The Cardiff Singer of the World competition final was held on Sunday evening with a surprising result
Meeta Raval opened the evening programme withTimor di me? ... D'amor sull'ali rosee (Il trovatore) - Verdi;
Sola, perduta, abbandonata (Manon Lescaut) - Puccini and Beim Schlafengehen (Vier letzte Lieder No 3) - R Strauss
She attended Wells Cathedral School and was the first Head Girl Chorister in the country. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a first class honours degree and was awarded a Diploma of Distinction by Royal Academy Opera. Meeta won the Dame Eva Turner Prize and the Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize. She has participated in master classes with Dame Ann Murray and Mirella Freni, and completed her studies at the National Opera Studio in 2010.
Operatic roles include Contessa Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna Don Giovanni, Micaela Carmen, Magda La rondine, Mimì La bohème, Liù Turandot, The Witch Hänsel und Gretel and the title role Suor Angelica. Meeta's operatic debut at English National Opera was as First Flower Maiden Parsifal. On the concert stage, Meeta has sung the Bach Mass in B Minor and Johannes Passion; Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem; Bruckner's Te Deum; Dvořák's Stabat Mater; Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. Broadcasts include Contessa in Discovering Figaro and Soprano in Janáček's Diary of One who Disappeared, both for BBC Radio 3, and Teresa Das Wundertheater by Henze for RAI. Future plans include Cio-Cio San Madam Butterfly for Mid Wales Opera in September. Meeta enjoys shopping, travel, cinema, dancing and all kinds of music. I rated her performance 4th of the 5 competitors on the night.
Previously she had sung
· Signore, ascolta! (Turandot) - Puccini
· La mamma morta (Andrea Chénier) - Giordano
· How can I sleep ... At the haunted end of the day (Troilus and Cressida) - Walton
· Mercè, dilette amiche (I vespri siciliani) - Verdi
I placed 5th Hye Jung Lee from South Korea who had impressed everyone in the semi final which she won by singing· I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung (Nixon in China) - John Adams but had to contribute other songs for the final.
· Tornami a vagheggiar (Alcina) - Handel
· A vos jeux, mes amis ... Partagez-vous mes fleurs! (Hamlet) - Thomas
Born in 1983 she graduated from Seoul National University in 2006, with teacher Hyun Ju Yun. She continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Dresden with Ilse Hahn and Mannes College of Music, New York with Beth Roberts. She was the recipient of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship 2006-2008 and winner of Metropolitan Opera Council in Indiana District in 2010. Hye Jung won second prize at the 2008 Shizuoka International Opera Competition, third prize at the 58th ARD International Music Competition in 2009 and won the Career Bridges grant award in 2010. Hye Jung joined the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera in 2010 and performed Giannetta L'elisir d'amore and scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos Zerbinetta and A Midsummer Night's Dream Tytania there the same year. Her repertoire includes Adele Die Fledermaus, Lauretta Gianni Schicchi, Ilia Idomeneo, Marie La fille du régiment, Zdenka Arabella, Nannetta Falstaff and Frasquita Carmen. She has also taken part in many concerts, including Mozart's C minor Mass, Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium at Carnegie Hall and a UBS gala concert at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. In July 2012, Hye Jung will perform Madame Mao Nixon in China with San Francisco Opera. I had wondered how China would react to this Opera so it is interesting that she is participating in this visit. In her spare time, she enjoys movies and yoga.
