Main Prize: Evening 2

Norwegian baritone: Johannes Weisser  5/10

Almaviva's Aria: Vedro mentr'io sospiro (Le nozze di Figaro) - Mozart
Lacks the gravitas and aristocratic edge for the role. Too light a voice. More of a Leporello type. Totally wrong bearing. Has the notes but not the vocal or physical character. Apparently, the most-performed aria in the entire history of the competition!

Wolfram's Aria: O du mein holder Abendstern (Tannhauser) - Wagner
Again, a questionable choice of repertoire. Good accent. Lyrical. But gormless expression odd, and not spiritual enough. Too slow. A total lack of fireworks. 


Lithuanian soprano: Sandra Janusaite  6/10


Sieglinde's Aria: Du bust der Lenz (Die Walkure) - Wagner
Not an obvious choice for a competition, the fact that this aria is so deeply embedded in the context of the opera - not to mention its brevity - made it a surprise.
Yet the voice was secure at the top and the general attack was so committed that
the result was exciting to say the least.

Mimi's Aria: Donde lieta (La boheme) - Puccini
Slight intonationtuning issues at some points, but a full-blooded sound and detailed reaction to the text made this a convincing performance. A little more vulnerability might have made the character come to life even more vividly.

Santuzza's Aria: Voi lo sapete (Cavalleria rusticana) - Mascagni
A nice choice of a verismo aria. Again, the Italian style suited her and the passion of the character was vividly conveyed.


Dmitri Vargin: baritone from Uzbekistan 6/10

Valentin's Avant de quitter ces lieux (Faust) - Gounod
A nice voice, lyrical and unforced with an almost old-fashioned beauty. But rather uninvolving physically. It's rather difficult to think of anyone else singing this after having seen Simon Keenlyside do it so excitingly at the ROH! A touch boring really.

Guglielmo's Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo (Cosi fan tutte) - Mozart
Better suited to this vocally and acted far more convincingly. The aria is well within his capabilities and this was a highly engaging account. However, not the most flashy aria in the world.

Interval feature
A nice glimpse of Jacques Imbrailo of the ROH Young Artists scheme, plus other competitors.


Canadian countertenor: David DQ Lee 7/10

Cesare's Va tacito e nascosto (Giulio Cesare) - Handel
A very confident and precise account of this technically challenging aria. His physical performance is equally engaging. Some inaccuracies and imbalances with the orchestra were forgivable.

L'ile inconnue from Les nuits d'ete - Berlioz
A surprisingly full tone for this ravishing mezzo-soprano song.

A Route to the Sky (The Paper Wings, No 4) - Jake Heggie
Bizarre, jazzy piece. 
As with the previous items (and all countertenors) I found it 
bizarre to hear 
such a feminine sound coming out of a man,
and the sound is a bit too artificial. 
But an extraordinary performance and a remarkable choice.


Ukrainian mezzo-soprano: Julia Griniuk 7/10

Sesto's Parto, parto (La clemenza di Tito) - Mozart
Nice voice but rather tentative and not acted very convincingly. Slightly too slow for my taste. I like the quality of her 
voice for Mozart
but I don't like the way she uses it.
Still, it's a fiend to sing, and her performance was credible.

Joan of Arc's Da, chas nastal (The Maid of Orleans) - Tchaikovsky
Staggering aria to sing - but how did she do?
Well she didn't convince me for a moment that she was Joan of Arc
but she gave an emotional performance
and I thought most of it lay rather nicely for her voice.
Quite an achievement in fact - and this really is a natural voice.

The winner: David DQ Lee
Well not a surprise. He has personality. But I prefered Griniuk because the voice is far superior and she's not about artificial flashiness.