Winners

on 31 August, 2014

2012 THE WINNERS

GREAT PRIZE OF THE CITY OF DEN BOSCH
Nadine Koutcher Soprano BLR
OPERA PRIZE
Gulnara Shafi gullina Soprano RUS
ARLEEN AUGÉR BEST ALL-ROUND INTERPRETER PRIZE
John Chest Baritone USA
MARGIE WEIDEMAN SONG PRIZE
Peter Gijsbertsen Tenor NL
TOONKUNST ORATORIO PRIZE
Dashon Burton Baritone USA
PROVINCE OF NORTH BRABANT YOUNG TALENT PRIZE
Bernadeta Astari Soprano IDN
Maria Fiselier Mezzo-soprano NL
STAETSHUYS FOUNDATION PRIZE
Peter Gijsbertsen Tenor NL
FRIENDS OF THE IVC PRIZE
Florieke Beelen Mezzo-soprano NL
DUTCH SONG PRIZE
Peter Gijsbertsen Tenor NL
Nadine Koutcher Soprano BLR
RABOBANK AUDIENCE PRIZE
Maria Fiselier Mezzo-soprano NL
PRESS PRIZE
Hannah Bradbury Soprano UK
YOUNG JURORS PRIZE
Maria Fiselier Mezzo-soprano NL
FRIENDS OF SONG PRIZE
Maria Fiselier Mezzo-soprano NL

 

Nadine Koutcher

nadine“She proved to be an exceptionally versatile coloratura soprano who made an unsurpassed impact with ‘Ou va la jeune Hindoue’ from Delibes’s Lakmé . An inspired singer who can delve into the notes with an almost scary precision. With her expressive, flexible sound she lets the music bloom. Stage effects are not her weapons; hers is the power of the silence and the mystical rhythm in which she envelops her arias and songs. Even the obligatory IVC composition ‘Et fix lux’ she sang with precise intonation.” (Mark van de Voort, Brabants Dagblad, October 1, 2012)

Belarusian soprano Nadine (Nadezhda) Koutcher (b. May 18, 1983, Minsk) graduated from Minsk Music College in 2003 and then went to the St. Petersburg Conservatory. In 2006 and 2007 she won various eastern International Vocal Competitions. In 2007 she made her opera stage debut at the Opera and Ballet of the St. Petersburg Conservatory as Marfa in The Tsar’s Bride. In 2009 she performed as Violetta at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, where she performed other leading roles for lyric coloratura soprano (Princess Eudoxia in Halévy’s La juive and Oscar in Un ballo in maschera). While completing her studies at the St. Petersburg Conservatory she participated in many concerts and productions, singing, among others, the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marie in Bizet’s Ivan IV, and parts in Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge and Mozart’s Requiem. In 2011 she graduated from the St. Petersburg Conservatory in solo singing and joined the Perm Opera. There she established herself as an audience favorite, and on May 21, 2012, she sang the title role in the Russian premiere of Dusapin’s Medeamaterial, for which she received an award. In addition, she recorded works by Jean-Philippe Rameau for the label Sony. From there to winning the IVC was just a small step. Her repertoire includes Antonida inA Life for the Tsar, the Queen of the Night, the Fairy in Massenet’s Cendrillon, Musetta in La bohème, Doña Isabel in The Fairy Queen and various concert works. In June 2014 she made her debut in the role of Elvira in I Puritani at the Municipal Theater of Santiago, Chile.

Gulnara Shafigullina

2012 BIO Gulnara Shafigullina“The big surprise of the day was the powerful performance of the Russian soprano and Netherlands resident Gulnara Shafigullina. She attacked the arias of Verdi and Puccini with dazzling bravura. She presented Italian arias with a light Russian perfume – perhaps not everyone’s taste, but definitely charming. At the end of her aria from Giovanna d’Arco she stood there like a statue, her eyes piercing, her arm reaching out to God above, ready to fight her holy fight.” (Mark van de Voort, Brabants Dagblad, October 1, 2012)

Gulnara Shafigullina (b. 1985, Krymsk) lived in northeast Russia until she was 18 years old. Until 2003 she took piano lessons, and from 2003 until 2009 she studied voice at the St. Petersburg International Music Academy with Rimma Volkova. Shafigullina then moved to Amsterdam, where she continued her studies. In 2010 she released two CDs: Russian-Italian Dialogue, with opera arias, and another with Russian folk songs. In 2011 and 2012 at the Dutch Opera by the Sea Festival of 2011 and 2012 she sang Tatyana in Evgeni Onegin. In September 2011 she sang Violetta for the 25-year anniversary of the Muziektheater Amsterdam. In May 2012 she premiered Hans Kox’s opera Lalage’s Monologues; impressed by her voice, he went on to write other music for her. With all this, her success at the 49th IVC was hardly a surprise. In May 2013 she made her UK debut with the Philharmonia Orchestra, singing in a Verdi-Wagner gala conducted by David Parry. She also performed at the Olympus Festival at the Hermitage Theatre in St. Petersburg. She covered 9 performances of Yaroslavna in Prince Igor at the Metropolitan Opera in early 2014 and performed Liù in Turandot and the Foreign Princess in Rusalka at the Teatro Municipal de Santiago. Shafigullina has performed in Russia, Austria, Germany, the United Kingdom and The Netherlands. Hers is a lyrical, rich, warm, smooth and expressive voice ranging up to coloratura levels and a very personal style in the bel canto tradition.

Hannah Bradbury

Hannah Bradbury  Photo Swinkels  Van Hees“While reading numerous heated press attacks on various juries, I wondered how one could be so emotional and still come back to write about the IVC for decades? Then I was asked to be on the press jury myself, and Hannah Bradbury was unanimously chosen. She had a light, lovely, picture-perfect voice and a charming stage presence and was completely ready for the stage. We simply thought she was by far the best and had expected her to win all other prizes. I had a déjà vu experience …” (R.S., September 30, 2012)

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)