Of the three others I had expected Andrei Bonarenko, the Baritone from Ukraine and the only male singer in the final to win as he had the vote of the expert commentators for the BBC and had won the song competition final the night before. Born in 1987 he trained at the National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in Kiev and the Kiev Conservatory. Since 2007 he has been a soloist in the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers in St Petersburg. Awards include third prize at the 2006 International Rimsky-Korsakov vocal competition in St Petersburg, third prize at the International Maniuszko Competition and finalist in the 2010 Operalia competition. In 2009 he took part in the Salzburg Festival Young Singers' Project, working with Michael Schade and taking master classes with Christa Ludwig, Marjana Lipovšek and Thomas Quasthoff. In 2010 he sang Grigorio Roméo et Juliette with Yannik Nezet-Seguin and this year The Emperor Le Rossignol with Ivor Bolton. Andrei's current roles at the Mariinsky include Gugliemo Così fan tutte and Conte Il nozze di Figaro. Other repertoire includes Onegin Eugene Onegin, Silvio Pagliacci, Marullo Rigoletto, Robert Iolanta, Aeneas Dido and Aeneas, Papageno Die Zauberflöte and Belcore L'elisir d`amore. This year, in Vienna, Germany, Moscow, St Petersburg and at the Sydney Festival, he takes part in a new Michael Sturminger project, The Giacomo Variations, alongside John Malkovich. Future engagements include his Glyndebourne Touring Opera debut as Malatesta Don Pasquale in 2011 and Marcello La bohème at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2012. Andrei enjoys playing jazz saxophone.
· Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo (Così fan tutte) - Mozart
· O Carlo, ascolta ... Io morrò - (Don Carlo) - Verdi
· Fin ch'han del vino - (Don Giovanni) - Mozart
· Ya vas lyublyu (The Queen of Spades) - Tchaikovsky
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize Final repertoire
· In der Fremde (Op 39 No 1) - Schumann
· Intermezzo (Op 39 No 2) - Schumann
· Waldesgespräch (Op 39 No 3) - Schumann
· Die Stille (Op 39 No 4) - Schumann
· Autumn (Russia cast adrift No 1) - Georgy Sviridov
· Russia cast adrift (Russia cast adrift No 5) - Georgy Sviridov
· Simon, Peter ... Where are you? (Russia cast adrift No 6) - Georgy Sviridov
· O my homeland, o happy and eternal hour (Russia cast adrift No 12) - Georgy Sviridov
I wanted Mezzo-Soprano Olesya Petrova Mess to win because I enjoyed her voice and performances the most overall. Born 1982 in St Petersburg, she graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov St Petersburg State Conservatoire in 2008 where she had studied with Professor Irina Bogacheva. She has been a soloist with the St Petersburg Conservatoire Opera Theatre since 2007. Olesya won second prize at the first International Galina Vishnevskaya competition in Moscow in 2006 and second prize in the XI11 International Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 2007. She has performed Lyubasha The Tsar's Bride for Perm Opera and Novosibirsk Opera and Amneris Aida in Bangkok. Oleysa's repertoire also includes Marfa Khovanshchina; Lel The Snow Maiden; Carmen Carmen; Olga Eugene Onegin; Countess Polina The Queen of Spades; Maddalena Rigoletto; Joan The Maid of Orleans and Ulrica Un ballo in maschera. Olesya's concert repertoire includes works by Bach, Pergolesi, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Berlioz, Wagner, Mahler and Prokofiev. Artists Olesya has performed with include Valery Gergiev, Leo Kremer, Fabio Mastrangelo and Vladimir Fedoseev. She has given solo recitals in St Petersburg, Moscow and Ekaterinburg and has toured in Europe, the USA, South America, Korea, China and Japan. Future plans include Konchakovna Prince Igor in Zurich in 2012. In her spare time, Olesya enjoys the gym, cinema, reading and driving.
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011: Final repertoire
· Nyet, bit' ne mozhet! (The Tsar's Bride) - Rimsky-Korsakov
· Re dell'abisso, affrettati (Un ballo in maschera) - Verdi
· Voi lo sapete, o mamma (Cavalleria rusticana) - Mascagni
· Habañera (Carmen) - Bizet
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011: concert one repertoire
· Adieu, forêts (The Maid of Orleans) - Tchaikovsky
· Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix (Samson et Dalila) - Saint-Saëns
· Acerba voluttà (Adriana Lecouvreur) - Cilea
I was not surprised that the Joan Sutherland audience prize was awarded to the Moldovian singer Valentina Naforniţă
#
Valentina Naforniţă was born in Glodeni, Republic of Moldova. She graduated from the Stefan Neaga Music College in Kishinev in 2006 and continued her training in Romania, at the voice department of the National University of Music in Bucharest, where she studied with sopranos Maria Slatinaru-Nistor and Eleonora Enăchescu. The latter is teaching her on the MA programme at present. In addition, she has taken master classes with soprano Mariana Nicolesco and conductor Christian Badea.Valentina has participated in numerous competitions. Recent prizes include the Orange Prize for Young Musicians, Romania in 2009 and the second prize in the Hariclea Darclée Voice Competition in 2010. She has appeared in concerts and recitals on the great music stages in Romania, including the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, and has also collaborated with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. Roles performed at the Opera Studio of the university include Norina Don Pasquale, Adina L'elisir d'amore, Mimì La bohème and Lauretta Gianni Schicchi. In 2008 she performed in the chorus of the Romanian National Opera and later this year she will sing Norina Don Pasquale with them at the Bucharest National Opera House. Valentina enjoys reading, travelling, ballet dancing and swimming.
