Winners

on 31 August, 2014

2004 THE WINNERS

FIRST PRIZE
Measha Brueggergosman Soprano CAN
SECOND PRIZE
Cora Burggraaf Mezzo-soprano NL
THIRD PRIZE
Irina Iordăchescu Soprano RO
OPERA ZUID ENGAGEMENT PRIZE
Cora Burggraaf Mezzo-soprano NL
MARGIE WEIDEMANN SONG ENCOURAGEMENT PRIZE
Colin Balzer Tenor CAN
ARLEEN AUGÉR BEST ALL-ROUND INTERPRETER PRIZE
Ilse Eerens Soprano BE
HEIJMANS PUBLIC PRIZE
Irina Iordăchescu Soprano RO
HEIJMANS PRESS PRIZE
Measha Brueggergosman Soprano CAN
CAROLINE KAART DUTCH TALENT PRIZE
Cora Burggraaf Mezzo-soprano NL
YOUNG JURORS AWARD
Cora Burggraaf Mezzo-soprano NL

 

Cora Burggraaf

2004 BIO Cora Burggraaf“Cora Burggraaf made a big impression with her easy mezzo-soprano voice, which only needs a little refinement in the upper register to be complete. In particular, her semifinals rendition of Kurt Weill’s ‘Surabaya Johnny’ was of exceptional quality. This is a singer that deserves a place on the stage.” (Peter van der Lint, Trouw, September 28, 2004)

Dutch mezzo-soprano Cora Burggraaf (b. 1977, Oosterhout) graduated with distinction from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague in 2002. She went on to study in London at the Royal College of Music with Maria Vonda and later with Lillian Watson. Following her Second Prize in Den Bosch in 2002, the Dutch National Opera recruited her as Zerlina in Don Giovanni. She finished her studies at the Dutch National Opera Studio in 2004 and attended master classes with Elisabeth Söderström, Margo Garrett, Thomas Quasthoff, Roger Vignoles, Thomas Hampson and Thomas Allen. Burggraaf has since had a stellar career, with appearances at the Salzburg Festival (for example, in 2010 as Stéphano in Roméo et Juliette, with Anna Netrebko and Piotr Beczała) and La Scala (in 2011, again as Stéphano, but this time with Nino Machaidze and Vittorio Grigolo), as well as the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Royal Opera House in London, the San Francisco Opera, the Welsh National Opera, the Netherlands Opera, Garsington Opera, Opéra de Bordeaux, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the BBC Proms and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Gergiev Festival. She has worked with such celebrated conductors as Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Philippe Herreweghe, Emmanuelle Haïm, Marc Minkowski, Seiji Ozawa and Jaap van Zweden. Burggraaf is also a noted recitalist and has appeared in major concert halls, including the Concertgebouw, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Frick Collection in New York. On her ECHO Rising Stars tour she appeared at the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Concertgebouw, Cologne Philharmonic Hall and Laeiszhalle in Hamburg, as well as in Brussels, Salzburg and Stockholm.

2004 BIO Measha BrueggergosmanMeasha Brueggergosman

“Brueggergosman is a superb winner, from her extravagant Jessye Norman–like appearance to her powerful voice and disarming performance. This complete artist overwhelmed the jury. ‘Im Abendrot’ was cherished. In long-spun lines, and she remained glorious even in the orchestral postlude. Elisabeth’s prayer was a marvel of breath control and resignation; the Bolcom song came to life.” (Peter van der Lint, Trouw, September 28, 2004)

“No matter how trifling the song was, she turned it into an adventure. She was brilliant in Bolcom’s ‘Song of Black Max,’ unforgettable in Strauss’s ‘Im Abendrot,’ and unsurpassed in the Dutch song ‘Noche oscura’ by Rob Zuidam.” (Marjolein Sengers, Eindhovens Dagblad, September 28, 2004)

Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman (b. June 28, 1977, Fredericton, New Brunswick) began singing in the choir of her local Baptist church. Eventually she pursued a master’s degree at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf. In 1998 in Toronto she sang the title role in the world premiere of James Rolfe’s opera Beatrice Chancy (filmed in 2000). Since her IVC victory in September 2004 (and many other victories elsewhere) she has appeared throughout Canada, the United States, Germany and elsewhere. She sang in Elektra, Dead Man Walking and Turandot with the Cincinnati Opera and performed the Verdi Requiem with Helmuth Rilling in Bonn. After being diagnosed with a heart condition in June 2009, Brueggergosman took some time off to recover from open-heart surgery. She returned to the stage in September 2009 for a performance at the Toronto International Film Festival. She performed the Olympic Hymn at the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver before an audience of 3.2 billion television viewers. In the 2012–13 season she made her Berlin Philharmonic debut in Porgy and Bess under Simon Rattle. Other performances include Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder, Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder (with Camerata Salzburg) and Peter Eötvös’s opera Angels in America with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. To be continued!

Irina Iordăchescu

2004 BIO Irina Iordachescu“Romanian soprano Irina Iordăchescu [daughter of 1963 IVC Great Prize winner Dan Iordăchescu – RS] was the only true opera diva of the finals. The combination of dramatic talent and her warm, flexible voice will have opera managers lining up at her door.” (Marjolein Sengers, Brabants Dagblad, September 27, 2004)

“I think we have an Audience Prize winner.” (Radio host of the live IVC finals broadcast upon the ovation for Iordăchescu’s performance of “Regnava nel silenzio” from Lucia di Lammermoor)

