Last night was the finals for one of the most famous singing competition in the Western hemisphere, from which careers like Dmitry Hvorostovsky, Bryn Terfel, Karita Mattila and Elina Garanca has emerged. There are two prizes, the Opera prize and the Song (piano recital) prize: fans remembered with relish the scandal when local favorite Terfel was snubbed in favour of Hvorostovsky and was given only the "Lieder" prize, dubbed the "loser" prize. There was also the addition of Dame Kiri te Kanawa to the judging panel, which included among others that unsinkable ship, Marilyn Horne. 2011 was a sad year for some: it was the first year since the passing away of its patron, Dame Joan Sutherland, who had been a pillar of strength to both the competition and its competitors.
As it turns out, five finalists were selected out of the four rounds: Olesysa Petrova of Russia (mezzo-soprano), Andrei Bondarenko of Ukraine (baritone), Hye Jung Lee of South Korea (coloratura soprano), Meeta Raval from England (soprano) and Valentina Nafornita of Moldova (soprano). The repertoire was varied to say the least: Miss Jung Lee sang Madam Mao! I was really drawn to three of these contenders, namely Miss Petrova, Miss Raval and Mr. Bondarenko.
The bad thing about competitions like this, in which the age of the competitors range from 24 to 31, is that you never see the full potential of the voice as yet. Almost everyone is a lyric and/or a coloratura! There was one or two basses, thank God, but it really shows that these are young, budding voices: on the cusp, if you will. So to judge these young artists on such high level as this is really defeating the purpose, if you ask me, but well.
A few comments on the singers which attracted my attention: Miss Petrova has a ravishing lyric mezzo-soprano without a tint of Slavic edge which almost always haunt Russian singers. Her diction was less than satisfactory but her musicianship was impeccable; and what an attractive voice: an adult, fully-grown instrument with an amazing richness. She almost has a spiritual way of singing - perhaps a sign of her confidence, as she stated in her post-round interview afterwards: "On stage I am queen."
Miss Raval has a wonderful lyric soprano with an amazing technique and fearless musicianship: how else one performs a messa di voce on a top Bb! On the other hand her coloratura is a bit smudged (particularly on the downward runs), and jumping to acuti she did not maintain that wonderful legato she imbibed in everything else. But she plays up to her strength, which is ultimately a very expressive, "sunny" voice with a very bright timbre. A wonderful person, too: stressing on the music-making rather than on the competition, she is sure to go a long way.
Mr. Bondarenko has all the qualities of the bari-hunk genre: cutting a romantic figure with his expressive face, tall presence and wonderful stage movements, he also ravishes with a well-schooled baritone, capable of a full range of dynamic and expressive devices while never abandoning the legato line. One fears that the size may be a bit small against the Welsh National Orchestra, but when he unleashes it to full voice in the Song round, this fear is alleviated. His Song recital is exemplary to say the least, singing Schumann and Sviridov with equal fervour. No wonder: when one peruses his resume one sees he has attended masterclasses with Christa Ludwig and Thomas Quasthoff, the equivalent of saying "I had a lunch date with Dr. Barnard to talk about surgery." I was attracted at first when I saw Respighi's Nebbie on his song list: alas, he did not sing it for the Song finals.
As it turns out, the winner for the 2011 session is Miss Nafornita of Moldova, who also scores the Audience prize. The Song prize goes to the wonderful Mr. Bondarenko. All in all a wonderful program, and what a way to finish off the weekend. I look forward to the 2013 edition!
As it turns out, five finalists were selected out of the four rounds: Olesysa Petrova of Russia (mezzo-soprano), Andrei Bondarenko of Ukraine (baritone), Hye Jung Lee of South Korea (coloratura soprano), Meeta Raval from England (soprano) and Valentina Nafornita of Moldova (soprano). The repertoire was varied to say the least: Miss Jung Lee sang Madam Mao! I was really drawn to three of these contenders, namely Miss Petrova, Miss Raval and Mr. Bondarenko.
The bad thing about competitions like this, in which the age of the competitors range from 24 to 31, is that you never see the full potential of the voice as yet. Almost everyone is a lyric and/or a coloratura! There was one or two basses, thank God, but it really shows that these are young, budding voices: on the cusp, if you will. So to judge these young artists on such high level as this is really defeating the purpose, if you ask me, but well.
A few comments on the singers which attracted my attention: Miss Petrova has a ravishing lyric mezzo-soprano without a tint of Slavic edge which almost always haunt Russian singers. Her diction was less than satisfactory but her musicianship was impeccable; and what an attractive voice: an adult, fully-grown instrument with an amazing richness. She almost has a spiritual way of singing - perhaps a sign of her confidence, as she stated in her post-round interview afterwards: "On stage I am queen."
Miss Raval has a wonderful lyric soprano with an amazing technique and fearless musicianship: how else one performs a messa di voce on a top Bb! On the other hand her coloratura is a bit smudged (particularly on the downward runs), and jumping to acuti she did not maintain that wonderful legato she imbibed in everything else. But she plays up to her strength, which is ultimately a very expressive, "sunny" voice with a very bright timbre. A wonderful person, too: stressing on the music-making rather than on the competition, she is sure to go a long way.
Mr. Bondarenko has all the qualities of the bari-hunk genre: cutting a romantic figure with his expressive face, tall presence and wonderful stage movements, he also ravishes with a well-schooled baritone, capable of a full range of dynamic and expressive devices while never abandoning the legato line. One fears that the size may be a bit small against the Welsh National Orchestra, but when he unleashes it to full voice in the Song round, this fear is alleviated. His Song recital is exemplary to say the least, singing Schumann and Sviridov with equal fervour. No wonder: when one peruses his resume one sees he has attended masterclasses with Christa Ludwig and Thomas Quasthoff, the equivalent of saying "I had a lunch date with Dr. Barnard to talk about surgery." I was attracted at first when I saw Respighi's Nebbie on his song list: alas, he did not sing it for the Song finals.
As it turns out, the winner for the 2011 session is Miss Nafornita of Moldova, who also scores the Audience prize. The Song prize goes to the wonderful Mr. Bondarenko. All in all a wonderful program, and what a way to finish off the weekend. I look forward to the 2013 edition!
