Round 3 BBC Cardiff Singer of the World

Last night on Cardiff Singer, Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar

from Mongolia secured a place in Sunday night's final.

Joining Anthony Clark Evans from the USA ? the winner

Both of them baritones ? and we've two more tonight ? there could be

We'll be meeting a soprano a mezzo and a tenor too -

all hoping to win this coveted trophy.

Welcome to BBC Cardiff Singer of the World 2017.

Welcome back to St David's Hall and round three of BBC Cardiff

It's BBC Music Day - a nationwide annual celebration

of the power of music - even more reason to spend the next

90 minutes with us, enjoying rich operatic treats,

highlights of performances from our five singers

with music ahead by Handel, Mozart, Bizet and

Once again, the singer and vocal coach Mary King is with me.

And tonight, we're joined by South African baritone

Jacques Imbrailo, who joins us on a night off from Brett Dean's

new Hamlet at Glyndebourne which opened on Sunday.

Jacques is a veteran of the competition -

Jacques, it must be special to be endorsed by the public -

what memories do you have of your winning moment?

though I knew I had lots to work on, it was great, confirmation that I

was doing something right and so getting over the line towards the

audience which was great. Are you relieved that your days of

competitions are behind you? Very much so. I was not a competition

singer. Mary, you've been watching

rehearsals, what treats Very excited tonight and perhaps the

most varied repertoire of the week so far. Great. Lots to look forward

to. And do remember to gather thoughts

about your favourite singer We'll give you the details

and the numbers you need to vote Now Angel Blue is, as ever,

backstage tonight. Good evening. Thank you. It's always

exciting to be backstage. The singers are warming up and doing

vocal acrobatics to get ready for tonight. We have five ambitious

singers from Turkey,... They all hope to impress our judges, so let's

meet our panel. Artistic Director of

the Welsh National Opera and chairman of our

jury, David Pountney. One of the leading opera singers of

her generation, Grace Bumbry. The voice that has the tone to it is so

exciting. Anu Tali. It is quite an extreme situation but if you can

forget about the pressure of competition and try to make the

music come through. Grammy award-winning South Korean soprano,

Sumi Jo. And from Austria, world-renowned recitalist, baritone

Wolfgang Holzmair. What you have to do when you go onstage and show what

you can do, not to think of the environment, to speak.

The people tasked with deciding tonight's winner. Let's meet

tonight's competitors. John Chest will start tonight's

competition. Originally from South Carolina, 31-year-old John is a

graduate of the operator studio in Munich. Before coming to Cardiff, he

took advice from someone very close to home. My wife is also a singer

and she was a very big help in pointing me in the right direction.

She helped me decide to be a little brave, maybe I'm and to touch

something else that might bring more to the competition setting. Putting

together a first round when you also have Duplan a possible second round

for the finals was a little tricky. The question was what best

represents me as a singer at this stage in my career. Cardiff City has

been the competition, sort of, in my mind for a long time, so as far as

competitions go, the end goal. It sounds a bit of a cliche but I feel

like a bit of a winner already being here. I've really feel like I've

already won the lottery, so to speak. John Chest joins the BBC

Orchestra of Wales and he is going to thing Bizet's the Pearl Fishers.

APPLAUSE And to finish, John Chest is going

to sing from Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor.

Lucia is secretly in love with the son of the family's enemy -

Filled with shame, he thinks he might grieve less if she had been

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE American baritone John Chest, from

