The Queen Sonja competition started in 1988 with the aim of providing an international stage for classical music in Norway, bringing attention to the country’s musical talents. At the beginning it was restricted to pianists but in 1995, on the occasion of Kirsten Flagstad’s centenary, the singing competition was launched. Its remarkable success convinced the organisers to turn it into a regular, biennial event.
This year the competition had over 500 applicants from 58 nations, a testament to the international success of the event. Forty singers were chosen to participate, and six made it to the final round, held in Oslo's Opera House. It was an unusual mix of voices: three baritones, an alto, a contralto, and a countertenor, which made for an interesting listening experience.
The Master of Ceremonies was none other than Lise Davidsen, world-renowned star soprano and former competition winner in 2015, a particularly fortunate year, where the second prize also went to a young singer who would become an international star: Elsa Dreisig. Davidsen expressed her gratitude for the opportunities that the competition had afforded her, and had warm, moving words in remembering her own nervous excitement when she stood on that same stage as a finalist. She made a point of asking several times that the audience support the singers with enthusiastic cheers. We duly obliged. The singers, all between 23 and 31 years old, sang two arias, one in each half of the concert.
First prize went to Jasmine White, from the USA. For her first aria she chose “Iris, Hence Away”, from Handel’s Semele, immediately impressing with a warm, bronzed contralto, very uniform across her full range. Her coloratura was precise but smooth, lacking perhaps the crisp quality we are used to in Baroque music. Her second aria was “Wotan! Weiche!” from Wagner’s Rheingold, which seemed more suited to her voice. Her lower register sounded naturally deep and strong, with no need for pushing, and her high notes were round and powerful. She gave a good interpretation, with dramatic colour and a definite characterisation of Erda, Mother Earth. She seemed to be the most “complete” of the six finalists, which won her the recognition of the jury.
Armenian baritone Aksel Daveyan chose a crowd pleaser for his first aria, “Kto mozhet sravnit’sia”, from Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. He showed good phrasing and dynamics, and a wise management of his smooth voice. In Valentin’s “Avant de quitter ces lieux” from Gounod’s Faust, he displayed both elegant mezza voce and a warrior’s attitude; his efforts were rewarded with the second prize.
The third prize was taken home by Nils Wanderer, a 30-year old countertenor from Germany, who chose a very short aria from George Benjamin's Written on Skin: “This, Says the Boy”. His high notes were bright and beautiful, his middle register a little weaker, his interpretation elegant. In his second aria, “Stille amare” from Handel’s Tolomeo, he showed a good command of Baroque style. I had the feeling he was a little penalised by his first aria being so short, albeit very atmospheric and with a dreamlike quality.
Both remaining baritones brought an opening aria from the Italian bel canto, “Cruda, funesta smania” from Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor for Navasard Hakobyan, from Armenia, and “Ah per sempre io ti perdei” from Bellini’s Puritani for Vladyslav Tlushch, from Ukraine. Both singers had very good Italian pronunciation, Hakobyan with a darker tone, Tlushch brighter, both with particularly good high notes. Tlushch’ recitative was particularly on point. The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, under the baton of James Gaffigan, did not seem particularly at ease in this repertoire, with a performance on the heavy side, which didn’t particularly help the singers, for a result that wasn’t particularly “bel cantist”. In the second half Hakobyan sang “Ja vas lyublyu”, Yeletzky’s aria from Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame, and Tlushch gave an enthusiastic rendition of “Ò vin, dissipe la tristesse”, from Thomas’ Hamlet.
The sixth singer, Rebecka Wallroth, from Sweden, sang “Parto, parto” from Mozart’s Clemenza with a smooth mezzo, displaying good coloratura, and a Finnish song by Sibelius, Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte, where she was remarkably effective in its rendition, in her native Swedish. Her young age – only 23 – may have had a role in her sounding a little “raw”, her middle register perhaps not yet completely developed.
Her Majesty Queen Sonja of Norway was at the concert to present the prizes; each time she entered the theatre the orchestra welcomed her not with the Norwegian national anthem, as one might expect, but with the toccata from Monteverdi’s Orfeo, a nice touch to underline the event’s focus on music and art.
Laura's press trip to Oslo was funded by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), represented by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London.
