The Wigmore Hall / Bollinger Song Competition has a distinguished list of previous winners, including Marcus Farnsworth, Julien van Mellaerts, Stephan Loges, Ian Tinsdale, James Baillieu, James Middleton and Christopher Gould.
Two preliminary rounds (September 7/8) and a semi-final (September 9) comprised the run-up to this final. The final’s format was two singers pre-interval, two after, a break ((thankfully not too extended) and results. The jury comprised John Gilhooly, Roberta Alexander, James Baillieu, Olaf Bär, Bernarda Fink, David Jackson, Graham Johnson and Dame Felicity Lott.
It is rare I agree with jury results, but I do here, at least in the case of the winner. The first out was the triumphant one: Austrian mezzo Anja Mittermüller, with pianist Richard Fu. In the hall, she projected Schubert’s 1828 song Der Winterabend (to a text by Karl Gottfried von Leitner) perfectly. Mittermüller’s legato was beautiful, her diction excellent. She is a lightish mezzo who can move easily into the soprano register, yet her voice carries many shades (as at that song’s mood change at ‘Ich sitze dann stumm im Fenster gern’; Then I sit quietly by the window, the song’s final stanza). Perhaps Brahms’ ‘Botschaft’ could have been more impetuous and breathless, but the song opened out nicely towards the end (Richard Fu projecting Brahms’ characteristically rich writing superbly). How different the delicate piano descents of Schumann’s ‘Mondnacht’ from Liederkreis, and how silky Mittermüller’s line.
The choice of Poulenc was perfect: the 1958 Apollinaire song La Souris was exquisite, and certainly hung in the air beautifully before the rather madcap Hyde Park (1945, again Apollinaire) became a witty story told with much charm. Americ Goh is a new name to me, a composer born in 1982. Hailing from Singapore and based in Austria. Goh has I believe received some instruction from Georges Aperghis, and it is that composer who sprang to mind (perhaps also George Crumb) in the two excerpts from Night Songs (2009). An edgy mix of spoken, sung and whispered, ‘Twilight’ is slightly disturbing; ‘Thief in the Night’ is simply manic …. until it’s not. Fabulous, both work and performance. Daring, too, to juxtapose this with Rachmaninov, ‘In the silence of the night’. This sounded remarkably Tchaikovskian to begin with before Rachmaninov’s signature harmonic sleights kicked in. Mittermüller has an innate talent for moving perfectly from composer to composer, finding exactly the right delivery, something carried through to a moving performance of Mahler’s ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’. The legato of the first phrase was remarkable – Mittermüller really feels the overarching lines. A terrific mini-recital.
New Zealand baritone Jonathan Eyers and pianist Ilan Kurtser presented a performance ranging from Schubert to Lilburn, from Howells to Medtner. Eyers is a confident singer with a strong, focused voice – all qualities required for Douglas Lilburn’s 1946 Holiday Piece (heard in its 1950 revision). Eyers studied at the Guildhall. He has already sung with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and at Aldeburgh. Unfortunately, Eyers’ storytelling in Schubert was not equal to that of Mittermüller’s in his Schubert offering, Hoffnung (from around 1819); instead, it was pianist Ilan Kurtser’s sensitivity that shone here. There is no doubt that Eyers’ voice is rich and attractive, and remains so across all of its range (as we heard in Sally Beamish’s tremendously evocative ‘Nightingale’ with Eyers’ higher register losing no tone whatsoever). Unfortunately, the audience only had the first two lines of the text available (for ‘copyright reasons’), but Eyers’ diction meant that was hardly a problem. The ‘nightingale’ sings via the pianist’s right hand.
The move to Debussy worked well: both Beamish and Debussy conjure up images of a distant ‘other’. In ‘Colloque sentimental’ (Lovers’ dialogue), Eyers and Kurtser kept a low dynamic as if inviting the audience in; interestingly, a nightingale again features in Herbert Howells’ 1919 setting of Walter de la Mare’s King David (‘A nightingale hidden in a cypress tree’). The performance of this Howells, and indeed the piece itself, was a highlight of the evening. Eyers and Kurtser’s set was very varied: the happy-go-lucky Poulenc ‘L’anguille’ (The eel) is not quite, but almost, a patter song; the more legato ‘Carte postale’ felt a little distanced, though. There was wit to ‘Avant le cinéma’ (Before the cinema). The song ‘1904’ was nice and suave, for sure, but it was with Medtner the set ended, to a German text, ‘Heimweh’ (Homesickness). Perhaps Eyers’ German was not quite idiomatic here, but it is a fascinating choice (parts sound almost like Reger).