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Final repertoire
· Regnava nel silenzio (Lucia di Lammermoor) - Donizetti
· Song to the Moon (Rusalka) - Dvořák
· Je veux vivre (Roméo et Juliette) - Gounod
Earlier she had sung
· Egli non riede ancora ... Non so le tetre immagini (Il corsaro) - Verdi
· Glück das mir verlieb (Die tote Stadt) - Korngold
· Amour, ranime mon courage (Roméo et Juliette) - Gounod
A strong hint that there was to be a surprise came result came when Dame Kire Te Kenawa, the new Patron of the competition following the death of Dame Joan Sutherland said in interview with the Chairman of the Jury Panel that they would have to consider hard who to award the trophy and prize money after hearing all the performances. Valentina had been awarded the fifth place in the final although the semi final had gone to the Ukrainian. In addition to her technical ability and potential and her performance on the night the trump card is her looks, which one commentator described as Drop Dead Gorgeous, whatever that means. She can play riles such as Juliet and Carmen the seductive vamp with credibility.
Meeta Raval opened the evening programme withTimor di me? ... D'amor sull'ali rosee (Il trovatore) - Verdi;
Sola, perduta, abbandonata (Manon Lescaut) - Puccini and Beim Schlafengehen (Vier letzte Lieder No 3) - R Strauss
She attended Wells Cathedral School and was the first Head Girl Chorister in the country. She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with a first class honours degree and was awarded a Diploma of Distinction by Royal Academy Opera. Meeta won the Dame Eva Turner Prize and the Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize. She has participated in master classes with Dame Ann Murray and Mirella Freni, and completed her studies at the National Opera Studio in 2010.
Operatic roles include Contessa Le nozze di Figaro, Donna Anna Don Giovanni, Micaela Carmen, Magda La rondine, Mimì La bohème, Liù Turandot, The Witch Hänsel und Gretel and the title role Suor Angelica. Meeta's operatic debut at English National Opera was as First Flower Maiden Parsifal. On the concert stage, Meeta has sung the Bach Mass in B Minor and Johannes Passion; Brahms's Ein Deutsches Requiem; Bruckner's Te Deum; Dvořák's Stabat Mater; Strauss's Vier letzte Lieder and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder. Broadcasts include Contessa in Discovering Figaro and Soprano in Janáček's Diary of One who Disappeared, both for BBC Radio 3, and Teresa Das Wundertheater by Henze for RAI. Future plans include Cio-Cio San Madam Butterfly for Mid Wales Opera in September. Meeta enjoys shopping, travel, cinema, dancing and all kinds of music. I rated her performance 4th of the 5 competitors on the night.
Previously she had sung
· Signore, ascolta! (Turandot) - Puccini
· La mamma morta (Andrea Chénier) - Giordano
· How can I sleep ... At the haunted end of the day (Troilus and Cressida) - Walton
· Mercè, dilette amiche (I vespri siciliani) - Verdi
I placed 5th Hye Jung Lee from South Korea who had impressed everyone in the semi final which she won by singing· I am the wife of Mao Tse-tung (Nixon in China) - John Adams but had to contribute other songs for the final.
