Wagner's Das Rheingold Programme Booklet

CO N C E R T I NF OR MATION

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CR E A T I V E AND P R ODUC TION TEAM

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G U E S T O F H ONOUR ’S MESSA G E

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O M M ’ S R I N G STOR Y

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AB O U T O M M

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AB O U T T HE R ING C YC LE

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S YN O P S I S

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UP C O M I N G C ONC ER TS

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AR T I S T B I O G R AP HIE S

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T H E M U S I C MAKE R S

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BO A R D & MANAG EMENT

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O U R D O NOR S

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S U P P O R T US

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s i n g a p o r e

p r e m i e r e

SAT 8 JULY 2023, 7.30PM ESPLANADE CONCERT HALL ORCHESTRA OF THE MUSIC MAKERS Joshua Kangming Tan CONDUCTOR Tang Xinxin DIRECTOR WOGLINDE

FRICKA

FROH

Teng Xiang Ting

Caitlin Hulcup

Florian Thomas

WELLGUNDE

WOTAN

DONNER

Victoria Songwei Li

Greer Grimsley

Michael Lam

FLOSSHILDE AND ERDA

FREIA

LOGE

Anna Harvey

Anita Watson

Tuomas Katajala

ALBERICH

FASOLT

MIME

Joachim Goltz

Yorck Felix Speer

Adrian Dwyer

FAFNER

Lukasz Konieczny With Felicia Teo as the Rhinegold (non-singing role)

RICHARD WAG N ER – DAS RH EI N GOLD (TH E RH I N EGOLD) SCENE 1 The Depths of the Rhine River [24’] SCENE 2 On a Mountain Top [39’] INTERMISSION [20’] SCENE 3 Nibelheim [26’] SCENE 4 On a Mountain Top [47’] Performed in German with English surtitles Concert duration: approximately 3 hours with a 20 minute intermission All durations stated are approximate

Microphones present are for recording purposes.

Photographs and videos will be taken at the event, in which you may appear. These may be published in OMM’s publicity channels and materials. By attending the event, you consent to the use of these photographs and videos for the foregoing purposes.

PREFERRED AIRLINE

CREATIVE TEAM CONDUCTOR Joshua Kangming Tan

PROJECTION DESIGNER Tan Wei Ting

DIRECTOR Tang Xinxin

PROJECTION PROGRAMMER Low Wee Cheng

PRODUCTION COORDINATOR AND STAGE MANAGER Mirabel Neo

LIGHTING DESIGNER Yo Shao Ann MAKEUP DESIGN Cat Scratch SFX

PRODUCTION TEAM PRODUCER Christopher Cheong ASSOCIATE PRODUCER Michael Huang ASSISTANT PRODUCERS Isaac Tah Kenny Ooi FINANCIAL CONTROLLER Neo Wei Qing SURTITLE PREPARATION Michael Huang SURTITLE OPERATOR Jorim Jireh Sim REPETITEURS Lim Yan Abigail Sin KEY ART Paul Shipper COLLATERAL DESIGN Chan Chen Chua Jay Roon PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS Edward Neo From The Rondo Production: Foo Donjie Sho Yong Shuen Tan Kai Xiang LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS Wu Tianhao Isaac Tah Regan Ho Nathanael Goh Goh Ying Xiang Muhammad Bin Roslee Charlotte Chong

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FANTASY ADVENTURE OUTREACH EVENT Rachael Chan PRODUCER Ang Zien Xu Lee Jinjun Natasha Lee Rei Lim Andre Ng Benedict Ng Diana Ong from Chinese Development Assistance Council Goh Kong Aik ANIMATED VIDEO Chan Chen PRODUCER Isaac Tah Yanhan Hoo Jolene Tan Gerald Wong Chris Tan Michael Huang Elizabeth Ip Kenny Ooi Chua Jay Roon PODCASTS Raven Lim PRODUCER Natasha Lee Andre Ng Rachael Chan Shridar Mani HOST and The Opera People OUTREACH EVENTS Katherine Wallace SPEAKER Richard Wagner Association (Singapore) AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING msm-productions (Singapore) Pte Ltd P RO G R A M M E B O O K L E T Chan Chen Michael Huang Elizabeth Ip Isaac Tah Special thanks to Opera North (UK)

GUEST OF HONOUR’S MESSAGE Congratulations to the Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) on your 15th Anniversary!

Established in 2008, OMM has grown remarkably into a symphony orchestra of over 140 highly-trained volunteer musicians under the mentorship of leading Singaporean conductor and Vice-Dean of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, Chan Tze Law. During the COVID-19 pandemic, OMM demonstrated tenacity, resilience and innovation to keep the music scene alive and provide continued support to local composers and freelance musicians. For example, OMM worked with venues like the Esplanade to trial pre-event testing procedures before they were rolled out broadly. OMM was awarded the COVID-19 Resilience Certificate in recognition of these efforts.

Tonight’s premiere of Das Rheingold is a fitting continuation of OMM’s critically acclaimed Singapore premiere of Wagner’s Die Walküre in January 2020. Die Walküre, the second opera in The Ring of the Nibelung tetralogy was staged just before the pandemic. Das Rheingold is a much-delayed and highly-anticipated follow-up to OMM’s ambitious plan to stage operas from the Ring cycle. These ground-breaking performances are historic milestones for the musical arts in Singapore. I am proud of the OMM musicians, arts managers and technicians who are passionate about the arts and willing to push boundaries to take on such musically complex and logistically challenging works.

OMM’s positive impact extends beyond the arts and to the wider community. Just last week, OMM conducted its first-ever Children’s Fantasy Adventure Day which gave over 100 young beneficiaries of the Chinese Development Assistance Council a special musical and operatic learning experience. I trust that OMM will continue to engage audiences from all walks of life and connect people and communities by bringing classical music to the wider public.

I wish OMM all the best for the future. May you pursue and fulfil even loftier musical ambitions. We look forward to more ground-breaking efforts from OMM that will set new heights and showcase your finest, artistic excellence.

LOW YEN LING Minister of State Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth Ministry of Trade and Industry

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OMM’S RING STORY Today’s concert has been a long 5 years in the making. After performing notable operatic and theatrical works such as Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Bernstein’s Mass around our 10th anniversary, we sat down at one of our planning meetings and thought about the possibility of staging operas from Wagner’s Ring cycle.

Despite Singapore’s significant development in the musical arts over the decades, it was surprising to us that these works had not been performed here before. The team thought it was overdue for Singapore to show to the world that our music community was ready to perform Wagner’s iconic and genre-defining operas.

We decided it was worth a shot and challenged ourselves to turn our dreams into reality.

Some of us visited performances of Wagner’s Ring operas in Budapest, Hong Kong, and Leipzig to get a better sense of what needed to be done. Along the way, many whom we talked to said we were very brave and wished us luck; others saw the significance of what we were doing and lent their support. We are extremely thankful to the organisations and individuals who have not only supported us financially, but also lent their time and shared their valuable expertise with us.

The Orchestra successfully performed and recorded Wagner’s Die Walküre in January 2020 and were originally due to perform Das Rheingold in August 2021, but COVID-19 had other plans for us. We are grateful that despite the hurdles, we can finally bring Das Rheingold to you in our 15th anniversary year.

Preparing for this production has been a long labour of love for us and we are glad to share it with you. Enjoy tonight’s historic performance, and here’s to many more years of music-making!

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ORCHESTRA OF THE MUSIC MAKERS “We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams.”