South Carolina, performing at the BBC National Orchestra of Wales,

conducted by Thomas Sondergard. Is he to be part of another battle of

the baritones? Talks about watching that encounter between Bryn Terfel

and Dmitri Hvorostovsky back in 1989 already two baritones through to the

final. Could we be setting ourselves up for a return this year? Let's get

an immediate response from my guests, Jacques Imbrailo and Mary

King. Jab-macro, a baritone on a baritone, give is your opinion? John

is a very classy singer and he very much knows what he wants, right

through his range. He's got a very good top. It's a very solid

technique and he uses it well. What about the scale of voice,

particularly the Donizetti weather is a big orchestral texture to work

with? Is probably the one which at this stage is a bit too big. He's

got a very good top line, he should stick to his strengths. It tells you

a lot about the American teaching. We have had some special baritones

this week. John joins Angel. Wonderful job. You have great high

notes on how do you produce in a competition like this? Yes, I wasn't

sure it was going to happen that way but I felt comfortable on stage. I

was nervous, but as soon as I go on stage and I'm in front of the

orchestra is feels right. It didn't show up at all. I wish you the best

of luck. Wonderful. If you've missed John's performance, or any of the

performances this week, be sure to catch up with is on BBC iPlayer. Now

it's time for our second competitor of the evening, from England, Louise

Alder. Born in London, Louise Mensch tested

is at the Royal College of music and started singing with the operas

Frankfurt three years ago. She has sung in Glyndebourne and is

currently performing as Sophie and Rosenkavalier with the Welsh

National opera. I've had music in my life since I was born. My parents

are both professional musicians and I grew up in a grisly musical

household. -- crazy musical household. I've watched Cardiff Sing

all my life, on TV with my parents and always looked at the fingers and

thought, my goodness, they are so talented and I couldn't even imagine

what it would be like to be in that competition -- looked at the

singers. I feel very lucky to be here and to be picked to represent

England. It's about singing music that I absolutely adore with one of

the best orchestras in the world. APPLAUSE

Handel's Julius Caesar to begin and the role Louis has sung onstage

alongside her friend and fellow winner, Jamie Barton. She sings of

the battle to come between him and Tolomeo.

Louise Alder singing from Handel's Giulio Cesare. Massenet's Darmon

next, in this barrier the impulsive and headstrong Mano tells her cousin

Lescaut how excited she is at first of travel, unaware as she is of the

turbulent times that lie ahead -- Manon next.

APPLAUSE Louise Alder singing from Massenet's

Manon. Let's get a quick response from Mary King. Absolutely stunning,

right on top of her game. Wonderful. For her final piece she's going to

sing No Word From Tom, from Stravinsky's rakes progress.

# Guide me, Omoon, chastely when I depart

# No, my father has strength of purpose, while Tom is weak

# And wants the comfort of a helping hand.

# O God, protect dear Tom, support my father

# Though it be shunned or be forgotten

# Though it be shunned or be forgotten

# It will not alter, if love be love, if love be love

# It will not alter, it will not alter, it will not alter.

# Love cannot falter, cannot desert

# Cannot desert, time cannot alter

# A loving heart, an ever loving heart.

No Word From Tom from Stravinsky's rakes progress by Louise Alder, who

has already won many hearts here in Cardiff, currently singing Sophie at

the world -- currently singing as the Welsh National Opera. One more

performance there alongside thinning hair. Mary King and Jack umbrellas

are here. Mary, you were obviously impressed? I think she is wonderful

and she is one of the people we have seen here thing repertoire that they

can really sing. Making really smart choices. The other thing with Harry

is that she acts with her voice and cheese thing and she takes her time.

It's incredibly impressive. She's a member of the opera company in

Frankfurt in Germany. Several of our singers are on contract with opera

houses in Europe, the experience you get from that is incredible, isn't

it, doing lots of roles? Yes, and you can see that they are so

polished, well rounded performances in every way. You believe everything

she says because she means it but she has also got the vocal technique

to express what she wants to. It's very, very good. And there is an

enormous charm when she gets inside the character? Look on the big

screen and you can see in high-rise, you can see everything. You really

do believe every character which is rise -- rare in a competition where

you are so nervous. And, Mary, confidence to do what is right for

her at this time? She was in charge of that August. Make no mistake.

They played how she wanted them to play. -- she was in charge of that

orchestra. Well, will she make it through to Sunday's final? She is

already three to one final on Saturday evening. Let's join a jewel

backstage now with Louise. Well, I have the honour to stand next to

Louise. What were you thinking during your Stravinsky peace? I

don't know. I think that singing is really just acting but with a few

nights, or should be, I hope. I was trying to put myself in her shoes

and convey the words but also thinking about the technical side.

