[LJ2ME] Sumi Wrestling
Like her previous excursions with the SSO, Sumi Jo drew the crowds like the proverbial beggars to the feast. The audience sat entranced and enraptured as they lapped up the aural treat of this "voice from above", a title bestowed by the late great Karajan.
The crowd favourite was undoubtedly the "Doll Song" where Jo gamingly hammed it up to the hilt. ryanfoster and I shared a worried "Where's the fan?" look before heaving a sigh of relief as she picked up the prop off the conductor's stand.
In a work as much visual as it was aural, Jo's personification of the marionette was spot-on, with the stock sight gags down pat. The vocal demands of the piece were overlooked as the drama overshadowed the music, but this was not to say that Jo did not deliver the goods.
The requisite winding down was executed with comedic timing and conductor Lim Yau cranked her up accordingly to the laughter and applause of the house. Possessed of seemingly inexhaustible breath control, she ended the work on a high with an extended note held on end as she mock amplified her projection by fanning it out to the audience.
In "Caro nome", Jo's limpid voice and crooning rendition served up a melting declaration of love, the warbling decorations lifting the reading to loftier planes. At the end, a breathtaking crescendo and diminuendo messa di voce was projected to a silent hall, hushed in reverence.
The mad scene of Hamlet closed the programme with an appropriate displacement of being, the treacherous score hardly fazing our heroine as she trilled her way to the sparkling finish.
Jo accorded three encores, stating emphatically that the third was the last one by doing a *cut-throat* action across her neck, drawing applause and amusement. She candidly spoke of how the evening's programme was difficult for her, having never performed a couple of the works ever before.
Why, she even admitted as much as having made "a lot of mistakes" in Gounod's Romeo and Juliette not that I knew or noticed. She added that she didn't do justice to the beautiful "Depuis le jour" from Louise which only drew louder applause when she thanked the audience for giving her a chance and that she will try harder next time.
The first encore offered up was Gershwin's "Summertime" which was a little suspect in enunciation and her timbre lacking the a full-bodied ripeness to better convey the "feeling" of the old South, but Jo's pianissimi which she dipped into now and again won favour.
Sticking to a tried and tested familiar favourite, she embodied joie de vivre with an effervescent display of "Je veux vivre" before closing off with her default "O mio babbino caro" which she dedicated to her father.
Showing again that she was human, as the orchestra swelled in the introduction, she composed herself for her entry only to flub it, and good-naturedly begged for the maestro to begin again, where she proceeded to caress the aria to death.
Not in top form? Made a mistake? Missed a cue? No worries, you're too nice for us to hold it against you. Just promise to come back and we'll be there for you.
The crowd favourite was undoubtedly the "Doll Song" where Jo gamingly hammed it up to the hilt. ryanfoster and I shared a worried "Where's the fan?" look before heaving a sigh of relief as she picked up the prop off the conductor's stand.
In a work as much visual as it was aural, Jo's personification of the marionette was spot-on, with the stock sight gags down pat. The vocal demands of the piece were overlooked as the drama overshadowed the music, but this was not to say that Jo did not deliver the goods.
The requisite winding down was executed with comedic timing and conductor Lim Yau cranked her up accordingly to the laughter and applause of the house. Possessed of seemingly inexhaustible breath control, she ended the work on a high with an extended note held on end as she mock amplified her projection by fanning it out to the audience.
In "Caro nome", Jo's limpid voice and crooning rendition served up a melting declaration of love, the warbling decorations lifting the reading to loftier planes. At the end, a breathtaking crescendo and diminuendo messa di voce was projected to a silent hall, hushed in reverence.
The mad scene of Hamlet closed the programme with an appropriate displacement of being, the treacherous score hardly fazing our heroine as she trilled her way to the sparkling finish.
Jo accorded three encores, stating emphatically that the third was the last one by doing a *cut-throat* action across her neck, drawing applause and amusement. She candidly spoke of how the evening's programme was difficult for her, having never performed a couple of the works ever before.
Why, she even admitted as much as having made "a lot of mistakes" in Gounod's Romeo and Juliette not that I knew or noticed. She added that she didn't do justice to the beautiful "Depuis le jour" from Louise which only drew louder applause when she thanked the audience for giving her a chance and that she will try harder next time.
The first encore offered up was Gershwin's "Summertime" which was a little suspect in enunciation and her timbre lacking the a full-bodied ripeness to better convey the "feeling" of the old South, but Jo's pianissimi which she dipped into now and again won favour.
Sticking to a tried and tested familiar favourite, she embodied joie de vivre with an effervescent display of "Je veux vivre" before closing off with her default "O mio babbino caro" which she dedicated to her father.
Showing again that she was human, as the orchestra swelled in the introduction, she composed herself for her entry only to flub it, and good-naturedly begged for the maestro to begin again, where she proceeded to caress the aria to death.
Not in top form? Made a mistake? Missed a cue? No worries, you're too nice for us to hold it against you. Just promise to come back and we'll be there for you.