— Arthur O’Shaughnessy, “Ode”

OMM performing Die Walküre in January 2020

The Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) is a Singapore-based symphony orchestra established in 2008, comprising over 140 highly-trained volunteer musicians. Although many have chosen careers outside of music, our musicians are dedicated to the high standards of music-making and community work which OMM stands for. Under the mentorship of Chan Tze Law, a leading Singaporean conductor and Vice-Dean of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, OMM has become an integral part of Singapore’s classical music scene and has gained international repute.

Over the years, OMM has continued to challenge expectations by taking on works of epic proportions. Following the successful performances of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel and Bernstein’s Mass in 2017 and 2018 respectively, OMM presented the long overdue Singapore Premiere of Wagner’s Die Walküre in January 2020 to critical acclaim.

OMM was among the most active arts groups in Singapore during the COVID-19 pandemic, organising a wide array of digital productions, live performances, and outreach events between August 2020 to December 2021. Recordings of these digital productions have also been featured at the Expo 2020 Dubai, as well as on the Singapore Airlines Inflight Entertainment System.

Highlights of OMM's 2023-24 season include performances with Yevgeny Sudbin, the Singapore Premiere of Wagner's Das Rheingold, and two live-to-film concerts — Disney 100: The Sound of Magic and Star Wars: A New Hope.

Orchestra of the Music Makers Ltd. is supported by the National Arts Council under the Major Company Scheme for the period from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2025.

Website: www.orchestra.sg Facebook: @orchmusicmakers Instagram: @omm.sg TikTok: @omm.sg

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the Ring Cycle

WAG NER’ S VI SI ON FOR OPERA Richard Wagner was not just a composer. He was also a conductor, music theorist, poet, polemical writer, philosopher, and a stage director (amongst other roles). It was through the genre of opera that Wagner developed and expressed his all-encompassing creative vision: a consummate artistic experience unifying all art forms.

He described this artistic synthesis as Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total work of art”.

For Wagner, the theatre was serious business. He lambasted his contemporaries for treating opera as mere entertainment, with frivolous plots, mediocre libretti, formulaic structures, and gratuitous virtuosic displays. Instead, Wagner envisioned an organic artform that harkened back to the ideals of ancient Greek drama, integrating poetry, drama, stagecraft, music, song, and dance. His desire for a unified artistic vision led him to take the extraordinary decision to write his own libretto (the opera’s text) and detailed stage directions for all his operas. For Wagner, poetry, music, and stagecraft could not be arbitrarily combined — they had to be carefully synthesised.

He demanded serious, undivided attentiveness from his audience too. He was the first to darken the lights in a concert to create a heightened, hyper-focused theatrical experience.

In his 1851 essay, A Communication to My Friends, Wagner denounced the prevailing operatic styles of time and set forth his own vision for opera, declaring, “I shall never write an Opera more. As I have no wish to invent an arbitrary title for my works, I will call them Dramas….” In that same essay, he also announced his next project: “I propose to produce my myth in three complete dramas, preceded by a lengthy Prelude....”

This “myth” was none other than the monumental cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung).

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OR IG INS A ND L EGACY OF TH E MYTH Wagner’s public announcement of the Ring cycle in 1851 might suggest that it was near completion, but in fact he had scarcely begun. It would take him another twenty-three years to finish the cycle, a process replete with changes to names, titles, and plot points — the entire ending was reworked thrice!

Wagner had begun sketching his cycle as a single opera, Siegfrieds Tod, which recounted the mighty exploits and tragic death of the legendary hero Siegfried.

This would eventually morph into the last opera in the cycle, Götterdämmerung.

The source material for Wagner’s tale consisted of legendary Norse sagas, including the Icelandic Eddas and Völsungasaga, the Norwegian Thidrekssaga, and the Nibelungenlied, an epic poem nicknamed “the German Iliad”. During Wagner’s lifetime, there was a rising sense of nationalistic zeal in German-speaking lands to unite as one people. Wagner’s audiences would have recognised the stories from the Nibelungenlied as their shared cultural heritage. Ultimately, Wagner’s goal was to build a galvanising “national myth” for a unified German country that was yet to come.

After Wagner’s death, the sweeping soundscapes and lofty ambitions of his operas were taken down some dark paths in the 20th century. His music (together with Mozart’s and Bruckner’s) was widely appropriated as Nazi propaganda, and this was not helped by the fact that Wagner left behind several antisemitic writings.

We should note that, importantly, Wagner was never a Nazi — the party was only founded decades after his death — and there is no evidence that the Nazis referred to or were even aware of his writings (which some argue were products of his time).

Nevertheless, associations between Wagner and Nazism have strengthened over the course of the 20th century. As Alex Ross writes, “in an unsettling way, we now listen to Wagner through Hitler’s ears. I doubt that anyone would have been more confounded by this turn of events than Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism, who was deeply under Wagner’s spell.” It is important to look at these associations critically and think about whether such assumptions are indeed valid ones to hold today.

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C ON S T R U C T I NG THE R ING C YC LE By 1850, Wagner had completed the libretto and musical sketches for Siegfrieds Tod, but it was deemed insufficient — a preliminary opera, Der junge Siegfried (later renamed Siegfried), was needed for greater context. However, once this libretto was finished, Wagner’s creative ambition was not satisfied. For the “conveyance of [his] comprehensive purpose”, two more operas were necessary, forming a cycle of four operas in total. By the end of 1852, he would complete the verse drafts of Die Walküre and Das Rheingold.

Within this superstructure, Wagner applied the same structural ideas to the opening and closing operas.

Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung can be seen to each have the same prelude and trilogy structure as the Ring itself. In Das Rheingold, the first scene is separated in time from the remaining three, which happen consecutively one after another.

Once the structure of the cycle — “three dramas, with a lengthy prelude” — was defined, it would stay consistent throughout the rest of the writing and composition

Wagner wrote his libretto in reverse order, beginning with Siegfried’s death in the final opera and working backwards, but he would compose the music chronologically.

Beginning with Das Rheingold, he worked on the cycle intermittently, even pausing for over a decade to focus

process. Interestingly, Wagner never called the Ring cycle a tetralogy; instead, he always referred to it as a trilogy with a prelude (or prequel in today’s common parlance).

on other operas. Wagner eventually finished the music for the fourth and final opera, Götterdämmerung, in 1874.

At long last, the cycle was complete.

“The Death of Siegfried” by Howard Pyle (CC BY 2.0)

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WA G N E R ’ S S YMP HONIC F A B R IC In order to create a coherent narrative across four operas, Wagner had to engage in world-building and mythmaking. These processes are common in other genres, such as high fantasy and science fiction novels and graphic novels. Modern day films are also particularly adept at it, from The Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, to Dune and the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe. But for Wagner, the sheer scope of his creative vision was extraordinary for his time, casting a grand design over the four massive operas, freely cross-referencing plot details and thematic ideas over more than fifteen hours of music.

By writing his own libretti, Wagner had much greater control over the intricate links between text and music.

The philosopher Bryan Magee provided the following illustration – if the line is “Love gives delight to the living”, Wagner will stay in the same key throughout as these are compatible concepts. If the line is “Love brings delight and sorrow”, Wagner will change the key midway, teasing out the contrasting aspects of delight, and sorrow in his music. To do this, Magee writes that Wagner creates a “symphonic web of infinite plasticity”.

Wagner imbued the leitmotif with incredible flexibility and facility, so these themes could not only provide reminiscences and presentiments, but also show linkages between characters and dramatic events.

Strategically placed leitmotifs allow the orchestra to take the function of the ancient Greek chorus, commenting on events, speaking directly to the audience, and also suggesting links and contrasts between events.

