Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse
David Syrus
Having enjoyed our previous outing to this event (here), we thought we'd give it another go, and it was a good choice, because the 2014 vintage was markedly better overall than the 2012 one. Whereas last time the art-song side of the competition was largely something of a waste of time, from everyone's point of view, this time was considerably more interesting, and the programming as a whole showed some very nice variety.
As a reminder, every candidate comes to the competition with two lists, twelve items in each, of prepared works; List A constituting art songs or numbers from sacred music, oratorio, cantata etc., and List B being wholly operatic. Everything they do in the competition comes from those lists, but it is the jury that selects which pieces it wishes to hear. In the final, the twelve competitors perform one item from each of their lists, the first from List A with piano accompaniment, the second from List B with full orchestral accompaniment. There are six prizes, 1st, 2nd and 3rd for the Ladies and for the Gentlemen respectively, plus an audience-voted prize.
Lee Myong-Hyun (25, tenor, South Korea)
Beethoven : Der Küss
Donizetti : "Tombe degli avi miei" (Lucia di Lammermoor)
The evening got off to a strong start with a nice, if slightly arch reading of the Beethoven arietta, "The Kiss", delivered in crisp, clear German. There followed a heartfelt rendition of Edgar's final aria from Lucia, but Lee may have overdone things by performing it on his knees. It's true that in performance, that is often how one sees the tenor at this point, but it was maybe a little much for the occasion. Nevertheless, I'd book this young man in a heartbeat at my local opera house if I had any say in the matter. A fresh timbre, very good diction and an earnest delivery that could all be easily refined in the right company.
Marion Lebègue (30, mezzo-soprano, France)
Berg : Nacht (Seven Early Songs)
Gounod : "O ma lyre immortelle" (Sapho)
The Berg was richly atmospheric, hothouse warm and sensuous, while the Gounod was quite simply masterly. Sapho was Gounod's first opera, written with the encouragement of, and for, Pauline Viardot, but this aria, which remains the only number really known from the work, was in fact derived from an earlier song, the Chanson du pêcheur, and adapted to the opera at Viardot's suggestion. It's the final aria, after which the titular heroine throws herself into the sea to drown, and Lebègue delivered it with immense pathos and dignity, superbly accompanied by the Capitole orchestra. Despite an unfortunate name for a singer ("le bègue" in French translates as "the stammerer"), it is one to remember; she has a very fine voice, securely seated throughout the range, and an exciting top, and a very good stage presence. She had dressed appropriately, in flowing mock-Grecian draperies, and hair in a corona with ringlets, looking every inch the part. She took the 1st Prize.
Zhai Xiaohan (25, bass, China)
Duparc : La vague et la cloche
Verdi : "Studio il passo... Come dal ciel precipita" (Macbeth)
In an evening where the choices of repertoire for the competitors were usually distinctly contrasted, this pair of numbers stood out by their very similarity. Both speak of forebodings and dire presentiment, and the Duparc is one of his most melodramatic songs. Both therefore ended up suffering from the same sense of ennui. Zhai Xiaohan has a fair-sounding bass voice, but lacks the experience to maintain interest in his presentations. The Duparc in particular became a long-winded affair.
Son Narea (23, soprano, South Korea)
Delibes : Les filles de Cadix
Rossini : "Bel raggio lusinghier" (Semiramide)
South Korea has a bit of a reputation for coloratura sopranos, and Son certainly has the range and the agility, but she has a lot of work to do in terms of style. The Delibes was unconvincing, while the Rossini was almost disjointed. The notes were all there, but it was as if there was nothing connecting them, poor phrasing, no sense of comprehension of the genre, no real flow to the music. Having developed the basic voice, Son now needs a teacher to show her what to do with it, because right now, it is all sound and no sense.
Petr Nekoranec (22, tenor, Czech Republic)
Britten : O might those sighes and teares (The Holy Sonnets of John Donne)
Donizetti : "O mes amis" (La fille du régiment)
The youngest competitor in these finals also had the most challenging programme, one of Britten's settings of Donne's sonnets, which are a relatively early work, from 1945, and the infamous "O mes amis" with its 9 top C's. Bearing in mind that it was the jury who actually selected those pieces for Nekoranec to sing tonight, I'm still not sure they weren't trying to teach him a lesson about biting off more than he could chew, but in fact he carried off both pieces very successfully, top Cs and all. He's a nice-looking young man too, and should do very well for himself, although at 22 his voice probably hasn't really finished developing yet, so who knows if he'll still have those easy high notes in another five or ten years. However, for the occasion, they were enough to get him a well-deserved 2nd place.
Angélique Boudeville (27, soprano, France)
Debussy : Nuit d'étoiles
Mozart : "Dove sono" (Le Nozze di Figaro)
Somebody had a predilection for early songs, from all appearances, and here was another, the 1880 "Nuits d'étoiles", which would have been better served with a subtler accompaniment. Boudeville did her part reasonably well, and the voice is pleasing, quite a lush soprano sound, but the song as a whole came off as a rather ordinary salon piece. "Dove sono" did not fare much better, Boudeville was on autopilot once the aria proper began, and the whole was far too fast. Nevertheless, she was awarded 3rd Prize. I said it last time that I thought there was a certain degree of chauvinism in action at this competition, and I'll say it again - there was certainly a better candidate on the night.
