TV: Cardiff Singer of the World 2021
The BBC devoted over 11 hours to operatic music and song on television last week, and almost as many hours on radio. The bi-annual Cardiff Singer competition survived its one-off (we hope) adaptation to an empty hall version, and the singers, with little if any stage time in the last 15 months, thrived on the challenge. Several of the singers look set for good careers in opera and lieder, and at least one has real star potential.
There were 16 singers in Cardiff, from an overall entry of 500. Considering the auditions were conducted on Zoom, the preliminary panel are to be congratulated on finding these interesting performers. The first round took a little while to warm up, but I had a soft spot for the bel canto of the Chinese tenor, Chuan Wang. He finished with ‘Ah, mes amis’ from Donizetti’s ‘La Fille du Regiment’ with full-voiced high Cs, and not a flicker of nerves. But for the judges he was outdone by the Round winner, Georgian Natalia Kutateladze, with her warm mezzo delivering the only Mozart of the evening, Sesto’s second act aria. I would have liked a more varied programme in which her facial expression didn’t remain anguished throughout!
The second round must have been harder to judge. The Danish bass, Nicolai Elsberg, up first, sang an interesting programme in which two oratorio arias, from the Creation (in German) and Verdi’s Requiem, flanked Osmin’s aria from ‘Die Entführung’. There was lots of colour in his voice and in the orchestral accompaniment in the Haydn, which describes the creation of the animals, then a suitably gruesome comic performance in the Mozart, and finally, contrasting rhythms in the Verdi ‘Confutatis maledictis’.
The home contender, Sarah Gilford, has a clear lyric soprano and a nice stage presence. Her aria from Handel’s Theodora was the first English singing we’d heard, and she was accomplished both in the slow passages and in the ornamentations in the faster section. Wales has its own competition every year to select someone to go forward to Cardiff Singer, and Sarah seems the best prospect for several years. She later reached the final in the Song Prize, as her compatriot Natalya Romaniw did in 2009.
Gihoon Kim, baritone from South Korea, is a very still performer on stage, and I took a while to get used to his style. He began with Mozart and ended with Pagliacci, revealing both the delicacy and the power of his voice, but his winning performance was in Fritz’s Pierrot Song from Korngold’s ‘Die Tote Stadt’, elegant controlled singing which had two of the jury visibly in tears.
Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha
Another sumptuous voice followed. Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, from South Africa, a Jette Parker Young Artist at Covent Garden in 2019-20. Still only 27 she has a mature and composed presence on stage, and a soprano voice which seemed capable of every challenge it was offered. She began with another oratorio aria, ‘Hear Ye Israel’ from Elijah, sung with complete conviction. Then, displaying more emotion, she continued with an aria about leaving home from Catalani’s ‘La Wally’, and finished with ‘Pace, pace di dio’, Leonora’s aria from ‘The Force of Destiny’. As the commentators said, these were three enormous arias, in which she exhibited her tremendous range and technical control. We had the sense with both her and Gihoon Kim that they were not just singing party pieces but showing us that they are ready for these dramatic operatic roles. On the night Gihoon Kim won the judges’ approval.
Formal dress is de rigeur for Cardiff competitors, and it was good to see some of the male singers being more adventurous in their attire. In Round 3 Reginald Smith Junior from the United States wore an embroidered electric-blue silk dinner jacket and waistcoat. His well-chosen programme also showed lots of character. After inviting us into the evening with the prologue from Pagliacci, he switched to more delicate singing (and an English accent) for Gerald Finzi’s ‘It was a lover and his lass’. Falstaff’s denunciation of honour in his concluding aria suited him admirably. He was a performer who would have blossomed fully with an audience.
The round was won by Christina Gansch from Austria, a singer that I feel would have caused mixed responses from a live audience. She has a versatile mezzo and is at home in a wide repertoire. Her aria from Handel’s ‘Rodelinda’, was beautiful, and the thoughtful performance in Massenet’s ‘Manon Lescaut’ was even better. My difficulty is with her exaggerated stage performance, which involves much grimacing as well as energetic movement. This came to the fore in her impassioned Czardas by Franz Lehar which ended on a dramatic high note with her head flung back! It wasn’t a surprise that she won the round (and that she was also a finalist in the Song Prize) but she was hard to watch.
The final round began with a surprise announcement. The Icelandic competitor had been pinged by Track and Trace and had to isolate and withdraw from the competition. Cue a last-minute substitution! She would sing last.
Michael Arivony was the first ever entrant from Madagascar, and he began with Mercutio’s aria from Gounod’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, which showed off his warm baritone. Like Gihoon Kim in Round 2 he sang Fritz’s Pierrot aria, not quite as secure in the soaring lines, but with great sincerity. A less well-known aria, a drinking song from Thomas was a rousing contrast, and he finished with the Count’s ‘Hai gia vinta la causa’ from Figaro. His acting wasn’t up to presenting the character’s nastiness, but he turned in a spirited vocal performance, keeping up the momentum to the end, ably aided by Andrew Litton and the WNO orchestra.
Stephanie Wake-Edwards from England began with a taxing aria from Gluck’s ‘Orpheo’ which showed the full range of her mezzo, with some lovely lower notes. She continued with another challenging choice, from Britten’s ‘Phaedra’, a role created for Janet Baker 45 years ago. An accomplished singer with the courage to present music which may be harder to absorb at a first hearing, she might have been a worthy round winner.
