September 2009
28 posts
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Matthew Barley - Extreme Cello
This week we’re streaming some of the Matthew Barley - Extreme Cello from Kings Place. Here’s a sample of some if the interesting things to come…
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As the dust settles...
Thanks to all who tuned in to our coverage during the week. We’ll be publishing the complete final very soon, as well as some other choice performances from the competition. In the meantime here’s worthy competition winner Marcus Farnsworth’s rendition of Britten’s The Poison Tree:
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2009 Wigmore Hall / Kohn Foundation Song...
The winner of the 2009 Wigmore Hall / Kohn Foundation International Song Competition is Marcus Farnsworth with Elizabeth Burgess.
Benedict Nelson and Gary Matthewman won second prize; Erin Morley and Laura Poe were third, Sidney Outlaw and John Reid were fourth.
The duo prize was awarded to Gerard Collet and James Bailleau
The pianist’s prize has been awarded to James Bailleau
The very best...
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Benedict Nelson's "Erlkönig" raises the roof
Benedict Nelson won second prize in the Kathleen Ferrier awards and the Guildhall Gold Medal, both in 2007. But a couple of days ago at Wigmore Hall, minutes before the semifinal results of the International Song Competition were released, he confessed: performing in competitions does not get easier with practice. Quite the contrary: ‘You work and work until you’re in a place where you...
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Sidney Outlaw's Silent Noon gives us plenty to...
Sidney Outlaw sits down for his interview with Plushmusic.tv’s Sandy Burnett, and within seconds they’re practising their Oprah hugs. ‘Good for you!’ Sidney cries in an eerily accurate impression of the woman he calls ‘The Deity’. ‘Good for you!’
Sidney’s ebullient personality wins him many admirers. It has also been known to save his skin. He arrived at this year’s Wigmore Hall/Kohn...
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Marcus Farnsworth is spirited away by Britten
During his interview for Plushmusic.tv, singer Marcus Farnsworth was discussing the finer points of Benjamin Britten’s ‘A Poison Tree’ – the stand-out song in a set which propelled him and his pianist Elizabeth Burgess to the final of tonight’s Wigmore Hall Song Competition – when something caught his eye. Something that made him blanch. It turned out that the great man was scowling back at...
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Finalist Erin Morley performs Schubert's "Im...
American soprano Erin Morley understands Delphine, the heroine of Ernst Schulz’s poem of spring and love’s memories, set to music in 1826 by Franz Schubert. Indeed, she inhabited the role so successfully in the semifinals of the International Song Competition on Tuesday, she’s through to tonight’s final, which will be streamed live by www.plushmusic.tv at 6pm BST...
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Wigmore's care of competitors reaches the next...
Lest anyone should think the judges of the Competition wield power without responsibility, or that red pencils slice across contestants’ names with autocratic flourish, one of the most impressive aspects of the competition was on display this morning. At the Wigmore Hall restaurant, the tables were filled with couples in serious discussion, and with no interest in food.
Those couples were...
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Where do Wigmore Hall finalists find their...
Playing the Cowardly Lion in a high school production of The Wizard of Oz convinced Wigmore Hall finalist Sidney Outlaw (above) to pursue a stage career. His naturalness in performance has served him well since, and it’s something he nurtures. ‘For me, singing is like speaking,’ he says. ‘After all I sing every day, without thinking about it, and whether or not...
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It's a life's work, learning to accompany the...
Interviews this morning with pianists John Reid and Elizabeth Burgess revealed the magic – and the very serious challenge – of accompanying the human voice.
John is accompanying Sidney Outlaw for tomorrow’s final. An unexpected and delightful partnership is developing between the two; they met for the first time on Saturday and had only an hour’s rehearsal before performing in the...
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Marcus and Elizabeth relish the contest
British baritone Marcus Farnsworth (pictured) and pianist Elizabeth Burgess must have nerves of steel. Asked how they’re finding the competition, they bubble over with enthusiasm. ‘Gathering together on Saturday was daunting,’ Elizabeth concedes, ‘but the whole business of “eyeing up the competition” lasted literally seconds. This is a really friendly...
Sidney Outlaw's fancy footwork wins praise
Like ships that pass in the night, Rupert Christiansen of the Telegraph and Plushmusic’s editor Simon Ings passed each other in the corridor at the end of this evening’s semi-finals, Rupert headed for the door after a full day’s commenting upon the performances (which we’ll be editing and putting on-line all tomorrow), Simon headed for the – well, the bar, to be honest.
...
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Why hold a song competition at all?
Surely the Hall’s reputation alone is enough to ensure calls to the right agents will secure a steady stream of world-class recitals? Surely the world-wide music-intelligence network, and the world’s record companies, will ensure emerging talent finds its way to Wigmore Street?