For example, in Das Rheingold, Freia is described as the goddess of youth and love. Out of Freia’s leitmotif, Wagner develops an entire family of themes related to love. This musical connection between the person of Freia and the concept of love reveals an interesting parallel: by offering Freia as wages for having Valhalla built, Wotan is, like Alberich, renouncing love for power.

Wagner’s meticulous integration of vivid orchestration, harmonic language, and leitmotifs with his narratives tightened the dramatic structure of his operas.

Deryck Cooke described this web of ideas as a “unified symphonic fabric, built up by development, fragmentation, variation and transformation”.

When writing the music, Wagner utilised “reminiscence motifs”, themes which had already been played before, which the audience would create an association with, and remember, when they recurred later. He also utilised “presentiment motifs”, themes presented in whole or part, which prepare and foreshadow something that is to come.

Years later, the scholar Hans von Wolzogen created a new overarching term, the “leitmotif”, directly translated as leading motif, or “theme”, to encapsulate the reminiscence motif and presentiment motifs more broadly.

Today, there are many online resources which catalogue and analyse the hundreds of leitmotifs in Wagner’s Ring.

This technique provided many of today’s film music masters such as John Williams and Howard Shore, with a toolbox to engineer dramatic and emotional impact in their film scores.

These leitmotifs are not static unchanging objects, but are continuously developed and transformed, imbuing them with different meanings. Throughout the four operas, the leitmotif for Valhalla is often used to allude to Wotan himself. Initially in Das Rheingold, it is presented in a major key, clothed in the grandeur of a brass chorale. In this form it represents the splendour of the realm of the gods with forthright assurance. But as Wotan’s troubles deepen, the leitmotif transforms into a minor key, imbuing it with despair and anguish.

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T O TA L WO R K OF A R T In many ways, Das Rheingold exemplifies Wagner’s remarkable concept of a “total work of art”. His masterful synthesis of music, poetry, and stagecraft is on stunning display right from the opening bars. This iconic opening scene is a musical painting of the birth of creation and nature in its primordial state. A single E-flat major chord emerges from the depths of the orchestra, unfolding inexorably into a luminous sonic flood. When the Rhinemaidens appear, their innocence is represented by their initially unintelligible, joyous vocalisations, before intelligible words appear. The commentator Dieter Borchmeyer remarked, “not only do we see the origins of the world, we also witness the birth of language”. These Rhinemaidens exist in a state of fragile naïveté, unable to appreciate the seriousness of their task to guard the Rhinegold. When Alberich appears, his interactions with the Rhinemaidens taint the music with darkness and dissonance.

He subsequently steals the Rhinegold by renouncing love in exchange for dominion over nature, and destroys this harmonious state, precipitating the chain of corrupt, calamitous actions that launch this epic drama.

This is but a brief taste of the intricate myth and world which Wagner created in the Ring cycle. It can be an incredibly rewarding experience to delve deeply into its themes and ideas. Wagner's drama illuminates the many facets of the human condition with wit, clarity and compassion, resulting in its enduring recognition as one of the greatest artistic achievements of all time.

View of the spectators attending a performance in the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, ca. 1970 (CC BY 2.0) The Bayreuth Festspielhaus is the venue for the annual Bayreuth Festival, which is dedicated to performing Wagner’s operas.

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synopsis DRA M A T I S P E RSONAE | C A ST OF CH ARACTERS THE RHINEMAIDENS

THE GODS

THE NIBELUNGS

THE GIANTS

Woglinde Wellgunde Floßhilde

Wotan RULER OF THE GODS Fricka GODDESS OF MARRIAGE, WOTAN’S WIFE Loge DEMIGOD OF FIRE Freia GODDESS OF YOUTH AND LOVE Donner GOD OF THUNDER Froh GOD OF SPRING Erda GODDESS OF THE EARTH

Alberich RULER OF THE NIBELUNGS Mime ALBERICH’S BROTHER

Fasolt Fafner

P RO L O GU E : B E F OR E D A S R HE ING OLD In the beginning, the World-Ash-Tree stood at the base of the world, and in its shade bubbled the spring of wisdom.

The young god Wotan, eager for its wisdom, came to the spring.

In exchange for a drink of its water, Wotan plucked one of his eyes from its socket — such was the price of wisdom.

“Yggdrasill, the Mundane tree”, Baxter’s Patent Oil Printing, from a plate included in the English translation of the Prose Edda

by Oluf Olufsen Bagge (1847) (CC BY 2.0)

With his other eye, Wotan looked around the spring, and his gaze fell upon the boughs of the World-Ash. Thirsting for power, Wotan ripped a branch from the tree and fashioned himself a spear. Alas, the WorldAsh, wounded by his crime, withered away, and the spring of wisdom ran dry — such was the price of power.

Wotan carved his many treaties into the spear’s shaft, gaining power through the rule of law.

With the same spear he tamed Loge, the fickle demigod of fire, who would serve as his counsellor.

Years passed, and the gods desired a fortress for themselves. Wotan ordered two giants, Fasolt and Fafner, to build it for them.

Cunning Loge suggested the goddess of youth and love, Freia, as payment. In his greed, Wotan forfeited the goddess — such was the price of his fortress.

In time, Wotan saw his folly, but would not halt the fortress’s construction. Instead he urged Loge to find some other way to pay the giants.

Elsewhere, three Rhinemaidens, Woglinde, Floßhilde, and Wellgunde, stand watch through day and night. They have an onerous task — to guard the precious Rhinegold, hidden deep in the river Rhine. It is here that our story begins…

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1. N a t u r e l e i t m o t i f

A slow rising arpeggio, first played by the horns.

Initially it seems to represent just the river itself, but eventually the meaning broadens to encompass the whole of nature and creation.

2 . G o l d l e i tm o t i f

A bright fanfare, first played by the horn, announcing the appearance of the gold.

This will reappear in various forms, including some menacing, minor key versions that signify the distortion of the gold.

3. J oy o f t h e G o l d l e i tm o t i f

Scene 1

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THE D EPTH S OF TH E RH I N E RI VER

The three Rhinemaidens laugh and play as they swim, carelessly guarding the gold. Their frolicking attracts the attention of Alberich, who professes his love (or lust) for them. Mocking his appearance, the Rhinemaidens tease him, as he tries in vain to catch them.

His frustration is interrupted by a beam of sunlight, which illuminates the Rhinegold,2 filling the Rhinemaidens with joy.3 They explain to Alberich that whoever renounces love may take the gold and forge it into a ring4 of absolute power. To their shock and horror, the spurned Alberich curses love and steals the Rhinegold.

First sung ecstatically by the Rhinemaidens: “Rheingold!

Rheingold!”, this leitmotif is characterised by a simple step down.

Throughout the opera, it will be transformed into a more painful, sighing motif — the joy of the Rhinegold has morphed into the woe of the ring.

4. R i n g l e i tm o t i f

Woodwinds introduce this leitmotif, which forms a dissonant, unstable chord, representing the ominous power of the ring.

Alberich’s seizure of the Rhinegold, as depicted in Scene 1 of the 1876 production

by Josef Hoffmann (CC BY 2.0)

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Scene 2

O N A M O U NT AIN TOP As Wotan and Fricka awaken from their slumber, their newly completed fortress5 gleams in the distance. Wotan is pleased, but Fricka is deeply distressed; she reminds him that the fortress’s completion means they have to give Freia to the giants as payment.

At that moment, Freia rushes to them, pursued by the giants.6 Donner and Froh arrive, and try to hold the giants off while they wait anxiously for Loge to come.

When he finally appears, Loge7 recounts8 how Alberich has forged the ring of power and used it to amass a hoard of gold and treasure, suggesting it as a suitable payment for the giants. The giants agree, but insist on taking Freia ransom until the gods can bring the hoard and ring to them. With Freia gone, the gods begin to age, and Wotan and Loge hurry off to steal it.

5. Va l h a l l a L e i t m o t i f In the interlude after Scene 1, the orchestra reprises many leitmotifs from before. Importantly, the ring leitmotif is repeated several times. The harmony and orchestration change with each repetition, eventually transforming it into the grand Valhalla leitmotif, played by the full brass section.

This transformation reveals an underlying similarity between the ring and Valhalla — although they seem to be on opposite sides of good and evil, both objects symbolise power and authority.

6. G i a n t s l e i tm o t i f

This leitmotif, played by low brass, strings, and timpani, suggests the brutish stomping of the giants.

7. L o g e l e i t m o t i f

Sprightly, whirling, and highly chromatic, this music represents the demigod himself. However, the meaning is later broadened to signify fire in general.

8. Lo g e’ s mo n o lo g u e As Loge recounts the events of Scene 1, listen as the orchestra brings us through the music of Scene 1 as well. Transformed versions of the Rhinemaidens’ song and the gold leitmotif make appearances, and when Loge speaks of the ring we can hear the ring leitmotif as well.

Fafner and Fasolt abduct Freia

by Arthur Rackham (CC BY 2.0)

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Scene 3

N IBE L H E I M,

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H O ME OF THE NIB ELUNGS

With the power of the ring, Alberich has become an overlord, enslaving the Nibelungs, including his own brother Mime. Under his orders, Mime has forged the Tarnhelm10 — a magical helmet that allows its wearer to change into any shape or form.

After Alberich seizes the Tarnhelm, he uses it to cruelly attack Mime and terrorise the other Nibelungs.

Wotan and Loge arrive in Nibelheim, where they meet Mime and Alberich. Alberich boasts of his newfound wealth and power, and suggests that he may one day conquer the rest of the world. Loge goads him into demonstrating the Tarnhelm’s powers, which he does, first turning into a fearsome dragon, and then a small toad. The gods pounce on him just before he turns back into his real self, and drag the captive Alberich out of Nibelheim.

9. N i b e l u n g L e i t m o t i f

10 . T a r n h e l m l e i t m o t i f

As Wotan and Loge descend into Nibelheim, we hear fragments of Loge’s leitmotif, before a menacing version of the gold leitmotif ushers in the Nibelung leitmotif: a driving, rhythmic pattern: An ambiguous series of chords, intoned distantly by muted horns. This can be heard each time the Tarnhelm is mentioned or used.

First played by the orchestra, then literally hammered out on anvils, it evokes the sound of smithing and mining, and later represents the labour and slavery of the Nibelungs.

Set design of Nibelheim, home of the Nibelungs

by Josef Hoffmann (CC BY 2.0)

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Programme notes and synopsis by Christopher Cheong and Isaac Tah

11. C u r s e l e i t m o t i f

First heard when Alberich declares his curse on the ring, the next important time we hear it is when Fasolt is struck down by his brother — the curse in action.

12 . p i l i n g u p t h e g o l d

Closing scene of Das Rheingold

by Josef Hoffmann (CC BY 2.0)

Scene 4

As the gods begin to pile up the gold, we can hear the Nibelung leitmotif again (amongst many others). The meaning here is twofold: first, it reminds us that this hoard was made by the Nibelungs; second, it also represents the physical labour of piling up the gold.

13 . E r d a l e i t m o t i f

ON A M O U N T AIN TOP Wotan and Loge force Alberich to hand over his hoard, including the Tarnhelm. Alberich grudgingly agrees, reasoning that he can still regain his riches since he has the ring. But before they let him go, Wotan demands the ring itself, and forcefully takes it from Alberich’s hand. Now free but utterly powerless, Alberich is devastated. In his fury, he curses11 the ring: ceaseless worry and death shall plague its bearer, until it is returned to him.

Wotan and Loge are welcomed back by the gods, and the giants return with Freia in tow. Fasolt is not convinced that the hoard is valuable enough, and demands that they pile it up12 until it completely hides her from his view.

Despite heaping all the gold (and even the Tarnhelm), it is not enough — Fasolt can still see Freia’s eye through a small gap. Fafner asks Wotan to add the ring to the pile, but he refuses, and the giants prepare to carry Freia away.

Suddenly, Erda,13 the ancient goddess of the earth, appears, and warns Wotan that clutching to the ring will bring about the end of the gods.14 Wotan is frightened and intrigued, but before he can learn more, she vanishes. Heeding her advice, he throws the ring onto the hoard, ransoming Freia. With the hoard in their hands, the giants begin to bicker over who should keep the ring, and Fafner slays Fasolt. Thus Alberich’s curse claims its first victim.

As Fafner leaves with the hoard, Donner15 clears the mists away with a storm, and Froh creates a rainbow bridge to the fortress, which Wotan christens “Valhalla”. As the gods enter their new home, a wailing cry16 is heard in the distance. In the valley, the Rhinemaidens are lamenting the loss of the Rhinegold, but the gods brush them off coldly. Only Loge is aware of the gods’ arrogance, and sceptical of the supposed peace.

A mysterious, minor key version of the Nature leitmotif, revealing Erda’s deep connection to Earth and the natural world.

14 . T w i l i g h t o f t h e G o d s

A descending version of the Nature leitmotif; where the latter depicts creation and the beginning, this leitmotif depicts destruction and the end.

15 . t h u n d e r l e i t m o t i f

First sung by Donner to the words “Heda! Heda!

Hedo!”, this powerful leitmotif will reappear in Die Walküre, as part of the storm in its opening.

16 . r h i n e m a i d e n s ’ l a m e n t The Rhinemaidens’ song from Scene 1 reappears, this time muted and accompanied by a lonely harp. As they mock the gods, it morphs into the minor key, before their cries are swept away by the Valhalla leitmotif.

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ARTIST BIOS CONDUCTOR

JOSHUA KANGMING TAN A graduate of The Juilliard School and the Eastman School of Music (High Distinction), Joshua Kangming Tan was 2nd Prize winner of the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Competition, and an awardee of numerous scholarships and awards. For an unprecedented two years running, his performances of Bernstein’s Mass and the opera Don Pasquale were selected as the best classical concert of the year 2018 and 2019 by the Straits Times. Presently Principal Conductor of the Singapore National Youth Orchestra and Director of the Asia Virtuosi, he has served successful stints as Resident Conductor of the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Beijing Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the Guiyang Symphony Orchestra and Associate Conductor of the SIngapore Symphony Orchestra.

Highlights of his 22/23 season include debuts with the Melbourne, New Zealand and Manila Symphony Orchestras, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, a new opera premiere in Hong Kong, return engagements to Hong Kong Philharmonic, Evergreen Symphony, the operas Die Fledermaus, Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana, and with the Singapore Ballet, The Nutcracker and Cinderella. Das Rheingold is Joshua’s 6th appearance with OMM. Previous highlights include the Singapore Premiere of Bernstein’s Mass (2018) and Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony (2022).

DIRECTOR

TANG XINXIN Tang Xinxin is a renowned opera director, who graduated from the National School of Music and Drama in Hamburg, Germany. She worked as resident director at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Beijing from 2011 to 2015. At the NCPA, she directed a number of operas such as Tosca, L’elisir d’amore, Il trovatore, Nabucco, Un ballo in maschera, Otello, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Cenerentola, L’italiana in Algeria, Der fliegende Holländer, Lohengrin, Der Rosenkavalier, Cavalleria Rusticana, Pagliacci, Les Contes d’Hoffmann, and Carmen, among others.

