1985 THE WINNERS

Leontina Văduva

“Flashing lots of skin and blingbling, Romanian beauty Leontina Văduva had her own approach to presentation. After a bravura performance of Ravel’s ‘L’air du feu’ from L’enfant et les sortilèges and a virtuoso trifle from Duke, she managed to sing Verdi’s ‘E’ strano’ with exactly the same ease.” (Theo Muller, “Vocalistenconcours verliest aantrekkingskracht,” September 9, 1985)

“A flamboyant appearance. She wrapped the audience around her finger with her charming personality. […] A full, rich timbre, and thus she was elected to represent the IVC at the Arena di Verona Competition for First Prize winners.” (Leidsch Dagblad, September 9, 1985)

Romanian soprano Leontina Văduva (b. December 1, 1960, Roșiile) proudly carried the torch of the impressive list of Romanian IVC winners that began in 1963 into the 1980s. While her First Prize was undisputed, history now views what the press and some jurors considered one of the weakest slates in 50 years of competition as having produced one of the most famous winners of all, not to mention the impressive Bolshoi careers of Naumenko and Bryleva. Văduva studied at the Bucharest Conservatory and with Ileana Cotrubaș. Following her IVC triumph she debuted as Manon in Toulouse in 1987. She defected to the West in 1988 following engagements in Paris and Covent Garden: “As a student, I remember singing in a theater where it was minus four degrees and the orchestra was playing with gloves. The public in the theater were dressed as if they were outside. Music carried us through this very difficult period.” In Covent Garden she appeared as Gilda (1989), Micaëla (1991 and 1994) and Juliette (1994). In 2000 she debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Mimì. Further appearances included Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Cologne and Vienna. Her discography includes Rigoletto (1993), Les contes d’Hoffmann (1996), La bohème (1995), and an EMI recital CD conducted by Plácido Domingo (1997). Her Juliette, with Roberto Alagna, is on DVD (1994).

Alexander Naumenko

“Alexander Naumenko – a USSR/Ukrainian teddy bear in his old-school, Soviet-style suit – pitched himself perhaps a bit too low in Borodin and Schubert, but Orff’s tongue-twister ‘O hätt’ ich meiner Tochter nur geglaubt’ was rendered in virtuoso style. Concentrated and experienced.” (Theo Muller, “Vocalistenconcours verliest aantrekkingskracht,” September 1985)

“Naumenko improved on his semifinals achievement and secured not only a First Prize, but also the Elly Ameling Song Prize.” (Leidsch Dagblad, September 9, 1985)

Born into a musical family, People’s Artist of Russia Alexander Naumenko (b. 1956, Vorozhba, Ukraine) eventually reached the St. Petersburg Conservatory. When he was subsequently unsuccessful at the Moscow Conservatory he gave up singing and took a job as a laborer in a leather factory. But then his protector Tiets suddenly sent him a letter that summoned him back to the Moscow Conservatory. After an Artistry Prize in the 1984 Glinka Competition, Naumenko progressed to the postgraduate course of 1985 IVC juror Nina Dorliac (who was of course not allowed to vote for her own pupil). His two prizes at this IVC opened the doors to the Moscow Philharmonic. He continued his studies with Hans Hotter in Vienna, and in 1991 he was appointed soloist of the Bolshoi Theatre, where he has been a leading bass ever since. His first big role there was Ivan the Terrible in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Maid of Pskov. Central roles for him are Tsar Dodon in The Golden Cockerel, Leporello in Dargomyzhsky’s The Stone Guest, Prince Vyazminsky in Oprichnik, Salieri in Mozart and Salieri and the classical roles in the bass repertoire. A virtual tribute to his teacher Hotter was an appearance in Germany as Daland on 20 days’ notice. At the time of this writing Naumenko is scheduled for Bolshoi performances as Vasily in The Tsar’s Bride and Gremin in Evgeni Onegin. He has made recordings for Melodyia, including recital discs with works by Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Strauss and Schubert.

