Author Archives: FionYu

The Phantom of the Opera

Similar to how I was introduced to The Magic Flute, my mother also loved musicals and would play the soundtrack from The Phantom of the Opera while driving. And for the longest time, I actually thought The Phantom of the Opera was an opera as it literally had the word “opera” in its title, but also because I always associated any sort of singing with accompanying music and a storyline as an opera. It was only recently that I came to learn that operas are focused more on singing whereas musicals are focused more on telling the story and using singing as a way to do so. I still cannot clearly tell the difference between the two, but I enjoy the music to musicals just as much as I do operas.

I think out of all the pieces in The Phantom of the Opera, the one with the same title as the name of this musical is the most famous. And listening to it now with a better understanding of operas, it seems to be a lot of similarities between it and an aria. For example, the way the music follows Christine is definitely a sign of how the singer is the focus rather than the orchestra. I also think that it has a lot of similarities to the queen’s aria from The Magic Flute. Both pieces seem to be showcasing the power of the character such as the extent of the queen’s hatred or the talent that Christine has for singing. And in both pieces, the singers reach unimaginably high notes that really are the highlight of their respective performances.

Another famous piece from The Phantom of the Opera is definitely The Music of the Night. It is sung by the phantom to Christine and talks of his love for her. The music starts off very gentle and with a slow tempo. I suppose if this were an opera, this would be the phantom’s aria as it follows the similar format of one singer and showcasing the singer’s voice. The melody for this piece is quite repetitive as it repeats the same tune a number of times and only the lyrics changing with each repeat.

All I ask of You is similar to The Music of the Night in that they both repeat the same melody, but All I ask of You is a duet between Christine and Raoul rather than it only being sung by one singer. Again this piece uses the same melody a few times but with different lyrics sung. I noticed that both All I ask of You and The Music of the Night follow a similar format of repeating the same melody but then making it more complicated during their last repeats to create a sense of climax to the music but without altering the original melody.

Remede de Fortune

Blue Heron 2019

The fact that this was a piece by Guillaume Machaut was what caught my attention and persuaded me to attend as we had learned about him earlier in the term. Before attending, I did not look up what the topic or theme of this piece was, but as it was to be performed at the Christ Church Cathedral I simply assumed that it must be some sort of religious music. Perhaps some sort of chant or hymn? But my assumptions were entirely wrong! After reading the programme, I realized that this piece was about the one sided love a man harbored for his lady, and when the lady finally spoke to him he became too frightened and ran into a forest. There he wallowed in his miseries until lady hope came and cheered him up. Now that is something I was not expecting to be seen performed at a church, but nevertheless I enjoyed it.

The performers consisted of a handful of string instruments (including a lute!) and a few male singers who also narrate as the songs were in French, if I am not mistaken. The format of the performance was the narrator telling the story in English, and then followed by the original piece that is sung along with the music.

Just listening along to the music without looking at the translation of the lyrics, it conveyed this sense of yearning to me as the music was soft and slow and the voices of the singers were gentle. It really did make me feel the longing that the man had for the lady he pined for. The music sounded truly like an accompaniment to the singers as it was not obtrusive or took the focus away from their voices as it just remained steadily in the background. The majority of the pieces were performed solo, one singer at a time, but later on there were a few pieces that had two or three singers all performing together at once. As Machaut played a part in the ars nova movement, I could clearly hear that when multiple singers sang together, it sounded more polyphonic with each singer following a distinct melody. Each singer’s part could be taken on its own as an independent song, yet when combined together it still created a piece that was cohesive and complementary to the music as a whole.

Not taking the actual storyline of the performance into consideration, I did find the music reminiscent of what I associate with church music: a little bit melancholy but not to the point of genuine anguish; at times uplifting and very warm. However, I did find it quite unexpected that a secular instead of sacred music by Machaut would be chosen and performed at a church.  Perhaps it was the sincerity in the singer’s voice that made the music sound holy and religious to me, but in reality the sincerity was directed to the man’s love interest and not god.

L’Histoire du Soldat

UBC School of Music 2019

This was a very interesting but uncomfortable performance for me to watch as I had never seen such a combination of art forms in a performance. There was a small ensemble of a few string and wind instruments, a narrator, and animated projections on screen. The performance started with the narrator beginning the story and at times the ensemble joining in or the ensemble playing by itself.

