Nancy Yuen
Encyclopedia
Nancy Yuen is a Chinese
operatic soprano
.
, reportedly in 1967. She is a top graduate of the Royal Academy of Music
, London, and has based her career in the United Kingdom
and Singapore
. She has made Cio-cio-san (Madama Butterfly
) her signature role, winning great international critical acclaim. Immediately upon graduation, she made her operatic debut with the Welsh National Opera
in this demanding Puccini title role, and has since repeated the role all over the world, notably with the English National Opera
, West Australian Opera
, Opera Queensland
, Northern Ireland Opera
, Singapore Lyric Opera, the 1994 New Zealand International Festival of Arts, the 1995 Barbados Opera Festival and the Royal Albert Hall productions by David Freeman in 1998, 2000 and 2003.
Yuen's other operatic roles include Romilda (Xerxes
), Violetta (La Traviata
), Aida
, Gilda (Rigoletto
), Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus
), Nedda (Pagliacci
), Siok Imm (Bunga Mawar), Leonora (Il trovatore
), the title role of Tosca
, Liza (The Queen of Spades
), Mimi (La bohème
), Jenny (Mahagonny-Songspiel
), Micaela (Carmen
), Pamina (The Magic Flute
) with Opera Queensland, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni
) and Liu (Turandot
).
Yuen made her role debut as the Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro in 2006 with the Singapore Lyric Opera, and grave ecitals and concerts in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, China and the UK. She was the Head of Vocal Studies at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
in Singapore from July 2003 to 2010. She is currently the residing soprano of Thailand's Bangkok Opera
.
On December 12, 2000, Yuen married Singaporean lawyer Toh Weng Cheong at the InterContinental Singapore hotel.
to contemporary. She performs regularly at the main UK venues and in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. Orchestras she has sung with include the London Mozart Players, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
, Tivoli Symphony Orchestra
in Copenhagen
, Denmark, and most recently the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
(under Christopher Hogwood
). She has also recorded for the BBC, Radio Television Hong Kong and Radio FM, New Zealand. She has performed the soprano solos in Messiah
, The Creation, The Seasons
, the Nelson Mass
, the Christmas Oratorio
, Carmina Burana
, Elijah
, Monteverdi's Vespers, Mozart's Requiem
and Great Mass in C minor, Poulenc's Gloria
, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
, the Brahms, Fauré
and Verdi
Requiems, Mahler's Fourth Symphony
and Janáček's Glagolitic Mass
.
In 2004 Yuen released her first solo CD, Per l'amore, with the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra
under the baton of Somtow Sucharitkul. In 2005 she repeated her performance as Cio-cio-san at the Singapore Esplanade Theatre with the Singapore Lyric Opera; she made her debut with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, singing the role of Princess Han Li Bao in the world premiere of the operatic cantata Zheng He, written specially for her by Law Wai Lun, as part of the Singapore Arts Festival. She also repeated the title role of Mae Naak
with the Bangkok Opera
, a coloratura role created for her by Somtow Sucharitkul in 2003. She made her debut with the Macau Symphony Orchestra singing the soprano solo in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream.
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
operatic soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
.
Life and career
Nancy Yuen Miu Fun was born in Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, reportedly in 1967. She is a top graduate of the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Academy of Music
The Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
, London, and has based her career in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. She has made Cio-cio-san (Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly
Madama Butterfly is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, with an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Puccini based his opera in part on the short story "Madame Butterfly" by John Luther Long, which was dramatized by David Belasco...
) her signature role, winning great international critical acclaim. Immediately upon graduation, she made her operatic debut with the Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
in this demanding Puccini title role, and has since repeated the role all over the world, notably with the English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
, West Australian Opera
West Australian Opera
West Australian Opera is the principal opera company of Western Australia and is based at His Majesty's Theatre in Perth.The company formed in 1967 and works in close association with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. As of 2008, the Chairman is Erich Fraunschiel and Artistic Director is...
, Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland
Opera Queensland is an opera company based in Brisbane, Queensland. The company was founded with funding from the Queensland State Government in 1981, then under the name Lyric Opera of Queensland, after the Queensland Opera Company was closed in December 1980.It is after Opera Australia the second...