Claire Barnett-Jones
But, in a fairy-tale ending, another English mezzo, Claire Barnett -Jones, was called up as first reserve. She said that she hadn’t time to be nervous, and she gave a terrific poised performance. Her ‘Iris hence away’ from Handel’s ‘Semele’ was impeccable in diction and musical technique, but also exuded serenity. Next was Waltraute’s ‘Hőre mit Sinn’ from ‘Gotterdammerung’. It’s unusual to hear heavier duty Wagner at Cardiff – a competition for singers under 35. Claire has the maturity and the weight of voice to bring it off, and of everything I heard this week this was the aria which most brought back memories of opera in pre-Covid days! She sang it in Jonathan Dove’s reduced orchestration, something future competitors might consider. She soared on serenely through Saint-Saens ‘Delilah’, and in a masterstroke finished with Cardiff-born Ivor Novello’s ‘We’ll Gather Lilacs’. After that there could be only one winner!
We had five finalists, the round winners, plus, unsurprisingly Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha, who would take the stage on Saturday night. Meanwhile in the intimate setting of the Dora Stouzer Hall at the College of Music and Drama, the Song Prize heats had been going on all week. Ian Burnside and Rebecca Evans presented three programmes with excerpts from the rounds, with some lovely songs in many languages, still available on BBC Sounds. The Song Prize Finalists included three singers also finalists in the main prize, Gihoon Kim, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and Christina Gansch as well as two singers whose lighter voices had shone in their song performances, Welsh singer, Sarah Gilford and from Madagascar, baritone Michael Arivony. The singers this year were all accompanied by Cardiff’s regular pianists, Simon Lepper and Llyr Williams, as ever sympathetic and expert co-performers.
In the final, there was much to admire in the singing and song choices of all the competitors, but I felt that the first three singers, Christina, Gihoon and Sarah lacked some spark on this occasion. Michel Arivony sang well, though his voice was a bit tired by the end. However, he gave one of the star performances of the week in Britten’s setting of ‘Tom Bowling’. He sang it with sincerity and directness, which brought the judges and I imagine many viewers to tears
The last singer was South African Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha. Where the other singers had shown some nerves, tiredness or caution, she seemed tireless and fearless. Accompanied by Simon Lepper, she began with Schubert. Her Gretchen was impassioned when required, but much of it was inward and reflective, with an enjoyment of the words and individual phrases. A short South African Shosa song about lost love, ‘Isithandwa Sam’ by Benjamin Tyamzashe had a beautiful slow melody and was sung with simplicity and pathos. Her Lorelei created a serene picture of the Rhine before letting rip with the destruction caused by the monster. ‘Ride up in the Chariot’, a modern spiritual by US composer Betty Jackson King was an inspired final choice. She delivered it with rhythm and sincerity, playing up the humour “I’m going to chatter with the Angels!”, and at one point seeming to signal that we should all join in. She has the wonderful ability to connect with her listeners, and for that as well as her exceptional voice, she was a deserved winner of the Song Prize.
Two nights later we were back for the Main Prize Final. By now there was larger audience of students from the Welsh College of Music and Drama, and almost a buzz in the hall. Christina Gansch began with Mozart, Mahler and Handel. Alice Coote commentating admired her courage and beautiful tone. She’s already embarked on a promising career. But I remain to be convinced about her as a stage performer!
Claire Barnett-Jones seemed more nervy than on her earlier appearance, and her programme of Rossini ‘The Italian Girl in Algiers’, (duplicating one of Natalia‘s choices) a Mahler song and an aria from Elgar’s ‘Sea Pictures’ somehow lacked the audience appeal apparent in the first round. Still, on the basis of that show-stopping performance, she won the Joan Sutherland Audience Prize, voted on by the viewers.
Natalia Kutateladze’s programme in the final was more varied than in her first round with the same Rossini aria as Claire, some Massenet, and Donizetti, all sung with lovely tone and technique. The highlight was her ‘Habanera’ from ‘Carmen’. Many years ago I recall a Scottish Opera Carmen, possibly US mezzo Emily Golden, standing tall and still to sing her ‘Habanera’, and it was just as sensual a performance as many hip swayers and castanet clickers I’ve seen since. Natalia got full marks from me for her similarly poised delivery.
No-one disgraced themselves, but really it was a competition between two singers. Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha began with one of Strauss’s Four Last Songs. ‘Going to Sleep’, with words by Hesse, is a beautiful piece, although the singer takes a risk as there’s a long melodic orchestral interlude, which she has to wait through, and then match. She then sang one of Elizabeth’s arias from ‘Don Carlos’, a role which she is undertaking shortly. It was an impeccable performance, one worth seeing again to appreciate fully. But she may have sold herself short in competition terms by focusing on just two arias.
Gihoon Kim gave a more rounded performance than in any of his previous appearances. He doesn’t seem like a natural Rossini Figaro, but his ‘Largo al factotum’ was witty and persuasive, and he stayed well away from the usual tricks – there were no funny falsetto voices here!
His Wagner ‘Evening Star’ is also a baritone favourite - its second appearance this week. Again, he did it his own way, with a fine-spun legato diminishing to pianissimo towards the end. In ‘Nemico della Patria’, Gerard’s aria from Giordano’s ‘Andrea Chenier’, he needed to display conflicting emotions, which he managed subtly mainly through his voice and facial expressions. He has a powerful voice and here he was able to exploit it fully.
It must have been close, but Gihoon was the judges’ choice. Masabane Cecilia may in the end prove to be the opera singer who achieves world-wide fame, but Gihoon’s beautiful baritone will always be a pleasure to hear.
Gihoon Kim
It’s been a fascinating week. If you haven’t seen them, the rounds and the finals are available for nearly a year on BBC iPlayer. For a quick sample watch the prizewinners’ performances in the Song Prize and the Main Competition. And for a short confirmation of the power of song, don’t miss Michael Arivony’s ‘Tom Bowling’!
