1955 REMINISCENSES

401DutchDivas/401ivca chief editor René Seghers spoke with bass turned baritone Albert van Haasteren about his memories at winning the Second Prize in the bass category during the 1955 IVC contest. Van Haasteren had only been studying singing for two years with Johanna Bollekamp in Rotterdam, when he came in 2nd for the Jos Orelio Prize at the 2nd International Vocal Competition Den Bosch, 1955.

His surprise victory came at a moment that he just had started studying opera in Amsterdam, with Felix Hupka. He then worked as an interior designer, but his interest in opera was profound. He even went as far as to study stage movements by practicing ballet, and fighting: 'Appearance and physical presentation are very important in the theater. They define how you come across to the audience. It was not easy for me though, since initially I had so little money that I couldn't afford a paid for teacher. Fortunately, Miss. Bollekamp said that my voice was too beautiful to be wasted for lack of money alone, and she taught me for free until I could spare some money.'

 Despite his limited training, his vocal endowments and appearance at the 2nd IVC impressed jury member and first conductor of both the Amsterdam and the Karlsruhe Opera Houses Alexander Krannhals enough to offer Van Haasteren a contract for the Karslruhe Opera House – on the spot! Van Haasteren first hesitated to accept the offer, since he did not consider himself a professional singer and wanted to talk things through with his wife Lily: 'I had just married and wanted to talk this over with her. There was no way I would have done it if she had any hesitations.

A full career retrospect of Van Haasteren can be found here.

1955 THE CONCERT OF FINALISTS 

With only two First Prize winners and the soon to be Dutch star tenor Arjan Blanken absent because he was under contract to sing in Augsburg, the 2 ^ND IVC Gala Concert did not start out very promising.

W.B. in Het Huisgezin also noted that the Dutch KRO Radio archives had not been able to provide scores for the arias requested by the winning participants, which resulted in them having to sing much of Händel’s The Messiah and Rinaldo, whereas the public craved a romantic opera gala with Verdi, Wagner, Gounod and Puccini. Those circumstances left Second prize winner bass Albert van Haasteren at an advantage, with his aria from Verdi’s Don Carlo, which made decidedly more impact than First Prize winner Jean Capiaux’ renditions of Händel and Berlioz, wrote W.B. in Het Huisgezin:

‘Capiaux’’ vocal qualities were not very suited to these pieces, which left one wondering why he had been awarded a First Prize Van Haasteren only a Second prize. For those who only come to see the concert, the final results might have appeared strange. Likewise, the crowned German alto Eva Bornemann could not shine as one would have wished in an aria from Elias, even though she rendered it in a very artistic way, with all the warmth and lavishness that her voice can give.’ (W.B., ‘Internationaal Vocalistenconcours,’ Het Husigezin, October 10, 1955)

Although the winner of the audience’s applause, W.B. thought Van Haasteren’s Leporello aria still in need of the comical touch. Excellent in his ears was Willem van der Sluys’ rendition of an aria from Don Giovanni, which was sung with immaculate breath control.

Haphazard

Perhaps the reason that we do not possess the complete program for this concert is to be found in the critic’s observation that there weren’t enough programs available for all. While he was the first to admit that he had not expected to hear the new Kathleen Ferrier, Jos Orelio or Jacques Urlus in this concert of debutants, he still thought that there had been too little time to prepare things well and recommended to take a few more days in between finals and concert. While labeling the concert a near failure, he also acknowledged that the public had a completely different perception, since they cheered all singers on with enthusiasm, and gave them endless ovations.