1970 CONCERT

According to both the critic H. J. Z. And long time IVC reviewer C. De Jong-Stolle, Schuichi Takahashi only lived up to the expectations that his Great Prize had raised, in his last aria of the evening, ‘Ella giamai m’amo’ from Verdi’s Don Carlo:

‘There he once again had that noble and touching quality in his voice and his diction that had brought him such glory in the competition.’

On the other hand, he might not have gained the Great Prize had Sona Ghazarian, First Prizewinner among sopranos, sung as splendidly in the finals as she did during the concert, though De Jong–Stolle:

‘Her singing, her appearance, her charisma and her way of performing conquered the hearts of all. She received thunderous applause from the audience, that clearly elected her the favorite of the evening, and rightfully so. She sang effortlessly, crystal clear and with great purity in her arias by Verdi and Gounod.’

In different words, H.J.Z. wholly agreed, saying that she demonstrated a true talent for the operatic.

De Jong–Stolle thought Christiane Issartel and Georgette Sezonov not wholly up to their staus as Second Prizewinners. H.J. Z. There against believed Sezonov was perhaps not up to the competition of Sonia Ghazarian, but she held her ground. According to him, Issartel would have fared better by repeating her brilliant rendition of the excerpt of Poulenc’s La voix humaine, which she had sung during the finals. Since this was ‘technically impossible’ (perhaps due to the absence of an orchestra score), she had to switch to repertoire (Mozart’s Così fan tutte) in which she could not reveal her expressive gifts in the same way. Soto Papulkas’ was likewise less convincing than he had been during the competition. H.J.Z. noted that he had a nice lyric tenor voice, but he was not yet a complete artist, which was really required for Tamino’s aria from Die Zauberflöte. According to De Jong–Stolle, tenor Charles Corp fared much better in “Every valley’ from Händel’s The Messiah, whereas H. J. Z. Thought exactly the opposite. Erich Knodt convinced both critics in Leporello’s ‘Catalogue aria’ from Mozart’s Don Giovanni, although De Jong-Stolle noted that he still seemed preoccupied with his technique rather than with the music as such. The surprise of the evening was the oratorio alto Helen Attfield, who unexpectedly manifested her as a dramatic opera soprano of sorts, wrote both critics. According to H. J. Z. the entire concert only started from her inspiring the orchestra and the competition: ‘Her war, deep alto voice was much admired.’

Within the limits of the provisory conditions, the usual compliments were reserved for Hein Jordans and the Brabant Orchestra.