Hi all,
This is my maiden post after lurking for quite a bit (both here and on the
previous .org list. I've got a couple of questions here that have been
bugging me for ages.
First, is there such a thing as a large-voiced soubrette? As in, a soubrette
voice that's large enough to reach the end of a 2000+ seater while sounding
as if she's not 5 feet away from you and yet not be classified as a lyric ?
I was sitting at the back of such a theatre and realised that while a
particular soprano (she's probably unknown to you all...a Singaporean named
Wong Su San) could be heard, she sounded really far away..her voice sounded
really distant. She's played among other things, Adele in Die Fledermaus (in
a much smaller house...probably a 1500 capacity theatre)and I was wondering
if smallness in voice is a characteristic of the soubrette. If so, how does
the Met get good-voiced Adeles and all?
Also, there's only ONE opera company in my country (Singapore) and not being
very well-funded/subsidised, we often recycle the singers for all our
productions. This means of course, that I've not heard many opera singers
live, which I believe is so different from hearing them on record.
Therefore, I'd like to know how they stand (a very subjective issue I know)
with regards to the Dessays and the Te Kanawas of the world. Singers like
Nancy Yuen (a spinto who's sung Mdm Butterfly all over Australia and UK,
most recently at the Royal Albert Hall) Andrew Forbes-Lane (a British tenor)
and Wong Ke Wei (a Chinese baritone based in the USA). They all sound
fabulous here but then again, the only other big opera singer we've had so
far is coloratura soprano Sumi Jo and her intonation during her one-night
recital was not at all like that in her recordings so we can't really make a
comparison since she might have had an off-night.
Comments from anyone will be deeply appreciated. Thanks!
Valerie Oh
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