Exclusive coverage by Steven Ang

iven the general dearth of quality vocal events in Singapore, the 2^nd annual Festa Canzone Art Song Festival that was held over the weekend of 15-17^th April was a much needed jab at reviving audience interests, serving as a good primer to the upcoming megashows of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra’s (SSO) Beethoven’s 9^th and the Singapore Lyric Opera’s (SLO) Madama Butterfly (and some might add Kylie Minogue’s Showgirls tour). Held entirely at the Esplanade recital studio and organized by the newly formed Classical Singers Association, this was three entire days packed with recitals, masterclasses for singers and pianists, and the first Art Song Competition for the festival.

I was invited to attend two consecutive evenings on the 16^th and 17^th of May that featured the best young singers selected from intense rounds of competition, and recital presentations by the Korean baritone Roh Jae Bum, Singaporean Anna Koor, and Filipino and SLO favorite Rachelle Gerodias, all accompanied by pianist Dr Hong Pei-Chi from Taiwan. It was truly one of the best vocal events that I have attended so far this year.

The first event on the 16^th of May was the grand finals of the competition. Quality was pretty much assured given that these 8 participants were the best of nearly fifty contestants (‘Quality’ being the operative word here, seeing the numerous recitals taking place of dodgy standards, which most audiences are so tired of.) Hosted by the suave and eloquent Leslie Tay, the competition was a great showcase of what these young contestants have to offer. Some participants came even from as far as Thailand and Malaysia.

Baritone Melvin Tan was the first to face the guillotine erm… judges, Koreans Master Kim Shin-Wah and Roh Jae Bum, Rachelle Gerodias, Anna Koor and Taiwanese pianist Dr Hong Pei-Chi.

Melvin, previously featured in an Inkpot review of his recital French Connections and Atlantic Bridges together with the night’s host Leslie Tay, showed off his milky baritone in a sensitive delivery of four songs by Vaughan-Williams, Wolf, Brahms and Tchaikovsky. Chew Keng Soon from Malaysia overwhelmed the audience with his booming bass, nailing Beethoven’s haunting In Questa Tomba Oscura (In this Hidden Tomb) with his chilling low notes. Young Evelyn Toh is a potential Mozart/(Rosenkavalier) Strauss soprano in the making; a warm, sensual sound caressing her lyrical numbers. Rebecca Chellappah, the sole mezzo still competing, connected strongly with the audiences through light comedic numbers such as Pauline Viardot’s Hai Luli! And Macdowell’s The Blue Bell, which finely suited her milk-chocolatey timbre.

After the interval, the four remaining sopranos continued the battle. Samitra Suwannarit’s soubrette soprano was a picture of gentle articulateness and showed great joy in communicating. Chong Wei Min’s sweet lyric coloratura gave an impressive delivery of the Chinese art song Qi Yue De Cao Yuan (The Grasslands in July). Chin Yen Lin, the second coloratura on the bill, stood out with a voice that is distinctively bright and steely in timbre. Her interpretation of the Chinese song Wo Ai Ni, Sai Bei de Xue (I Love You, Snow of Saibei) was interesting for its approach, with authentically ornamented slides and vocal ornaments that are unique to Chinese folk songs. Tan Sim Sim, the third coloratura and a possible spinto, showed an impressively solid technique with a strongly projected voice that not only filled up the recital studio but reverberated across the room and enabling her to show off any number of skills from explosive forte singing to tackling coloratura runs to floating pianissimos. Even though I thought her presentation could have used a bit more sensitivity, her dramatic stage presence drew the mesmerized audience to her.