By ELIZABETH LOLARGA
Photos by ANNA LEAH SARABIA
IN her next reincarnation, Sumi Jo, Korean lyric coloratura and toast of the opera world, would rather be “something else.” What she is today still entails battles with loneliness, caring for and covering up her throat (“Winter is hard for singers”), the discipline of sitting, studying, practicing 30,000 times in her head just to produce a song.
She debuts in the Philippines as part of an Asian tour Feb. 1 at 8 p.m. at SM Aura’s Samsung Hall, Bonifacio Global City of Taguig, with collaborating artist Najib Ismail, in a program of love songs to be sung in different styles and languages.
The woman whom the terror of the operatic world, Maestro Herbert von Karajan, described as the “voice from above” that comes in 100 years, said the concert is “exclusively dedicated to the victims and survivors of Haiyan. I believe in the power of music to heal hearts.”
Jo, Unesco International Artist for Peace, announced that concert proceeds go to Tanging Yaman Foundation and Unicef Philippines, organizations working for the rehabilitation of Haiyan/Yolanda-stricken provinces. Her artist’s honorarium she will split between Tuloy Foundation in Alabang, Muntinlupa, that helps street children and an animal rights group.
Her philanthropy extends to voice students for whom she will hold a free masterclass Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. at St. Scholastica College’s Corazon Aquino Hall in Malate, Manila. She has heard reports of many Filipino classical music talents. “I’m excited to meet these youngsters, to contribute my knowledge and experience.”
Svelte and fit at 5’4″ in high heels, Jo belied the stereotypical image of big, busty, overpowering operatic sopranos. She is unapologetic about her size and Asian-ness.”I like me as I am. All the roles I sing and act in an opera call for a young girl, a young lover, a princess or a little lady. They suit my light coloratura. I am not a Wagnerian voice. I use not just my vocal cords but also my hands, my body to express the music.”
Her voice’s ability to reach the last row in, say, a 3,000-seater venue has nothing to do with her size. She has learned and mastered diaphragmatic breathing techniques. She said, “I never had a problem producing a sound.”
In a Metropolitan Opera production, however, she gained eight kilos, thinking this move would produce a bigger sound. She regretted it. “It’s not true. I felt bad after.”
Which is why she prefers recitals. The pianist’s role is crucial. She establishes “a tight feeling with a pianist without faking it.” She expects him to “understand me as a woman, as a friend. He’s not just a supporter who’s supposed to be at my side. The voice can be capricious onstage, it can make surprises so he must have the sensitivity to see what’s going on. Singing demands lots of sacrifices. No one else can perform onstage except you.”
She sometimes brings her own pianist for performances. But for the Philippines, she specified someone born and raised here. This puts Prof. Ismail of the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music in the extraordinary position of, she said, “not an accompanist but another artist so we create something beautiful together.”
Among other rituals she does to lessen her nervousness before a performance despite having performed with the world’s top conductors on major stages worldwide, Jo hand-washes her clothes. Manila is no exemption. Since she arrived Wednesday, she has a line of laundry, including stockings, hanging in her Edsa Shangri-La hotel room’s bathroom.
Before a concert she gets scared.”My brain is working constantly. I’m always thinking of my music. I don’t sleep too well.”
Real relaxation is staying at home, playing with her dogs, gardening, cooking. She said, “I love ordinary things.”
She also loves “challenges in life. They give me stimulation so I never give up.” These challenges include continuing her coloratura repertoire apart from the crossover albums and performances that have endeared her to different audiences.
She said she would need more life, even love, experiences to deeply understand the world of Violetta, the main role in Verdi’s La Traviata. When she performed it, she confessed to having “suffered a lot” in the third act. She said she required more “emotional confidence” to be like the fallen woman in that opera.
Known as a fashion plate onstage with couturiers from Europe’s finest fashion houses falling over themselves to dress her, she brought four special dresses for her Manila debut. But she will just have two costume changes because they take at least from three to five minutes to take off and put on. She doesn’t have all that time.
Beyond discipline in one’s music, Jo believes in “the mysterious energy” that enables her to prepare every day.
(Call cell phones 0918-347-3027 or 0920-954-0053 or visit www.smtickets.com for tickets.)
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