Tang Xinxin has since moved to Singapore and has directed Donizetti’s Don Pasquale for the Arts Place which was nominated by the Singapore media as one of the best classical music events of 2019. Subsequently, she directed Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte for the Singapore Lyric Opera, Menotti’s The Telephone and Puccini’s La Boheme for the Musicians’ Initiative in 2021.

She also directed dramatic representations of Zemlinsky’s Sechs Lieder auf Gedichte von Maeterlinck and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Wayfarer Sinfonietta. In 2022, she directed the Singapore premiere of Rossini’s opera L’inganno felice for Lirica Arts at the NAFA Lee Foundation Theatre as well as Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus for the Singapore Lyric Opera. And in 2023, she made her American directorial debut with Opera Southwest, in Puccini’s Turandot.

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PRODUCTION COORDINATOR AND STAGE MANAGER

MIRABEL NEO

Mirabel Neo is a Production and Stage Manager based in Singapore. She has over a decade of experience managing productions across various genres, such as drama, musical theatre, classical opera and theatre for the young, as well as commercial events. She has stage managed many productions including The Disappearing Number, ChildAid, HomeTeamNS, and Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman. She has also served as Production Manager for The Nutcracker – Chinese Version (2019) and Theater for the Young (2018).

This is her 4th collaboration with the Orchestra of the Music Makers, with Hansel and Gretel (2017), Bernstein’s Mass (2018), and the Singapore Premiere of Die Walküre (2020) as particular highlights.

PROJECTION DESIGNER

TAN WEI TING

Tan Wei Ting was first trained in theatre and later went to film school. Her debut short film “CA$H” was selected for International Competition at the 41st Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival in France. The film also won Best Directing in the Open Category at the National Youth Film Awards 2018, and went on to travel to 20 different countries. Her latest short film “Love at Fifty” was in competition at the 33rd Singapore International Film Festival, and crossed half a million views on Our Grandfather Story. She was from the pioneer batch of ARTivate — youth wing of Drama Box.

PROJECTION PROGRAMMER

LOW WEE CHENG

Wee started out as a lighting technician before venturing into lighting and multimedia programming/ design and eventually co-starting Ctrl Fre@k in 2010. His lighting programming credits include Robert Wilson’s In The Evening at Koi Pond at Aichi World Expo (2005), The Life and Death of Marina Abramovic at Manchester International Festival (2011), Via Crucis at Weimar Arts Festival (2012) and Adam’s Passion (Eesti Konsert), Voyage De La Vie (The Generating Company), National Day Parade (NDP) 2005, 2009 and 2022.

He designed the lights for Korean Pop Night Concert 2010, Imagine – A Soundtrack of Peace music concert and Praying Mantis by Vision Of The Dance from Spain, and was the associate lighting designer for NDP 2022. Additionally, Wee was the Multimedia Technical Manager for NDP 2014, and did the Show Control, Lighting and Multimedia system design for the Singapore Bicentennial Experience.

LIGHTING DESIGNER

YO SHAO ANN Yo Shao Ann received a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from the University of California, San Diego.

He was the 2006 recipient of the Young Artist Award for technical theatre from the National Arts Council. He is presently a senior lecturer with the School of Technology for the Arts at Republic Polytechnic.

Das Rheingold is his 6th collaboration with the Orchestra of the Music Makers. Previous designs include Engelbert Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel (2017), Leonard Bernstein’s Mass (2018), and Richard Wagner’s Die Walküre (2020).

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WOGLINDE

TENG XIANG TING Singaporean soprano Teng Xiang Ting read law at the National University of Singapore and qualified as a lawyer before beginning full-time studies in vocal performance at the Royal Northern College of Music.

After graduating with Distinction in her Masters of Music Performance, she was offered a scholarship to sing with the Swiss Opera Studio in Biel for their 2017-2019 season.

Xiang Ting sang her first major role, Adina in L’elisir d’amore, at the age of 23 with New Opera Singapore, and her performance was praised by The Straits Times as being the ‘Best Debut’ of 2012.

In 2019, she made her professional debut in Switzerland at the Theatres of Biel and Solothurn performing Belinda and First Witch in Dido and Aeneas. Her voice garnered praise in Das Opernmagazin as having “sparkling charm and youthful spirit.” In the same year, her performance of Norina in Don Pasquale with The Arts Place received special commendation as being “Singapore’s first true opera star”. Other notable roles include Dido (Dido and Aeneas), Mimi (La Bohème), the Governess (Turn of the Screw), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus), and Eurydice (Orpheus in the Underworld).

This is Xiang Ting’s 2nd appearance with OMM, having previously sung the Klaus Simon orchestration of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony for chamber orchestra (2021).

WELLGUNDE

VICTORIA SONGWEI LI London-based Singaporean soprano Victoria Songwei Li is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in London, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, studying with Jennifer Dakin and Yvonne Kenny. Victoria made her operatic debut in 2012 with New Opera Singapore as Giannetta in L'elisir d'amore (Donizetti). Since then, opera roles have included Elle in La Voix Humaine (Poulenc), Tytania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Britten), Blanche in Les Dialogue des Carmélites (Poulenc), Poppea in L'incoronazione di Poppea (Monteverdi), Cupidon in Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach). For the English National Opera, she has sung the roles of Pepik and Woodpecker in The Cunning Little Vixen (Janá ček), Mrs Delgado in It’s A Wonderful Life (Jake Heggie), and A Handmaid in The Handmaid’s Tale (Poul Ruders).

Opera aside, Victoria has also sung as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, Southbank Sinfonia, Daegu Opera Orchestra, and the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She was also the winner of the Opera category in the David Clover Festival of Singing (UK) and the recipient of the Cyril Greaves Bursary. In 2019, she was awarded First Prize and the Osaka Governor Award at the 20th International Osaka Music Competition (Japan).

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FLOSSHILDE AND ERDA

ANNA HARVEY

British mezzo Anna Harvey is the winner of the First Prize (Prix Pierre Verne) in the 2022 Paris Opera Competition. This season, she sings the roles of Prinz Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Meg Page (Falstaff), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Second Dame (Die Zauberflöte), and Brigitta (Die Tote Stadt) in a new production at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where she is a member of the solo ensemble. Other recent roles include Annio (La clemenza di Tito), Varvara (Kát’a Kabanová), Floßhilde (Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung), Siegrune (Die Walküre), Polina/ Daphnis (Pique Dame), The Child (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Bejlia (Weinberg’s Mazeltov), and Flora (La Traviata).

Concert engagements in the current season include Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Dominica and Coronation Mass with the Gaechinger Cantorey, Handel’s Messiah at the Royal Festival Hall, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with Orchestre de Picardie, Dvorak’s Mass in D at Winchester Cathedral, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 in her hometown of Sheffield.

Anna is a previous Associate Artist at Welsh National Opera, where she returned in 2021 as Suzuki (Madama Butterfly) and 2020 as Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro). Other roles include Goffredo (Rinaldo) at Theater Chemnitz and Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night's Dream) with the Britten Sinfonia at Nevill Holt.

ALBERICH

JOACHIM GOLTZ German baritone Joachim Goltz is a permanent member of the ensemble of Nationaltheater Mannheim, where he performs numerous roles especially of the “dramatic helden-fach” and “charakter-baritone-fach”.