After the interval came the remaining two singers. French mezzo Mathilde Ortscheidt has already performed with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, in Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade in Vienna and Versailles, and in Handel’s wonderful Arianna in Creta (the part of Tauride) at the Innsbrucker Festwochen). She was partnered by one of the finest pianists of the evening, Juliette Journaux, and the combination of the two gave many memorable moments. Their Debussy provided, for me, the finest performances of French music of the evening: the Trois Mélodies de Verlaine (1891), the final ‘L’échelonnement des hales’ (The hedgerows stretch out) a masterpiece of contained ecstasy. Wonderful to see some actual George Crumb here, a setting of Sara Teasdale in ‘Wind Elegy’ (from Three Early Songs, 1947). Ortscheidt’s English is very good, too; as is her German, heard here in Mahler’s remarkable ‘Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht’ from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The piano caried as much weight as Ortscheidt’s voice, with Ortscheidt offering a slight edge in the lower register, perhaps appropriate here. The famous ‘Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld’ (famous via the composer’s First Symphony) felt a little awkward at first; only at the arrival of the gleaming sun (‘Und da fing im Sunnenschein’), the ascent to that high top note absolutely radiant, did the magic return.
Wonderful to have a song by Élise Bertrand (born 2000), as her release on the Klarte label (Lettera Amorosa) contains much of beauty. Again, we were denied most of the text (although this time we were allowed full translation), but there is no denying the dark beauty here, which Ortscheidt and Journaux caught to perfection. A nice idea to insert Bernstein’s I hate music!. The diction here was less clear, but the fun remained. Finally, two songs from Schoenberg’s Op. 2: ’Erwartung’ (not to be confused with the long monodrama, Op. 17), absolutely beautiful from the pianist while Ortscheidt was a touch less connected to the music, and a haunting ‘Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm’ (Give me your golden comb). Ortscheidt went on to win the ‘Special Prize’ of the finalists.
Finally, the winner of the second prize – not a decision I fully agreed with this time: Uruguayan tenor Santiago Sánchez, working with Ian Tindale (the official competition pianist). I found Sánchez’ voice rather tremulous, and the line in Schumann’s miraculous song ‘Im wunderschönen Monat Mai’ seemed bumpy, a rather strange pair of hairpins in ‘sangen’ a particular offender. An over-exaggerated diminuendo in the first phrase of ‘Aus meinen Tränen spriessen’ was hardly the greatest crime – that was the lack of anything special about the arrival at the word ‘Nachtigallenchor’ (a choir of nightingales). ‘Die Rose, die Lille, die Taube, die Sonne’ fared better but that slightly insecure line returned in ‘Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’ (When I look into your eyes).
Good to have some Richard Strauss songs here, for sure, and ‘Nachgang,’ Op. 29/3 of 1895 (text Bierbaum) is a miraculous piece. Sánchez and Tindale did well there, nicely atmospheric, but ‘Himmliche Aufferorderung’ (Secret Invitation) lacked the elation and joy it so desperately needs. Two Britten Sonnets, written for Peter Pears, are certainly taxing, and actually the first (Sonetto XXXVIII) was the best of Sánchez so far, the parlando very well done. Sonetto XXIV is more operatic, and fared well, too. Unfortunately, the problem with Sánchez’ performance of ‘Before life and after’ from Winter Words was that I could not actually tell what language it was in until the third line (it’s in English).
A clutch of Spanish songs rounded off Sánchez’ segment, the piano nicely seductive in Ginastera’s ‘Zamba’ (from Op. 10, to a traditional Argentine text). This is Sánchez’ home turf, and it showed. He was much more at home musically as well as geographically, Turina’s ‘Rima’ was highly evocative, sultry and impassioned, Sánchez’ high register now nice and strong. Perhaps Albéniz’ ‘Me ha herido recatándose’ (She wounded me as she hid) was the highlight, a truly lovely song (Sánchez just shied away from the odd vocal sob, but it felt like one could happen any moment). The Albéniz segued perfectly into de Falla’s ‘Olas gigantes’ (Vast waves), a muscular ending.
As I say, one cannot agree with every judge’s decision. But Mittermüller was a worthy winner, and some way ahead of the others.
The concert can be seen and heard on YouTube on the Wigmore Hall’s channel here.
Colin Clarke
Anja Mittermüller (mezzo); Richard Fu (piano): Schubert – Der Winterabend, D938; Brahms – Botschaft, Op. 47/1; Schumann – Liederkreis, Op. 39, Mondnacht; Poulenc – La Souris; Hyde Park; Americ Goh – Night Songs: Twilight; Thief in the Night. Rachmaninov – In the silence of the secret night; Mahler – Rückert-Lieder – Ich bin ser Welt abhanden gekommen.
