Wednesday, July 19, 2006
The Singapore Lyric Opera, NUS Centre for the Arts, NAFA Music Department and Mr Leow Siak Fah present
A Concert Reading of excerpts from
FENCES OF THE HEART
An Opera
Music by John Sharpley
Libretto by Robert Yeo
Based on a storyline conceptualised by Leow Siak Fah
NUS Centre for the Arts
19 July 2006, 7:30pm
Singapore
Some comments from my friends and I:
1. In the aria TORN, it is not understood why Nora uses Malay words, especially after she has been in England for a pretty long time and is more likely to go with the English way of life.
2. Not sure if it was the choice of arias for this excerpted reading, but the middle was terribly slow that I lost focus of the work.
3. Witty play of words and music together, e.g. "Tengku Abdul Rahman" and "Lee Kuan Yew" and how Nora and Steven banter in the opening scene
4. Interesting harmonies, particularly love them in "A Home is not a Hotel" – coupled with the lush orchestration it just sweeps one off into the air. Quirky bits of orchestration here and there, I couldn’t stop laughing especially in the Prologue.
5. Singers should have been more careful about singing important words correctly. For instance Mrs Lee sang "Chinese girls" liking Indian girls, which, if there wasn’t a copy of the libretto flashed onto the screen we’d all presume and digest this new fact that Chinese girls in those days are lesbians. And Mr Lee should be more careful about singing "England" rather than "China" because again, without the script it makes no sense, especially when Mrs Lee reiterates that "China is just a dream".
6. Choir parts quite uninteresting, which made the music and the show half as grand.
7. Don't understand why that kind of "traditional" Chinese-styled music was chosen for Mr and Mrs Lee – very stereotypical effect. The music those people listened to then would be Mandarin pop favourites of that era, perhaps Dr Sharpley could research into music of that era. For the gamelan too, a bit inappropriate since it's a modern Malay family in Malaysia, and the gamelan is indigenous to Indonesia.
8. Not a terribly interesting story – the middle part is taken up by conversations between Steven/Nora and the respective parents as they argue to come to a conclusion. I dread sitting through listening to such stuff all the way.
9. Weird to hear the Malay words sung in an operatic manner.
¶ 7/19/2006 11:21:00 pm A Concert Reading of excerpts from
FENCES OF THE HEART
An Opera
Music by John Sharpley
Libretto by Robert Yeo
Based on a storyline conceptualised by Leow Siak Fah
NUS Centre for the Arts
19 July 2006, 7:30pm
Singapore
Some comments from my friends and I:
1. In the aria TORN, it is not understood why Nora uses Malay words, especially after she has been in England for a pretty long time and is more likely to go with the English way of life.
2. Not sure if it was the choice of arias for this excerpted reading, but the middle was terribly slow that I lost focus of the work.
3. Witty play of words and music together, e.g. "Tengku Abdul Rahman" and "Lee Kuan Yew" and how Nora and Steven banter in the opening scene
4. Interesting harmonies, particularly love them in "A Home is not a Hotel" – coupled with the lush orchestration it just sweeps one off into the air. Quirky bits of orchestration here and there, I couldn’t stop laughing especially in the Prologue.
5. Singers should have been more careful about singing important words correctly. For instance Mrs Lee sang "Chinese girls" liking Indian girls, which, if there wasn’t a copy of the libretto flashed onto the screen we’d all presume and digest this new fact that Chinese girls in those days are lesbians. And Mr Lee should be more careful about singing "England" rather than "China" because again, without the script it makes no sense, especially when Mrs Lee reiterates that "China is just a dream".
6. Choir parts quite uninteresting, which made the music and the show half as grand.
7. Don't understand why that kind of "traditional" Chinese-styled music was chosen for Mr and Mrs Lee – very stereotypical effect. The music those people listened to then would be Mandarin pop favourites of that era, perhaps Dr Sharpley could research into music of that era. For the gamelan too, a bit inappropriate since it's a modern Malay family in Malaysia, and the gamelan is indigenous to Indonesia.
8. Not a terribly interesting story – the middle part is taken up by conversations between Steven/Nora and the respective parents as they argue to come to a conclusion. I dread sitting through listening to such stuff all the way.
9. Weird to hear the Malay words sung in an operatic manner.