His much celebrated debuts there as Beckmesser (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Golaud (Pelleas et Melisande), as well as Jakob Lenz in the opera of the same name

by W. Rihm (staging: Calixto Bieito) highlight his versatility - as do Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Faninal (Der Rosenkavalier) and Fra Melitone (Forza del Destino).

Internationally, Goltz can mostly be seen and heard in the great baritone roles by Wagner, which recently led him to Prague (title role in Der fliegende Holländer), Madrid’s Teatro Real (Gunther in Götterdämmerung) and the Daegu Opera Festival in Korea (Alberich in Der Ring), to name a few. In 2023 Goltz will make his house debuts in Cologne (title role in Der fliegende Holländer), Nuremberg (Telramund in Lohengrin) and Düsseldorf (Klingsor in Parsifal).

He has worked with conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Stefan Soltesz, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, François-Xaver Roth, Gabriel Feltz, Cornelius Meister, Alexander Soddy, Axel Kober and Pablo HerasCasado. In addition to the great opera roles of his fach, operetta is his big passion; be it as Graf Danilo (Die lustige Witwe), as Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) or as Leopold in Ralf Benatzky’s Im weißen Rößl.

FRICKA

CAITLIN HULCUP Caitlin Hulcup has appeared at leading opera houses internationally, including the Wiener Staatsoper, Berliner Staatsoper, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Teatro Real Madrid, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, La Monnaie, Theater an der Wien, Bolshoi Theatre and Palau de les Arts Valencia.

In 22/23, she performs the role of Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Eurydice with the Chelsea Opera Group, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 at the Musikverein Wien, Handel’s Messiah with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with the Noord Nederlands Orkest, with whom she previously performed Das Lied von der Erde, and the role of Fricka (Das Rheingold) in Singapore, where she previously performed the same role in Die Walküre.

Recent performances include a return to Opera Lafayette for Purcell’s Mad and Spiritual Songs, a recital for the Oxford Lieder Festival alongside violinist Jonathan Stone and pianist Sholto Kynoch, the title role in The Rape of Lucretia with Potsdam Winteroper, Handel’s Messiah with Kammerorchester Basel, the Verdi Requiem at the Adelaide Festival and also in Amsterdam, Penelope (The Return of Ulysses) for The Royal Opera in London, and Piacere (Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno) at the Royal Danish Opera.

FREIA

ANITA WATSON Australian soprano Anita Watson is a graduate of the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Her engagements have included Micaëla (Carmen), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte) and Countess Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) for Welsh National Opera; The Governess (The Turn of the Screw) for English National Opera, at Teatro La Fenice, Venice, and Théâtre du Capitole, Toulouse; Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for Opera Australia, West Australian Opera, Scottish Opera, Nederlandse Reisopera and Landestheater Salzburg; Mimì (La bohème) for Opera North and Nederlandse Reisopera; Fifth Maid (Elektra) at Salzburg Festival; and Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) at Teatro Municipal de Santiago. For The Royal Ballet, she was Soprano Soloist for Wayne McGregor’s Morgen.

Anita Watson has appeared worldwide in concerts, recitals and television and radio broadcasts, highlights including Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Roma, and Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Richard Strauss’s Four Last Songs with Rheinische Philharmonie, Koblenz, and Mariinksy Orchestra, St Petersburg. Her recordings include Hänsel und Gretel and Dido and Aeneas, both available on Opus Arte DVD/Blu Ray, Ariadne auf Naxos for Chandos on CD, Parsifal for Hallé on CD and Fata Morgana — Songs by Pavel Haas for Resonus Classics.

This would be Caitlin’s 4th appearance with OMM, having previously sung the role of Hansel in Hansel and Gretel (2017), alto soloist in Mahler’s Second Symphony (2018), and Fricka in Die Walküre (2020).

WOTAN

GREER GRIMSLEY Greer Grimsley is internationally recognized as an outstanding singing actor and one of the most prominent Wagnerian singers of our day. Grimsely’s reign as a leading interpreter of the god Wotan has brought him to myriad esteemed international opera houses; some highlights of this include his portrayal of the role in the entirety of Der Ring des Nibelungen with Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, New National Theatre Tokyo, the Nikikai Opera Foundation in Tokyo, San Francisco Opera, the Royal Opera Stockholm, and for Seattle Opera in 3 complete cycles over the past decade.

This season’s engagements include returns to Seattle Opera as the High Priest in Samson et Dalila and Wotan in Das Rheingold, the latter of which he will also perform with both the Atlanta Opera and the Orchestra of the Music Makers in Singapore.

In addition, Grimsley will perform Scarpia in Tosca with San Diego Opera. Next season, Grimsley returns to The Metropolitan Opera as The Captain in Mary Zimmerman’s new production of Florencia en el Amazonas, Atlanta Opera as Wotan in Das Rheingold, the Royal Swedish Opera as Gurnemanz in Parsifal, and Santa Fe Opera in the world premiere of The Righteous.

FASOLT

YORCK FELIX SPEER The bass Yorck Felix Speer obtained his singing education under Hanna Schwarz, Brigitte Fassbaender, and Andreas Schmidt.

Speer studied German and theology and, since 1996, works as a freelance concert singer.

Many engagements led him to renowned houses and festivals where he had the opportunity to work with conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Marc Minkowski, Thomas Hengelbrock, Roger Norrington, Semyon Bychkov, Francois-Xavier Roth, Enoch zu Guttenberg, Philippe Herreweghe, Marek Janowski, Trevor Pinnock and Kristjan Järvi.

He made his operatic debut as Sarastro in The Magic Flute followed by engagements at Opera Cologne in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten and Tannhäuser, Marke (Tristan und Isolde) and Daland (The Flying Dutchman) in the Netherlands/Reisopera, Hunding (Die Walküre) in the RING production in Kassel, and Daland at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Italy.

In 22/23 he returned to the Zurich Opera House as Bartolo in Le nozze di Figaro under Stefano Montanari/Jan Philipp Gloger and to Theater St. Gallen as Sarastro, followed by many concerts of Verdi’s Requiem and an important role debut of Rocco in Beethoven’s Fidelio. In the upcoming season he will start to be a permanent member at the renowned Leipzig Opera.

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FAFNER

LUKASZ KONIECZNY Lukasz Konieczny was born in Lodz, Poland and studied singing at the Music Academy in Wroclaw. Master classes with renowned singers and pedagogues such as Prof.

Christian Elsner, Deborah Polaski, Franz Grundheber, Linda Watson, David Syrus as well as acting courses at the International Film School Cologne completed his education.

His repertoire includes the Mozart parts of Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Masetto, Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni), and Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), as well as roles like Rocco (Beethoven’s Fidelio), Sparafucile (Verdi’s Rigoletto), Banco (Verdi’s Macbeth), Fafner (Wagner’s Rheingold and Siegfried) and Hunding (Wagner’s Walküre). Konieczny's concert repertoire includes Beethoven‘s 9th Symphony, Mozart‘s Requiem und Coronation Mass, Dvorak‘s Requiem, Mendelssohn‘s Paulus or Penderecki‘s Polish Requiem.

From 2011-2019 he was a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf. Guest appearances have taken him to the Handel Festival in Halle as Polifemo in Acis and Galatea, to the Mainfrankentheater Würzburg as Rocco, to the Hamburg State Opera as Sparafucile. Further guest engagements led him to the Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Müpa Budapest, Maggio Musicale Florence, National Opera Warsaw and the Baltic Opera in Gdansk.

