Chinese art songs take centre stage in Lirica Arts’ adventurous series

Besides presenting chamber opera productions, Lirica Arts, led by Singaporean baritone Martin Ng, also lives up to its name by promoting the cause of art songs.

- Chang Tou Liang

Baritone Martin Ng (right) leads Lirica Arts, which has been promoting the cause of art songs in its Songs Of Our Forefathers series.

(CHRIS P. LIM)

In the third concert of its Songs Of Our Forefathers series, some 19 Chinese art songs were performed, illustrating the sheer variety within this genre.

The Chinese language provided several millennia of source material, from Han Dynasty (200BC to AD200) texts through to the present day.

Although the songs were presented in Mandarin, the projected surtitles in Chinese and English were a boon.

Beginning with songs accompanied by pianist Beatrice Lin, the evening felt like a recital of German lieder. Chinese soprano Peng Ying opened with three songs - Li Yan's The Green Jadeite Bowl (On The First Night Of The New Year), Wang Long's The Ornamented Zither and Fu Jing's Qing Ming (Tomb Sweeping Day), based on Han verse.