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I was waiting for Polish TV to get off their collective behinds and put up the final concert online before I would post about this, but it looks like they decided the competition's over and so are their obligations. Still.
I spent most of the week before last listening to opera. The VI International Moniuszko Vocal Competition was ongoing, and Polish TV was kind enough to transmit all auditions online. By the time the third and final stage rolled around, I had firm favourites and ended up attending the last day of auditions - I have to say I am very impressed with young operatic talent these days.
People to keep an eye on:
Mika Nisula (Finnish tenor): lovely dramatic and sweet voice who would have gotten Third Male if not for nerves. He managed to bollix up an easy Faust aria completely, being off-key on the one long high note and everything. He then closed his eyes, decided to hell with it and launched into a much, much more difficult aria from Moniuszko's Haunted Manor in a way that made me cry, in a good way. I hate that song - emo-est piece of emo "wah, my mummy's dead!" crap ever - and he was perfect in it, emotional and dignified and everything. Finnish people should take note, he does a lot of work in Helsinki :)
Anna Markarova (Russian mezzo): great voice of the bring-the-house-down kind, but most of all stage charisma and dignity. She doesn't look it, but I could see her doing Empress Catherine or someone - when she's on stage, she's blinding.
Azamat Zheltyrguzov (Kazakh baritone): The guy's 20 and and if he ever switches to musicals, he'll be another Yamaguchi. That kind of velvet voice and stage presence. He didn't make it past 2nd stage, but he knocked enough people flat that the Cracow opera club funded a special, unplanned prize and gave it to him :D
Kristina Kapustynska (Ukrainian mezzo): I was very much reminded of a female version of my favourite Polish guy ;) Same looks, gestures, stage presence and girl version of his voice, from the deepest caverns to a very credible upper range. A year or two and I think Kristina'll be able to sing everything from tenor to soprano. Her voice reminded me very much of the best Takarazuka otokoyaku, and judging by her final concert dress, she'd be a Zuka fangirl in a flash ;) Second Female, and very deservedly so.
Malgorzata Olejniczak (Polish soprano): Third Female and very lovely lady, with a haunting stage presence and energy. For the longest time I didn't know who could be a Polish Elisabeth, but now my dream cast is complete :)
Alexey Markov (Russian baritone): First Male, and missed the Grand Prix by a hair. Knocks you flat, especially at the final concert - the TV studio people criticised his projection the day before, and he did his best to blow out the sound equipment. Musicals-wise, I was reminded of Borchert's stage presence, but the voice... oh, so dreamy :)
And just so I'm not talking about random abstracts, here's Polish TV mutilating the looks of the contestants (trust me, it's the lighting - they're all 100% prettier live :P)
April 20th - click on the picture and go to 5:30 for Olejniczak, 24:00 for Kapustynska
April 21st - click on the picture and go to 21:19 for Markov
I spent most of the week before last listening to opera. The VI International Moniuszko Vocal Competition was ongoing, and Polish TV was kind enough to transmit all auditions online. By the time the third and final stage rolled around, I had firm favourites and ended up attending the last day of auditions - I have to say I am very impressed with young operatic talent these days.
People to keep an eye on:
Mika Nisula (Finnish tenor): lovely dramatic and sweet voice who would have gotten Third Male if not for nerves. He managed to bollix up an easy Faust aria completely, being off-key on the one long high note and everything. He then closed his eyes, decided to hell with it and launched into a much, much more difficult aria from Moniuszko's Haunted Manor in a way that made me cry, in a good way. I hate that song - emo-est piece of emo "wah, my mummy's dead!" crap ever - and he was perfect in it, emotional and dignified and everything. Finnish people should take note, he does a lot of work in Helsinki :)
Anna Markarova (Russian mezzo): great voice of the bring-the-house-down kind, but most of all stage charisma and dignity. She doesn't look it, but I could see her doing Empress Catherine or someone - when she's on stage, she's blinding.
Azamat Zheltyrguzov (Kazakh baritone): The guy's 20 and and if he ever switches to musicals, he'll be another Yamaguchi. That kind of velvet voice and stage presence. He didn't make it past 2nd stage, but he knocked enough people flat that the Cracow opera club funded a special, unplanned prize and gave it to him :D
Kristina Kapustynska (Ukrainian mezzo): I was very much reminded of a female version of my favourite Polish guy ;) Same looks, gestures, stage presence and girl version of his voice, from the deepest caverns to a very credible upper range. A year or two and I think Kristina'll be able to sing everything from tenor to soprano. Her voice reminded me very much of the best Takarazuka otokoyaku, and judging by her final concert dress, she'd be a Zuka fangirl in a flash ;) Second Female, and very deservedly so.
Malgorzata Olejniczak (Polish soprano): Third Female and very lovely lady, with a haunting stage presence and energy. For the longest time I didn't know who could be a Polish Elisabeth, but now my dream cast is complete :)
Alexey Markov (Russian baritone): First Male, and missed the Grand Prix by a hair. Knocks you flat, especially at the final concert - the TV studio people criticised his projection the day before, and he did his best to blow out the sound equipment. Musicals-wise, I was reminded of Borchert's stage presence, but the voice... oh, so dreamy :)
And just so I'm not talking about random abstracts, here's Polish TV mutilating the looks of the contestants (trust me, it's the lighting - they're all 100% prettier live :P)
April 20th - click on the picture and go to 5:30 for Olejniczak, 24:00 for Kapustynska
April 21st - click on the picture and go to 21:19 for Markov