FROH

FLORIAN THOMAS Austrian tenor Florian Thomas pursued law and musicology before studying voice. He is now a soloist in oratorio, concert and operatic repertoire, regularly giving Lieder recitals in Europe and the UK. Upcoming concerts include Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde in Australia. Florian performed the role of Walther von Stolzing in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg for Fulham Opera under Ben Woodward. He has also appeared as Erik in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer under Anthony Negus, jumping in at short notice for Longborough Festival Opera. He has sung Don José in Bizet’s Carmen at the Dartington Festival under conductor David Angus and as tenor soloist with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra in Richard Blackford’s cantata Voices of Exile conducted by Gavin Carr. Florian performed Schubert’s Lieder cycle Die Winterreise in Oxford with the acclaimed Argentine pianist Alberto Portugheis.

Prior to launching his solo career Florian gained extensive experience on the operatic stage at the highest professional level.

While living in Vienna he appeared at the Vienna State Opera as a member of the chorus and also performed minor roles, at the Salzburg Festival and in numerous international tours with the Wiener Staatsopernchor and the Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor. Florian additionally served as member of the Hofmusikkapelle Wien during this time, regularly singing as a soloist in oratorios and masses in major venues; Musikverein Wien, Konzerthaus Wien, Stephansdom Wien among them.

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DONNER

MICHAEL LAM Praised for a voice of "deliciously deep and rich," (Birmingham Post), Hong Kong baritone Michael Chun Ting Lam was awarded the Gil Rodriguez Scholarship by Opéra de Baugé for his outstanding contribution to their Operatic Season in 2019. He studied music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music in Hungary. He was the first prize winner in many international singing competitions and the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships, including the St Clare Barfield Memorial Bowl for Operatic Distinction, Opera Hong Kong K Wah International Vocal Scholarship and the Bernard van Zuiden Music Fund, etc.

A wide-ranging opera and concert soloist, Michael has performed in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, Italy, France, Germany, as well as other European countries. Passionate about opera, he has sung over 40 operatic roles including the title roles of Macbeth, Don Pasquale, Giulio Cesare and Il barbiere di Siviglia, Tonio (Pagliacci), Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana), Count Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Marcello (La Bohème), Escamillo (Carmen), Belcore (L'elisir d'amore), Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni), and Forester (The Cunning Little Vixen), among others. Recently, he made his debut at the Hanoi Opera House, in Vietnam, and in the Golden Hall of the Musikverein, Vienna.

LOGE

TUOMAS KATAJALA Finnish tenor Tuomas Katajala studied in Helsinki, Rome and Amsterdam. Before advancing to an opera career, he was already a well-known concert and oratorio soloist and a Lied recitalist. Highlights on the opera stage in recent seasons were Tamino (The Magic Flute) at Covent Garden in London, at Berlin’s State Opera, Opéra de Lille and in Tampere, Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at Komische Oper Berlin, as well as Tamino, David (Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Lenski (Eugene Onegin), and Steersman (The Flying Dutchman) at the Finnish National Opera.

In 2019, Katajala made his debut as Max in Der Freischütz, touring venues and festivals throughout Europe. This engagement marked a change in repertoire and was followed by debuts as Loge (Das Rheingold) in Helsinki, Idomeneo in Tel Aviv, Parsifal and Oedipus (Oedipus Rex) in Milan, and Hoffegut in Braunfels’ Die Vögel in Strasbourg.

He has performed Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Bruckner, Mahler and others at venues ranging from Avery Fisher Hall in New York to the Salle Pleyel in Paris and the Glyndebourne Festival. Future projects include debuts as Lohengrin at Savonlinna Opera Festival and as Erik (The Flying Dutchman) in Beijing, as well as a new production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites (as Chevalier de la Force) at the Finnish National Opera.

MIME

ADRIAN DWYER British-Australian tenor Adrian Dwyer has sung in many of the world's greatest opera houses and concert halls, gaining recognition for his extraordinarily wide-ranging vocal ability and vivid theatrical presence in works from the classical era to the present day.

Adrian made his role debuts as Mime (Das Rheingold and Siegfried) in Longborough Festival Opera's new Ring Cycle, adding to appearances in 19th century German repertoire, which have included a new production of Parsifal at Teatro Massimo Palermo, and productions of Salome for Israeli Opera, Opera North and NI Opera. Equally adept in Slavic repertoire, he recently made his debut as Astrologer (The Golden Cockerel) for Theater Magdeburg, sang Anatole (War and Peace) at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and performed in Khovanshchina for Welsh National Opera, where his Andrei was hailed as “career-defining”.

An accomplished interpreter of the most difficult contemporary repertoire, he has also performed D’Esperaudieu in Gerald Barry’s The Intelligence Park at the Royal Opera House (Linbury Theatre), as well as the composer’s Alice in Wonderland for Theater Magdeburg. He is frequently seen as Electrician in Adès’ Powder Her Face, and created the title role in Anthony Bolton's The Life & Death of Alexander Litvinenko at Grange Park Opera.

The cast of Das Rheingold in rehearsal

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THE MUSIC MAKERS MUSIC DIRECTOR Chan Tze Law

ASSOCIATE CONDUCTOR Seow Yibin

VIOLINS Wilford Goh CONCERTMASTER Chikako Sasaki PRINCIPAL SECOND VIOLIN Yvonne Lee ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Ang Zien Xu Nicole Chan Joelle Chiam Fong Tze Meng Jennifer Goh Nathanael Goh Emer Hoong Ashley Hsu Alexia Huan Genevieve Koh Kathleen Koh Kwan Ze Yu Esther Lam Jaslyn Lee Li Jiaqi Andre Ng Estee Ng Sarah Ng Edward Tan Natalie Tan Joanne Teo Josiah Teo Shawn Teo Gary Teoh Monica Toh Yew Shan Zhang Xiaomeng Zheng Kai Christina Zhou

CELLO James Ng PRINCIPAL Theophilus Tan ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Rachael Chan Chloe Chen Choo Vee Shen Lavinia Chu Charis Low Lydia Lu Edward Neo Isaac Tah Tang Ya Yun Shavaun Toh

VIOLA Yeo Jan Wea PRINCIPAL May Loh ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Shannon Chan Christopher Cheong Calvin Dai Darius Goh Elizabeth Ip Leon Lai Neo Wei Qing Benedict Ng Oliver Tan Toh Xue Qian Wang Dandan

DOUBLE BASS Julian Li PRINCIPAL Damien Chew Kenrick Lam Lee Mian Jun Lee Zi Xuan Alvin Liew Alwyn Loy Kevin Seah

WAGNER TUBA Lee Yan Liang Nigel Leong Ong Hwee Ling Jaben Sim TRUMPET Lau Wen Rong PRINCIPAL Lee Jinjun Lim Jit Xin BASS TRUMPET Vincent Tan

FLUTE Cheryl Lim PRINCIPAL Natasha Lee Kelsey Tan

TROMBONE Don Kow PRINCIPAL Hendrik Kwek

PICCOLO Alvin Chan

BASS TROMBONE Aldwyn Tan

OBOE Tay Kai Tze PRINCIPAL Chan Chen Ng Wei Xiang

CONTRABASS TROMBONE Jasper Tan

ENGLISH HORN Seow Yibin CLARINET Vincent Goh PRINCIPAL Chua Jay Roon Miao Kaiwen BASS CLARINET Daniel Yiau BASSOON Lim Tee Heong PRINCIPAL Shi Jia Ao Yap Ziqi

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FRENCH HORN Xavier Tan PRINCIPAL Bryan Chong ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Luke Chong Harsharon Kaur Nigel Leong Lee Yan Liang Ong Hwee Ling Jaben Sim Linnet Sim

