[LJ2ME] Sumi Joy
ryanfoster and I couldn't help but share a conspiratorial smirk over the Sumi Jo interview in the papers yesterday, where she was quoted as saying "I did lots of encores and afterwards I fainted.". Here, she is referencing her last concert in Singapore back in 2004.
We attended that very same concert and while Jo's memory may have failed her, ours are still razor-sharp, and as fact is stranger than fiction, she did NOT give "lots of encores".
Curtain calls (or stage calls, if you must be a stickler for details) yes, but encores, no. There was just that one Korean folk song about some mountain. We certainly didn't appreciate that. And further points deducted for no autograph session after.
So it is with no hard feelings that we both forgive her for what happened (or didn't happen for the matter) that time. Of course, we're feeling much more appeased and benevolent after her concert last evening where she redeemed herself.
What an entertaining evening! Jo was the very antithesis of a prima donna diva as she clearly let her hair and guard down as she had fun at this party and no one and nothing was going to rain on her parade.
First things first, the gowns! When she first took the stage, it was in a second-skin mermaid-inspired turquoise-blue sequinned number complete with beaded and bejeweled flower appliqués. Squeezing her lithe frame into the dress was one thing but to fill it out so enticingly was another. Why, even we found it distracting and hard to concentrate with the ?unintentional show of cleavage.
After the intermission, she changed into a red-pink gown with an encrusted bodice and the piece-de-resistance was the attached tulle roses in varying shades of red, pink, purple, gold and yellow cascading down the entire skirt. Even the slightest movement sent the floral reliefs rustling and shaking in tandem with her actions.
Jo's timbre was audibly smaller and thinner than when she was last here, but still, the markings of a star soprano are unmistakable. She could not have been faulted for her technique, making up for sheer impact with subtle intentions. Fining her voice to a mere thread, she floated heavenly pianissimi into the highest notes and was breathtaking in her delivery and projection.
She interacted with the musicians and the conductor, with appropriate acknowledgement of their collaboration. Many kisses were exchanged. Smiles were wreathed on everyone's faces. Jo was a force unstoppable, as she won the capacity audience over with her coloratura and her stage presence. It was a girlish yet confident woman we saw, where she giggled and jogged out of the backstage area.
In the Glitter and Be Gay, she dramatised her reading with spot-on acting, checking her nails and then standing with arms on hips akimbo. Her delusional laughter and choked sobbing were artifices of theatre.
When the microphone for her first set of songs from the lighter repertory of operettas and musicals was not removed after the intermission. She yoo-hoo'ed for the crew to come out only to be ignored. Maestro Lim Yau gentlemanly stepped up and lowering the offending article off the stage, he asked someone in the front row to "be a good boy" and set it down on the floor, the the mirth and merriment and applause of the house.
Redemption came at evening's end, where her three encore pieces were worth the ticket price alone. O mio babbino caro was exquisite in her light-as-a-feather floated pianissimi. In The Blue Danube Waltz, she mock deflated at the end with an "Aiyah!" and stopped to mop her brow and fan herself and catch her breath before hurtling to the brilliant top note climax.
Standing ovations were the order of the day and she begged to be let off as she didn't have any more songs and had to rush to the airport to catch her Beijing-bound flight. To this, the applause redoubled and she was moved to acquiescence.
She pointed out in the audience some Korean compatriots and proceeded to close the evening aptly with a lullaby that was all smoky shades and velvety textures. Requesting for the house lights to be dimmed and for her own personal spotlight, she was bathed in a warm glow that added to the magic. It was perfection and we were lulled to grant her leave.
Vilja Song
Glitter and Be Gay
"C'est bien l'air que chaque matin
Je veux vivre
Sempre libera
O mio babbino caro
The Blue Danube Waltz
We attended that very same concert and while Jo's memory may have failed her, ours are still razor-sharp, and as fact is stranger than fiction, she did NOT give "lots of encores".
Curtain calls (or stage calls, if you must be a stickler for details) yes, but encores, no. There was just that one Korean folk song about some mountain. We certainly didn't appreciate that. And further points deducted for no autograph session after.
So it is with no hard feelings that we both forgive her for what happened (or didn't happen for the matter) that time. Of course, we're feeling much more appeased and benevolent after her concert last evening where she redeemed herself.
What an entertaining evening! Jo was the very antithesis of a prima donna diva as she clearly let her hair and guard down as she had fun at this party and no one and nothing was going to rain on her parade.
First things first, the gowns! When she first took the stage, it was in a second-skin mermaid-inspired turquoise-blue sequinned number complete with beaded and bejeweled flower appliqués. Squeezing her lithe frame into the dress was one thing but to fill it out so enticingly was another. Why, even we found it distracting and hard to concentrate with the ?unintentional show of cleavage.
After the intermission, she changed into a red-pink gown with an encrusted bodice and the piece-de-resistance was the attached tulle roses in varying shades of red, pink, purple, gold and yellow cascading down the entire skirt. Even the slightest movement sent the floral reliefs rustling and shaking in tandem with her actions.
Jo's timbre was audibly smaller and thinner than when she was last here, but still, the markings of a star soprano are unmistakable. She could not have been faulted for her technique, making up for sheer impact with subtle intentions. Fining her voice to a mere thread, she floated heavenly pianissimi into the highest notes and was breathtaking in her delivery and projection.
She interacted with the musicians and the conductor, with appropriate acknowledgement of their collaboration. Many kisses were exchanged. Smiles were wreathed on everyone's faces. Jo was a force unstoppable, as she won the capacity audience over with her coloratura and her stage presence. It was a girlish yet confident woman we saw, where she giggled and jogged out of the backstage area.
In the Glitter and Be Gay, she dramatised her reading with spot-on acting, checking her nails and then standing with arms on hips akimbo. Her delusional laughter and choked sobbing were artifices of theatre.
When the microphone for her first set of songs from the lighter repertory of operettas and musicals was not removed after the intermission. She yoo-hoo'ed for the crew to come out only to be ignored. Maestro Lim Yau gentlemanly stepped up and lowering the offending article off the stage, he asked someone in the front row to "be a good boy" and set it down on the floor, the the mirth and merriment and applause of the house.
Redemption came at evening's end, where her three encore pieces were worth the ticket price alone. O mio babbino caro was exquisite in her light-as-a-feather floated pianissimi. In The Blue Danube Waltz, she mock deflated at the end with an "Aiyah!" and stopped to mop her brow and fan herself and catch her breath before hurtling to the brilliant top note climax.
Standing ovations were the order of the day and she begged to be let off as she didn't have any more songs and had to rush to the airport to catch her Beijing-bound flight. To this, the applause redoubled and she was moved to acquiescence.
She pointed out in the audience some Korean compatriots and proceeded to close the evening aptly with a lullaby that was all smoky shades and velvety textures. Requesting for the house lights to be dimmed and for her own personal spotlight, she was bathed in a warm glow that added to the magic. It was perfection and we were lulled to grant her leave.
Vilja Song
Click to viewGlitter and Be Gay
"C'est bien l'air que chaque matin
Je veux vivre
Sempre libera
O mio babbino caro
The Blue Danube Waltz