The idea of La Serva Padrona was mooted by Dr. Bernard Tan during his facilitation of Artist Development Programme in KL City Opera last year. Bass-Baritone Chi Hoe Mak, who is also KL City Opera’s Chorusmaster, and Principal Artist mentioned the same work in one of our conversations during Bizet’s Carmen last year. Assembling the cast members in the show was quite easy as we had in mind that Soprano Bui Yik Ling would be fantastic as Serpina, and actor Eugene Ng would add the flavour as Vespone. Amelia Tan, who directed Bizet’s Carmen last year, was our first choice to direct this opera. As we progressed in the production work, we added Selva Regina in the first half to feature Mezzo-soprano Lim Yee Fen to sing the work accompanied by a chamber orchestra. Hence, the idea of double bill came about.
The beautiful vintage chaiselounge and tea set that you see in La Serva Padrona is provided by our new found friend and sponsor - Emperor Palace. The visit to Emperor Classic Furniture, the Damansara Classic Showroom, had totally blown us away with too many amazing furniture designs that are just simply appropriate for opera productions. Thank you to Mr Jet Chew, the CEO of Emperor Palace for being such a great supporter to the arts, and hope for many collaborations in the future.
