A promising class of twelve: the grand final of the 6th Éva Marton Competition

The Éva Marton International Singing Competition, celebrating its tenth year anniversary, has some numbers that founder Éva Marton herself was happy to report: now in its sixth outing, the competition has welcomed almost a thousand applicants and sampled the talents of sixty finalists – a respectable figure for a relatively young, mid-sized organisation. This year, 12 out of 56 contestants made it to the competition’s final round, held at the Liszt Academy and accompanied by Péter Halász and the Hungarian State Opera’s orchestra.

The finals showcased some clearly promising young talent, but there were two roadblocks to complete enjoyment of the evening. First, Halász’s carefree conducting let the orchestra too loose, covering more than one contestant’s voice in the process. Second, the sheer number of finalists proved tiring for everyone involved, testing the limits of the singers’ endurance and the audience’s willingness to tag along. The full event reached Wagnerian proportions, wrapping after over five hours. 

It’s thus difficult to adequately summarise all the performances – even more so as it proved to be a fairly even field, with no strikingly obvious standouts (consequently, I found it hard to wholeheartedly agree with the jury's choices). First prize winner Jihoon Park, the finals’ only tenor, brought the house down with a full-throated “Nessun dorma”, mining a strong voice, secure top and generous, Italianate warmth of tone to great effect. His first aria, “Salut, demeure”, although displaying impressive breath control and legato, was dynamically and expressively rather flat, making his high placement quite a surprise. 

In second place, Mihai Damian’s sonorous, pleasantly dark-hued baritone shone in a colorful, lively “Si corre dal notaio” (Gianni Schicchi), but his opening Pagliacci Prologue, though captivating in tone, suffered from Halász’s forceful accompaniment. Coming third, Hongni Wu – the only mezzo here – impressed with a bronze-like, fruity timbre, rattling off Isabella's “Cruda sorte” (L'italiana in Algeri) with a sense of mischief and bravado. Her second aria, “Crude furie” (Serse), was stylistically less polished and rather sparse in ornamentation.

The audience prize went to Yeeun Yeo, to little surprise given her impressive (though not unblemished) and raptly applauded renditions of “È strano... Sempre libera” and Lucia’s Mad Scene. It felt rather a misjudgement from the organisers to allow two full scenas, making one contestant’s bid, however accomplished, rather outsized compared to the rest.

I found little to disagree with in the awarding of Marton’s own prize to soprano Alexandra Zotova. Although Zotova’s Musetta's waltz felt like an underwhelming first choice, her second, a charming, gently sincere “Prendi, per me sei libero” (L'elisir d'amore) proved a wonderful showcase. Zotova’s voice is dark without sounding artificial, possessing an appealing smoothness and a nicely ringing core, and she negotiated the coloratura with limpid ease. Comparisons with notable contemporary compatriots in their young lyric days would perhaps be all too expectable, but not unsuitable. 

Elizaveta Kulagina showed off an impressive instrument as well, a velvety, wonderfully homogeneous full lyric soprano, tenderly shaping Antonia's “Elle a fui, la tourterelle” (Hoffmann) and “No word from Tom” (The Rake's Progess), but her diction was more than challenged in both arias. No doubt her reserve number for the finals, Tatyana’s Letter Scene, would have proved far superior. The diamantine, agile soprano of Hyerim Kim (captivating in “O luce di quest’ anima” but very disengaged in the Queen of the Night's “O zittre nicht”) and the powerfully booming bass of Seokjun Kim are also worthy of mention here. If no-one quite struck me as a star in the making, there were plenty of very capable young professionals I should be happy to see again soon on the operatic stage.