Opera: A Russian opera star is born
John Daly-Peoples [National Business Review]
Lockwood Aria
Rotorua Convention Centre
The Lockwood Aria has become the major proving ground for emerging opera talent in New Zealand.
Some of the previous winners have gone on to have successful careers including Jud Arthur, who has just finished a season with Opera Australia singing the role of Le Comte Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon.
This year’s winner, Viktoriya Dodoka, was a foregone conclusion from the moment she opened her mouth for a performance that had the audience entranced.
Singing E Strasno from Verdi’s La Traviata she gave interpretation the like of which the competition had rarely seen, with a display that was powerful, emotionally rich and chillingly real.
Concert performances always impose constraints on singers; they are not in costume, they do not have the context of the full drama of the opera and they do not have other characters or a chorus to respond to.
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