!

Tai Hsiao Chun gets really really ANGRY in the SLO’s production of The Magic Flute, opening on 23 July 2010. Ticket information available on the Events Page.

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