THE NEW ZEALAND OPERA SOCIETY

Century Theatre, Napier, 27 March
Review by Peter Williams

The standard of performance in the preliminary round of the Napier Performing Arts Competitions Society’s aria contest produced many excellent performances, with several singers who would have considered themselves unfortunate not to have been among the six finalists.

The Society was delighted with both the very high standard and the increased number of entries in this year’s Napier Computer Systems Aria Contest, held as part of the annual Easter Festival.

The Final turned out to be somewhat of a preview of the Lexus contest, with three of the six Lexus finalists singing in Napier – mezzo-soprano Madeleine Pierard, soprano Allison Cormack and baritone Jamie Frater. The other finalists were Christchurch soprano Sarah Walker, baritone Matt Landreth from Dunedin and Napier baritone Phillip Rhodes.

In announcing the results, vocal adjudicator Vernon Midgley from Christchurch enthused over the high quality of many of the performances. “Tonight we heard compelling performances showing technical skill, star quality and the ability to engage an audience,” he commented. “The finest performances showed complete understanding of the character being portrayed and of the story of the opera.”

Napier mezzo-soprano Madeleine Pierard was presented with the Napier Computer Systems first prize of $4,000 for her outstanding performances of ‘Parto, Parto, ma tu, ben mio’ from La Clemenza di Tito by Mozart and ‘Una voce poco fa’ from The Barber of Seville.

The second prize of $2,000 was awarded to Phillip Rhodes for his performance of ‘Non piu andrai’ from The Marriage of Figaro, and ‘Credo in un Dio crudel’ from Verdi’s Otello, while the third prize of $1,000 was won by soprano Sarah Walker from Christchurch for her singing of ‘Tu che di Gel’ from Turandot and ‘Leise, Leise’ from Weber’s Der Freischütz. Each of the other finalists received a prize of $500 sponsored by the Port of Napier.

Compere Barry Fell gave excellent introductions to each of the items and paid very well deserved compliments to the four accompanists, Adrienne van Drimmelen, Catherine Norton, Sally Rutgers and David Kelly for their highly skilled and sensitive support of the singers.

The Society President, Denyse Watkins, praised the sponsors for their foresight and generosity in supporting the competition, and urged continuing support as the Society looks towards its centenary in 2008.

The large and wildly enthusiastic audience at the Final were obviously delighted that first and second places were awarded to Hawke’s Bay singers. Madeleine Pierard scored a double success by also winning the H B Song and Opera Recital class the previous evening.