The top seed at the end. But you are in the middle of shows at the

moment. Does that prepare you? I think that means I have had less

time off to worry, affording me less stressed time, which is probably

good. I wish you the best of luck. You are a star, Louise. Oh, thank

you. Now, another baritone, Iurii Samoilov from Ukraine. Born in the

Odessa region of Ukraine, Iiuri's upbringing was a stark difference

from his current life now with the Frankfurt Opera. I grew up next to

the Black Sea, spending every summer at my grandmother's country house,

working a lot with different animals, like with sheep and cows. I

know how to milk cows. At Frankfurt, he has played title roles that

include Don Giovanni, Peter Rimes and Eugene on again. It's one of the

most important opera houses in Germany and in Europe I think, too.

It's growing very fast, winning a lot of opera awards and Opera house

of the year. They give me all the opportunities and I'm very glad I

got this chance and I'm very glad that my role is going this way. I

think that this is the top -- competition of the world for opera

singers and I'm glad to be here. I think I will touch people's hearts.

I will try to do it. Iurii Samoilov starts his programme

with Mozart's Marriage of Figaro. Count Almaviva believes

he is meeting his wife's maid, Susanna, for a romantic tryst ? only

to hear her telling her fiance, the manservant Figaro,

that they can now be married. Iurii Samoilov singing from the

marriage of Figaro. APPLAUSE

Pushkin set by Rachmaninov. Sung by Iurii Samoilov, 28-year-old

Ukrainian baritone. He too is through to the Song Prize final,

with Louise Alder and also John Chest, who we heard first this

evening. They will be on stage here, the Song Prize final, which you can

see on Saturday evening on BBC Four. Let's get an immediate response to

his performance from Djakpa-macro and Mary. A role he has sung

recently Frankfurt, where he is based, where he is in the company.

How was he for you? It was good, full of character, full of energy

and real dynamism. He's a great communicator. Maybe the bottom of

the voice hasn't quite settled. I'm not quite sure, it wasn't all fun

absolute peace, but maybe that was nervous. It was interesting he's in

the Song Prize, singing that Rachmaninov songs in Russian, a

language which is one he knows well? Yes, you almost came into his own in

that, the voice was clear, you could almost hear what his voice is like

better in that. And the other, there's over darkening and it falls

back a bit but in the Russian, in his own mother tongue, you can hear

the beauty of his voice. Let's go backstage and join Angel.

One of my favourite pieces by Rachmaninov, usually we don't hear

it orchestrated. Why did you choose this piece? This piece, this song by

Rachmaninov, is very close to my heart and this orchestration and

transposition for baritone was made especially for me and I'm glad to

present it here in Cardiff and share this music with the Cardiff

audience. You did it beautifully, congratulations. Thank you very

much. Continuing with our dramatic concert this evening as Turkish

mezzo-soprano Ezgi Karakaya. Nice to see you!

LAUGHTER 28-year-old Gil-macro recently

attended a masterclass in Finland, where she was asked by her

profession she's ever been in an international singing competition.

Bravo! Ezgi Karakaya is going to start with Offenbach's opera,

Nicklausse laying the violin, and exploring the links between music

and love. -- playing the violin. Ezgi says she has chosen this

programme simply because it is music For her final song a piece from

Donizetti's grand opera La Favorita. Leonora is to marry the man

she loves, Fernando ? but she realises she is going

to have to tell him the truth, She imagines herself rejected,

and veiled in black. 20 H a road Turkish mezzosoprano, --

28-year-old Turkish mezzosoprano Ezgi Karakaya.

She sang jazz as a teenager until Headteachers showed her a video of

Carmen and that is what made her consider a career as an opera

singer. She says she is very happy to have a career in the six opera

houses in Turkey. She was debating whether she was even going to enter

this competition, left it until the last minute to decide but Jacques, I

think it's pretty good for us that she came? Wow, what a voice. What an

instrument. And pretty unique? That's does not a voice we hear very

often, certainly not in this country? Not in this country or in

the world, really. It's so lush at the bottom and the smoothness and

the line is fantastic. A little bit of work to do at the top so she

doesn't over open at it but it's a wonderful, wonderful instrument. And

to hear her singing lap ivory tower there, such as JP is for the

mezzosoprano. But he said this was a singer -- such a showpiece for a

mezzosoprano. But you said this was a singer embarking on a journey.

