BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015
Concert Four - 18th June 2015
Orchestra of Welsh National Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins
After yesterday's epic round, today was back to normal, with plenty of fine singing, but no immediately obvious winner, rather a choice between two.
Regula Mühlemann (soprano, 29, Switzerland) : Mein Herr Marquis (Die Fledermaus, Johann Strauss II), Quel guardo il cavaliere (Don Pasquale, Donizetti), Vorrei spiegarvi, oh Dio! (K. 418, Mozart)
Some bizarre glitch in the programme book vocally mis-cast the first two candidates of this evening's round. Ryan Speedo Green, who appeared second, was listed as a bass-baritone when he was clearly a bass, while, even more egregious, Regula Mühlemann was listed as a mezzo when she's a high soprano! Mühlemann has a lively personality, and plenty of it, and her Adèle was suitably ironic and frothy. Her coloratura is a little slow for the Donizetti, but the overall impression was good, pert and vivacious. It's a sharpish timbre, but the top sparkles, and she took an appropriately more serious demeanour for the Mozart concert aria, written for the stratospheric soprano of his sister-in-law Aloysia Weber. Although Mühlemann did justice to the high-lying vocal line, she was somewhat less convincing expressively than would have been desirable.
Ryan Speedo Green (bass, 29, USA) : La calunnia (Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Rossini), The people that walked in darkness (Messiah, Handel), Vecchia zimarra (La bohème, Puccini), Solche hergelaufne Laffen (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mozart)
This was a fine, sonorous bass with a splendid top when he let it loose. His Basilio seemed a bit subdued at first, but the "colpo di cannone" really was one, and if he wasn't as sly as Basilio can be, it was clearly a personal choice in the interpretation, not a lack of ability to do so. I fell asleep during the Handel.... No, I'm joking, though Handel does put me to sleep, and this is not the most exciting aria I can think of. Although decently performed, nothing Green did persuaded me otherwise. Similarly, I was left cold by "Vecchia zimarra", which was rather too artificial. Green's Osmin, however, was good, gradually working himself up into a rage, and with evident glee at the prospect of mayhem and torture.
Nadine Koutcher (soprano, 32, Belarus) : Depuis le jour (Louise, Charpentier), Les oiseaux dans la charmille (Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Offenbach), Son vergin vezzosa (I puritani, Bellini), Oh, do not weep, my Paolo (Francesca da Rimini, Rachmaninoff)
Nadine Koutcher has arguably the most beautiful natural instrument of the entire competition, a silken lyric coloratura with an easy, shimmering top and a very good, smooth line. However, in my opinion, she has a thing or two to learn about expressing emotion in her roles. Lovely as the singing was, I did not feel Louise's rapture, or Elvira's giddy excitement. The short number from Rachmaninoff's student opera Francesca da Rimini was nice enough, but not the most absorbing music. Her best number was Olympia's song, precisely because emotion is the one thing you need to avoid, given that the character is an automaton. She managed that very well, amusing herself and us with her antics and decorating the second verse with some original flourishes of her own that took her voice practically into orbit. Martyn Brabbins lent a helping hand (literally) to wind her up again at the appropriate moments.
Insu Hwang (baritone, 32, South Korea) : Was duftet doch der Flieder (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Wagner), Là del ciel (La Cenerentola, Rossini), È sogno, o realtà? (Falstaff, Verdi)
I was hoping this singer would do well, because I loved his programme, though found the choice of Alidoro's aria from Cenerentola a little odd for a baritone. Alas, it was not to be; what became immediately apparent in the Wagner was the lack of power, and I spent all of that piece, and most of the rest of Insu Hwang's presentation, longing for a volume control to turn his sound up. It was all the more regrettable as he was surrounded, both before and after, by singers who had no difficulty making themselves heard. Hwang's Wagner was undistinguished. Passing from that to Rossini was bold and a little unusual - one doesn't usually find singers comfortable in both of these very different repertories. Rossini's lighter orchestration let Hwang's voice come through better, but "Là del ciel" is a bass aria, and Hwang lacked the lowest notes for it. Finally, Ford's Jealousy monologue from Act 2 of Falstaff was well interpreted, but this great aria demands a baritone voice that really rings out when required, and again, Hwang failed to deliver.
Aviva Fortunata (27, soprano, Canada) : Einsam in trüben Tagen (Lohengrin, Wagner), Ah! Che invan su questo ciglio (Maometto II, Rossini), Chi il bel sogno di Doretto (La rondine, Puccini)
The third soprano of the evening was a very different proposition from the high-flying voices earlier, a full, creamy lirico-spinto with just enough additional heft for the Wagner. I doubt Aviva Fortunate will ever graduate to Brünnhilde or Isolde, but the lighter (relatively speaking) roles are already well within her grasp, judging from the excellent interpretation of Elsa's Dream. And this was an interpretation, with a degree of acting that we hadn't seen previously this evening. During the orchestral introduction (and the orchestra was playing extremely well tonight, throughout), she looked around the auditorium with a fearful gaze, turning the audience into the crowd present at her trial, and the jury into Elsa's judges. Like Hwang, she followed up with Rossini, but Rossini in rather more dramatic mode, with more of the lyrical belcanto lines and less of the fioriture. Fortunata's coloratura is a trifle blurry, but still within acceptable parameters, and the long, smooth phrases elsewhere were lovely. I have to admit that I detest Doretta's Dream, it's Puccini at his most saccharine and it gives me tooth-ache, but Fortunata sang it seductively, floating her top notes with elegant ease.
By the end of the concert, the choice for me was between Koutcher and Fortunata, and I favoured the Canadian, because I found her more impressive on an emotional level. However, the jury went for sheer beauty of voice, and Koutcher won the round. Then came the announcement of the "wild card", the fifth singer to qualify for the Final, selected from all the other candidates, and here, I confess, I have no idea what the jury's criteria were, because they chose Jongmin Park, the South Korean bass from the first Round. He wasn't bad - nobody really has been - but it seemed to me there were so many other, more interesting candidates than Park. Any one of Sebastian Pilgrim, Céline Forrest, Anaïs Constans, J'nai Bridges (and maybe particularly her) or Aviva Fortunata would have been preferable, and I think they have done Park no favours. Unless he pulls a rabbit out of the hat, I think he stands little chance against any of the four other finalists. However, there are at least two of the five from whom I expect some seriously great singing come Sunday.
[Next : 19th June]
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