Concert review: SLO Chorus concert offers mixed bag of operatic treats

SLO Adult Chorus In Concert

Singapore Lyric Opera Chorus
Esplanade Recital Studio
Sunday, 5pm

One underrated aspect of opera performance is the role of the chorus. Much of the atmosphere and spirit of an opera production is missing if the chorus is absent.

What would Bizet’s Carmen, Verdi’s Aida or Puccini’s Turandot be without the chorus there to comment on onstage happenings and stir up audience engagement?

The Singapore Lyric Opera (SLO) Chorus has had a storied history since the company’s earliest days, and is still peopled by talented amateur singers, whose love of music (and acting) surpasses all other considerations.

Led by conductor Terrence Toh and accompanied by pianist Dale Huang, the 30-strong SLO Adult Chorus performed excerpts from three operas featured in its 2022-2023 season.

Its members sauntered in with an air of informality, waving at the audience. This was not going to be too serious an affair.

Champagne was uncorked with choruses from Johann Strauss The Younger’s popular operetta Die Fledermaus, including Ein Souper Heut Uns Winkt (A Supper Beckons Us Today) and Im Feuerstrom Der Reben (In The Firestorm From The Vines), which were delightful.

Bruderlein Und Schwesterlein (Little Brothers And Sisters) and the intoxicating finale, O Fledermaus, were included later, and it would have been nicer had the chorus sung these from memory.

The audience also had a taste of Pietro Mascagni’s verismo opera Cavalleria Rusticana, set for a semi-staging in November, with Gli Aranci Olezzano (The Scent Of Oranges) and A Casa, A Casa (Let Us Go Homewards), a carefree evocation of peasant life during Easter.

Despite its relatively small size, the chorus projected well, and captured much of the music’s spirit.

Opportunities were afforded to no fewer than 19 singers in a series of arias, duets and ensembles, distending the concert to about 140 minutes. The solos were wildly variable, from bathroom singers to more competent performers, though one exceptional voice stood out.

However, one wondered what possessed a soprano to attempt Puccini’s Nessun Dorma (Turandot), which usually taxes the best of tenors.

Another bravely scaled the heights of Bellini’s Casta Diva (Norma), but wobbled perilously and blotted fond memories of Diana Damrau’s fine account just a week before.

Some singers were born to act. Zoey Li’s account of Purcell’s When I Am Laid In Earth (Dido And Aeneas) was so believable, one knew she was going to hang herself; while bass Hugo Van Bever’s over-the-top role in Rossini’s La Calunnia (The Barber Of Seville) was pure theatrical buffo.

Tenor Dennis Lin in Jules Massenet’s Pourquoi Me Reveiller (Werther) was a portrait of angst and vulnerability.

Stealing the show by a country mile, however, was Fumiko Ogasawara in Bizet’s Micaela’s Air (Carmen), with singing and acting that were exemplary on both counts. She could easily walk into the main casts of any company’s productions.

Closing the show was the rousing Bell Chorus from Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci, also scheduled for November. As a showcase and campaign to recruit new members, the revitalised SLO Chorus could not have done a better job.