, Northern Ireland Opera
NI Opera
NI Opera is an opera company founded in 2010 and based in Northern Ireland.- About the Company :Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, NI Opera was founded in 2010 as a Northern Ireland-based opera company with a remit for performing high-quality opera throughout Northern Ireland, while...
, Singapore Lyric Opera, the 1994 New Zealand International Festival of Arts, the 1995 Barbados Opera Festival and the Royal Albert Hall productions by David Freeman in 1998, 2000 and 2003.
Yuen's other operatic roles include Romilda (Xerxes
Serse
Serse is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in London on 15 April 1738. The Italian libretto was adapted by an unknown hand from that by Silvio Stampiglia for an earlier opera of the same name by Giovanni Bononcini in 1694...
), Violetta (La Traviata
La traviata
La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman...
), Aida
Aida
Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette...
, Gilda (Rigoletto
Rigoletto
Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851...
), Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus
Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :...
), Nedda (Pagliacci
Pagliacci
Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe...
), Siok Imm (Bunga Mawar), Leonora (Il trovatore
Il trovatore
Il trovatore is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play El Trovador by Antonio García Gutiérrez. Cammarano died in mid-1852 before completing the libretto...
), the title role of Tosca
Tosca
Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900...
, Liza (The Queen of Spades
The Queen of Spades (opera)
The Queen of Spades, Op. 68 is an opera in 3 acts by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to a Russian libretto by the composer's brother Modest Tchaikovsky, based on a short story of the same name by Alexander Pushkin. The premiere took place in 1890 in St...
), Mimi (La bohème
La bohème
La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger...
), Jenny (Mahagonny-Songspiel
Mahagonny-Songspiel
Mahagonny-Songspiel, also known as The Little Mahagonny, is a "small-scale 'scenic cantata'" written by the composer Kurt Weill and the dramatist Bertolt Brecht in 1927...
), Micaela (Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
), Pamina (The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
) with Opera Queensland, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni
Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787...
) and Liu (Turandot
Turandot
Turandot is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini, set to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni.Though Puccini's first interest in the subject was based on his reading of Friedrich Schiller's adaptation of the play, his work is most nearly based on the earlier text Turandot...
).
Yuen made her role debut as the Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro in 2006 with the Singapore Lyric Opera, and grave ecitals and concerts in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, China and the UK. She was the Head of Vocal Studies at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts
Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts is one of the oldest and most established tertiary arts institution in Singapore....
in Singapore from July 2003 to 2010. She is currently the residing soprano of Thailand's Bangkok Opera
Bangkok Opera
The Bangkok Opera is an opera company founded in 2001 as a production company to mount Madana, the first full-length grand opera by a Thai composer...
.
On December 12, 2000, Yuen married Singaporean lawyer Toh Weng Cheong at the InterContinental Singapore hotel.
Performances
Yuen has a repertoire ranging from BaroqueBaroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
to contemporary. She performs regularly at the main UK venues and in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. Orchestras she has sung with include the London Mozart Players, the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra , is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1895 as an amateur orchestra, under the name Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957, and became a professional orchestra in 1974 under the funding...
, Tivoli Symphony Orchestra
Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra
The Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra , also known as the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra which both serves as Danish Regional Orchestra for the island of Zealand and, for the summer season while the Tivoli Gardens are open, as resident orchestra in the Tivoli Concert...
in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
, Denmark, and most recently the West Australian Symphony Orchestra
West Australian Symphony Orchestra
The West Australian Symphony Orchestra , often known as the "Orchestra of the West", is the premier professional orchestra of the state of Western Australia.-History:...
(under Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...
). She has also recorded for the BBC, Radio Television Hong Kong and Radio FM, New Zealand. She has performed the soprano solos in Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
, The Creation, The Seasons
The Seasons (Haydn)
The Seasons is an oratorio by Joseph Haydn .-Composition, premiere, and reception:Haydn was led to write The Seasons by the great success of his previous oratorio The Creation , which had become very popular and was in the course of being performed all over Europe...
