Cover Photo: Siegfried Cast with Conductor Lü Shao-chia
When Richard Wagner conceived his monumental four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen, he designed the Bayreuth Festspielhaus to hide the orchestra entirely within a recessed pit, allowing the dramatic action to float over a concealed wall of sound.
In their upcoming staging of Siegfried at the Esplanade Concert Hall, Singapore’s Orchestra of the Music Makers (OMM) is doing the exact opposite: bringing the entire, massive orchestra right onto the stage alongside the vocalists.
Stage director Tan Shou Chen knows how unusual that sounds for a four-hour epic.
“The Ring is very much a maximalist story, so it may sound counterintuitive to think of fitting the work into a concert hall,” says Shou Chen.
“I’m tickled by the thought that Wagner, in his time, would probably have balked at the idea. But that’s precisely what makes this staging exciting – the orchestra is very much part of the mise-en-scène. Our staging of Siegfried puts the music front and centre.
From there, my team and I have to be extremely precise in choosing which theatrical elements to prioritise, and how to tell the story and convey our point of view. A concert setting gives us an opportunity to distil the opera into its essence and give the music centre stage.”
Without massive sets and stage machinery, the production zeroes in on the personal journey driving the story.
“The plot is the simplest in the Ring cycle,” Shou Chen explains. “The dramatic engine of the opera is the titular character’s journey towards becoming the hero Siegfried, who will eventually bring about world-changing consequences (played out in Götterdämmerung). Carl Jung’s archetypes have been the spine of this work – the primordial building blocks of human consciousness and identity that predate Freud.
As the epic of Siegfried unfolds, we see the unfurling of the human psyche: what we long for, how we search for ourselves in our parents or others, and ultimately what we truly fear and how that fear propels us. Where the archetypes surface is for the audience to discover. Siegfried is an epic of the human psyche.”
For anyone put off by Wagner’s four-hour runtime, Shou Chen points out that modern listeners already know how to follow his musical storytelling:
“Wagner is certainly not for the impatient or the rushed. That being said, I think we are much more equipped to access the work than we realise. Wagner has inspired many modern movie soundtracks, particularly through the use of recurring motifs to signal thoughts and characters, and to create symbolism. Structurally, we are likely already familiar with how to listen to his compositions. As for its deeper meaning, I’ll leave this tidbit: Carl Jung was in fact a fan of Wagner, and said his music speaks to the idea of the collective unconscious; that there is a universality in the music that reminds us of who we are as the human race.”
On stage, that grand storytelling comes down to sheer physical craft.
In Act I, when Siegfried reforges his father’s shattered sword, percussionist Derek Koh steps up to hammer on tuned anvils alongside his cymbals:
“For this production, I’m covering two anvils, cymbals, and suspended cymbals,” Derek shares.
“The anvils are the heart of the forging scene. Wagner tunes them to different pitches so Siegfried’s hammering reads as an actual rhythmic and harmonic idea rather than just percussive noise.
What makes it tricky is that anvils have almost no sustain and don’t blend with the orchestra at all, so cutting through a full Wagnerian tutti at fortissimo while staying rhythmically locked to the vocal line and the orchestra’s forging motif takes real precision. When it locks in, it’s one of the most satisfying things to play in the whole score.”
Still, playing percussion in Wagner is less about nonstop action and more about waiting for the right moment.
“The demand is actually the opposite of what people expect,” Derek observes. “Percussion in Wagner isn’t played constantly. There are long stretches, sometimes thirty or forty minutes, where you’re not playing at all, and then you have to come in cold with complete accuracy. So the real discipline is more about mental rather than physical stamina.
This is true of music in general, not just Wagner. The mental side is the most important part of playing: staying engaged with the score every second, following the vocal lines and orchestral cues even when your part is silent, keeping the pulse and the drama in your head so you never lose your place. Physical technique gets you through a passage, but it’s mental focus that lets you go through a whole piece and still land your entries cleanly when they come.”
When the cues do arrive, the impact is hard to beat:
“For me, it’s the anvil forging climax at the end of Act I. There’s something striking about a purely percussive, almost primal sound carrying the dramatic weight of an entire act. Wagner’s anvils are tonally colourful, but they also do real dramatic work, and that’s a rare and rewarding thing for a percussionist to be handed.”
Across the stage in the woodwind section, oboist Chan Chen deals with that same waiting game – along with the physical challenge of keeping his instrument ready to play:
“This opera demands tremendous mental focus, even though we actually don’t always play continuously for extended stretches. In the longer rests, focus is needed to count and stay aware of where we are. A practical challenge is keeping the reed hydrated enough so it speaks in those exposed entrances after fifty or so bars of rest. Especially if this entry is a chord, we have to ensure the intonation is spot on, with little room for error.”
When the woodwinds do take over, they create the opera’s most atmospheric nature scene in Act II’s ‘Forest Murmurs’:
“The oboes, along with the woodwinds, shine only at a later part of the ‘Forest Murmurs’, where the orchestral texture contrasts with the lower string-dominant texture of the beginning,” Chan Chen explains.
“The difference in the texture, especially when it changes gradually, makes it feel like we are walking from the dark forest to where it becomes brighter and the sun shines through the leaves, into a clearing.
The principal oboist, Mr Tay Kai Tze, plays the Woodbird leitmotif, but the oboe is just one of many birds in this scene. The rhythm hops and flutters, jumping and chirping like a bird. The clarinet and flute also play this leitmotif, turning the woodwind section into a lively conversation. Beneath them, the strings flow like a gentle breeze through rustling leaves. As a nature lover, the music transports me to a sunlit forest path, and is really a highlight for me.”
