Cardiff Singer
Blog posts in total 41
Posts
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Cardiff Singer 30th anniversary
The season ticket booking form, with details of all the concerts and recitals, is now available for the 30th anniversary Cardiff Singer competition in 2013.
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Dame Kiri Te Kanawa invites Cardiff Singer 2013 entrants
In 2011 it was a great pleasure for me to follow in the footsteps of my friend and inspiration Dame Joan Sutherland by accepting the invitation to become Patron of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of this prestigious competition and we are now searching to ...
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Cardiff Singer diary: part three
Laura Sinnerton, a viola player in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, has been keeping a diary during the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Here's her third and final update (from the final), following on from her first and second instalments. Saturday 18 June What...
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And the winner is...
In a fantastic final of the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition at St David's Hall, soprano Meeta Raval from England, mezzo-soprano Olesysa Petrova from Russia, soprano Hye Jung Lee from South Korea, baritone Andrei Bondarenko from Ukraine and soprano Valentina Naforniţă from Moldova dug deep into their singing reserves to give the performances of their lives. The winner of the 2011 Cardiff Singer competition was Valentina Naforniţă, who also won the Audience Prize. The distinguished jury had a difficult decision to make but the Cardiff Trophy and £15,000 was awarded to Valentina Naforniţă from Moldova. For the first time, the audience agreed with the jury as Valentina was also awarded the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize. This could have been won by any of the 20 singers competing in Cardiff whether or not they appeared in the Final, and was based only on performances from the preliminary round as the vote closed before the final took place. All the TV experts got it wrong. Joyce DiDonato, superstar mezzo, and famed voice teacher Mary King thought it would be Andrei Bondarenko or Olesya Petrova; and Nicole Cabell, who won this competition in 2005 and now has a massive career, thought that it would definitely be Andrei Bondarenko. Opinion on Facebook and Twitter is divided with some people still rooting for their favourites, but on the whole the result has been positively received. Video clips of all the finalists will be available on the website tomorrow - meanwhile you can view clips from all the preliminary concerts there now, as well as viewing and listening for the next few days on the BBC iPlayer.
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Cardiff Singer: Saturday
The audience at St David's Hall was treated to a thrilling Song Prize Final last night. Coverage is on BBC Four tonight at 7.30pm and BBC Radio 3 at 8pm. If you don't want to know who won, DON'T click on this link. See the Frockwatch gallery of the Song Prize Final. Tomorrow is the gr...
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Cardiff Singer: Friday
Thursday night of Cardiff Singer week is always particularly exciting, not just because of the prospect of hearing the singers not taking part in the Song Prize for the first time but also because of the announcement of the line-up for the Final. If you are saving yourself for the BBC Four pr...
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Cardiff Singer diary: part two
Laura Sinnerton, a viola player in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, has been keeping a diary during the 2011 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. Following on from her opening instalment, here's her second update. Tuesday 14 June It is 9.30am and I have already had three cups of coffee (cue phone call from my mother re my disgraceful caffeine habit). The morning seemed to come very quickly after last night's Round 1 competition and I'm off to our studio at BBC Hoddinott Hall for our 10am rehearsal for Concert 3. Thankfully the studio is fairly empty when I arrive and knock all the music off my stand. I spend the next five minutes crawling around the floor trying to rescue Korngold from underneath the cello chairs. At five to 10 the studio is still rather empty and it is at this point I remember the rehearsal is at 10.30, not 10am. Not the most auspicious start to my day! When rehearsal does begin, we take the same approach as for the Round 1 rehearsals - a short orchestra only rehearsal, quick cuppa, on with the competitors. Today we are rehearsing with representatives from Germany, Australia, Wales, Moldova and the Ukraine and the breadth of repertoire is even more vast than in Round 1. We begin with German soprano Susanne Braunsteffer. I was unfamiliar with her opening aria Il est doux, il est bon from Massenet's Herodiade. Its very beautiful and she sounds wonderful, but when we come to rehearse Un bel di vedremo from Puccini's Madama Butterfly, I feel like she is most definitely holding a lot back. Hopefully in the concert she will, as a colleague of mine put it so eloquently 'let rip'. I've been very keen to hear the Australian mezzo soprano, Helen Sherman. As an avid Twitter user, I hear lots about what she is doing through her YCAT (Young Concert Artists' Trust) representation. I love the sound of a mezzo voice and Helen has a really rich, dark voice. Helen's programme presents some of the greatest challenges in contrast for the band. Her opening aria, from Handel's Alcina, requires a very stylised manner of playing from the strings and features exceptionally high horn lines. To go from this straight into Walton's much weightier 'How Can I sleep?...At The Haunted End of The Day' and then into the light opera buffa style of the Rossini truly means keeping your wits about you! Last year, we played for the final of the Welsh Singer competition and tenor John Pierce was the victor on that occasion. It is lovely to hear how his voice has developed and matured in what really is quite a short period of time. His programme includes Donizetti's Una furtiva lagrima from L'elisir d'amore and our principal bassoon, Amy Harman, has been in a state of great excitement about playing this great solo for a number of weeks. Extra sparkles have been purchased in case there are any bassoon close ups. The gentlemen of the orchestra certainly sit up when Valentina Nafornita from Moldova enters the studio. We all sit up when she starts to sing. Her control is amazing and there is a real honeyed, lyrical quality to her voice. Her Korngold could potentially be a real show stopper. There are times when a competitor walks in to the studio and the band immediately warms to them. Such was the case with Ukranian Andrei Bondarenko. He comes across as exceptionally humble, very laid back and very pleasant. And his voice? I can't believe he's only 24! If I were a betting woman, I would put substantial pennies on him doing very well. Laura Sinnerton Wednesday 15 June I'm even more excited than normal for tonight's competition (our manager, Byron Jenkins will probably have to sedate me one day soon). In Round 1, all the singers were fantastic, but to me, Russian singer Oleysa Petrova was the standout competitor. Tonight, however, it feels like there is a much more even playing field; any of the competitors could lift the little crystal round winner's trophy, it just depends how their performance goes. Tonight really does feel like a competition and the mood is reflected by the chat in the band green room. Also, Mark Padmore is being interviewed by Petroc and I have been in awe of Mr Padmore since his Peter Quint in ENO's production of Britten's Turn of the Screw gave me nightmares for about a week - I am now beside myself with operatic excitement. The competition opens with German soprano Susanne Braunsteffer. She looked fabulous in her black dress with its tight bodice and full skirt. Regarding her aria from Madama Butterfly, 'let rip' she certainly did. This was, for me, the first of many 'goosebumps moments' during this evening's round. Next up, Australian mezzo, Helen Sherman. I absolutely loved her outfit - very simple, plain, black dress, but with the most stunning black and red embroidered and sequined, long cover up. Helen's opening Sta nell'ircana was outstanding. This gave her a wonderful opportunity to show off her incredible technical prowess as she sang the aria's long melismatic lines with what felt like complete ease. The last competitor before the interval was Wales' own, John Pierce (tenor). The competition must have added poignancy for Welsh representatives and they must feel a great weight of expectancy. John's programme opened with a real stalwart of the tenor repertory Mozart's Dis Bildnies ist bezaubernd schön from The Magic Flute and he performs it with a great deal more poise than I would be able to summon up under the circumstances! He is given a very warm, deserved response from the audience. I love the little Clogau gold lapel pin he wore - you seen, even the gents can have a part in Frockwatch! Backstage the orchestra are very excited about the next two candidates who really set the studio on fire in rehearsal. If they sing the way they did then, this is going to be a closely-fought round. Valentina Nafornita took to the stage, resplendent in a grecian style, off white frock with subtle touches of sparkles. Her opening Verdi was wonderful, but in the Korngold the entire auditorium held its breath. Valentina looks so delicate and yet her voice simply soars above the large orchestral forces of Marietta's Lied (Die tote Stadt ). This was definitely one of the standout moments of tonight's round. Korngold, incidentally, writes a rather lovely viola line. Last to take the stage, was the Ukraine's Andrei Bondarenko. To me, all of tonight's competitors were stunning, but this young baritone really has that little something extra. He sings four works, not just contrasting in style, but completely contrasting in character. He seems to have an incredible ability to not just act out the part, but to really embody the character. With his voice, and with his gesture and face, he presented to the audience a myriad range of expression and emotion (not just the yearning for a long lost love, middle distance stare and simper that some singers seem to cultivate). I particularly enjoyed his Meine Sehnen, Meine Wahnen, again from Korngold's Die tote Stadt and his very funny Quella e una strada (Mascagni). I've always thought comedy must be a difficult thing to successfully achieve in opera without being twee or cliched, but Andrei somehow managed to achieve a very believable and very comic rendition of this song. The judges could not have been deliberating any more fiercely in their room than the orchestra were, but there was a great sense of satisfaction on stage when Andrei Bondarenko was declared the winner of Round 3. I am so excited to play in the final and really cannot wait to find out who the five finalists are. If tonight's round is anything to go by, the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World final on Sunday night will be an event not to miss. I'm off to enjoy my free day with my beautiful goddaughter, Rosie, and to buy a recording of Korngold's Die tote Stadt.
