Romanian soprano Caterina Celia Costea, winner of first prize in the woman's group, thrilled the packed theatre with her gorgeous voice and impressive interpretation of Verdi's "Tacea La Notte Placida" from "Il Trovatore."

After endless calls for an encore, she touched audiences with her emotional rendition of the Chinese lyric song "The Same Song."

Men's first-prize winner, 26-year-old Russian bass Mikhail Kazakov from Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, treated the audiences to a vivid interpretation of Rossini's "La Calunnia" from "Il Barbiere Di Siviglia" and the Chinese lyric song "Oh, Our Chinese Land."

The second prizes went to Russian mezzo soprano Elena Alexandrovna Manistina and baritone Kim Taehyun from South Korea. Chinese soprano Liu Hongling and Russian tenor Nourlan Bekmoukhambetov took the third prizes, while the fourth prizes went to bass Mikhail Davydov from Moscow Helicon Opera Theatre and soprano Anastasia Bakastova, also from Russia.

Contest winners

A total of 76 singers from 17 countries participated in the first round of competition. Each of them demonstrated his or her talent with three pieces: an aria from a Passion, Oratorio, Cantata or Mass by composers of the 17th and 18th centuries, and a lyric song and an aria from opera.

After three days of competition, half of the contestants entered the semifinal. In addition to two operatic arias and two lyric songs, the semifinalists were required to sing a Chinese lyric song.

A special part of the contest is the Chinese Lyric Song Award, which is given to a foreigner. This time around, Irish tenor Robin Tritschler won the prize with his rendition of "That Is Me."

"Though it is difficult for a foreigner to sing a Chinese song better than a Chinese singer, Tritschler touched all the jury members with his emotional performance," said Guo Shuzhen, well-known Chinese soprano, and chairwoman of the jury.

Guo who has served as a judge in many international music competitions added: "A world-famous music competition should have a rich range of repertoire for the contestants to select from. In addition, it should have its own individual features, which distinguish it from other competitions in some way. So we specially provided 12 Chinese lyric songs for the foreign applicants."

"It is also a way to promote Chinese lyric songs around the world," said Guo.

With a celebrated jury and a group of young but talented singers from all over the world, the China International Vocal Competition has proven itself to be of very high calibre, although it is just the second competition.

Many of the jury members, such as renowned Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas, Italian baritone Elio Battaglia, Austrian bass Evgeny Nesterenko and Guo Shuzhen frequently judge in music competitions around the world.

Nesterenko, a soloist with the Bolshoi Theatre and professor with the Vienna High School of Music, served as chairman of the jury for the vocal category of the 12th Tchaikovsky International Music Competition this May in Moscow.

Many of the contestants are also frequent faces in a variety of vocal competitions. The first-prize-winner Costea, a graduate of the Bucharest University of Music in Romania, has won four first prizes, three second prizes and three third awards in the past few years.

Russian soprano Anastasia Bakastova, a fourth-award winner, was also the fourth-prize winner in the 12th Tchaikovsky International Music Competition.

While for the first-prize winner, bass Mikhail Kazakov, it was his seventh competition. He has taken part in four competitions in Russia, winning a first prize in the 12th Tchaikovsky Competition and in two competitions abroad - in Athens and Toulouse.

Vocal comparison

It's a pity that Chinese contestants were less lucky than in the previous contest in 2000 when Chinese soprano Wu Bixia was the first-prize winner. This year, the only Chinese winner was soprano Liu Hongling who took a third prize.

"This time there was no such surprisingly impressive Chinese singer as Wu Bixia. Most of them gave good performances but not so wonderful as last time," said Cotrubas.

It is the second time she has served on the jury of the China International Vocal Competition. In 2000, she was amazed by Wu and even applauded during Wu's performance.

"Chinese singers have done their best but still sound pale by comparison with the Russian, Romanian and South Korean singers," said Chinese jury member, bass Wen Kezheng of the Central Conservatory of Music.

"It is clear that the foreign singers have rich experience both in concerts and opera. Their artistic interpretation of the operatic arias is better, and they have clearer, brighter voices," he added.

Third-prize-winner Liu acknowledged: "They sound more mature and have better operatic sense, though my voice and technique are not inferior to theirs."

Cotrubas said: "A good soloist should not only know how to sing but how to perform. I personally like the South Korean tenor Kim very much, because he dominated the stage and impressed me with his devoted singing."

According to their application forms, all the prize winners, except Liu, have had a successful career in opera houses in Europe and played many roles in a wide range of repertoires.

Costea, the first prize winner in the women's group, has performed in the opera houses of Austria, Finland, Germany, Norway, the UK and South Korea.

"Having performed a wide repertoire helps me a lot in the competition, because it is easier to sing an aria in the competition than perform a full-length opera," said Costea.

After winning the Grand-Prix at the Glinka competition in 2000, Russian bass Kazakov was invited to the prestigious Bolshoi Theatre where he improved his talent in performing opera, which, in turn, has benefited him in competition, helping him win first place.

Training limits

In this sense, the competition reveals the problem of the competition-oriented training system in China's conservatories. For a long time, most of the music students and their teachers have been aiming at winning competitions, but have no clear idea what to do after winning competitions and neglect getting experience in theatres.

In an interview before she went to Poland for the Fourth Moniuszko International Vocal Competition, in April, 2001, when Wu Bixia was asked whether she would try to perform with some opera houses after having won a number of competitions, she answered: "I will apply for more competitions and try to win more awards."

Actually, winning a competition is just a stepping stone toward a successful career, while invitations and contracts from well-known opera houses and concerts halls should be the final goal of professional vocalists.

Many established Chinese artists who have successful careers abroad have all noted the misunderstanding of the relationship between competition and career at home. "Good basic voice training at the Central Conservatory and the Tchaikovsky Music Competition award provided me with a sound foundation for my career," said tenor Yuan Chenye when he came back from the United States to visit the Central Conservatory of Music. Yuan won first prize in the 10th Tchaikovsky International Music Competition in 1994 in Moscow.

"Then I went abroad to further my studies and catch all the chances I could get to improve my performing ability, thus I was finally able to gain a spot in the Houston Opera," he said.

During the Fifth Beijing Music Festival, which ended on November 2, many renowned artists also pointed out in interviews that competition should not be the final goal of a professional vocalist.

"Some 20 years ago, the singing world did not know us Chinese singers well, so we had to participate in various competitions to introduce and prove ourselves. But today our singers have more access to world music venues," said Liang Ning, a noted mezzo soprano now based in Germany.

Liao Changyong, a leading Chinese baritone based in Shanghai, said: "You may win a competition with several selected arias and lyric songs, but a really good vocalist should be more 'versatile,' that means you should be able to sing a full-length opera, to sing in different languages, and to impress the audience with your dramatic abilities, not just your voice."

(China Daily November 11, 2002)