Inevitably these factors already influence the Hall’s artistic planning, but for Wigmore’s management there’s a need to...
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Mere singing is not enough at Wigmore Hall
Iain Burnside, one of this year’s judges, believes a key factor in the competition is finding artists for whom imaginative programming plays as central a role as a beautiful voice – ‘how else can we expect audiences to tip up to recitals if they don’t talk to us as figures in the twenty-first century? A beautiful voice just isn’t enough.’
It’s a point expanded upon in this interview with...
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Timetable for the semi final
Here are the talented twelve who made it through to the semi-final, and the times they will be singing tomorrow, 8th September:
3.00 pm Gaëlle Arquez (soprano) with Mary Olivon 3.20 pm Gerard Collett (baritone) with James Baillie 3.40 pm Erin Morley (soprano) with Laura Poe
BREAK
4.20 pm Marcus Farnsworth (baritone) with Elizabeth Burgess 4.40 pm Caroline MacPhie...
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And Wigmore Hall's semi-finalists are...
… being posted on Wigmore Hall’s website as I type this. Tomorrow, from 3pm, the twelve successful duos will each perform ‘a programme of not more than 20 minutes including two Lieder by Schubert as well as songs in two languages other than German’. Plushmusic will be recording the performances so please do join us. Goodnight!
(SI)
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Erica Eloff and James Baillieu let off some steam
Earlier today Song Competition contestants Laura Mitchell and Marc Verter discussed the rigors of competition. And the clouds gathered and the humidity soared, South African soprano Erica Eloff and her pianist James Baillieu, on their way to ‘find their groupies’, chimed in too…
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Will Sidney Outlaw bring the house down?
Sidney Outlaw has wowed the audience at this year’s Song Competition, as our short interview with Daniella Bailey yesterday demonstrates. His voice is compact, pleasant and warm, communicating text and mood exceptionally well. Technically, too he is very secure, especially in the high register. We stole a few words with him on his arrival and discussed his confident, sensitive use of lieder...
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Laura Mitchell and Marc Verner face their...
Laura Mitchell, interviewed here with pianist Marc Verter, has a grounding in folk and jazz which makes her a natural communicator on stage. Competitions, though, bring their own unique demands to bear, as she explains to Sandy Burnett.
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Lars Moller and Christian Westergaard welcome...
… into their programme for Wigmore Hall’s International Song Competition.
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Who takes the Lied at Wigmore Hall?
The International Song Competition isn’t just for singers. There’s a £5,000 prize for pianists, too, and a £5,000 prize for a duo donated by the Jean Meikle Music Trust. But the most important rewards, for a pianist especially, are harder to quantify. The pianists we’ve interviewed so far talk enthusiastically about their role in interpreting the songs. For Maria Kiosseva,...
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How to Follow the Lieder
Foolishly I walk into the backstage room Plushmusic has colonised for the duration of the Song Competition. ’Ah Lyndon’, chirps my editor, ‘an introduction to Lieder, please’. Greater men and women than me have spent their lives wrestling with this question, and now I have half an hour and thoughts of a remiss education. On the other hand – I’ve been lucky enough to meet some of the brilliant...
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The last word tonight goes to Wigmore Hall's...
The day’s performances left quite an impression on Daniella Bailey:
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Graham Johnson: Wigmore Hall's Lieder
The man who masterminded the Songmaker’s Almanac for Hyperion Records is one of the world’s most distinguished and sought-after accompanists. He has been part of the fabric of Wigmore Hall for many years; here, he writes passionately about the Hall’s vital role in preserving the perpetuating the Lied.
Thanks to the generosity of the Kohn Foundation, Wigmore Hall is host to an...
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Running Orders and Hundreds of Songs
Preliminary round running orders are now available.
Over the two days of the Song Competition the jury will be judging 34 singers. This means they’ll be listening to a staggering 131 songs.
I wonder how many songs jury members like Sir Thomas Allen, Dame Anne Evans, Dame Ann Murray or Dame Margaret Price have sung in their lifetimes? Maybe we’ll get the chance to ask them during the...
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Plushmusic's coverage of the Song Competition
Following our sleepless coverage of Plushmusic’s Cologne festival in February, our producer Matt Jolly and I made a solemn promise to each other: our next live blogging of a musical event would be seamless, rehearsed, and calm. Some hope.
After a day tripping over ethernet cables, power cables, cameras, video cameras and each other, we are beginning to realise that life - at least, the...
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Preparations for Wigmore Hall / Kohn Foundation...
Hectic preparations are coming to a close as we draw nearer to the beginning of the 2009 Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation Song Competition.
Out of a record 142 applications from 41 different countries 34 singers and their pianists have been selected to compete in the preliminary rounds which take place on Sunday and Monday.
All the contestants arrive tomorrow and will be the first time they meet...