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The science of Cardiff Singer
This year, the Wellcome Trust is celebrating its 75th anniversary with a series of public events exploring science and medicine through music, theatre, film and the visual arts, and the first of these events, The Science of Singing, is taking place at Cardiff Singer. In the foyer at St David'...
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Cardiff Singer: Thursday
The audience in St David's Hall last night were treated to a particularly strong group of singers in Concert 3. The competitors were Susanne Braunsteffer from Germany, Helen Sherman from Australia, local hero John Pierce from Wales, Valentina Naforniţǎ from Moldova and Andrei Bondarenko from Uk...
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Cardiff Singer: Wednesday
The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition reached its halfway point last night, by the end of concert two. Tonight's concert features Susanne Braunsteffer from Germany, Helen Sherman from Australia, local hero John Pierce from Wales, Valentina Naforniţǎ from Moldova and Andrei Bondarenko ...
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The view from the orchestra of Cardiff Singer
Laura Sinnerton, a viola player in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, shares her rehearsal and concert diary from BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2011: I can hardly believe that two years have passed since the incredibly beautiful and unbelievably talented Ekaterina Scherbachenko emerged ...
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Cardiff Singer: Tuesday
Song Prize The four Song Prize recitals finish today. Recital four features Hye Jung Lee from South Korea, Davide Bartolucci from Italy, Máire Flavin from Ireland and Leah Crocetto from the USA. At the end of the recital, the five singers who will take part in Friday's final will be announ...
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Recitals and concerts at Cardiff Singer
The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition is now well under way, with two recitals taking place yesterday. The third recital is this afternoon and the first concert is at St David's Hall tonight. Programme notes for all the recitals and concerts will appear on the site shortly before th...
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Concerts, broadcasts and more at Cardiff Singer
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World is nearly here! The Song Prize starts on Sunday, with recitals one and two taking place in the New Theatre. Then, concert one is at St David's Hall on Monday. See the full schedule. Meanwhile, get a taste for the week coming up with the special prev...
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Cardiff Singer is starting...
Singers have started arriving in Cardiff from all over the world, and are now getting over jet lag and starting their preparations for the competition, which starts on Sunday with the first two Song Prize recitals. Unfortunately Szymon Komasa from Poland is ill and has had to withdraw from th...
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Cardiff Singer 2011: Master Classes news
All the performers on the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World jury will share their wisdom and experience with competitors not selected for the final, in sessions taking place at the New Theatre, Cardiff and the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama on Saturday 18 June. The sessions at the College ma...
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Interview with 2009 Cardiff Singer winner Ekaterina Scherbachenko
Russian soprano Ekaterina Scherbachenko was the winner of the 2009 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition. As this year's event gets into gear, she looks back at her 2009 win. What did you gain from winning BBC Cardiff Singer of the World in 2009? The exposure gained from competing in...
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Competitors for Cardiff Singer 2011 announced
Today sees the long-awaited details of which of the 600 singers who auditioned in 45 cities in 36 countries across five continents will be coming to Cardiff in June for the 2011 Cardiff Singer of the World competition. The singers The Cardiff 20 come from Armenia, Australia, Bulgaria, Cana...
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Dame Kiri te Kanawa announced as new Cardiff Singer patron
One of the biggest names in the operatic world, New Zealand soprano Dame Kiri te Kanawa, becomes the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition's second patron following the death of Dame Joan Sutherland last year. She will also serve on the jury for the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World compe...
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Cardiff Singer on Facebook and Twitter, and accommodation for 2011
The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition now has a presence on Facebook and Twitter, so you can sign up to follow us there for all the latest news. Be a fan on Facebook: www.facebook.com/cardiffsinger Follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cardiffsinger Accommodation in Cardiff If you're planning to come to the competition, there is a wide range of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets in Cardiff. Please be aware, however, that there will be a particularly heavy demand for accommodation, as Take That are performing sellout concerts at the Millennium Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday, 14 and 15 June. The Tourist Information Centre advises booking early - you can check out listings on their Visit Wales website or call +44 (0)29 2087 3573.