11 Sep 2019
2019 Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera International Song Competition
Russian bass-baritone Mikhail Timoshenko has won the top prize at the 2019 Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera International Song Competition.
Recently in Commentary
ETO Autumn 2020 Season Announcement: Lyric Solitude
English Touring Opera are delighted to announce a season of lyric monodramas to tour nationally from October to December. The season features music for solo singer and piano by Argento, Britten, Tippett and Shostakovich with a bold and inventive approach to making opera during social distancing.
Eight Songs from Isolation: first opera written for a socially distanced world
Conductor Oliver Zeffman has commissioned the very first opera for a socially distanced world, which is now available to watch exclusively on Apple Music. Eight Songs From Isolation has been written by eight leading composers, specifically for streaming - rather than live performance - and is the first opera written for a time when the performers were unable to meet in person.
Let Music Live
Leading freelance musicians unite in Parliament Square to call for targeted support for colleagues in the arts and entertainment sector.
Murphy & Attridge celebrate performers' humanity with a creative response to lockdown
Duo Lewis Murphy (composer) and Laura Attridge (writer) have launched a charitable song project entitled Notes From Isolation. The resulting songs, featuring some of the UK's top singing talent, are being released online between August and October 2020 and can be enjoyed free of charge.
The Royal Opera House unveils programme of new work alongside much-loved classics for live audiences this Autumn
The Royal Opera House is thrilled to announce an exciting, wide-ranging new line-up for its autumn programme. For the first time, extraordinary performances will be accessible online for a global audience through livestreams and for socially distanced live audiences at our home in Covent Garden. In a global first, we present a new opera in hyper-reality, alongside repertory favourites from both artistic companies.
Wexford Festival Opera Gala Concert - Remote Voices: as part of Waiting for Shakespeare …The Festival in the air
Some of the most famous and outstanding stars from the opera world are to take part in a very special evening from Wexford Festival Opera, including Aigul Akhmetshina, Joseph Calleja, Daniela Barcellona, Juan Diego Flórez, Igor Golovatenko, Ermonela Jaho, Sergey Romanovsky, and many more.
OperaStreaming announces second season of nine new productions from the opera houses of Emilia-Romagna, free to view on YouTube
Following its successful launch in 2019, OperaStreaming streams nine operas on YouTube from the historic opera houses of Emilia-Romagna during the 2020-21 season, with fully-staged productions of Verdi's La traviata in October from Modena and Verdi'sOtello from Bologna in...
Connections Across Time: Sholto Kynoch on the 2020 Oxford Lieder Festival
‘A brief history of song’ is the subtitle of the 2020 Oxford Lieder Festival (10th-17th October), which will present an ambitious, diverse and imaginative programme of 40 performances and events.
Bampton Classical Opera 2020: Gluck's The Crown at St John's Smith Square
Bampton Classical Opera returns to the Baroque splendour of London’s St John’s Smith Square on November 6 with a concert performance of Gluck’s one-act opera The Crown, the first in the UK since 1987. The performance will also be filmed and available to watch on demand on the Bampton website from 9 November.
A new opera written during lockdown with three different endings to choose from to premiere this October as part of Wexford Festival Opera
While many of us spent lockdown at home taking it a little easier, composer Andrew Synnott wrote an opera.
Grange Park Opera presents Britten’s Owen Wingrave, filmed on location in haunted houses in Surrey and London
Owen Wingrave is part of the new Interim Season of 19 brand new events, all free to view online between September and December 2020.
Music and Theatre For All launches three major new projects supported by The Arts Council
The Arts Council has awarded innovative UK charity Music and Theatre For All (MTFA) a major new grant to develop three ambitious new projects in the wake of Covid 19.
English National Opera to reopen the London Coliseum with performances of Mozart’s Requiem
English National Opera (ENO) will reopen the London Coliseum to socially distanced audiences on 6 and 7 November for special performances of Mozart’s Requiem. These will provide audiences with an opportunity to reflect upon and to commemorate the difficulties the nation has faced during the pandemic.
The Royal Opera House launches autumn digital programme with a new series of Friday Premieres and screenings on Sky Arts
The Royal Opera House is proud to continue its curated #OurHouseToYourHouse programme into the autumn, bringing audiences the best of the ROH through a new series of Friday Premieres and cultural highlights.