Jonathan Eyers (baritone); Ilan Kurser (piano): Lilburn – Holiday Piece. Schubert – Hoffnung, D637. Sally Beamish – Songs form Hafez – Nightingale. Debussy – Fêtes galantes Book II – Colloqie sentimental. Howells – King David. Poulenc – Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire – L’anhuille; Carte postale; Avant le cinéma; 1904. Medtner – Heimweh, Op. 19/3.
Mathilde Ortscheidt (mezzo); Juliette Jounaux (piano): Debussy – Trois Mélodies de Verlaine. Crumb – 3 Early Songs – Wind Elegy. Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen – Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht; Ging’ heut Morgen über’s Feld. Élise Bertrand – Âme de Nuit, Op. 12 – La nuit. Bernsein I hate music. Schoenberg – Erwartung, Op. 2/1/ Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm, Op. 2/2.
Santiago Sánchez (tenor); Ian Tindale (piano): Schuman; Dichterliebe, Op. 48 – Im wunderschönen Monat Mai; Aus meinen Tränen spriessen; Die Rose; Wenn ich in deine Aigen seh’. R. Strauss – Nachtgang, Op. 29/3. Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27/3. Britten – Sonnets of Michelangelo – Sonetto XXXVIII; Sonetto XXIV. Ginastera – 5 canciones populares argentinas, Op. 10 – Zamba. Turina – Rima, Op. 26/3. Albéniz – Rimas de Bécquer – Ma he herido recatándoe. de Falla – Olas gigantes.
First prize: Anja Mittermüller
Second Prize: Santiago Sánchez
Third Prize: Jonathan Eyers
Special Prize: Mathilde Ortscheidt
Pianist’s Prize: Jong Sun Woo
Jean Meickle Prize: Clara Barbier Serrano (soprano) and Ioanna Kacperek
Richard Tauber Prize: Michael Ronan
Vaughan Williams Society Prize: Joël Terrin
Wigmore Hall, London, 11 September 2024
Top image: Stage at Wigmore Hall courtesy of Wigmore Hall.
The 2024 Wigmore Hall / Bollinger Song Competition 2024 Final
The Wigmore Hall / Bollinger Song Competition has a distinguished list of previous winners, including Marcus Farnsworth, Julien van Mellaerts, Stephan Loges, Ian Tinsdale, James Baillieu, James Middleton and Christopher Gould.
Two preliminary rounds (September 7/8) and a semi-final (September 9) comprised the run-up to this final. The final’s format was two singers pre-interval, two after, a break ((thankfully not too extended) and results. The jury comprised John Gilhooly, Roberta Alexander, James Baillieu, Olaf Bär, Bernarda Fink, David Jackson, Graham Johnson and Dame Felicity Lott.
It is rare I agree with jury results, but I do here, at least in the case of the winner. The first out was the triumphant one: Austrian mezzo Anja Mittermüller, with pianist Richard Fu. In the hall, she projected Schubert’s 1828 song Der Winterabend (to a text by Karl Gottfried von Leitner) perfectly. Mittermüller’s legato was beautiful, her diction excellent. She is a lightish mezzo who can move easily into the soprano register, yet her voice carries many shades (as at that song’s mood change at ‘Ich sitze dann stumm im Fenster gern’; Then I sit quietly by the window, the song’s final stanza). Perhaps Brahms’ ‘Botschaft’ could have been more impetuous and breathless, but the song opened out nicely towards the end (Richard Fu projecting Brahms’ characteristically rich writing superbly). How different the delicate piano descents of Schumann’s ‘Mondnacht’ from Liederkreis, and how silky Mittermüller’s line.
The choice of Poulenc was perfect: the 1958 Apollinaire song La Souris was exquisite, and certainly hung in the air beautifully before the rather madcap Hyde Park (1945, again Apollinaire) became a witty story told with much charm. Americ Goh is a new name to me, a composer born in 1982. Hailing from Singapore and based in Austria. Goh has I believe received some instruction from Georges Aperghis, and it is that composer who sprang to mind (perhaps also George Crumb) in the two excerpts from Night Songs (2009). An edgy mix of spoken, sung and whispered, ‘Twilight’ is slightly disturbing; ‘Thief in the Night’ is simply manic …. until it’s not. Fabulous, both work and performance. Daring, too, to juxtapose this with Rachmaninov, ‘In the silence of the night’. This sounded remarkably Tchaikovskian to begin with before Rachmaninov’s signature harmonic sleights kicked in. Mittermüller has an innate talent for moving perfectly from composer to composer, finding exactly the right delivery, something carried through to a moving performance of Mahler’s ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen’. The legato of the first phrase was remarkable – Mittermüller really feels the overarching lines. A terrific mini-recital.