Winners

on 31 August, 2014

1983 THE WINNERS

GRAND PRIZE OF THE CITY OF DEN BOSCH
Judith Malafronte Mezzo-soprano USA
SOPRANO PRIZE
1st prize Not awarded Soprano  PO
2nd prize Mila Krustnikova Soprano  BGR
2nd prize Alison Pearce Soprano  UK
2nd prize Nellie van der Sijde Soprano  NL
MEZZO/ALTO PRIZE
1st prize Judith Malafronte Mezzo-soprano USA
2nd prize Elizabeth Campbell Mezzo-soprano AUS
TENOR PRIZE
Not awarded
BARITONE/BASS PRIZE
1st prize Not awarded    
2nd prize Harald Bjørkøy Baritone NOR
2nd prize John Hancorn Baritone UK
COUNTERTENOR PRIZE
No candidates
HONORARY DIPLOMA (THIRD PRIZE)
Tamás Csurja Bass-baritone HUN
Suzanne Rodas Soprano USA
TOONKUNST ENCOURAGEMENT PRIZE
Andrea Poddighe Baritone ITA/NL
FRIENDS OF SONG PRIZE
Jorine Samson Baritone NL
BUMA FOUNDATION PRIZE
1st prize Not awarded  
2nd prize Chieko Okazaki Mezzo-soprano JPN
JANINE MICHEAU FRENCH REPERTOIRE PRIZE
Marga Melerna Mezzo-soprano NL
GRÉ BROUWENSTIJN DUTCH OPERA TALENT PRIZE
Not awarded
ELLY AMELING SONG PRIZE
Elizabeth Campbell Mezzo-soprano AUS
ERNA SPOORENBERG PRIZE
Judith Malafronte Mezzo-soprano USA
TROS BROADCASTING PRIZE
John Hancorn, Judith Malafronte

 

Judi th Malafronte

Judith Malafronte“The ‘Day of the Mezzos’ became a veritable triumph for the overwhelming American mezzo Judith Malafronte, whose reputation is already established. Malafronte, age 32, has a bell-like voice and fabulous technique, especially in coloratura. The only one to receive a curtain call during the finals, she triumphed even before the jury had a chance to honor her.” (Ferd op de Coul, “Sensationeel optreden Malafronte,” September 1973)

American mezzo-soprano Judith Malafronte (b. August 20, 1951, New Haven, Connecticut) told critic Ferd op de Coul that she had to overcome some fears in order to return to Den Bosch, where in 1982 she had lost in the semifinals. Said Malafronte:

“A little voice inside my head kept bugging me to try again. So many things happened that year, so many people gave all sorts of advice, and I got confused. … I am glad I got the chance to show the people here what I have been doing for the past year. … I learned my trade from Giulietta Simionato, an amazing, indestructible and energetic living legend who taught me to approach each role in any given language individually. … More theoretical and technical things I studied with Nadia Boulanger. I prefer tragic roles to comic opera because in my heart I am a serious person and then, well, comic roles are much more difficult because timing is crucial for the effect. … The IVC was not my Dutch debut: in Utrecht, some years back, I performed in the world premiere of a Steve Reich composition.”

Malafronte had an impressive career in opera, oratorio, and recital. Her operatic roles include major mezzo parts in Serse, Scarlatti’sL’Aldimiro, Dido and Aeneas (singing both Dido and the Sorceress), Tamerlano, L’incoronazione di Poppea and Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. She recorded for BMG, DHM, EMI, and Koch in a wide range of repertoire, from the 12th-century chant of Hildegard von Bingen to Richard Strauss, as well as Handel operas, Bach cantatas, medieval music and 17th-century Spanish music.

Eliz‹abeth Campbell

Elizabeth Campbell“Malafronte may be the star of this IVC, yet one should not overlook the excellent competition from considerable talents such as Elizabeth Campbell whose rendition of a song cycle by De Falla was a first-class achievement.” (Ferd op de Coul, “Vier Prijzen,” September 1983)

“The Australian Elizabeth Campbell made a tremendous impact with some Schoenberg songs, rendered with great dramatic power, rich coloring and an enormous compass.” (Ferd op de Coul, “Slotconcert Imponerend,” September 1983)

Australian mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Campbell graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and completed her studies in London and Europe. Apart from winning Second Prize and the Elly Ameling Song Prize in Den Bosch, she represented Australia in the Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. She made her operatic debut as Carmen with West Australia Opera. Her operatic repertoire includes leading roles in Così fan tutte, Evgeni Onegin,Carmen, Serse, Giulio Cesare, Alcina, La clemenza di Tito,Boris Godunov, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Les Troyens, Les contes d’Hoffmann, Werther, Hänsel und Gretel,La forza del destino, Il trovatore, Madama Butterfly, Lulu, Peter Grimes, Die Fledermaus,L’incoronazione di Poppea, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Capriccio, Rigoletto, Andrea Chénier, The Turn of the Screw and Dead Man Walking, as well as the world premieres of Richard Mills’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (1996), Batavia (2001) and The Love of the Nightingale (2002) and Moya Henderson’s Lindy (2002). Campbell is one of Australia’s leading concert artists and recitalists. Additionally, she has performed at Covent Garden, toured the United States with the Sydney Symphony and given recitals at Wigmore Hall and in The Hague and Antwerp. Currently she is shifting her repertoire to more mature roles. Her recordings include Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, Elgar’s Sea Pictures, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, Messiah, Giulio Cesare, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and South Australia’s Ring cycle.

Nellie van der Sijde

NellievanderSijde“The Brabant Orchestra under Jan Stulen accompanied Brabant-born Nellie van der Sijde with Mozartian charm in ‘Porgi amor’ from Le nozze di Figaro , and she sang it to perfection. Her light, agile voice and her musical understanding are magnificent not only in arias but also in lieder, as could be heard in Wolf and, even better, in Schubert’s ‘Gretchen am Spinnrade,’ very accurately accompanied from the piano by Frans van Ruth.” (Ferd op de Coul, Brabants Dagblad, September 8, 1983)