Name: Prima la musica e poi le parole
Start: 2021-12-03T00:00:00.000Z
End: 2021-12-05T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

Organization

Singer

Soprano

Joyce Lee Tung

Madame Herz

Tenor

Jonathan Mark Macpherson

Monsieur Vogelsang

Bass

David Tao

Buff

Conductor

Boon Hua Lien

Stage director

Xinxin Tang

Lighting designer

Dorothy Png

Set designer

Costume designer

Sylvia Lee

Eleonora

Tonina

Daniel Fong

Il compositore

Il Poeta

Mademoiselle Silberklang

The Singapore Lyric Opera

Orchestra

The Singapore Lyric Opera Orchestra

Italian

German

Prima la musica e poi le parole -  (First the Music and Then the Words)

Singapore

Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay

Theatre

Prima la musica e poi le parole Salieri (+1 More)

Public

First the Music and Then the Words

The Impresario

English

Chinese

Approved

What would you do if you had to write an opera in four days? In Salieri’s Prima la musica e poi le parole (“First the music and then the words”), set in 1780s Vienna, the Maestro wants the Poet to set text to existing music he had already composed (hence the title), to the Poet’s protest. However, the battle between Maestro and Poet is just the warm up. The two men then audition sopranos, Eleonora and Tonina who demonstrate dramatic prowess and versatility with their respective arias; to the audience of both men providing comedic effects along the way. Sparks fly when the two sopranos meet for the first time, each wanting to perform a newly composed aria…and they both want to go first.

In the modern adaptation of Mozart’s Der Schauspieldirektor “The Impresario”, two sopranos (once again!) Madame Herz and Mademoiselle Silberklang, battle it out over high notes to be the prima donna of the Impresario’s new opera company. The tenor Vogelsang (hmm tenor…) intervenes but would it make things better or worse?

Both works were initially performed at a competition held in 1786 at the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. It is the evergreen battle between the sopranos, between Mozart and Salieri, between period and modern productions, but this time, you decide who wins.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble