Liza Wang and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra - A Mother's Day celebration
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Liza Wang knew who her fans were.They had watched her in TV series dating back to the late 1960s so the savvy Hong Kong-based singer-actress began the evening with classic theme songs.
Dressed in an elaborately ruffled confection of aquamarine and yellow, the58-year-old turned back the clock with songs such as Love And Passion and Yesterday’s Glitter.
Her first set ended with a rousing duet of A Boat Tracker’s Love with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra’s (SCO) principal dizi (Chinese flute) player Yin Zhiyang, an impressively robust baritone.
This was Wang’s first collaboration with the 75-member SCO, led by assistant conductor Ku Pao-wen.Which might explain why the chemistry was not quite there as she would sometimes linger over the notes while the SCO kept to a more straightforward pacing.
Still, the crowd of 6,000 seemed to enjoy themselves and even clapped along spontaneously at points. Wang bantered intermittently in Cantonese and said she was happy to see many young people with their mothers.
The almost stark stage featured a white backdrop and was flanked by two large screens. The size of the orchestra on the platform meant that Wang’s movements were limited to swaying gently along to the music.
But the veteran kept the spotlight firmly on herself with a series of costume changes. For the Chinese folk songs, she emerged in full ethnic get-up reminiscent of the tribes in Yunnan.
In the Chinese classics segment, clad in a white cheongsam and styled with a wavy hairdo, she morphed into a 1920s Shanghainese chanteuse.
The final group of songs were written by Hong Kong heavyweights Joseph Koo and James Wong and included Shanghai Beach and Brave Chinese Citizens, which Wang delivered in an elegant white gown with matching headpiece.
Calls for an encore were obliged by a spirited snatch of Cantonese opera from Women Warriors Of The Yang Family, a nice contrast to the sometimes sedate evening.
Her voice throughout was in pretty good form though it was clear that she connected better with the Cantonese material and you wish there had been more of that.
Judging from the crowd’s response, it would seem that her fans felt the same as well.
(ST)