Elena Bryleva

“Elena Bryleva is only 24, but already in possession of a glorious, radiant coloratura voice that can rise effortlessly and completely evenly throughout the scale to high F. If only she could be less introverted and overcome her natural shyness.” (Utrechts Nieuwsblad, September 1985)

“This Madonna-like sopranino has a very bright timbre with a penetrating tonal center. Her interpretations of Britten, Donizetti and Rimsky-Korsakov were as brilliant as they were controlled.” (Theo Muller, “Vocalistenconcours verliest aantrekkingskracht,” September 1985)

1984 THE WINNERS

 Lani Poulson

“Poulson’s victory was not so unexpected given her experience and the fact that she barely got in under the age limit of 32. That did not lessen her fantastic performance of Diepenbrock’s refined song ‘Les chats’, which attested to deep understanding. From there she jumped effortlessly to ‘Sein wir wieder gut’ from Ariadne auf Naxos, completely uninhibited and marvelously acted; next, she turned Rossini’s ‘La regata veneziana’ into a babbling brook of wonders.” (Luc Knödler, “Twee overwinnaars,” September 1984)

“There were many dramatic operatic mezzos and I am a lyric mezzo. I didn’t want to compete with them, so I filled out ‘song’ as my specialty.” (Lani Poulson in Brabants Dagblad, September 1984)

In 1978 American mezzo-soprano Lani Poulson (b. 1954, Utah) was eliminated in the IVC semifinals. When she returned in 1984 she was a mature artist. Her Great Prize, the First Prize in the mezzo category and Elly Ameling Song Prize helped her build a major career, during which she was closely associated with the De Munt Opera in Brussels (from 1984), the Semperoper in Dresden and Staatsoper Stuttgart. In Brussels she sang such roles as Countess Geschwitz and Octavian. At the Semperoper she also sang Sextus. In Stuttgart she demonstrated her gifts as an interpreter of contemporary opera, for instance as the Mother in Nono’s Al gran sole carico d’amore and in the world premieres of Salvatore Sciarrino’s Perseo ed Andromeda (1991), Wolfgang Rihm’s Das Schweigen der Sirenen (1994), Andreas Breitscheid’s Im Spiegel wohnen (2003) and Nicholas Lens’s Slow Man (2012). She also appeared in Munich, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Mannheim, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Drottningholm, Lisbon, Budapest, Tel Aviv, Strasbourg, Verona, Trieste, Montpellier, Graz and Antwerp. Among her major 20^th- and 21^st-century repertoire are Bernd Alois Zimmermann’s Die Soldaten and the lead role in Claude Vivier’s fascinating Kopernikus in Amsterdam (2003).

Thomas Mohr

“Thomas Mohr may well write history as the revelation of this tournament, for it is a rare bird who can dominate so completely at the early age of 22 – this was his first-ever competition! Diepenbrock’s ‘Celebrität’ received such loving caresses, Loewe’s ‘Odins Meeresritt’ sounded so naturally imbued with fantasy and refinement that ‘Bin das Faktotum’ hardly mattered.” (Luc Knödler, “Twee overwinnaars,” September 1984) “The baritone Thomas Mohr provided one of the most memorable highlights of the evening in arias from Rossini and Mozart. His German-language rendition of the ‘Largo al factotum’ was the swashbuckling finale of the festive evening.” (Ferd op de Coul, Brabants Dagblad, September 1984) German baritone/tenor Thomas Mohr (b. 1961) was still studying voice in Lübeck when he made his coup at the 1984 IVC. Wisely, he finished his studies and tested the waters in further competitions. With his talent confirmed there, he eventually signed contracts in Bremen and Mannheim, following which he joined Opera Bonn. There he worked with prestigious directors and learned his essential repertoire, including Silvio, Albert, di Luna, Lescaut, Germont père, Eisenstein, Almaviva and Papageno. On the concert platform his attention centered on Orff’s Carmina burana, Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem and Britten’s War Requiem. Since 1997 Mohr has established himself as a freelance singer. He has appeared in many of the world’s major concert halls and in the operas of Munich, Zürich and Dresden. Famous conductors he worked with include Kent Nagano, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Gerd Albrecht, Lorin Maazel, Leonard Slatkin, Antonio Pappano, Georg Solti and Zubin Mehta. And that was only as a baritone; enter the tenor Thomas Mohr, following his successful debut as Idomeneo and Siegmund in the 2005–6 season. April 2006 saw his debut as Parsifal in Erfurt. Max in Der Freischütz followed in Cologne and St. Gall, after which he sang Loge in Das Rheingold at the Leipzig Opera.

Frans Fiselier

“Frans Fiselier sang very intensely in Dutch songs by Ton de Leeuw. His Garcia Lorca songs were treated with the highest level of nuance and expression by Fiselier and his excellent accompanist, Han-Louis Meijer. Fiselier also proved master of the required style and artistry in ornamentation for Händel. ” (Ferd op de Coul, Brabants Dagblad, September 1984)