· Tornami a vagheggiar (Alcina) - Handel
· A vos jeux, mes amis ... Partagez-vous mes fleurs! (Hamlet) - Thomas
Born in 1983 she graduated from Seoul National University in 2006, with teacher Hyun Ju Yun. She continued her studies at the Hochschule für Musik, Dresden with Ilse Hahn and Mannes College of Music, New York with Beth Roberts. She was the recipient of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship 2006-2008 and winner of Metropolitan Opera Council in Indiana District in 2010. Hye Jung won second prize at the 2008 Shizuoka International Opera Competition, third prize at the 58th ARD International Music Competition in 2009 and won the Career Bridges grant award in 2010. Hye Jung joined the Merola Opera Program at San Francisco Opera in 2010 and performed Giannetta L'elisir d'amore and scenes from Ariadne auf Naxos Zerbinetta and A Midsummer Night's Dream Tytania there the same year. Her repertoire includes Adele Die Fledermaus, Lauretta Gianni Schicchi, Ilia Idomeneo, Marie La fille du régiment, Zdenka Arabella, Nannetta Falstaff and Frasquita Carmen. She has also taken part in many concerts, including Mozart's C minor Mass, Bach's Weihnachts-Oratorium at Carnegie Hall and a UBS gala concert at the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. In July 2012, Hye Jung will perform Madame Mao Nixon in China with San Francisco Opera. I had wondered how China would react to this Opera so it is interesting that she is participating in this visit. In her spare time, she enjoys movies and yoga.
Of the three others I had expected Andrei Bonarenko, the Baritone from Ukraine and the only male singer in the final to win as he had the vote of the expert commentators for the BBC and had won the song competition final the night before. Born in 1987 he trained at the National Tchaikovsky Academy of Music in Kiev and the Kiev Conservatory. Since 2007 he has been a soloist in the Mariinsky Academy of Young Singers in St Petersburg. Awards include third prize at the 2006 International Rimsky-Korsakov vocal competition in St Petersburg, third prize at the International Maniuszko Competition and finalist in the 2010 Operalia competition. In 2009 he took part in the Salzburg Festival Young Singers' Project, working with Michael Schade and taking master classes with Christa Ludwig, Marjana Lipovšek and Thomas Quasthoff. In 2010 he sang Grigorio Roméo et Juliette with Yannik Nezet-Seguin and this year The Emperor Le Rossignol with Ivor Bolton. Andrei's current roles at the Mariinsky include Gugliemo Così fan tutte and Conte Il nozze di Figaro. Other repertoire includes Onegin Eugene Onegin, Silvio Pagliacci, Marullo Rigoletto, Robert Iolanta, Aeneas Dido and Aeneas, Papageno Die Zauberflöte and Belcore L'elisir d`amore. This year, in Vienna, Germany, Moscow, St Petersburg and at the Sydney Festival, he takes part in a new Michael Sturminger project, The Giacomo Variations, alongside John Malkovich. Future engagements include his Glyndebourne Touring Opera debut as Malatesta Don Pasquale in 2011 and Marcello La bohème at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 2012. Andrei enjoys playing jazz saxophone.
· Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo (Così fan tutte) - Mozart
· O Carlo, ascolta ... Io morrò - (Don Carlo) - Verdi
· Fin ch'han del vino - (Don Giovanni) - Mozart
· Ya vas lyublyu (The Queen of Spades) - Tchaikovsky
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Song Prize Final repertoire
· In der Fremde (Op 39 No 1) - Schumann
· Intermezzo (Op 39 No 2) - Schumann
· Waldesgespräch (Op 39 No 3) - Schumann
· Die Stille (Op 39 No 4) - Schumann
· Autumn (Russia cast adrift No 1) - Georgy Sviridov
· Russia cast adrift (Russia cast adrift No 5) - Georgy Sviridov
· Simon, Peter ... Where are you? (Russia cast adrift No 6) - Georgy Sviridov
· O my homeland, o happy and eternal hour (Russia cast adrift No 12) - Georgy Sviridov
I wanted Mezzo-Soprano Olesya Petrova Mess to win because I enjoyed her voice and performances the most overall. Born 1982 in St Petersburg, she graduated from the Rimsky-Korsakov St Petersburg State Conservatoire in 2008 where she had studied with Professor Irina Bogacheva. She has been a soloist with the St Petersburg Conservatoire Opera Theatre since 2007. Olesya won second prize at the first International Galina Vishnevskaya competition in Moscow in 2006 and second prize in the XI11 International Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow in 2007. She has performed Lyubasha The Tsar's Bride for Perm Opera and Novosibirsk Opera and Amneris Aida in Bangkok. Oleysa's repertoire also includes Marfa Khovanshchina; Lel The Snow Maiden; Carmen Carmen; Olga Eugene Onegin; Countess Polina The Queen of Spades; Maddalena Rigoletto; Joan The Maid of Orleans and Ulrica Un ballo in maschera. Olesya's concert repertoire includes works by Bach, Pergolesi, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, Berlioz, Wagner, Mahler and Prokofiev. Artists Olesya has performed with include Valery Gergiev, Leo Kremer, Fabio Mastrangelo and Vladimir Fedoseev. She has given solo recitals in St Petersburg, Moscow and Ekaterinburg and has toured in Europe, the USA, South America, Korea, China and Japan. Future plans include Konchakovna Prince Igor in Zurich in 2012. In her spare time, Olesya enjoys the gym, cinema, reading and driving.
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011: Final repertoire
· Nyet, bit' ne mozhet! (The Tsar's Bride) - Rimsky-Korsakov
· Re dell'abisso, affrettati (Un ballo in maschera) - Verdi
· Voi lo sapete, o mamma (Cavalleria rusticana) - Mascagni
· Habañera (Carmen) - Bizet
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011: concert one repertoire
· Adieu, forêts (The Maid of Orleans) - Tchaikovsky
· Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix (Samson et Dalila) - Saint-Saëns
· Acerba voluttà (Adriana Lecouvreur) - Cilea
I was not surprised that the Joan Sutherland audience prize was awarded to the Moldovian singer Valentina Naforniţă
#
Valentina Naforniţă was born in Glodeni, Republic of Moldova. She graduated from the Stefan Neaga Music College in Kishinev in 2006 and continued her training in Romania, at the voice department of the National University of Music in Bucharest, where she studied with sopranos Maria Slatinaru-Nistor and Eleonora Enăchescu. The latter is teaching her on the MA programme at present. In addition, she has taken master classes with soprano Mariana Nicolesco and conductor Christian Badea.Valentina has participated in numerous competitions. Recent prizes include the Orange Prize for Young Musicians, Romania in 2009 and the second prize in the Hariclea Darclée Voice Competition in 2010. She has appeared in concerts and recitals on the great music stages in Romania, including the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest, and has also collaborated with the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra. Roles performed at the Opera Studio of the university include Norina Don Pasquale, Adina L'elisir d'amore, Mimì La bohème and Lauretta Gianni Schicchi. In 2008 she performed in the chorus of the Romanian National Opera and later this year she will sing Norina Don Pasquale with them at the Bucharest National Opera House. Valentina enjoys reading, travelling, ballet dancing and swimming.
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Final repertoire
· Regnava nel silenzio (Lucia di Lammermoor) - Donizetti
· Song to the Moon (Rusalka) - Dvořák
· Je veux vivre (Roméo et Juliette) - Gounod
Earlier she had sung
· Egli non riede ancora ... Non so le tetre immagini (Il corsaro) - Verdi
· Glück das mir verlieb (Die tote Stadt) - Korngold
· Amour, ranime mon courage (Roméo et Juliette) - Gounod
A strong hint that there was to be a surprise came result came when Dame Kire Te Kenawa, the new Patron of the competition following the death of Dame Joan Sutherland said in interview with the Chairman of the Jury Panel that they would have to consider hard who to award the trophy and prize money after hearing all the performances. Valentina had been awarded the fifth place in the final although the semi final had gone to the Ukrainian. In addition to her technical ability and potential and her performance on the night the trump card is her looks, which one commentator described as Drop Dead Gorgeous, whatever that means. She can play riles such as Juliet and Carmen the seductive vamp with credibility.
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