It's a wild instrument with the expression and I really loved it.

The moment she opened her mouth, I knew we were in for something very

special. Let's go backstage to Angel. It's not very often that we

hear large voices that can also have such feeling. Firstly, thank you so

much. I was feeling so strong and so deeply whilst I was singing the aria

from Donizetti because this aria is so special for me. This role is one

of my dreams. I'm so happy to perform in here, this aria. Yes,

well we enjoyed your performance. All the best of luck. Thank you so

much. We continue with our powerful support than this. Back to you. --

our powerful performances. And onto our final competitor

in tonight's concert - After two years at university

studying IT, Lukhanyo left to study opera. There are too many singers in

South Africa and only one opera company, so if you are chosen to be

one of their singers, then you are lucky. So you needed to keep on

singing, make sure you don't fall, because when you fall, they will

just pass you. I've tried other competitions but this one is, I

think it's the top. So I decided to take part in this one so that many

people will see me. I'm here for Africa instead of South Africa

because I'm the only African who is here, though it feels great to be

one of the 20. Bravo. The former rugby player who took up

singing when he was injured. He starts his programme

with Verdi's Rigoletto. The Duke of Mantua,

discovering Rigoletto's daughter Gilda gone,

sings of his loss - declaring his love for her

and vowing revenge on whoever The Duke in Rigoletto, a role he has

just sung at Cape Town Opera. The poet Rodolfo seizing

the hand of the young Mimi APPLAUSE

Lukhanyo says he is the only singer from the continent in Cardiff this

year. He's not just singing for South Africa, but for all Africa.

Thomas Sondergard conducted the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. Well,

as we have a South African singer is our guest this evening, Jacques

Imbrailo, we should start immediately with your views on your

company create? You're the bobbin I think you did the country proud. He

sang beautifully. He's so likeable. He has a lovely aura. The voice is a

little bit tense at points, but amazingly, he still manages to take

you along with him. He still gets it out. I was very surprised he would

get through the whole programme after singing it this afternoon as

well. He did a really good job. What wonderful heft, he'd have no problem

in the biggest operetta houses. You could hear that in front of a

massive orchestra, twice that size. It cuts through too much sometimes,

you feel you want a little more yields, a little more warmth in the

tone, but he will learn that. Thanks very much. That's hear from

Lukhanyo. Bravo, you seemed to live the part

of Rodolfo so well. I've never sung Rodolfo, I'd love to sing Rodolfo.

It's the aria I've been singing in many competitions actually. This is

why it fits so well with you? Yes. Bravo to you, fabulous job. That's

the end of round three. Back to you, Petroc.

Thank you, Angel. Joining me is the internationally acclaimed baritone

Wolfgang Holzmair, one of our distinguished panel of judges in the

Cardiff Singer this year. Welcome. We spoke to you before the

competition began. You said you would be looking for above

everything else, above even vocal ability, the ability to tell a

story. Have you heard that so far? I've heard that many times in this

competition. I'm extremely excited, I have to tell you. I'm surprised

about the overall level of all the competitors. It's wonderful. I've

had many times this storytelling. I've seen real personalities

onstage. Well, the voice quality matters a lot. I mean, it's not that

I put it aside. It's just the package. The package contains the

voice, the personality, the storytelling, reaching out to the

audience and at the end forgetting about the competition and just

perform. You work with a lot of young singers. You have a lot of

students. I guess competitions are an essential part of the job of

being a singer now, aren't they? They are because they are in many

cases the real start to a career. They start in smaller theatres, or

do oratorio, then they have to chance to come to such a

competition, which is one of the most distinguished competitions.

They are seen, you know? It's televised. To the world. Yes, they

are seen, and that's a real boost to their career. It means much more

than all the publicity you are doing always for the singers. Well, we

would love to know what goes on behind the closed doors, but that

remains secret. We will let you go there and join your fellow jurors.