New Zealand baritone Jonathan Eyers and pianist Ilan Kurtser presented a performance ranging from Schubert to Lilburn, from Howells to Medtner. Eyers is a confident singer with a strong, focused voice – all qualities required for Douglas Lilburn’s 1946 Holiday Piece (heard in its 1950 revision). Eyers studied at the Guildhall. He has already sung with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and at Aldeburgh. Unfortunately, Eyers’ storytelling in Schubert was not equal to that of Mittermüller’s in his Schubert offering, Hoffnung (from around 1819); instead, it was pianist Ilan Kurtser’s sensitivity that shone here. There is no doubt that Eyers’ voice is rich and attractive, and remains so across all of its range (as we heard in Sally Beamish’s tremendously evocative ‘Nightingale’ with Eyers’ higher register losing no tone whatsoever). Unfortunately, the audience only had the first two lines of the text available (for ‘copyright reasons’), but Eyers’ diction meant that was hardly a problem. The ‘nightingale’ sings via the pianist’s right hand.
The move to Debussy worked well: both Beamish and Debussy conjure up images of a distant ‘other’. In ‘Colloque sentimental’ (Lovers’ dialogue), Eyers and Kurtser kept a low dynamic as if inviting the audience in; interestingly, a nightingale again features in Herbert Howells’ 1919 setting of Walter de la Mare’s King David (‘A nightingale hidden in a cypress tree’). The performance of this Howells, and indeed the piece itself, was a highlight of the evening. Eyers and Kurtser’s set was very varied: the happy-go-lucky Poulenc ‘L’anguille’ (The eel) is not quite, but almost, a patter song; the more legato ‘Carte postale’ felt a little distanced, though. There was wit to ‘Avant le cinéma’ (Before the cinema). The song ‘1904’ was nice and suave, for sure, but it was with Medtner the set ended, to a German text, ‘Heimweh’ (Homesickness). Perhaps Eyers’ German was not quite idiomatic here, but it is a fascinating choice (parts sound almost like Reger).
After the interval came the remaining two singers. French mezzo Mathilde Ortscheidt has already performed with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, in Cimarosa’s L’Olimpiade in Vienna and Versailles, and in Handel’s wonderful Arianna in Creta (the part of Tauride) at the Innsbrucker Festwochen). She was partnered by one of the finest pianists of the evening, Juliette Journaux, and the combination of the two gave many memorable moments. Their Debussy provided, for me, the finest performances of French music of the evening: the Trois Mélodies de Verlaine (1891), the final ‘L’échelonnement des hales’ (The hedgerows stretch out) a masterpiece of contained ecstasy. Wonderful to see some actual George Crumb here, a setting of Sara Teasdale in ‘Wind Elegy’ (from Three Early Songs, 1947). Ortscheidt’s English is very good, too; as is her German, heard here in Mahler’s remarkable ‘Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht’ from Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. The piano caried as much weight as Ortscheidt’s voice, with Ortscheidt offering a slight edge in the lower register, perhaps appropriate here. The famous ‘Ging heut’ Morgen über’s Feld’ (famous via the composer’s First Symphony) felt a little awkward at first; only at the arrival of the gleaming sun (‘Und da fing im Sunnenschein’), the ascent to that high top note absolutely radiant, did the magic return.
Wonderful to have a song by Élise Bertrand (born 2000), as her release on the Klarte label (Lettera Amorosa) contains much of beauty. Again, we were denied most of the text (although this time we were allowed full translation), but there is no denying the dark beauty here, which Ortscheidt and Journaux caught to perfection. A nice idea to insert Bernstein’s I hate music!. The diction here was less clear, but the fun remained. Finally, two songs from Schoenberg’s Op. 2: ’Erwartung’ (not to be confused with the long monodrama, Op. 17), absolutely beautiful from the pianist while Ortscheidt was a touch less connected to the music, and a haunting ‘Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm’ (Give me your golden comb). Ortscheidt went on to win the ‘Special Prize’ of the finalists.