Kim Junghoon (26, tenor, South Korea)
Strauss : Allerseelen
Puccini : "Nessun dorma" (Turandot)
This was a surprise to me, because this was a return visit. Kim competed in the 2012 event, and at the time I wasn't terribly impressed. Two years have added a few pounds to his frame - he's really starting to look like the archetypal tenor now - and quite a bit of heft and lustre to the voice, to considerable advantage. He sang the same Strauss lieder too, this time with a good deal more care, but it still didn't sound like natural territory for him. However, his "Nessun dorma" would, under normal circumstances, have brought the house down, to put it bluntly. He launched into it completely fearlessly, and with complete confidence, wholly apt for the character in context, and gave a radiant performance right up to and including an effortless and shining top B flat. Impossible not to reward that kind of delivery, and he won both the 1st Prize, and the Prix du Public.
Hila Fahima (27, soprano, Israel)
Mozart : Et incarnatus est (Mass in C minor)
Donizetti : "Qual guardo il cavalier" (Don Pasquale)
Fahima has a very girlish high soprano, which suited the ethereal quality of the Mozart very well indeed. She sang it fluidly and easily, very musically and very pleasing. I was less happy with her Norina, where the juvenile quality of Fahima's voice seemed less appropriate. Norina's been round the block a time or two, she has a fairly down-to-earth attitude about life, not to mention her sense of humour, and although Fahima negotiated the music effortlessly enough, the character didn't quite fit. However, the calibre of singing was good, her musicality in the Mozart undeniable, and her 2nd Place well enough deserved (though personally I had her in 3rd).
Ankhbayar Enkhbold (25, baritone, Mongolia)
Rachmaninoff : O, dolga budu ja (Op. 4 No. 3)
Giordano : "Nemico della patria" (Andrea Chénier)
Enkhbold was the only baritone left in the competition, and he had brought his own accompanist with him to Toulouse, which proved to be a good thing for him, because the two of them delivered an appropriately soulful Rachmaninoff, and possibly the strongest of all the List A contributions tonight. Had he delivered the Giordano with the same level of commitment, he would certainly have had my vote for a prize, if not the jury's, but the aria did not quite click to the same extent. Furthermore, he has a singularly impassive demeanour, very inexpressive visually, which did not do him any favours.
Heather Newhouse (30, soprano, Canada)
Strauss : Einerlei
Verdi : "Sul fil d'un soffio etesio" (Falstaff)
Here was the other outstanding List A contribution, and a soprano who has a real notion of how Richard Strauss should sound. Newhouse has that silvery clarity of timbre, but a creamy texture to her voice that is ideal in this repertory. The clarity was also welcome in the Verdi, Nanetta's aria from the last act of Falstaff, although there were a couple of small oddities that will no doubt clear up with time. Also, however, she miscalculated in the very final phrase of the aria, and allowed the orchestra to cover her slightly, thus weakening the overall effect. Nevertheless, this is a lovely voice, well produced, and there is a real quality to her presentation. To my mind, she should certainly have had a prize - I'd have said 2nd, but at least 3rd, definitely in preference to Boudeville.
Shao Yu (28, tenor, China)
Schumann : Stille Tränen
Lalo : "Vainement, ma bien aimée" (Le Roi d'Ys)
The Schumann had some very fine moments, very nice dynamic control, but wasn't quite cohesive enough to really shine. Shao Yu's diction, however, both in German and in French, was exemplary, a real pleasure to hear, and the voice has a good quality, though the top is a little brittle. The Lalo, like Labègue's Gounod, is another aria that was once very popular but has lapsed into semi-obscurity in more recent times (and the opera is similarly neglected), and Shao Yu was quite persuasive, with a light-voiced charm. It could have done with being given a concert ending, however, because as it stood, it came to a rather abrupt and disconcerting halt, which jarred. That said, the performance was enough to net Shao the 3rd Prize.
Shin Myeongjun (28, bass, South Korea)
Brahms : Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht
Verdi : "A te l'estremo addio.... Il lacerato spirito" (Simon Boccanegra)
Shin Myeongjun may possess a basement-level bass, but tonight it was bargain basement. The Brahms was, I think, pitched at least a tone, if not two, too low, and I don't know if it was stage-fright or not, but Shin had gravel firmly lodged in the centre of his voice throughout both parts of his performance. The middle of the register was unsteady, and both numbers were, to say the least, unsatisfactory. The Brahms - normally one of his most beautiful songs - verged on the catastrophic, not to put too fine a point on it. A pity to end the evening on such an unfortunate note, but there had to be a weak link somewhere.
All told, however, this was a very enjoyable evening, with a preponderance of good singers most of whom promise to become better still in the relatively near future. Well deserved 1st places in both categories, and I have no quibble with the other placings for the men. But I will be watching the next time around to see if the French contestants get placed regardless of actual standard of performance on the night!
[Next : 30th September]
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