BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015
Song Prize Final
Accompanists:
Simon Lepper (SL)
Llyr Williams (LW)
I had realised we had been given tickets for quite a different area of the hall from the places we had occupied up to now, and will again on Sunday, but I hadn't registered that they were first row front and centre, six feet from the recitalists tonight! Being so close has both advantages and disadvantages. You really hear the voices, without the acoustic of the hall intervening; on the other hand, although it's possible to hear dynamic grading, getting a true piano or worse, a pianissimo, is a little difficult. It's not that the singer isn't doing it, but you're a bit too close to get the benefit. On the third hand, hearing every word isn't going to be a problem - or so you'd think.
Amartuvshin Enkhbat (baritone, 29, Mongolia, LW) : In the silence of the night (Op. 4 No. 3, Rachmaninov), Ich grolle nicht (Dichterliebe, Schumann), Your tears (Natsag Jantsannorov), Ti voglio tanto bene (De Curtis), Canción del sembrador (La Rosa del Asafran, Guerrero)
The evening began with the magnificent Mongolian baritone who is surely a hot tip for the Main Prize on Sunday, and indeed, right from the first note, the voice rolled out, richly coloured and sumptuously textured. The Rachmaninov was heartfelt and poetic, and Llyr Williams was his usual excellent self, and the piano was as much a pleasure to listen to as the voice. Yet Enkhbat is not a natural lieder performer in the same way he inhabits his operatic roles. The Schumann was slow and stiff, which rather undid the positive impression of the Rachmaninov. The Mongolian song by Natsagiin Jantsannorov was an attractive piece, with a hint of folk melody about it, and displayed the voice to good effect, while the De Curtis had a lot of charm, and Williams made the piano part sometimes sound like a barrel-organ, as if we were really hearing a popular song on the streets of Naples, but neither piece quite felt like art-song material, any more than the final number, an extract from a Spanish zarzuela. Again, the voice was a pleasure to hear, but the song seemed a little pointless.
Aviva Fortunata (27, soprano, Canada, LW) : Echo (The Poet's Echo, Britten), Angel (The Poet's Echo, Britten), Tyndaris (Études latines, Hahn), Dans la nuit (Les feuilles blessées, Hahn), Mein Liebster singt (Italianisches Liederbuch, Wolf), Mein Liebster ist so klein (Italianisches Liederbuch, Wolf), Agnes (Mörike-Lieder, Wolf), My love is like a red, red rose (Trad., arr. Greer)
The Poet's Echo is a cycle of six songs to Pushkin verses, set in the original Russian, written by Britten in 1965 and dedicated to Galina Vishnevskaya and her husband Mstislav Rostropovich, who gave the first public performance. It's a late work, and the musical language is very sparse and not immediately appealing. Although Aviva Fortunata gave what I felt was a convincing reading, particularly of the dramatic "Angel", one could sense that the public was not enthused by the songs. The Reynaldo Hahn songs, full of charm, went down rather better - save that Fortunata's French was completely unintelligible, something I find almost incomprehensible from a Canadian singer. "Tyndaris" was a bit of a lost cause, as a result, but "Dans la nuit" was more evocative. Her Wolf was similarly uneven. "Mein Liebster singt" was over-exaggerated, too dramatic for an Italian folk poem. The slyly comic "Mein Liebster ist so klein" was much better, her tendency to over-emphasise things put to good use here. "Agnes", though more controlled than the first Wolf song, meandered a bit. She finished with a rather sentimental version of Burns's "My love is like a red, red rose", in an arrangement that was really over-egging the pudding, trying to turn a traditional song into something more exalted. Fortunate's sincerity couldn't be faulted, but her programme was generally unsatisfying.