Thank you for talking to us, Wolfgang Holzmair. Mary and Angel

have been talking about different aspects of the world of opera

singing. Tonight, they are talking about the different types of voices

we are listening to here in Cardiff. It's interesting to me, when it

comes to singing and just the voice on its own, there are so many things

that make up the voice. There's musicality, there's the artistry,

the charisma, the connection with the piece of music that one is

singing. All of these great little tiny facets that make up the artist.

Absolutely, and are you a lyrical voice, are you a light and high

voice that moves fast, or are you a strong, full toned rich voice,

singing loudly is not enough. Is it? All voices have so many vocal

colours. There are so many vocal colours and those are triggered by

involvement with the words and the drama. Absolutely because if there's

no connection, then how can the feel anything? The audience will feel

nothing. There's a lot of pressure on young singers that they should be

as great as their predecessors and they are thrown very early into

doing huge roles that are very, very demanding. When you think about

people like Grace Bumby, who were doing starring roles, at 23, this

would be unusual now. You can't necessarily compete with those

people. You have to be yourself. Right that goes with being able to

trust herself when she was 23 years old to know she was able to do that

musically and have a connection with it. It's such a large role to thing

at an early age. She had great guidance, it's that thing that makes

you confident as a performer. As the jury consider their verdict let's

remind ourselves who is in contest and this evening. We started tonight

with American baritone John Chest. Thorough, warm, well-prepared,

beautiful voice. English singer Louise Alder followed. A beautiful

voice. Baritone Iurii Samoilov from Ukraine. Lots and lots of character.

It might be too soon for him to go on to the top prize here. Turkish

soprano Ezgi Karakaya. Wrote wonderful instrument, a Rolls-Royce

or voice. From South Africa, tenor Lukhanyo Moyake. Fantastic stamina,

likeable to watch. A very likeable singer. All five after Mike's

competitors also took part in the Song Prize held at the Royal Welsh

College of Music and Drama. You can hear the last round of the Song

Prize on Radio Three tomorrow lunchtime. If you missed the others,

you can catch up with them on the iPlayer radio. The Song Prize final

here on BBC Four, 7:30pm on Saturday evening. As fortnight, what a night.

The tension continues to build. Angel is in the thick of it

backstage. Ewan-macro surprisingly the singers are very relaxed and

there's a wonderful tranquil spirit. I wish I could say the same for me,

I'm excited and nervous for all of them but I think everyone sang to

the best of their ability. We had wonderful coloratura, very dramatic

performances, and overall, very strong competitive evening. Even

though only one singer will be chosen tonight, there's always the

judges' wild card which means on finals night there is another singer

who will have the opportunity to perform that evening. It's also

suspenseful, but it's also very exciting! Very close to win it this

evening. I'm going to push my guests to name who they think should go

through. Lots of things you liked tonight, Jacques. Who will take the

prize for you? I think between the two girls and that Bush I would

think Louise. Mary? I think it will be Louise. I think the jury jury are

about to announce the result. Let's see if they have agreed. Thank you

very much, Jacques and Mary King. Thank you. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa where

once again leads the party onto the stage. She is patron of Cardiff

Singer of the World. David Pountney, Anu Tali, Wolfgang Holzmair, Sumi Jo

and the great American mezzo-soprano, soprano grace bubble.

Cardiff Singer of the World juror. Dame Kiri Te Kanawa will announce

tonight's winner. The winner tonight, Louise Alder. England.

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Louise Alder, the 30-year-old

English soprano singing here in Wales, in Welsh National opera into

Rosenkavalier. The winner of this third round. Jacques? It was the

right choice. A great performance, captivated the whole audience.

Wonderful to hear somebody saying the things they should sing now.

Were thank you both very much, Mary King and Jacques Imbrailo. We will

see Louise Alder alongside Anthony Clark Evans from the USA and

Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar in the Sunday night final. Join us tomorrow night

for the final round of Cardiff Singer 2017, 7:30pm on BBC Four,

singers from Armenia, England, Scotland, Australia and Uzbekistan.

Thank you for your company tonight. On BBC Music date, we leave you with

Moross tonight's winner, Louise Alder. -- BBC Music Day.

# A loving heart, an ever loving heart.