Russian Soprano Wins Second Concert Round in BBC Cardiff Singer of The World

Chairman of the panel of international judges John Fisher made the
announcement at the end of the exciting concert in St David’s Hall,
Cardiff.

Mr Fisher, chief executive and artistic director of Welsh National Opera,
presented the 32 year old soprano with a Welsh crystal trophy to mark her
achievement.

Ekaterina was the last of five singers who performed last night. The other
four singers 31 year old English mezzo-soprano Anna Stephany, 27 year old
Mexican baritone Octavio Moreno, 28 year old baritone, South African Dawid
Kimberg and Korean tenor Ji-Min Park, aged 30. Full concert programme at bottom
of this release.

A graduate of the Moscow State Conservatory Ekaterina made her debut at the
Bolshoi Theatre, as Natasha (War and Peace). She then joined the
Bolshoi company and roles she performs there include Li˘ (Turandot),
MicaÎla (Carmen), Iolanta (Iolanta) as well as Natasha,
Tatyana and Mimi. Ekaterina has also worked at OpÈra National de Lyon, Teatro
Lirico di Cagliari and with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, St
Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra in
Glasgow and Edinburgh. Her future plans include touring with the Bolshoi in
2009, as Tatyana, to Tokyo, La Scala Milan and Ljubljana. In her spare time,
Ekaterina enjoys reading and travelling.

These were the second five of the 25 singers who are competing for the title
BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and a £15,000 prize, which is provided by the
City and County of Cardiff. The Competition is organised by BBC Wales, over
this week.

Although winner of her concert Ekaterina is not guaranteed a place in next
Sunday’s final as the judges wait until they have heard all 25 singers
before selecting their top five. It is possible two singers may go through from
one concert round and the winner of a concert round not be selected for the
final five. Indeed this happened in 2007 when fellow Japanese soprano Mari
Moriya won her concert round but did not reach the final.

The 25 singers who represent nations as far afield as Chile and Russia,
Australia and Italy have been selected from more than 600 singers from around
the world who took part in auditions in 44 locations in more than 30 countries
for the biennial competition.

Ekaterina_Shcherbachenko2.gif

This year all singers taking part will also be eligible to benefit from a
new bursary to help towards the development of their musical careers. A
follower of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Annie Sankey, has left the
competition a bequest and a new bursary in her name to support singers who take
part in the competition has been established. Menna Richards, Director BBC
Cymru Wales said, “The bursaries will help support the studies of
competitors, including helping with travel and the purchase of musical
scores”.

Twenty of the singers are also taking part in the BBC Cardiff Singer of the
World Song Prize which has its own final at St David’s Hall on Friday,
June 12.

Both competitions are receiving extensive coverage by the BBC across the
networks including BBC Cymru Wales, Radio 3, BBC Two and BBC Four and
online.

Concert two programme:

Dawid Kimberg — South Africa
Largo al factotum (Il barbiere di Siviglia) — Rossini
Mein Sehnen, mein W‰hnen (Die tote Stadt) — Korngold
L’orage s’est calmÈ (Les pÍcheurs de perles) — Bizet

Ji-Min Park — Republic of Korea
L’amour! L’amour! … Ah! LËve-toi, soleil! (RomÈo et Juliette)
— Gounod
» la solita storia del pastore … Anch’io vorrei dormir cosÏ
(L’arlesiana) — Cilea
Avete torto — Firenze Ë come un albero fiorito (Gianni Schicchi)
— Puccini
Dein ist mein ganzes Herz (Das Land des L‰chelns) — Leh·r

Anna Stephany — England
Oh! La pitoyable aventure! (L’heure espagnole) — Ravel
Lieto del dolce incarco — Se Romeo t’uccise un figlio (I Capuleti e i
Montecchi
) — Bellini
Dopo notte (Ariodante) — Handel

Octavio Moreno — Mexico
Ya vas lyublyu (The Queen of Spades) — Tchaikovsky
Gioco di rea fortuna! — O Lisbona, alfin ti miro! (Don
Sebastiano
) — Donizetti
O sainte mÈdaille … Avant de quitter ces lieux (Faust) —
Gounod

Ekaterina Shcherbachenko — Russia
Temerari … Come scoglio (CosÏ fan tutte) — Mozart
Ruskai pogibnu (Tatyana’s Letter Scene) (Eugene Onegin) —
Tchaikovsky


BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, Sunday, June 7 to Thursday, June 11 and
final on Sunday, June 14, St David’s Hall, Cardiff. BBC Cardiff Singer of
the World Song Prize, Saturday, June 6 to Tuesday, June 9 at the New Theatre,
Cardiff and final on Friday, June 12 at St David’s Hall. Master Classes
taken by the judges, including Dame Gwynedd Jones and Richard Bonynge, New
Theatre, Cardiff and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama on Saturday,
June 13.

Further details of the competition, competitors, jurors, accompanists,
orchestras: bbc.co.uk/cardiffsinger

For more information biographies, photography and review tickets contact
Mike Smith, 07795 325161. mike@mediasmith.co.uk


image=http://www.operatoday.com/Ekaterina_Shcherbachenko.gif
image_description=Ekaterina Shcherbachenko [Photo courtesy of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition]
product=yes
product_title=Russian Soprano Wins Second Concert Round in BBC Cardiff Singer of The World
product_by=Above: Ekaterina Shcherbachenko [Photos courtesy of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition]