BBC Cardiff
Singer of the World 2007, Song Prize
Recital 2:
New Theatre, Cardiff 2.00pm
10.6.2007 (ED)
For each round of both competitions,
Evan Dickerson offers his impressions
of the competitors and their repertoire. Here
is his report on the second recital in
the Song Prize competition.
NETHERLANDS:
Wiard Witholt Baritone Born 1978
Accompanist: Phillip Thomas
Schubert: Der Musensohn
(Op 92 No 1)
Wiard Witholt cuts a distinctive,
slender figure on stage. At first his
stage manner was rather stiff, but he
soon relaxed. When he did so his voice
changed in quality from nasal to
comparatively full in tone, able to
cope well with Schubert’s demands in
projecting a flexible line.
Samuel de Lange:
Herbstgefühl and Komm jetzt (Songs,
Op 94 Nos.1 & 2)
Across the two de Lange songs, support
of the vocal tone was an issue
momentarily in both the high and low
registers, but long legato lines were
sustained well with evenness of tone,
showing a good breathing technique was
at work.
Duparc: Chanson triste,
L'Invitation au voyage
Control and shaping of Duparc’s
often-exposed vocal lines is always a
major concern for singers. Witholt
coped well, sustaining his focus
particularly well in Chanson triste.
L’invitation au voyage sounded
by comparison a touch lifeless,
needing a touch more ardour to lift
the narrative to another level of
significance.
General comments about the performer
Interesting: on stage he lacked
something – maybe the nerves of
singing first – but he can focus and sustain
the voice well, though. How he’ll fare
with an orchestra is another matter,
based on this performance.
GERMANY:
Evelina Dobraceva Soprano Born 1975
Accompanist: Llŷr Williams
Mozart:
Abendempfindung (K523)
A tentative opening from Evelina
Dobraceva showed her care in the
placing of the voice to obtain an
intimately scaled interpretation.
Perhaps with a little more impetus
coming from the accompaniment,
although stylishly played, she would
have found a little more bloom in the
tone.
R Strauss: Ständchen (6
Songs, Op 17 No 2)
The
Strauss song showed the richness of
her lower register to good effect.
Where the voice is floated though
perhaps more preparation would have
produced a slightly cleaner result.
Despite that, Evelina Dobraceva has
potential to grow fully into the
Straussian repertoire.
Schoenberg: Waldsonne
Dobraceva did well to remind us of
Schoenberg’s late romantic song
output. She succeeded in creating
appropriate atmosphere and together
with Williams’ accompaniment created
delightful nocturnal spaces.
Rakhmaninov: Son (Songs,
Op 38 No 5), "A-Oo" (Songs, Op 38)
The restraint exhibited at the start
of Son gave way to a level of
exuberance not displayed hitherto by
Dobraceva. This continued in A-Oo,
with Rakhmaninov clearly being a key
part of her repertoire.
General comments about the
performer
A slightly insecure start, but a
strong ending. Strauss and Schoenberg
have the potential to fare well with
her, once full vocal control and scale
are secured. Delightful summer
afternoon dress, too – white with red
flowers – showing care in
presentation.
ESTONIA:
Juhan Tralla Tenor Born 1974
Accompanist: Simon Lepper
Schubert: Ganymed
(Songs, Op 19 No 3)
Schumann:
Widmung (Myrthen, Op 25 No 1)
A mobile singer on stage, Juhan Tralla
has the habit of pacing about a bit.
Good in the sense that it stops the
singer becoming rigid, therefore
affecting the tone, but some in the
audience might be distracted by too
much movement. It’s a fine line to
tread (pun unintended). Generally, the
two songs contrasted well in terms of
mood. Tralla showed some sensitivity
in phrasing, and in the Schumann
especially maintained a
well-controlled flow to the vocal
line.
Mart Saar: Vaikus, Must Lind
Contrast also marked the two Mart
Saar songs, the first allowing
glimpses of a rich lower register at
leisure, whilst the second picked up
the tempo to allow for punchy accents
to register with emphatic vigour.
Tchaikovsky: V etu lunnuju
noch' (Songs, Op 73 No 3)
With his slightly nasal tone (rumour
has it that Juhan Tralla has also been
suffering from a throat infection in
recent days which could affect his
vocal quality), he nonetheless brought
out a convincing interpretation of the
text, centred on a poet’s night time
farewell to his lover.
Rakhmaninov: Zdes' khorosho
(12 Songs, Op 21 No 7), Ne ver',
moy drug (Songs, Op 14 No 7)
Very much continuing the heart on
sleeve emotions of the Russian school,
Juhan Tralla produced two well
articulated, forwardly projected and
emphatic readings of these Rakhmaninov
songs. His song writing is being well
explored by this year’s singers.
General comments about the performer
More interesting for me in his native
Estonian and the Russian repertoire.
AUSTRALIA:
Miranda Keys Soprano Born 1974
Accompanist: Phillip Thomas
Mendelssohn: Neue Liebe
(Songs, Op 19 No 4), Hexenlied
(Songs, Op 8 No 8)
The relatively large scale of Miranda
Keys’ voice was immediately apparent;
well-integrated vocal quality
throughout the range, displaying
varied colours as the mood of the
music demanded. Good stage confidence
also.
Barber: St Ita's Vision
(The Hermit Songs, Op 29 No 3),
Sure on this Shining Night (Songs,
Op 13 No 3)
The Vision showed stature and elements
of reflection in secure narrative that
was well projected. If the shine on
Barber’s second song was slightly
lacking, perhaps a little more care in
the exact placing of notes would have
restored it.
Rangstrøm: Pan (Five Ballades, No 3)
Sibelius: Flickan kom ifrån sin
älsklings möte (Songs, Op 37 No 5)
Both songs displayed good technical
support, awareness of tone that
allowed confidence to come through
again in her singing.
Walton: Old Sir Faulk
Although much was attempted in terms
of facial interpretation, the words
were slightly lost and musically the
performance was a touch wayward. But
her beaming smile and outward
enthusiasm showed that the song must
go on. Commendable.
General comments about the performer
A strong contender with good variety
in her repertoire.
CHINA :
Yang Shen Bass baritone Born 1984
Accompanist: Llŷr Williams
Pfitzner: Hast du von den
Fischerkindern (Songs, Op 7 No 1)
How good to have a Pfitzner song on
the programme - they are so
under-rated. This fisher was somewhat
caught in the gravelly undertow of
Shen’s tone at times.
Wolf: Der Feuerreiter (Mörike-Lieder)
A fast and furious reading of Wolf’s
song showed tonal variety, and a
slight tendency towards overemphasis.
However, for all that sound and put on
fury, the troubled depths of
Schubert’s song were left largely
undisturbed. It needs a lot of work to
get beneath the surface of this one.
He Luting: On the Jialing River
Imbued with from the heart strength,
Shen gave a brief highlight of Chinese
song – an area that has still largely
to become known in the West. Its time
will come no doubt.
Schubert: Prometheus (D674)
A strong finish was had in Schubert’s
Prometheus. Singing of sustained power
and intensity was to be heard.
General comments about the performer
Impressive in his native repertoire,
but clearly has work to do in other
areas.
Evan Dickerson
BBC
Radio Song Prize Broadcasts
Recitals 1-4 will be broadcast on BBC
Radio 3 from
Tuesday
12-Friday 15 June between 1pm and
2.30pm. Radio 3 will also
broadcast The Song Prize Final on
Saturday 16th June. Presenter:
Fiona Talkington with guest Catherine
Bott.
Details of BBC Radio Wales / Radio
Cymru broadcasts are
Here