Take a Bow: Royal Opera House opens its doors for the first time in six months as part of Open House London
After six months of closure, the Royal Opera House is thrilled to be opening its doors to the public as part of Open House London weekend, giving visitors a taste of one of the world’s most famous theatres for free.
Academy of St Martin in the Fields presents re:connect - a series of autumn concerts at St. Martin-in-the-Fields
The Academy of St Martin in the Fields is thrilled to announce re:connect - an eight concert series with live socially distanced audiences at its namesake church, St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The autumn concerts will take place at 5pm & 7:30pm on two Saturdays per month with guest artists including baritone Roderick Williams, soprano Carolyn Sampson and composer-conductor-pianist Ryan Wigglesworth performing a wide range of repertoire.
Connections Across Time: The Oxford Lieder Festival, 10-17 October 2020
Music and poetry unite and collide across centuries, from the Medieval to the Enlightenment to the present day. This year, the Oxford Lieder Festival will present a thrilling and innovative programme comprising more than forty events streamed over eight days.
The English Concert Autumn 2020 series: Handel and Purcell, Britain’s Orpheus
The English Concert with artistic director Harry Bicket is delighted to announce a series of concerts from 1-15 October 2020. The concerts take place in historic London venues with star soloists and will be performed and streamed live to a paying audience at 7pm GMT on each performance date. The programmes include first-class vocal and instrumental works from the two pillars of the English Baroque, covering different aspects of the repertoire.
Glyndebourne announces first indoor performances since lockdown, and unveils 2021 Festival repertoire
Glyndebourne has announced plans for a ‘staycation’ series of socially-distanced indoor performances, starting on 10 October 2020.
Royal Opera House announces autumn opera and ballet concerts
The Royal Opera House is delighted to announce two packed evenings of opera and ballet, live from our stage in Covent Garden and available to view wherever you are in the world online.
OPERA TODAY ARCHIVES »
Commentary
After four days of rounds in front of a distinguished panel of jurors and Wigmore Hall audiences, on Wednesday 11th September 25-year-old Mikhail Timoshenko won the £10,000 First Prize at Wigmore Hall’s International Song Competition, sponsored for the first time by Independent Opera .
The Final and Semi-Final rounds were live streamed to international
audiences and can still be viewed at
https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/
The £5,000 second prize place was awarded to 29-year-old British soprano Harriet Burns. Third place, with a prize of £2,500, went to British mezzo-soprano Beth Taylor and fourth to British tenor Kieran Carrel.
Michael Pandya, the 25-year old British pianist who partnered Harriet Burns, won the £5,000 Pianist’s Prize.
Mikhail Timoshenko studied at the Mednogorsk Conservatoire and the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt, Weimar. He has won top prizes in several other competitions in the past few years with his duo partner, pianist Elitsa Desseva, including First Prize at the Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne Competition in Graz, and the Hugo Wolf Competition in Stuttgart.
Director of Wigmore Hall and chair of the Jury John Gilhooly OBE says of the Competition:
‘The Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera International Song Competition is all about recognising and encouraging the next generation of great performers and there is no doubt that this thrilling week highlighted many wonderful musical personalities. The quality of the performances has been outstanding, and it is certain that the future of the great art of song is assured. Congratulations to Mikhail Timoshenko and to all our prize winners. We greatly look forward to hearing them again in future.’
Natalie Murray Beale, performer, jury member and Creative Director of Independent Opera said:
‘We've had an exceptional week, from the jury's viewpoint, witnessing exciting and brave performances from a wide range of talented young artists. Open masterclasses and expert talks have also given fascinating insights to performers and audiences alike. Independent Opera is delighted to have sponsored the competition and looks forward to its return in two years' time.’
Celebrating the art of song, the biennial International Song Competition has grown in status and prestige to become one of the most significant platforms worldwide for recognising young talent in song recital since it was established in 1997.
A truly international list of emerging performers aged 33 and under, all on the verge of embarking on significant international careers, had taken part during the week, which also included public masterclasses, coaching and feedback from some of the foremost international song performers and experts.
The Jury was mainly comprised of eminent performers including John Mark Ainsley, Iain Burnside, Bernarda Fink, Graham Johnson, Dame Felicity Lott, Thomas Quasthoff and Ailish Tynan.