, the Nelson Mass
Missa in angustiis
The Missa in Angustiis or "Nelson Mass" , is one of fourteen masses written by Joseph Haydn. It is one of the six masses written near the end of his life which are now seen as a culmination of Haydn's liturgical composition.- Background :Haydn's chief biographer, H. C...
, the Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
, Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
, Elijah
Elijah (oratorio)
Elijah, in German: Elias, is an oratorio written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1846 for the Birmingham Festival. It depicts various events in the life of the Biblical prophet Elijah, taken from the books 1 Kings and 2 Kings in the Old Testament....
, Monteverdi's Vespers, Mozart's Requiem
Requiem (Mozart)
The Requiem Mass in D minor by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was composed in Vienna in 1791 and left unfinished at the composer's death. A completion by Franz Xaver Süssmayr was delivered to Count Franz von Walsegg, who had anonymously commissioned the piece for a requiem Mass to commemorate the...
and Great Mass in C minor, Poulenc's Gloria
Gloria (Poulenc)
The Gloria by Francis Poulenc , scored for soprano solo, large orchestra, and chorus, is a setting of the Roman Catholic Gloria in excelsis Deo text. One of Poulenc's most celebrated works, the Gloria was commissioned by the Koussevitsky Foundation in honor of Sergei Koussevitzky and his wife...
, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
, the Brahms, Fauré
Requiem (Fauré)
Gabriel Fauré composed his Requiem in D minor, Op. 48 between 1887 and 1890. This choral–orchestral setting of the Roman Catholic Mass for the Dead is the best known of his large works. The most famous movement is the soprano aria Pie Jesu...
and Verdi
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
Requiems, Mahler's Fourth Symphony
Symphony No. 4 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 4 by Gustav Mahler was written between 1899 and 1901, though it incorporates a song originally written in 1892. The song, "Das himmlische Leben", presents a child's vision of Heaven. It is sung by a soprano in the work's fourth and last movement...
and Janáček's Glagolitic Mass
Glagolitic Mass
The Glagolitic Mass is a composition for soloists , double chorus, organ and orchestra by Leoš Janáček. The work was completed on 15 October 1926...
.
In 2004 Yuen released her first solo CD, Per l'amore, with the Siam Philharmonic Orchestra
Siam Philharmonic Orchestra
thumb|right|580px|Siam Philharmonic Orchestra during its 2004 Singapore tourThe Siam Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand, under the name "Mifa Sinfonietta". At that time it was a small chamber ensemble devoted to bringing the discipline of the classical style to...
under the baton of Somtow Sucharitkul. In 2005 she repeated her performance as Cio-cio-san at the Singapore Esplanade Theatre with the Singapore Lyric Opera; she made her debut with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, singing the role of Princess Han Li Bao in the world premiere of the operatic cantata Zheng He, written specially for her by Law Wai Lun, as part of the Singapore Arts Festival. She also repeated the title role of Mae Naak
Mae Naak (opera)
Mae Naak is a 2003 opera composed by Thai composer Somtow Sucharitkul to an English libretto based on one of Thailand's best known ghost stories Mae Nak Phra Khanong...
with the Bangkok Opera
Bangkok Opera
The Bangkok Opera is an opera company founded in 2001 as a production company to mount Madana, the first full-length grand opera by a Thai composer...
, a coloratura role created for her by Somtow Sucharitkul in 2003. She made her debut with the Macau Symphony Orchestra singing the soprano solo in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream.
Sources
- Cheah, Jason, "Divine treat", Malaysia Star, June 11, 2006.
- Christiansen, RupertRupert ChristiansenRupert Christiansen is an English writer, journalist and critic, grandson of Arthur Christiansen and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen . Born in London, he was educated at Millfield and King's College, Cambridge, where he took a double first in English...
, "Sanitised love", Daily Telegraph, February 28, 1998. - Government of Hong Kong, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, Madama Butterfly: Artist biography.
- Seah, May, "So rich, so adept, so heartfelt", Channel News Asia, 1 September 2008.