I noticed how the ensemble seemed to at times act like in an aria where it would follow the voice of the narrator and the story such as playing a sharp note when there was a crisis or turn of events. At times the ensemble also seemed to act like in an recitative where it would play equally along with the narrator. This was especially noticeable to me when the narrator talks of the soldier trudging along home, the ensemble played in a way that resembled slow, steady footsteps as the narrator extensively describes the soldier’s way home.

The music also perfectly complimented the devil’s character whenever he appeared. The shrill sound of the violin accompanied with the unsettling, persistent beat had me anxious and uncomfortable each time the devil did something. I really did not like any of the music played in this performance as it really unsettled me. I suppose the minor key contributed to the eerie nature of the music a lot but there were many other points that just made it hard for me to enjoy it. Although I did not like the way at times the music sounded extremely frantic and had my heart beating just as frantically, I also did not enjoy when it was sombre and slow such as the soldier trudging. The way the music was drawn out slow but with a steady unsettling melody was not pleasant to me at all.

The projections were another part of the music that contributed to the overall strange atmosphere of the entire performance. A lot of the storyline was complimented with animations projected on screens where unrealistic, cartoon characters would perform repetitive movements. When the soldier was walking home, we would see him appear throughout the screen doing the same walking movements. When the devil appeared, we would see him pop onto the screen repeatedly like flashing lights. When the princess began dancing, she kept replaying these robotic and unnatural dance moves. All these strange animations combined with the already unsettling music only served to create an even more unenjoyable performance for me.

At the end of the performance, I never quite figured out the plot and the moral of the story. It all seemed quite bizarre and confusing how the devil came about and what happened to the soldier in the end. I tried to read up on this piece, and I am still not sure but it seems that it has something to do with not being able to have everything. So the soldier could only have his wife, the princess, and should not desire to be with his mother too.

Die Zauberflöte

UBC Opera Ensemble 2019

I’ve always enjoyed the UBC opera performances, such as La Cenerentola from last year, so I was excited to see The Magic Flute on this year’s programme. Since childhood, my mother always played opera recordings during our car rides, and I remember not knowing the story to The Magic Flute but excitedly waiting for the Queen’s aria. And when I was older, my mother would take me to opera performances, which included many renditions of The Magic Flute. It was astounding what the sopranos were able to do with their voices, and till now The Magic Flute remains one my favourite operas.

Strangely, until watching the performance at the Chan Centre, I never cared to figure out what the plot of The Magic Flute. I simply liked it for the music and the way it made me feel since I was a child, but this time I made sure to pay attention to the plot and read along with the translated lyrics. Below I will go through a few of the pieces that made a notable impression upon me.

Before knowing what he was singing about, I always though Papageno’s aria was a cheerful little tune that would be something along the lines of a folksong. Perhaps singing about his life or his home? The melody was repetitive and light, which certainly reminds me of how a bird might sing. However, understanding the lyrics really changed the way I perceived the music from how I did as a child. I used to think of the music as fun but now it’s more funny than fun knowing that Papageno is mourning over his lack of female company.

When I was a child, more than the Queen of the Night, I always found Sarastro more of a terrifying character just from his voice. Even till now, I still do not like Sarastro’s pieces because of how eerie and slow they are. The student who played Sarastro at this performance had such a deep, strong voice that I was taken aback when he first started singing. However, now with a bit more understanding of music, I noticed was how hymn-like the parts were that were sung by Sarastro and his fellow priests were. At some point it seemed almost like chants, and I figured that it was these parts that I really did not enjoy as I did not like how austere and serious it was.

Then lastly, my favourite part of the entire opera, the Queen’s aria. As a child, I always perceived this piece as something triumphant with how vibrant and strong the music and the singer were. However, upon reading the lyrics, I realized that it was actually about the queen’s anger and desire for vengeance. Nevertheless, something about the way the range of the soprano’s voice changes just makes me both nervous and excited, and I am always sitting at the edge of my seat throughout the performance. And after discussing more of the piece in class, I could see how the way the music follows the queen’s voice in the aria serves to accentuate her power as the music must comply with her.