Ilker Arcayürek (30, tenor, Turkey/Austria, SL) : Nacht und Träume (Op 43 No 2, Schubert), Der Feuerreiter (Mörike-Lieder, Wolf), Extase (Duparc), Phidylé (Duparc)
Arcayürek's programme on paper ticked all the right boxes for me, Schubert and Wolf, and then turn of the 20th Century in French and Russian, because originally he had Rachmaninov's famous "Spring Waters" on his sheet. However, he came out, inverted the original order of the Wolf and Schubert songs, and dropped the Rachmaninov altogether. Of course a performer is entitled to make last minute amendments to his programme, especially if there might be some vocal problems, but in competition it doesn't create a good impression. The redoutable "Nacht und Träume" was quite well handled, with a sweet tone and good breath control, but "Der Feuerreiter" never achieved the spine-tingling intensity it needs. This is Wolf's answer to Schubert's "Erlkönig", a Gothic horror story, and a really effective performance should raise the hairs on the back of your neck. I've never heard it sung by a high voice, and I don't think it really suits one. The post-coital languor of "Extase", and the slow burn of "Phidylé" both came across well enough, but although Arcayürek's French was intelligible, it was badly accented, which is impardonable in French song.
Nadine Koutcher (32, soprano, Belarus, LW) : Sure on this shining night (Op 13 No 3, Barber), Die Nachtigall (7 Early Songs, Berg), Pierrot (4 Chansons de jeunesse, Debussy), To Her (Op. 38 No. 2, Rachmaninov), A Dream (Op. 38 No. 5, Rachmaninov), How nice it is here (Op. 21 No. 7, Rachmaninov), Vocalise (Op. 34 No. 14, Rachmaninov).
Koutcher is the other truly remarkable vocal instrument of this year's competition, and much of her programme was chosen to show off her radiant timbre and silvery top. The quality of the voice is undeniable, but as in her opera round, I was less impressed with her range of expression and her ability to communicate. The Barber is a lovely song and despite somewhat thick English, came across well. The Berg (already heard from J'nai Bridges on Wednesday) seemed to be tossed off rather casually and went in one ear and out the other. The Debussy is an early piece, chirpy and flirtatious, which Koutcher managed well enough, showing off her coloratura. Her French is also a bit impenetrable, but I admit that it's difficult to make out the text at the best of times, because of the vocal ornamentation. Then came a batch of Rachmaninov songs, two lesser known, two very famous, and there was a good deal more expression in these. The best were "A Dream", with Williams providing a particularly wonderful accompaniment, and "How nice it is here", full of wonderment, and she concluded with the Vocalise, in which the clarity of text is wholly unimportant because there isn't any! It's a lovely way to show off the voice - but it's not really what I'd call an art-song.
Jongmin Park (28, bass, South Korea, SL) : Wer sich der Einsamkeit ergibt (Gesänge des Hafners, Schubert), Der Atlas (Schwanengesang, Schubert), Stille Tränen (Op. 35 No. 10, Schumann), Ideale (Tosti), Boat Song (Du-Nam Cho)
The German Romantic composers - Schubert, Schumann, Brahms and one or two others - are the absolute core of the art-song repertory. These are the songs that every aspiring recitalist has to master to be considered a truly outstanding interpreter. It was somewhat conspicuous that tonight, the previous candidates had barely nodded in that direction. Park started out with three of them, and some of the reasons why he was picked as the fifth candidate for Sunday's Main Prize Final suddenly became clear. First of all, his diction in German was beautiful, crystal clear and well pronounced, and that extended to the rest of his programme too. He also managed real pianissimi, in the first Schubert and the Schumann, and his range of expression throughout was impressive. His voice was firm, sonorous, mostly very steady, with only one or two insignificant little flutters of instability. The first Schubert ached with loneliness, the second, ever-popular with basses, rang out portentously. The Schumann was exquisite, hushed and awed. The Tosti was tender but not sugary, and the Korean song that ended the recital was bright and confident. There was an excellent variety of expression, of vocal colour and tone, and Park's whole presentation was assured without bombast. After his somewhat stolid appearance in Round 1, his song recital was a real eye-opener.
After Park, there was no question in my mind that he deserved the Song Prize. Although there were two superb voices, intrinsically better than Park's instrument, in this Final, the voice is not the most important factor in the performance of art-song, and Park demonstrated the qualities that really need to be considered, over and above the voice itself. The jury came to the same conclusion, and Jongmin Park is the Cardiff Song Prize Winner for this year.
[Next : 21st June]
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