BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, 15/06/2023

Song Prize - Final

Nombulelo Yende, soprano (31, South Africa) - Simon Lepper, piano

Strauss : "Befreit"

Strauss : "Allerseelen"

Barber : "Church bell at night" (Hermit Songs)

Barber : "St. Ita's Vision" (Hermit Songs)

Grieg : "Jeg elsker dig!"

Quilter : "Love's Philosophy"

Strauss : "Zueignung"

The opposing ends of Yende's recital were above all, I think, mainly designed to show off the beauty of her voice, and there's no denying that beauty, it's a sumptuous instrument.  However, it's a mistake to think of Strauss's songs merely as vehicles for a gorgeous soprano voice; in fact, that's the bare minimum, and you need a good deal more baggage to put them across properly.  When "Befreit" began at a snail's pace, my heart sank.  Lots of wallowing, almost static, and absolutely none of the luminous spirituality of the song.  "Allerseelen" was not a great deal better, slow and without feeling.  The first Barber song was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it affair, but the second had more personality, an actual narrative giving Yende some structure.  The Grieg we had previously heard from Jessica Robinson, and was quite well done by Yende, with some real tenderness in it.  The Quilter raised the tempo a little, but the muffled English did not help, and then it was another Strauss, a little more expressive, but still not anywhere near the radiance this song demands.  Disappointing, despite the quality of the instrument.

Sungho Kim, tenor (32, South Korea) - Llŷr Williams, piano

Vaughan Williams : "Let beauty awake" (Songs of travel)

Schumann : "Mit Myrten und Rosen" (Liederkreis)

Rachmaninov : "Do not sing, my beauty"

Strauss : "Morgen!"

Soungtai Kim : "Dongsimcho"

Kim reappeared in his stylish, silver-grey, Durumagi coat, but I thought he seemed almost a little intimidated at first.  Both his first songs were very restrained, quite unlike the expansive singer we had seen in previous rounds, almost timid in delivery.  (Listening to the radio broadcast later, he does sound rather stronger.). The English in the Vaughan Williams was a bit stifled too, which didn't help; his German was very much clearer.  He left the stage briefly, and on his return finally gave us some of that Sungho shine which has made him such a popular competitor.  The Rachmaninov ached with homesickness.  "Morgen!" was always going to be a difficult one after having heard McIntosh's superb rendition on Monday, however, the two singers had the same accompanist, and Llŷr Williams's contribution was anything but negligible, he provided the incomparable setting allowing the voices to shine.  I still preferred McIntosh's version, partly because I prefer this song in a female voice, but Kim gave a poised and sensitive interpretation.  Finally a sorrowful Korean song, written in 1945, also given an eloquent delivery, though it did sort of resemble a Neapolitan song.  The start of his programme had left a poor impression on me, and I didn't feel he had done enough to compensate for it.

Siphokazi Molteno, mezzo-soprano (31, South Africa) - Llŷr Williams, piano

Hofmeyr : "The broken string"

Liverman : "The golden day"

Hofmayr : "Thula thula"

Mzilikazi Khumalo : "Sengiyeza" (Princess Magogo)

I had not particularly liked Molteno's round, and felt that it was Williams that had got her through it.  Her programme tonight, though, was even more radical than the all-Mahler of her previous round, with two South African composers (one white, one black) and an African-American one, and all of them active into the 21st Century.  Khumalo died only a couple of years ago, and Princess Magogo is an opera from 2002.  I recall hearing another number from it in 2015.  It's in Zulu, and the famous 'click' of that language caught quite a few of the audience by surprise.  Hendrik Hofmeyr is now 65, and I liked both of his songs.  The first, in English, is a lament for a broken heart, while the second is a rather sweet lullaby set as a kind of theme and variations, though it was the piano doing most of the varying.  Will Liverman is a baritone, regularly appearing at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as a composer, and "The golden day" is another lament for lost love.  The Khumalo was something of a 'swan song', an acceptance of oncoming death, and looking forward to reuniting with lost loved ones.  This was a very original programme, entirely of contemporary music, and related to Molteno's roots, and she made a strong showing in it, although a greater variety of mood would have been better.

William Thomas, bass (28, England) - Simon Lepper, piano

Rachmaninov : "Morning"

Saint-Saëns : "Danse macabre"

Tchaikovsky : "Don Juan's Serenade"

Brahms : "Feldeinsamkeit"

Katie Moss : "The Floral Dance"

The Rachmaninov was not a great success, I found Thomas's tone a little unsteady in this song, and it seemed a bit lugubrious for a dawn greeting.  Matters improved immediately with Saint-Saëns's "Danse macabre" - this is the original version of this famous piece, an evocation of the medieval Dance of Death, which reduces all beings to the same condition, irrespective of birth or wealth.  Thomas delivered this with relish, and tried to do something similar with the Tchaikovsky, without quite as much success, though it was not a bad performance, however, the song is not ideally suited to the bass voice.  "Feldeinsamkeit" had a nice, warm, calm to it, and Thomas clearly feels an affinity to Edwardian salon music, because he ended with another Benjamin Luxon favourite, "The Floral Dance", which was written in 1911 and was so popular it acquired the status of a pseudo-folk song.  It's still well-known today, though more often played by brass bands than sung.  Thomas takes this repertory seriously - not religiously, there's humour there, but he's certainly not sending it up, rather, he revels in the old-fashioned simplicity of it.  It was a popular conclusion to a nicely balanced programme.

Simone McIntosh, mezzo-soprano (31, Canada) - Llŷr Williams, piano

Fauré : "Puisque l'aube grandit" (La bonne chanson)

Grieg : "Gruss"

Grieg " Zu Rosenzeit"

Vaughan Williams : "Let beauty awake" (Songs of travel)

Rachmaninov : "It cannot be!"

Rachmaninov : "Music"

Rachmaninov : "What happiness"

McIntosh is a much brighter, higher mezzo than Molteno, and her programme was more varied emotionally.  That said, right from the start, I felt she was too restrained when she should have been more outgoing.  The Fauré suffered from it, it lacked élan.  The Grieg songs, the second of which was a reprise from her earlier round, were better, fresher and with more feeling.  The Vaughan Williams was interesting, having already heard it this evening.  McIntosh's English was much clearer than Kim's, but once again, the forward impulse was not there, where it had been with Kim.  The three Rachmaninov songs were quite eloquent (though the end of the third was a little squally), but the last of them ends with a huge virtuoso flourish from the pianist, and the enthusiastic applause which greeted it was almost certainly more for Williams's playing than McIntosh's singing, which is not exactly a desirable situation.  Despite the lovely sheen of the voice, she really needed to let loose, and relax her too-tight control to let the songs really speak.

I had felt that the choice was between Molteno and Thomas.  Yende lacked expression, Kim lacked variety.  So too did Molteno, but her singing seemed to me more secure, her programme more interesting and it made the most of her voice.  Thomas had a nicely varied programme which he delivered with conviction, while McIntosh's programme was also interesting, but lacked conviction.  However, the judges, responding to criteria at which I could only guess, chose Kim.  

I was not impressed.

[Next : 16th June]