Oberon's Glade

Tag: Karita Mattila

  • Gihoon Kim: Cardiff Singer of the World 2021

    Gihoon kim

    Korean baritone Gihoon Kim has won the title of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World for 2021. The competition, which was first held in 1983, takes place every other year at Saint David’s Hall in Cardiff. Past winners have included Karita Mattila, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Katarina Karnéus, Anja Harteros, Shenyang, and Nicole Cabell.

    This year, due to the pandemic, the number of entrants (and the number of judges) was reduced; there was no live audience in the hall. Despite this change in atmosphere (Welsh audiences tend to go mad for singers they like), there was much to enjoy.

    Mr. Kim impressed me immediately in the first round with his poignant rendering of Pierrot’s Tanzlied from Korngold’s DIE TOTE STADT; the judges (including soprano Roberta Alexander and baritone Neal Davies) were seen wiping tears from their eyes as he finished the aria. Gihoon followed up with a wonderful performance of the PAGLIACCI Prologo. When he was announced as the winner of the round, he was literally speechless.

    A brief bio/rehearsal clip showed him to be a good-natured guy with a ready laugh.

    Enjoy his singing of the Korngold here. And watch Gihoon Kim in his performance for the final round here.

    Bravo Gihoon!!

  • Souvenirs from Cardiff

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    Above: Finnish soprano Karita Mattila with the Cardiff Singer of the World trophy in 1983

    BBC Cardiff Singer of the World is a competition for opera and lieder singers held every two years. The competition was started by BBC Wales in 1983 to celebrate the opening of St David’s Hall in Cardiff, Wales, home of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The first singer to win the title of Cardiff Singer of the World was Karita Mattila. Since then, hundreds of singers have competed; many have gone on to stellar careers whilst others have faded from view.

    Karita Mattila’s winning performance is documented here.

    Soon after that first Competition, my English friend Mollie began sending me cassettes of the various rounds of each year’s competition. From these, I saved items of interest which I eventually was able to convert to MP3s.  I’ll be posting these, in no particular order, over the coming months.

    Sune

    Danish tenor Sune Hjerrild

    Sune Hjerrild – Waft her Angels ~ JEPTHA – Cardiff 2005

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    Latvian counter-tenor Sergejs Jēgers

    Sergejs Jēgers – Latvian counter-tenor – Venga pur ~ MITRIDATE RE DI PONTO – Cardiff 2005

    J K

    Above: basso Julian Konstantinov

    In 1993, Italian mezzo-soprano Elisabetta Lombardi and Bulgarian basso Julian Konstantinov competed. Excerpts from their Cardiff appearance:

    Elisabetta Lombardi ~ Julian Konstantinov Cardiff 1993

    Lombardi

    Ms. Lombardi (above) sings Alban Berg’s Die Nachtigall here…

    …and Samuel Barber’s Hermit Songs here.

    ~ Oberon