Competition Spy - 3rd stage
Diana Alexe initiated the finals of the competition with Lucia’s aria Regnava nel silenzio. With her mimicry and gestures she played Lucia’s fright with a vision of an ominous spirit. Amina’s aria was also sang with expression. The part Ah non credea mirarti seemed to be full of sadness and longing, in contrast to the part Ah non giunge, which the soloist sang happily. The coloraturas in both arias were light and fine, although there were some intonation mistakes. The conductor, Sebastian Perłowski, sensed very well the dynamics that the orchestra could afford. Nevertheless, at the moments when the accompaniment had to be played forte, the soloist's voice was barely audible.
As his first choice, baritone Hongyu Chen sang the aria of Prince Yeletsky Ya vas lyublyu. The whole time he has sung it, he looked at the conductor and still he made rhythmic errors. It made the impression that there was a communication problem between them. Nevertheless, the singer bravely fought to the end. He did well when it comes to Russian pronunciation. The artist seemed much more relaxed while singing Figaro’s aria Largo, al facto. He transformed himself into a confident barber, and he sang all the Figaro! calls with sense of humor. On longer notes, his voice sounded very strong, but it didn’t cut through the orchestra that well in parts of the fast-sung text.
Gabriela Gołaszewska started with Mimi’s aria Si mi chiamano Mimi. She sang with long phrases, very musically, with dynamic differences and legato necessary in Puccini's music. This time the conductor, Sebastian Perłowski, could have let the orchestra develop the sound into a real forte. The beautiful voice of the soprano soared over the orchestra. All the high notes were full and rounded in tone. In Juliette’s aria Ah! Je veux vivre dans le rêve, the soloist showed not only the beauty of the voice but also more of her smile and interpretation of the word slightly lacking in the previous aria.
Elwira Janasik started as a revengeful gypsy Azucena in the aria Stride la vampa. The soloist sang extremely expressive, with an almost aggressive voice, and with impressive chest voice. After impersonating Azucena so intensely, it was surprising how easily she switched to perform Polina’s aria Podrugi milyye accompanied only with the piano. She changed her body language completely. She sang a lot more gently, showing softness in her voice and the ability to conduct legato phrases. Only sometimes on the high notes there was some tension in her voice.
Łukasz Karauda began with Wolfram’s aria O du mein holder Abendstern. His sonorous voice sounded impressive against the orchestra. He conducted great legato phrases, painting with the color of the sound and with the dynamics. One could wish that his singing would not only be beautiful but also filled with the feeling for the beloved women of whom Wolfram is singing. As the second aria, he presented Escamillo’s Votre toast, je peux vous le rendre. In the role of the toreador, he was very convincing, although there were moments, when it seemed that the singer and the conductor couldn’t agree on the tempo. In both arias, in the upper register of the voice some of the sounds lost their timbre.
The only baroque piece of the evening, Cleopatra’s aria Piangero la sorte mia, was sung by soprano Klaudia Korzeniowska. The soloist seemed very nervous, which had a big impact on her performance. A quick vibrato appeared in the voice and she had problems maintaining intonation. As the second piece she sang Mimi’s aria Si mi chiamano Mimi. Here again, the stress didn’t allow her to spread her wings. Competitions are stressful for most performers. Maybe another time, Ms Korzeniowska will win over the stress and show herself from her best side in all stages.
Baritone Danylo Matviienko began with Conte Almaviva’s recitativo and aria. Of all his competition performances, in this one he showed the most interesting interpretation. In the recitativo he projected the text and operated his voice very ably. He sang the aria equally well. The second piece presented by the artist was Wolfram’s aria O du mein holder Abendstern. He presented great pronunciation in German and a very cultural way of singing. His rendition would have been even better if he used larger dynamic differences and filled the sung melody with feeling.
For the finals Małgorzata Pawłowska chose spinto soprano repertoire: Ariadne's aria Es gibt ein reich and Santuzza’s aria Voi lo sapete, o mamma. The young artist coped well with similar repertoire when she was accompanied by piano. I have the impression, however, that it is still too early for her to sing such dramatic arias with orchestra. In Ariadne's aria she lacked the sense of melody of the German language, which resulted in all syllables being equally accented. The voice in the upper register cut well through the orchestra, but it was less audible in the midrange. In Santuzza’s aria the soloist tried to create a character, but her performance would have made a bigger impression on the audience if the voice was more mature. She could then better use it to reflect all that she obviously wanted to convey.
Michał Rudziński began his performance with the Colline’s aria Vecchia zimarra. He sang with expression, showing that he senses the style of Puccini's music. His voice is beautiful, but it sounded a bit harsh. Especially in Banco’s aria Come dal ciel precipita, an effort was heard. High sounds were lacking in color and they were not sufficiently sonorous.
Once again Sarah Shine showed her incredible stage grace. She started with Gilda’s aria Caro nome, sung with a very nice sound. The conductor, Sebastian Perłowski, adapted the dynamics of the orchestra's playing to the small voice of the singer. At times, the soloist lacked intonation stability. She finished the final concert with Adele’s aria Spiel ich die Unschuld vom Lande. She offered the text very clearly and perfectly differentiated each verse. Her performance was rewarded with an exceptionally enthusiastic audience ovation.
Barbara Zamek
photos Piotr Droździk