Finally, the winner of the second prize – not a decision I fully agreed with this time: Uruguayan tenor Santiago Sánchez, working with Ian Tindale (the official competition pianist). I found Sánchez’ voice rather tremulous, and the line in Schumann’s miraculous song ‘Im wunderschönen Monat Mai’ seemed bumpy, a rather strange pair of hairpins in ‘sangen’ a particular offender. An over-exaggerated diminuendo in the first phrase of ‘Aus meinen Tränen spriessen’ was hardly the greatest crime – that was the lack of anything special about the arrival at the word ‘Nachtigallenchor’ (a choir of nightingales). ‘Die Rose, die Lille, die Taube, die Sonne’ fared better but that slightly insecure line returned in ‘Wenn ich in deine Augen seh’ (When I look into your eyes).
Good to have some Richard Strauss songs here, for sure, and ‘Nachgang,’ Op. 29/3 of 1895 (text Bierbaum) is a miraculous piece. Sánchez and Tindale did well there, nicely atmospheric, but ‘Himmliche Aufferorderung’ (Secret Invitation) lacked the elation and joy it so desperately needs. Two Britten Sonnets, written for Peter Pears, are certainly taxing, and actually the first (Sonetto XXXVIII) was the best of Sánchez so far, the parlando very well done. Sonetto XXIV is more operatic, and fared well, too. Unfortunately, the problem with Sánchez’ performance of ‘Before life and after’ from Winter Words was that I could not actually tell what language it was in until the third line (it’s in English).
A clutch of Spanish songs rounded off Sánchez’ segment, the piano nicely seductive in Ginastera’s ‘Zamba’ (from Op. 10, to a traditional Argentine text). This is Sánchez’ home turf, and it showed. He was much more at home musically as well as geographically, Turina’s ‘Rima’ was highly evocative, sultry and impassioned, Sánchez’ high register now nice and strong. Perhaps Albéniz’ ‘Me ha herido recatándose’ (She wounded me as she hid) was the highlight, a truly lovely song (Sánchez just shied away from the odd vocal sob, but it felt like one could happen any moment). The Albéniz segued perfectly into de Falla’s ‘Olas gigantes’ (Vast waves), a muscular ending.
As I say, one cannot agree with every judge’s decision. But Mittermüller was a worthy winner, and some way ahead of the others.
The concert can be seen and heard on YouTube on the Wigmore Hall’s channel here.
Colin Clarke
Anja Mittermüller (mezzo); Richard Fu (piano): Schubert – Der Winterabend, D938; Brahms – Botschaft, Op. 47/1; Schumann – Liederkreis, Op. 39, Mondnacht; Poulenc – La Souris; Hyde Park; Americ Goh – Night Songs: Twilight; Thief in the Night. Rachmaninov – In the silence of the secret night; Mahler – Rückert-Lieder – Ich bin ser Welt abhanden gekommen.
Jonathan Eyers (baritone); Ilan Kurser (piano): Lilburn – Holiday Piece. Schubert – Hoffnung, D637. Sally Beamish – Songs form Hafez – Nightingale. Debussy – Fêtes galantes Book II – Colloqie sentimental. Howells – King David. Poulenc – Poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire – L’anhuille; Carte postale; Avant le cinéma; 1904. Medtner – Heimweh, Op. 19/3.
Mathilde Ortscheidt (mezzo); Juliette Jounaux (piano): Debussy – Trois Mélodies de Verlaine. Crumb – 3 Early Songs – Wind Elegy. Mahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen – Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht; Ging’ heut Morgen über’s Feld. Élise Bertrand – Âme de Nuit, Op. 12 – La nuit. Bernsein I hate music. Schoenberg – Erwartung, Op. 2/1/ Schenk mir deinen goldenen Kamm, Op. 2/2.
Santiago Sánchez (tenor); Ian Tindale (piano): Schuman; Dichterliebe, Op. 48 – Im wunderschönen Monat Mai; Aus meinen Tränen spriessen; Die Rose; Wenn ich in deine Aigen seh’. R. Strauss – Nachtgang, Op. 29/3. Heimliche Aufforderung, Op. 27/3. Britten – Sonnets of Michelangelo – Sonetto XXXVIII; Sonetto XXIV. Ginastera – 5 canciones populares argentinas, Op. 10 – Zamba. Turina – Rima, Op. 26/3. Albéniz – Rimas de Bécquer – Ma he herido recatándoe. de Falla – Olas gigantes.
First prize: Anja Mittermüller
Second Prize: Santiago Sánchez
Third Prize: Jonathan Eyers
Special Prize: Mathilde Ortscheidt
Pianist’s Prize: Jong Sun Woo
Jean Meickle Prize: Clara Barbier Serrano (soprano) and Ioanna Kacperek
Richard Tauber Prize: Michael Ronan
Vaughan Williams Society Prize: Joël Terrin
Wigmore Hall, London, 11 September 2024
Top image: Stage at Wigmore Hall courtesy of Wigmore Hall.