TUBA Tan Yao Cong PRINCIPAL TIMPANI Yuru Lee PRINCIPAL Rei Lim PERCUSSION Isabel Chin Putra Syahril Thanaphat Pratjaroenwanit HARP Charity Kiew PRINCIPAL Charmaine Teo ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Karen Tay ASSOCIATE PRINCIPAL Madeleine Chong Christabelle Sheum Kaitlyn Tan

BOARD AND MANAGEMENT B OA R D O F D I R EC TOR S Lee Guan Wei Daniel CHAIRMAN Jenny Ang Assoc. Prof Chan Tze Law Chay Choong Christopher Cheong Susan Loh Tan Peng Chin Toh Xue Qian Prof Bernard Tan ADVISOR

MAN AG E M E NT TE A M PROGRAMMES

DEVELOPMENT

CORPORATE SERVICES

ARTISTIC PLANNING Christopher Cheong HEAD Nathanael Goh Michael Huang Lee Jinjun Miao Kaiwen Fredrick Suwandi Oliver Tan Isaac Tah

SPONSORSH IP Christopher Cheong HEAD Chay Choong Rei Lim Edward Neo Kenny Ooi Rayner Tan

FI NANCE Neo Wei Qing HEAD Edward Neo Shi Jia Ao

HUMAN RESOURCE Nathanael Goh Lee Jinjun Rei Lim Estee Ng Kelsey Tan Kimberlyn Wu COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Andre Ng HEAD Natasha Lee Benedict Ng

BRANDING & MARKETING Michael Huang HEAD Chan Chen Shannon Chan Chua Jay Roon Chloe Goh Elizabeth Ip

AUDIENCE EXPERIENCE Toh Xue Qian HEAD Lam Hoyan Jorim Jireh Sim

LIBRARY & LOGISTICS Wu Tianhao HEAD Lee Jinjun Rei Lim Edward Neo Muhammad Bin Roslee Isaac Tah Tan Yao Cong TECHNOLOGY Chay Choong HEAD Lam Yun En Tasya Rukmana

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OUR DONORS

(2019 - 2023)

OMM would like to express our heartfelt appreciation to our donors and partners for their generous support over the years.

This has been instrumental in allowing OMM to pioneer and continue with many exciting musical and community initiatives.

$50,000 AND ABOVE Anonymous (2) Lionel Choi Will Oswald Su Fuxiang $25,000 AND ABOVE Aileen Tang Goh Yew Lin Joshua Tan Lee Foundation Lucky Square Pte Ltd Qi Jian $10,000 AND ABOVE Anonymous (1) Arts Junior Montessori LLP Gail Lien Wang & Phillip Wang JCCI Singapore Foundation Michelle Liem Mind the Gap 200 - Mental Health Fund Rohet Tolani Singapore Press Holdings Ltd $5,000 AND ABOVE Anonymous (2) Chiang Zhan Xiang Choo Chiau Beng Christopher Cheong David Lim Jen Hong Fabian Jee Francis Tan Han Jiak Siew Ignatius Wang msm-productions Ng Pei Sian Rhodium Resources Pte Ltd Shiv Puri Winston Kwek $1,000 AND ABOVE Anonymous (9) Adriene Cheong Ai Ee Ling Alwyn Loy Alyce Chong Chyi Yiing Aw Ling Hui Adeline Bernard Yong Ching Phang Carol Goh Chay Choong Cheah Sui Ling Chikako Sasaki Christina Cheong Foong Yim Chua Siew Eng Dandan Wang Darrell Chan Dominic Khoo Kong Weng Dr June and Peter Sheren Elizabeth Fong Ei Lie Guy Daniel Harvey Samuel Hanbaobao Pte Ltd Howard Ng Su Chee Ian Rickword Irwin Christopher Anthony

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James Poole Jennie Tan Whye Chin Jeremy Tan Yu Jie Julia Raiskin Kenneth Chan Kay Shan Koh Tien Gui Kuik Sing Beng Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple Lee Guan Wei Daniel Lee Jee Soo Lena Ching Lim Tanguy Yuteck Loy Kaixun Jeremy Narioka Kosaku Ong Su Pin Pang Peter Yu Hin Raveen Joseph Mathew Revival Vintage Jewels & Objects Robert Tomlin Sophie Ana binti Mohamed Harith Kassim Tamagoh Productions Pte Ltd Tatsu Works Pte Ltd The Group of Companies Pte Ltd Thuraisingam Sellathurai Vincent Ong Ya Kun International Pte Ltd Yeo Wei Ping Patricia Zhao Tian UP TO $1,000 Anonymous (15) Aik Keong Neo Alvin Wang Hanxiong Ang Xueqi Angel Phuay Li Ting Angela Koh Angela Lim Ai Lian Anne Elise Rifkin-Graboi Arend Amandus Schumacher Au Wee Ling Carol Lim Phek Nai Chan Wai Leong Chea Ruei-E Chester Tan Chew Sutat Chia Chee Boon Chin Mei Kuan Claude Ludlow Cristina Bargan Dennis Khoo Dian Marissa Sumadi Diana Silva Fabien Nicolas Deriaux Francoise Mei Goh Chay Hiang Goh Nianzhe Nigel Gwyneth Choo Han Soon Lang Heng Boey Hong Ho Yee Choo Samantha Ho Yin Shan

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In 2015, we performed Mahler’s 8th Symphony in Paragon Shopping Centre. This sight is most surreal!!

And of course the emotionally charged performance of this symphony in Esplanade Concert Hall to celebrate SG50.

CHAN YOONG HAN

Die Walküre in 2020 was the first time that I played any Wagner opera in its entirety! It was such a blow, 4 hours of music with a double intermission! Plus, this was the last concert I did before the pandemic hit.

ALEXANDER OON

I like this article from the Straits Times on 28 June 2010 as the headline and content captures the essence of OMM well.

Music is a gift to be shared, and OMM believes it should be used for the wider good, be it fundraising concerts, arts education or community outreach.

We have also been trying to push boundaries for the arts in Singapore and attempt to make the massive dreams of our musicians come true. Back then it was Mahler’s 2nd Symphony, which was our first large scale choral symphony project. These outsized dreams still continue! We have gone on to present Mahler’s 8th Symphony for SG50, and we are also premiering Wagner’s Das Rheingold in Singapore this year as part of our 15th anniversary season.

LEE GUAN WEI

Our musicians share about their most memorable experiences with OMM!

Happy 15th Anniversary OMM! How far this orchestra has come from its early days.There have been lots of special memories, from going on tour to the UK in 2013, prevailing through COVID, to accompanying the legendary Martha Argerich last year!

A big thank you to OMM for being an opening for non-professional musicians to continue sharing their love for music and exploring repertoire we perhaps would never have had the chance of playing. Here’s to continued growth and reaching new heights!

NATALIE TAN

The OMM-SOTA Orchestra Camp in 2016 was my first time in the camp committee and it was really challenging yet rewarding to be able to organise the camp especially since I had been a participant before.

This year was the first time that the Orchestra Camp performed 2 concerts, one in the Esplanade together with the Western Australian Youth Orchestra (WAYO).

The repertoire was also varied and highly engaging, with music featured in movies, games and musicals, alongside the usual classical music repertoire.

After this camp, I went on to join the OMM Committee with various other projects, but till this day the 2016 camp still remains the most memorable for me.

JOSHUA YONG

The Singapore Premiere of Die Walküre in 2020

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SUPPORT US Orchestra of the Music Makers Ltd. (UEN: 201002361G) is an Institution of a Public Character (IPC) and donations are eligible for 2.5 times tax deduction.

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