Main Prize - Third Round

Wiard Witholt (Dutch baritone) 6/10

See the raging flames from Handel's Joshua
Accurate and nicely paced. Yet the physical performance seemed not to tally with the lyrics.

Mein Sehnen from Korngold's Die todte Stadt
A sumptuous piece, sumptuously sung. However, I don't feel the voice is quite full enough for this 
repertoire. 


Sarah-Jane Davies (Welsh Soprano) from ENO's Young Singers Programme 6/10

E gelosia from Handel's Serse

An admirable full tone and feisty attack. Occasionally tuning was undermined by excessive vibrato, which did not seem well-suited to the baroque style of the piece. Nevertheless, it was a vivid performance.

Beim Schlafengehen from Strauss' Four Last Songs
A glorious Lied of course, and hard to interpret satisfactorily. 
She makes a beautiful sound; I'm not sure that the poignancy was 
there in the face or expression. 
The violin solo was immaculate. Shame more was not made of the words and there was a loss of tuning in the famous line: 'Und die Seele...'.

Per pieta from Mozart's Cosi fan tutte
One of the hardest arias in the soprano repertoire - Mozart in a neo-baroque style.
Slightly tentative at the start, and not comfortable in the chest voice, but very courageous and dignified.
Some exquisite singing, carefully phrased and articulated. I wish she would watch the use of vibrato more, and I don't think her physical stance helps either voice or 
interpretation, but otherwise I liked her very much.

Juhan Tralla (Estonian tenor) 7/10
At this juncture I'd like to object to all these silly introductions by Mary King. Much as I respect her opinion, I don't need to hear her humming a Mozart tenor aria, and I don't know what's with the silly close-ups and shakey camera movements. We can do without, methinks, especially as they always result in the omission of parts of most singers' programmes.

Ottavio's Dalla sua pace from Don Giovanni
This was an extraordinary performance as far as I'm concerned. What a remarkably full, clear, beautiful sound! He doesn't look compelling, but then Ottavio isn't exactly the most compelling character in opera. An utter joy to hear. I'm surprised by the negative comments - perhaps it felt different in person.

Lensky's Kuda, kuda from Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin
A wonderful aria and quite a different challenge to the Mozart. However, the same problem of the physical performance was apparent: his odd hairstyle, his eyes cast downwards and sparse hand movements didn't conjure up Lensky for me. But once more I was dazzled by a naturally full and lyrical voice being controlled so well.

Yang Shen (Chinese Bass-baritone) 8/10
The youngest singer in the competition (23 - same age as me!) 

Tito's se il cor from Vivaldi's Tito Manlio
Nice full sound, well controlled. Naturally big voice. Good but not perfect coloratura. But I don't really like watching him I'm afraid. I'd like more to be going on - more storytelling.

Sachs' monologue from Wagner's Die Meistersinger
Again, the physical performance didn't live up to the vocal one. Great to hear - indeed, a remarkable sound. But Hans Sachs is such a mature character and this guy is 23. And I don't see him ever being physically convincing in the part.

Mephistopheles' Serenade from Gounod's Faust
Rather slow, but I appreciated the greater effort to act the part. Not sardonic enough, perhaps, but a good stab. Vocally one or two stumbles, but again pleasant to listen to.

Evelina Dobraceva - German soprano from Russia 6/10

Doretta's Aria from Puccini's La rondine
Her sound is rather too far back in the throat for me. She looks pretty and makes some ravishing sounds but I'd like her to punch the sound forward more. A nice attempt at acting.

Agathe's aria from Weber's Der Freischutz
Very nicely controlled sound and stylistically correct, though again the voice is a bit too far back down her throat for my taste. Some nice floating sounds near the end of the slow part. Good linguistic skills, though perhaps that's inevitable given her nationality. Good stab, if not perfect.

Result:
Yang Shen
Good choice. Clearly the best voice. But I don't like him physically.