1967 CONCERT

The 1967 closing Gala Concert with winners of the 14^TH IVC was for the first time ever not just held in Den Bosch, but also in Breda. The audience was tested with a program that included more non-operatic excerpts than usually was the case. Johan van Dongen for Brabants Dagblad thought those with an open ear to the music well rewarded, even though the acoustics in the Casino’s Hall were slightly affected by an unknown circumstance. The orchestra proved inspired, and the young soloist gave their very best:

‘They threw their young timbres with bravura into the audience. Naturally, the strong, larger, operatic voices stood out best with the orchestra accompaniment, when compared to the piano accompaniment during the selection, which left the smaller voices more room to shine. The one singer to benefit from her volume was Bulgarian soprano Stefanka Popangelova, who was very convincing in her aria from Tchaikovsky’s Pique Dame, and Puccini’s Manon Lescaut. Likewise benefitted the Finnish alto Heljä Angervo, with an important rendition of Gluck’s Orfeo aria ‘J’ai perdu mon Eurydice,’ and an exceptionally sensitive rendition of Dalila’s aria ‘Mon coeur s’ouvre à ta voix.’ Last but not least also the American bass-baritone Louis Williams benefitted, with arias of Mozart and Verdi that were sung with musicality, and bravura.

Having said that, one should not overlook the English soprano Sally Le Sage, who revealed a most lovely timbre in Händel’s Messiah aria ‘Rejoice greatly,’ and in her balanced excecution of Bach’s Catata 199. The English baritone Nigel Wickens suffered most from the bad acoustics in Händel’s Alexander’s feast . He compensated his lack of volume by an exceptionally beautiful timbre. By the time he arrived to Mahler’s ‘Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen,’ the orchestra had balanced out the acoustics and Wickens proved a most intelligent vocalist. Applause for all, and flowers for the ladies were their well deserved reward at the end of the concert.’