La Serenata | Opera Queensland
When a performer appears in front of an audience they usually have a story to escape into. They have a character they must inhabit and a well written story through which to travel - and so their ability to interact with the audience is of lesser concern to me as a viewer. La Serenata sees internationally renowned Tenor, Kang Wang interact with the audience as himself and provide them with an afternoon of truly delightful music.
Wang himself is charming in the humblest of ways. He captures us with his talent and endears himself to us immediately after with his sweet demeanour. This charm is enhanced immensely by his technical prowess. Wang sings with every fibre of his being. I could never tell when a song was ending because he performs as if the words are just finding him. The pianist, John Woods, is just as emotive in his playing as the singer in his song. The internationally renowned pianist is affected just as much as we were by the intensity of Wang’s performance.
Speaking of the audience, we were small but powerful in our responses you’d think we were in mainstage theatre the way the audiences joy and admiration filled the space. Personally, a look of utter disbelief (complimentary) was hidden beneath my mask and I was whispering expletives under my breath for the majority of recital.
Wang’s Rachmaninov’s In the silence of the night and Tchaikovsky Kuda, kuda vï udalilis were of particular note. The first of these . The second a deeply sad number filled with the yearning of a young man for the woman he loves to remember him when he dies. Wang’s performance of De’ miei bollenti spiriti from Verdi’s La Traviata was also delightful as we were able to see him have relax and have fun with a piece he has performed many times - he is about to enter his third production of this work with Opera Queensland later this year.
The final (programmed) song of the recital Non ti scordar di me translates to “do not forget me” and I certainly will not forget Wang. Despite my hesitations, I truly enjoyed La Serenata. The experience is a prime example of the immense pleasure that can come from watching someone do what they love and doing it excellently.