That woodwind chatter sets the stage for the Woodbird herself, sung by soprano Victoria Songwei Li.
Having performed as Wellgunde in OMM’s Das Rheingold, Victoria noticed immediate similarities between the two characters:
“It’s so exciting to be returning to this incredible journey and to be working alongside my friends in the OMM. Much like my role in Das Rheingold (where I played the Rhinemaiden Wellgunde) the Woodbird also acts as a plot catalyst, revealing the rules of this magical world. Wellgunde and her sisters reveal to Alberich that if love is renounced, a world-ruling ring can be made from the gold they were guarding. Similarly, the Woodbird reveals to Siegfried that Fafner’s blood grants the power to read minds and find Brünnhilde.”
Singing the part is an athletic challenge – agile, fast-moving, and seated high in the vocal range:
“The Woodbird provides essential plot directions – telling Siegfried about the ring, Mime’s poison, and Brünnhilde, hence every syllable has to be crystal-clear to the audience. Unlike typical slow, sweeping Wagnerian lines, the Woodbird’s line consists of many complex consonants that have to be delivered rapidly and clearly, while maintaining a legatissimo line. Achieving all that with the vocal line sitting in a high register can prove to be a challenge at times, not to mention having to project over the large Wagnerian-sized orchestra.”
Instead of singing from off-stage as is traditionally done, Victoria joins the action in full view:
“We are extremely fortunate to have an amazing team of creatives putting this semi-staged performance together, from the simple yet effective set and clever use of lighting, to the beautiful costume designs. It all helps in bringing this world alive. The Woodbird is usually portrayed as an off-stage voice, but in this production, she is a physical presence on stage, acting as a guide and guardian to our main hero, Siegfried. I believe it is important to capture the essence of the movements of a woodbird on stage, without it becoming a caricature.”
With singers and orchestra sharing the same concert platform, keeping volume and tempo balanced is a constant give-and-take.
As Chan Chen points out, it requires the entire ensemble to react on the fly:
“It’s all about active listening and ensemble awareness, even with singers! While Wagner’s music is metered unlike the recitative-heavy operas of earlier eras, there is still a remarkable degree of flexibility. Singers naturally stretch and compress the tempo to articulate the weight of Wagner’s libretto, and we must follow that organic ebb and flow. It is imperative that we watch the conductor’s cues and guidance.
What’s also striking is how beautifully and powerfully the singers project over the orchestra without amplification. Our job is to allow their voices to shine and sit comfortably on top of the orchestral texture, while also ensuring that the tutti orchestral moments retain their full power and impact. It’s a constant dialogue of listening, watching, and adjusting in real time.”
Back in the brass section, horn player Chloe Lau faces that balancing act while tackling a new instrument:
“It’s actually my first time playing the Wagner tuba! It’s quite different, but at the same time, surprisingly similar to the horn because of its shape,” Chloe observes.
“Unlike the horn, the Wagner tuba is much more conical, and its bell faces upwards instead of backwards. This makes adjusting the volume and dynamics a little more difficult, because we’re used to hearing the horn through the sound reflected from behind us.
With the Wagner tuba, the sound is directed upwards and is much closer to our ears, so it can sound louder to us than it actually is in the hall. Because it’s more conical, the resistance and resonance are also quite different. Its sound sits somewhere between the horn and the tuba: warmer, more free-blowing and mellower. Do listen out for the really low parts and beautiful chorales!”
Instrument quirks aside, the score gives the brass plenty of moments to shine:
“I’d say it’s definitely Siegfried’s horn call! This very recognisable motif sounds grand and exciting, and there are both short and longer excerpts featuring it throughout the opera. It’s always thrilling to hear the horn section bring this iconic theme to life, especially when it comes back in different contexts throughout the music.
Another one I really enjoy is the Valhalla theme, because I really, really, really like the sound of brass chords and the way Wagner uses harmony! If I can add one more, I love the Valkyrie leitmotif too (the one with the rising arpeggios passing throughout the brass), just because of how thrilling it is! I remember watching OMM’s production of Die Walküre in 2020 and being worried I’d get bored due to its sheer length, but being so entertained the whole way through!”
Still, playing with that kind of force means keeping an eye on the front of the stage so the voices aren’t drowned out:
“We have to really watch the conductor, since we can’t really hear the balance as accurately from our seats. The conductor has such an important role in this, coordinating many voices, adjusting to the auditory feedback, and creating an overall sound that makes sense; he acts like a ‘live mixer’! Other than that, we have to listen beyond our own instruments and be aware of what is happening around us.
Wagner’s brass writing can be incredibly powerful, but we have to remember that the singers are the ones carrying the story. It’s also about finding the right tone colour rather than simply thinking about volume. A focused, supported sound can still have a lot of energy without overpowering the singers. In the end, it’s about being powerful as an ensemble while leaving space for the music and the voices to speak.”
Everything in the opera – the clang of the anvils, the shifting colours of the forest, and the brass fanfares, leads to the final scene, which Victoria points to as her personal favorite:
“This has got to be the famous finale scene of the opera in Act 3, when Siegfried finally braves the magic wall of fire to find the sleeping Brünnhilde. The duet between Siegfried and Brünnhilde, along with the luscious orchestration, truly takes you on an emotional rollercoaster.”
By bringing the orchestra out into the open, OMM takes audiences behind the music of Siegfried – showing not just the myth Wagner wrote, but the sheer collective effort it takes to bring it to life.
Saturday, 5 September 2026
Esplanade Concert Hall, 4pm
https://www.sistic.com.sg/events/wagner0926
A contributing editor at TBP.