Last week, the Dutch town of 's Hertogenbosch was briefly a global centre of vocal music. The 53rd edition of the International Vocalists Competition was this year dedicated to the Lied Duo. Of the 74 participating duos with 35 nationalities, no fewer than 14 lied duos reached the semi-final. At the final last Sunday, 24 November, the four duos that had reached the final presented themselves. It was a beautiful and atmospheric concert.
That from such great diversity of participants, only ladies emerged—two mezzo-sopranos and two sopranos—seemed somewhat strange at first glance. Yet there was no monotony to be detected at all. Each duo had compiled a particularly varied programme. We heard anything but just the typical romantic songs of the German composers, but also French mélodie and twentieth-century works. Each performed a Dutch composer. This way we discovered fascinating songs by Robert Heppener, Brechtje van Dijk, Alphons Diepenbrock and Johanna Bordewijk-Roepman.
The emphasis of the competition clearly lay on performing as a duo. So it was not only the vocal capacity and expressivity of the singer that was judged, but the intention was to assess the totality of the performance: the piano accompaniment was thus also part of whether or not the final was successful. Performing lied is indeed a whole of singing and accompaniment, where the piano expresses the content with empathy and support. Among the six jury members were two pianists, themselves renowned lied accompanists. The jury was moreover very prestigious with the famous lied performers Dame Felicity Lott, Dutch mezzo Jard van Nes, Dutch baritone Thomas Oliemans, pianists Graham Johnson and David Selig and the programmer of the Concertgebouw Mirjam Wijzenbeek.
Ema Nikolovska, an excellent "storyteller"
Of the ladies who made up the four final duos, two were 26, one 25 and one thirty. The first prize of the competition (Eugène Pannebakker Lied Duo prize) went to Canadian mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska with American pianist Michael Sikich. Certainly a deserved prize. Ema Nikolovska stood out not only with her varied mezzo with much colour, but charmed with her naturalness. Together with Michael Sikich, she was also an excellent "storyteller" of the songs. Whether she performed Schubert's Auf dem See, or a song from the Satires of Shostakovich, she always found the right tone, which on such a short programme with changing content from song to song is certainly not easy. German mezzo Esther Valentin was a completely different appearance, with rather prima donna allure. She also came across somewhat more aloof in her performance, but was especially sloppy in articulation, so the text was often barely audible. At moments she did manage to build tension, such as in the song by Moritz Eggert or in Der Feuerreiter by Hugo Wolf. Pianist Anastasia Grishutina certainly played an important role in this too. Esther Valentin is only 26 years old and thus deserved the Junior Jury Prize. Moreover, her dignified charm was so charming that her duo also won the Press Prize and the Audience Prize. British soprano Harriet Burns received an award for her performance of the poetically intimate work Oh che tranquillo mar specially composed by Sylvia Maessen for the competition. Gary Beecher, pianist of Erika Baikoff, absolutely deserved the Rudolf Jansen Prize, which the pianist himself came to present to him. Erika Baikoff was the youngest finalist who perhaps could not yet fulfil all her potential. She clearly showed that with her warm and at the same time youthful soprano voice, she can develop into a singer who can with verve defend the lied genre in the diversity of both intimacy and passion. A charming appearance. What we did not hear during this final was the duo that received the Prize of the Friends of the IVC, namely baritone Vincent Kusters and pianist Charlie Bo Meijering, who reached the semi-final.
It was of course lovely that the director of the competition, Ivan van Kalmthout, introduced his announcement of the prize winners with the statement: "Everybody is a winner". For participation in this competition is of course certainly as important as winning, and both the preparation and the performances are a challenge for the young singers. Moreover, during the preparation they have the opportunity to attend masterclasses with the renowned jury members, so that they return home with numerous tips and useful advice both technically and in terms of interpretation. A wonderful competition that not only offers a high level, but at the same time takes place in an informal and pleasant atmosphere. A pleasure to experience. Next year's edition of the International Vocalists Competition 's Hertogenbosch will be dedicated to opera and oratorio.
- WHAT: International Vocalists Competition Lied Duo, final
- WHO: Erika Baikoff & Gary Beecher || Ema Nikolovska & Michael Sikich || Esther Valentin & Anastasia Grishutina || Harriet Burns & Ian Tindale
- WHERE: 's Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
- WHEN: Sunday 24 November 2019
- PHOTO: © Rahul Gandolahage