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Post by n1david on Mar 23, 2018 23:59:56 GMT
Wondered if anyone else had picked up on this... it's a new competition for young opera singers, obviously designed to complement Cardiff Singer, as it will run every two years, in Cardiff's "off years". The main difference is that each competition will have a theme, apparently so that the judges will be able to judge on more common criteria, for example this year is all Mozart.
The competition is being shown on Sky Arts (so also available on NowTV). Thursday night showed the heats, which was a bit X-Factorish maybe in terms of following individual competitors, but was decent in terms of explaining why some competitor made it through or not. Tonight was the semifinals, and tomorrow (Saturday) has the 3.5 hour live final. Won't get a chance to watch the semis and final until early next week, but wondered if others had noticed this and their thoughts on it...
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 24, 2018 0:16:31 GMT
I shall keep a look out for that. Cardiff Singer has long been one of my favourites - though recent years that coverage and presenters have been woefully weak
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Post by oxfordsimon on Mar 24, 2018 0:25:31 GMT
Ah for the days of Bryn v Dmitri
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Post by n1david on Jun 12, 2019 8:17:23 GMT
Seems the only place to report that this year's Cardiff Singer of the World, which starts on Sunday, has been further downgraded by the BBC as three of the heats are not being shown on national broadcast TV, instead being shown on BBC2Wales and iPlayer. And this is due to football on BBC4!
Very disappointing.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 12, 2019 16:08:55 GMT
That is massively disappointing. We get so little classical music on television these days... no fair!
Thankfully I can use get_iplayer to record everything and then watch it at my convenience.
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2,760 posts
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Post by n1david on Jun 18, 2019 15:32:20 GMT
Loads of complaints about this last night so back on BBC4 tonight and tomorrow at 10.05pm...
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Post by Dawnstar on Jun 18, 2019 16:55:09 GMT
That's not really any more helpful than the BBC Wales/iPlayer option. If you've got to be at work the next day then watching TV until after midnight isn't very practical. I don't know how the BBC can justify having football on BBC4 when it's supposed to be an arts channel. Why can't they put football on a red button channel?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 18, 2019 18:22:29 GMT
It is taking iplayer a long time to get the concerts online - but thankfully I am getting all the episodes both radio and TV
Just got to find time to watch them!
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Post by n1david on Jun 18, 2019 23:49:40 GMT
That's not really any more helpful than the BBC Wales/iPlayer option. If you've got to be at work the next day then watching TV until after midnight isn't very practical. I don't know how the BBC can justify having football on BBC4 when it's supposed to be an arts channel. Why can't they put football on a red button channel? Have to agree. I’m in Cardiff so seeing the concerts live but did register a complaint to the BBC in advance because I was shocked that they’d dumped the BBC4 broadcasts, for football of all things. I assume the BBC rights for the World Cup required them to show a certain number of live matches and they decided to stuff some of them on BBC4, assuming that fans of CSOTW would follow it online. Loads of complaints on message boards last night that people were struggling with getting decent performance online. This afternoon I actually got a phone call from BBC Cymru Wales in response to my complaint telling me that it was being added to the BBC4 schedule tonight and tomorrow. It was clear in the off air comments from Petroc tonight that he thought that the decision to move it back onto BBC4 was the right one. I suspect they’re stuck with the football where it’s scheduled now, but with luck they’ll have learned their lesson for 2021. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jun 19, 2019 0:06:15 GMT
I do wish they would review the presenting team. Josie D'Arby has never been a good fit for the event. It is one time that the BBC should allow itself to be fully high-brow. It is an event that will only really appeal to specialist audiences - and they deserve not to be patronised.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jul 16, 2019 2:43:49 GMT
Having been spoilered on Facebook for the overall winner before I had found time start, I wanted to wait a bit before watching the broadcasts.
I have now completed the 4 rounds - and agreed wholeheartedly with the first two round winners - the Chinese tenor was sublime and the American bass a real treat of an acting singer. I don't get the Ukranian baritone at all. I find his sound very covered and very obviously from the Russian tradition - so much so, that it took me some time to work out that his first aria (the Massenet) was in French. I would, personally, have put through Katie Bray - a really intelligent and engaging singer. From round 4, I wasn't that impressed with the Lucia mad scene - but can see what she won. My preference from that round was for the Mexican baritone - who had something special about his ability to engage an audience. Not a finished article - but immense promise for a couple of years time.
Really didn't like the presenters being on stage - it was cluttered and unprofessional. And Josie D'Arby showed, yet again, how wrong she is for this gig. She is not a great interviewer and her knowledge of the repertoire/technique is so weak that she doesn't know what to ask. It was a shame to only see the lovely Mary briefly - she is a real singer's singer and knows every trick in the trade. She should be on more. (I was in a production of The Beggar's Opera 20 years ago - and remember her performance and attitude towards us lowly chorus types very fondly)
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Post by oxfordsimon on Jul 16, 2019 20:45:36 GMT
I have now watched the final and just don't see why Mr Eyeliner won.
His voice must be much more special live than via TV speakers. He sounded relentless and heavy to me - very little elegance to his singing - other than in the Russian number. His Escamillo felt shouty and the Italian felt a bit anonymous. I just don't think he is someone I would want to see on stage or hear on disc.
The voice of the season for me was from China - one of the best Taminos for decades. Intelligent, clear, fluid - perfection.
Very pleased for Katie Bray - she is a brilliant communicator and I can see why she won over the audiences.
I hope the American bass gets invited to the Oxford Lieder Festival - he would be a joy to see there.
I really didn't like Danielle's style for the post-performance discussions. There was a lot of negativity to her questioning - which might be a bit awkward should she ever perform with some of these singers in the future.
Overall, the BBC did themselves few favours with this year's competition. The reduced coverage/hiding it on BBC Wales initially was clearly a mistake. The presenters need to be changed. And I would like a return to just one representative from each country - just to get more diverse voices coming through. And I would love to see at least one countertenor each competition. It is a voice that is very much in demand in opera houses - and there are some brilliant singers out there. It feels as if they don't get the same chance to shine - and yes, part of that is the repertoire is more limited but there is still more than enough to fill two fifteen minute programmes. Handel, Britten, Monteverdi, Purcell - and then why not through in a bit of Orlofsky as a crowd pleaser.
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