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BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2009: Ukrainian counter-tenor wins the third concert round (MS)

The Ukrainian counter-tenor Yuriy Mynenko, aged 30, won the third concert round in BBC Cardiff Singer of the World on Tuesday. The Chairman of the panel of international judges John Fisher made the announcement at the end of the concert in St David’s Hall, Cardiff.  Mr Fisher, chief executive and artistic director of Welsh National Opera, presented the 30 year old counter tenor with a Welsh crystal trophy to mark  his achievement.

Yuriy is the only counter-tenor taking part in this year’s competition. He studied piano and choral conducting before concentrating on singing. In 2004 he graduated from the vocal department of the AV Nezhdanova Odessa State Musical Academy, Ukraine. He continued his vocal studies there as a postgraduate.

In 2001 he won the Voice of Ukraine national competition in Kiev and the International Slavic Festival in Paris. He won a special award for best counter-tenor at the Francisco Viñas International Singing Contest in Barcelona in 2003. In 2004 he won the Grand Prix at the AB Solovyanenko International Competition, Donetsk, Ukraine; the Rimsky-Korsakov International Competition for Young Opera Singers in St Petersburg; and was a finalist and award winner at the Gmyrya International Competition in Kiev.

Yuriy was also a finalist and award winner at the Dresden International Opera Competition in 2007. He has given solo concerts in countries including England, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Germany, Spain, France and Israel. In June and November this year, tours are planned in Israel and America with a solo baroque masterpieces programme. In his spare time, he enjoys sports, cooking, reading and computer programming.

The other singers in this round were Tomislav Lučić, aged 31, bass, from Croatia; Izabela Matuła, aged 29, soprano, Poland; Csaba Szegedi, aged 27, baritone, Hungary and Claire Meghnagi, aged 31, soprano, from Israel.

The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2009 final will be on BBC TWO and BBC Radio 3 from 5.30pm on Sunday, June 14th.

Like the winners of rounds 1 and 2, Yuriy is not guaranteed a place in next Sunday’s final as the judges wait until they have heard all 25 singers before selecting their top five. It is possible two singers may go through from one concert round and the winner of a concert round not be selected for the final five. Indeed this happened in 2007 when fellow Japanese soprano Mari Moriya won her concert round but did not reach the final.

The full third round programme was:

Tomislav Lučić - Croatia - A te l'estremo addio ... Il lacerato spirito (Simon Boccanegra) - Verdi
Madamina, il catalogo è questo (Don Giovanni) - Mozart
Susanin's aria (A Life for the Tsar) - Glinka

Izabela Matuła - Poland - Ach, ich fühl's (Die Zauberflöte) - Mozart
Bel raggio lusinghier (Semiramide) - Rossini
Celui dont la parole efface toutes peines - Il est doux, il est bon (Hérodiade) – Massenet

Csaba Szegedi - Hungary

Largo al factotum (Il barbiere di Siviglia) - Rossini
Perfidi - Pieta, rispetto amore (Macbeth) - Verdi
Deh, vieni alla finestra (Don Giovanni) - Mozart
O Carlo, ascolta ... Io morrò (Don Carlo) – Verdi

Yuriy Mynenko - Ukraine

J'ai perdu mon Eurydice (Orphée et Eurydice) - Gluck
Va tacito e nascosto (Giulio Cesare) - Handel
Parto, parto (La clemenza di Tito) - Mozart

Claire Meghnagi - Israel

Giunse alfin il momento ... Deh vieni, non tardar (Le nozze di Figaro) - Mozart
Che più giova celarlo ... M'lai resa infelice (Deidamia) - Handel
Ich wollt' ein Sträusslein binden (Brentano Lieder) - R Strauss
Non monsieur mon mari (Les mamelles de Tirésias) - Poulenc 

Mike Smith

Picture © Brian Tarr

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