RANDOM JOTTINGS

A blog about music, sports, theatre and rants

Long time blogger just moved to wordpress. Love music, theatre, movies, sport (tennis and cricket) and cooking. Two great daughters, two great granddaughters.

Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 – The Final

I have said before that it all depends on the performance on the night and it was true again in this year's final.  I am putting my thoughts down here at 19:38 before the judges make a decision so I cannot pretend I knew who was going to win all along.  You have to admire my honesty. Well, you don't have to but it would be nice if you did………. 

Japanese soprano – my favourite but she pushed a bit tonight and not sure she is going to do it; Italian tenor, terrific fun but at 21 a bit unremitting and feel he needs more colour in his voice though he was wonderful and I shall keep an eye out for him, a Pavarotti in the making (and no, he did not sing Nessun Dorma thank heavens, that would have been too much of a good thing); bass did an aria from Don Carlos and I felt he was good but he did not thrill me (I gather he won the Lieder prize).  Then the Russian soprano (I apologise for using nationalities instead of names but I cannot spell most of them) came on and did a complete performance and was brilliant.  I thought she was the weakest of the five even thought she did a wonderful letter scene from Onegin in her round, but tonight she was spot on.  The counter tenor simply sensational and the audience adored him.

So in my opinion it comes down to the Russian soprano or the counter tenor and my choice would be the counter tenor – just.  I wonder if the jury will agree with me – my gut feeling is they will go with Russia but we shall see.

I will let you know in about half an hour if I was right…or more likely, wrong.

Win

LATER – Well, I was right. The Russian soprano won and on the performance she gave tonight the correct decision though I do wish the counter tenor had done it as I think that would have been a bold award.  However, as soon as Ekaterina had finished, I thought 'she's got it'.

The audience prize, voted for by everyone watching in the theatre throughout the week and on TV and listening on radio, was Giovanni Lucca, the Italian tenor, and he was beaming all over his face.  Lovely young chap and he is going to be a great singer, if, and it is a big if, he is not pushed too far, too fast.

The trophy was presented by Dame Joan Sutherland who made it, though she has recently had a fall and hurt her leg I gather.  There she was and it is a sobering thought to realise that she is now 80 years old.  I remember seeing her when I was just eleven  in Lucia at Covent Garden and meeting her back stage afterwards.  A kind and gracious lady who signed my programme for me. Needless to say as soon as she walked on the stage the audience leapt to their feet and simply yelled. Magical moment.

So, wonderful competition as ever and I thoroughly enjoyed the leisure and time that is now mine to sit and watch every single round.  I have had hay fever back again the last few days so have spent a lot of time indoors and delighted that there was decent TV available.  Oh and to add to it all of course, Andy Murray won the tennis championship at Queens today, the first Brit to do that for over 70 years.

So a good day – as I said in my previous post Tennis and Top Notes.  Great mixture.

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4 responses to “Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 – The Final”

  1. bruessel Avatar
    bruessel

    When trying to watch the clips, I got the same message as Susan, but fortunately my cable company carries BBC1 and 2. So I’m very pleased the final was on BBC2 and not 4. Pity it won’t be the same for the song prize. The Czech bass left me strangely cold although I usually love that kind of voice. Maybe it’s unfair that I was unfavourably comparing his rendition of “La Calumna” (sp?) to that of Ruggero Raimondi and the king’s lament from “Don Carlos” to that of José Van Dam.
    I also think the countertenor would have been the bold choice to win, his Handel was fabulous.

    Reply
  2. Lauren Avatar
    Lauren

    Susan, I think (haven’t tried this) that you can listen to Radio 3 outside the UK, so if you go to their website, you might be able to hear the performances via listen again.
    The Czech bass Jan was brilliant in the song prize. (thanks Radio 3, since the television coverage isn’t till next Friday) His version of Danse Macabre was awesome – I don’t know how it’s possible to speak French at that speed, let alone sing gloriously, but he did sound less spectacular last night. Still probably my favourite of the week though, and certainly ready for an excellent career.
    Giordano from Italy needs another five years, but given the shortage of tenors at the moment (can we clone Jonas Kaufmann in the meantime?), he has enormous potential. He does need some acting lessons urgently though!
    Eri Nakamura possibly didn’t pick the best music – the Bellini was great but I don’t get terribly excited hearing her in Strauss.
    I thought the counter-tenor Yuriy was probably the most consistently excellent across his three arias, but Ekaterina’s “No word from Tom” was amazing. And I don’t even like The Rake’s Progress that much. It was a brave choice to sing in English and something really hard but that doesn’t set off fireworks, but she did it beautifully. She’s also stunning, but that’s not why she won. It certainly won’t hurt her career though!
    Oh, and the singer I know did quite well across the week, although I was again reminded of why I find her absolutely terrifying a good chunk of the time. Poor choice of Handel didn’t help her, but she’ll be great in Wagner in the future. (Must say, though, that I don’t envy someone building a career on strengths which make a fair number of people uncomfortable – suffice to say her father’s a cantor. When I mentioned to my mother that she’d been discouraged from singing Wagner as a slightly younger singer, Mum automatically assumed this was for cultural reasons rather than issues of vocal strain. And she’s someone who’s normally fairly relaxed about these things.)

    Reply
  3. Susan D Avatar
    Susan D

    I got all excited, so I went off the the BBC site to watch the clips, only to be very pointedly informed they’re “not available in your area, you undeserving colonial.”
    All right, I added the last bit.

    Reply
  4. George Crowe Avatar
    George Crowe

    I thought she was great and having been in the hall to see the counter tenor, I too thought he was in with a chance. The Italian Tenor has huge potential as long as he doesn’t suffer a heart attack before he reaches 30….I think a bit of a sponsor deal from a bike manufacturer would do well in the contest…..with a free bike for the singer who wins each round……for me the world’s best tenor at the minute is Joseph Calleja, but if this lad gets the right kind of support, then within five or six years he could be up there with the best of em…..

    Reply

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