Le cinesi & Dido and Aeneas

Cinesi's small story was yet another old westerner's thought of oriental culture, just like how Puccini modelled Turandot with his own imagination of a Chinese princess. As for Cinesi, Three girls and a boy in free time played their own imagined stories, and after some gossips and quarrels, all ended up in a final quartet. The setting was based on a room often seen in 古裝劇 TV comedy, with decorations quite in detail.

Singing was amateurish. Sivene won more applause over Lisinga by ringing high notes plus a sweet middle. She may put effort on relaxation to release more potential though. Tangia's mezzo voice lacked refinement. Tenor Silango was shallow and lacked ring, yet not a natural actor. The final quartet ended up quite well however with four voices in a nice blend.

After moved to a modern scenery setting of Hong Kong cityscape, Dido and Aeneas's opera plot was hardly understandable. Banquet and witch scenes came alternately, with an extra sailor scene (in "Queen's Pier") seeming unconnected. Witches were evil enough but nothing was told about how / why the Dido Queen died. The love between the two lead roles were not obvious and their inner feelings were not quite reflected.

This is generally a more serious production than Le cinesi in that casts are larger, singers are more senior students and dancers and choristers are employed. The dancers worked quite well actually. The stage was not as detailed however.