BBC Cardiff Singer of the World - Day Three, 17/06/2015

BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2015
Concert Three - 17th June 2015

BBC National Orchestra of Wales
Thomas Søndergård

Tonight we got the full range of voices, from soprano to bass, and an exceptionally strong field of competitors.  In the end, though, there was one performance that blew the rest out of the water, regardless of their respective qualities.

Ilker Arcayürek (tenor, 30, Turkey) : Un' aura amorosa (Così fan tutte, Mozart), Che gelida manina (La bohème, Puccini), Morgen (Op. 27 No. 4, Richard Strauss), Di rigori armato (Der Rosenkavalier, Richard Strauss)

A very similar programme to Jaeyoon Jung yesterday evening, but Arcayürek is, again, more of a tenore di grazia than a light lyric tenor.  The Mozart was slightly afflicted by nerves, with some wobbles in the longer held upper notes, but overall sweetly sung and appealing.  The Puccini, however, was a major mistake, for Arcayürek does not have the power required, and his voice completely disappeared at times, with even the B flat on "speranza" barely audible.  "Morgen", on the other hand, was excellent, the intimacy of his singing drawing you in, and on the strength of that it was not too surprising to find that he has qualified for the Song Prize Final.  The Italian Tenor's aria again proved under-powered, and the line was uneven.   An attractive voice potentially, but his repertoire needs careful selection.

Anaïs Constans (soprano, 26, France) : Ach, ich fühl's (Die Zauberflöte, Mozart), Je suis encore tout étourdie (Manon, Massenet), Caro nome (Rigoletto, Verdi)

Anaïs Constans was the Joint 3rd Prize-Winner at the 49th Toulouse competition, which I attended three years ago.  At the time, I had thought the voice very attractive, but that the singer lacked maturity.  Three years on, the maturity has arrived, and the voice is still as lovely, a clear, fresh, light lyric soprano.  Her Pamina was sung with touching simplicity and a beautifully smooth line.  She's not ready to sing Massenet's Manon in its entirety, I think, the voice is not up to the changes of register the part demands, but she was very good as the young innocent fresh from convent school, and giddy with excitement.  Finally, "Caro nome" floated dreamily, with easy coloratura and shimmering high notes, and it was clear we already had one possible winner for tonight.

Amartuvshin Enkhbat (baritone, 29, Mongolia) : Ni sna, ni otdykha (Prince Igor, Borodin), Nemico della patria? (Andrea Chénier, Giordano), Cortigiani (Rigoletto, Verdi)

The first baritone of the competition impressed immediately with an expansive, rich, dark timbre, almost verging on the bass-baritone.  I thought, as he began Prince Igor's aria, that his choice of repertory was maybe better suited to a slightly lighter, more golden tone of voice, but the earnest nobility of his interpretation was very persuasive, and when it came to the very lyrical section in which the Prince thinks of his wife, the tone bloomed beautifully.  Then came an absolutely stupendous performance of "Nemico della patria?".  I have never, never heard anything like it, not live, and not from any recording I know of, even including former masters such as Gobbi or Bastianini.  Every syllable of the text, every phrase of the music was completely inhabited, the voice rang out, magnificently controlled, the Italian was clear, the passion in the singing immense, and to crown it all, the orchestra was equally invested in a lush, luminous interpretation, gloriously lyrical and heart-stoppingly wonderful.  In the brief pause before Enkhbat's last number, one could only wonder if his Rigoletto could possibly match such an outstanding performance.  Well, almost.  Again, dark as it is, the voice shone, and the singer's projection of the emotion, first the rage (and he got his teeth beautifully into the words at the start), then the abject misery of his pleading, and it was very, very good.  There were a couple of slight imprecisions in the cadenza at the end, but hardly significant in the face of the overall standard of his singing.  But there could be nothing to rival the Giordano, the kind of performance you might get once in a lifetime.

J'nai Bridges (mezzo-soprano, 28, USA) : Sgombra è la sacra selva (Norma, Bellini), Die Nachtigall (7 Early Songs, Berg), Ô ma lyre immortelle (Sapho, Gounod), Toccata: Ride on King Jesus (Cantata, John Daniels Carter)

J'nai Bridges possessed another lovely voice, a velvety, full mezzo with a smooth line and a fine quality of tone throughout the range.  Her choice of arias, however, was a little strange.  The Bellini barely qualifies as an aria, and Adalgisa's best music is, in any event, always in ensemble with other singers.  It offered very little opportunity to show off a voice, or a belcanto technique, and surely there were other, more interesting Bellini arias Bridges could have chosen to demonstrate her abilities.  The Berg song was very nice, a rich Straussian idiom, with a particularly beautiful orchestral accompaniment, and was well sung.  By now it was clear that she was good with the languages, something many American singers manage to achieve, and she confirmed it with the Gounod aria.  This was by far her best number, eloquently despairing and lyrical.  She finished up with a spiritual-inspired American composition, but this was more interesting from an orchestral point of view than a vocal one, and sometimes the voice was covered.  A not entirely successful choice of works, therefore, but a voice worth remembering.

Blaise Malaba (bass, 26, Democratic Republic of Congo) : Chuyut pravdu! (A Life for the Tsar, Glinka), Madamina (Don Giovanni, Mozart), Quand la flamme de l'amour (La Jolie Fille de Perth, Bizet)

A Congolese singer was a first for this competition, and Blaise Mabala's presentation was all the more remarkable in that his training appears to have been (and continues to be) wholly accomplished within his home country.  Singers from states where Western classical music is not traditionally part of their cultural background often travel abroad to refine their technique and their sound in Western countries.  Malaba has a bright, assertive bass voice with a good tonal quality, and he began strongly with Ivan Susanin's Act 4 aria.  He then went on with Leporello's Catalogue aria.  He's a little too much of a bass for this part, in my opinion, nevertheless he showed no trouble negotiating the musical line, and he was physically very expressive too.  He concluded with Ralph's drolly lugubrious drinking song from Bizet's The Fair Maid of Perth, which is a true bass role, and was very good.  It's obvious that his command of pronunciation of all three languages featured tonight, while not bad, is a little awkward, but his articulation, on the other hand, was exemplary, his texts crystal clear, and some more work on his languages would bring significant rewards.  A very promising young bass, therefore, with an engaging personality.

This was a particularly strong evening, with a great deal of very, very good quality singing from all the candidates.  That said, for me, Enkhbat towered over his colleagues with the intensity of his interpretations and that magnificent, bronze voice.  With the jury taking its own sweet time to come to a decision, I began to fear that they might have come to an entirely unsuitable conclusion (it would not be the first time) and chosen someone else, but reason prevailed, and the announcement of Enkhbat's triumph was greeted with a roar of approval from the audience.  Win or lose come Sunday, here is a truly exceptional singer with a rare power of communication allied to a superb natural instrument.  Definitely a name to remember.

[Next : 18th June]