Peter van der Lint – Trouw
Photo: Swinkels van Hees
A cluster of countertenors is being presented in the Toonzaal in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. One after another each of them attempts to show off what he can do as well as possible in arias by Purcell, Bach, Handel and Rossini to a jury of five Dutch singers in the imposing concert hall. The male soprano from Poland, the identical twin brother (vocal cords and all) of a baritone who is also taking part, has already been heard by the jury.
The International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch began its international eliminatory rounds this afternoon, with 140 singers from 34 different countries listed as taking part. This is many more than in previous competitions; a new feeling of enthusiasm now infuses the once famous competition and can be clearly felt in the auditorium.
This can be attributed to the new director of the Competition, mezzo soprano Annett Andriesen, who has energetically set her shoulder to the wheel for the benefit of the International Vocal Competition (IVC); the competition has existed for more than fifty years and numbers such renowned singers as Elly Ameling, Ileana Cotrubas, Robert Holl, Jard van Nes, Nelly Miricioiu and Thomas Hampson amongst its prize-winners. Annett Andriesen was herself one of the prizewinners in the 1975 competition and retains fond memories of that year’s competition.
The competition, however, had suffered a severe drop in influence and popularity in recent years; Four years ago the exuberant Canadian soprano Measha Brueggergosman was a magnificent winner — and is now making an international career — but the value and prestige of the competition had nonetheless decreased considerably.
‘It had lost its soul and the fun had gone out of it’ is Andriesen’s description of the last few competitions. She has remained faithful to the competition over this time, partially because she was also a member of its board of directors, and she knows what she is talking about. ‘The competition as a whole was far too inward-looking; there was far too little connection with the international vocal world. Times have greatly changed since the 1970s; at that time there was ‘s-Hertogenbosch and maybe five other competitions in the world and that was that. Now there are important competitions in Brussels and Cardiff as well, both of which enjoy a great deal of media coverage and their finals presented live on TV.’
Andriesen intends to realise something similar in den Bosch. She has already arranged that the NPS and AVRO will be media partners of the competition in 2010 and has in the meanwhile invested heavily in professional film clips that will be screened on the competition’s own video website and will also be broadcast on Cultura between 19 and 29 September.
‘We’re giving the IVC a makeover’ is Andriesen’s motto. ‘The time when you could send a packet of brochures in the post to Siberia has gone for good. Everything has to be on the Internet now. If someone searches for a singing competition on Google, then your organisation must be prominently represented. You have to have a presence on other important websites as well. I dream that will be possible in the future to have singers audition over the Internet. To increase our international visibility we have held preliminary elimination rounds for this year’s competition in New York and in Riga. I wanted to take a look at one of the new member states of the EC and the Latvians were very happy to see us. They already have a connection with the Netherlands through Mariss Jansons, the chief conductor of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, who is Latvian. They would like very much to learn about the developments in vocal style that have taken place here in the West. The casting director of the Latvian Opera will be one of the members of the international jury for this year’s competition.’
When the previous director of the IVC departed without warning, the board of directors looked around to see who could replace him on a temporary basis. Andriesen: ‘I have had quite a lot of experience organising things — I can easily send an email, you might say. To tell the truth, I had not known that there had been a vacancy when my predecessor took over from the director before him, otherwise I would have applied for it then. Now that I occupy the Director’s chair myself, I have realised that I possess a large network of connections. People involved in opera such as the heads of the studios of the Opéra de Paris and the Semperoper in Dresden will be coming to the finals. The Netherlands Opera is presenting an engagement prize for the first time and that is extremely important. You see everywhere that ‘s-Hertogenbosch still has a name and a reputation. I interviewed previous prize-winner Thomas Hampson for the website and he was full of praise for the competition.’
Andriesen thinks that a lot has changed since she herself took part in the competition. ‘The singer’s world has become much more difficult. It is now much more important to sing well and to start getting contracts immediately. Singers now entrust their careers to agents, not that that is incorrect, but there are now two or three career layers that you have to get through before you come into your own. The idea of a vocal competition as such has also changed; they are now much more focused on gaining work and I am not completely in support of this. Many opera intendants sit here in the finals waiting to sign up promising singers, while it is more important for a singer to get everything right and working properly on a purely musical level. If you want to raise the level of a competition you have to take the composition of the jury into account; if there are only opera intendants there then that is the least pleasing solution. This year we have three representatives from opera houses, one of whom is a singer and another a musician; that already makes a difference.’
What type of singer would be Andriesen’s ideal winner this year?
Someone who is not too old and who has enough perspective to grow from the experience. I also think that it’s very important that the special Lieder Prize is awarded to exactly the right person.’
To guard against a drop in standards the Competition has re-established the rule that the First Prize will not be awarded if it is considered that the level is not high enough. There is now only one main prize, the second and third prizes have been abolished. ‘Every competitor can observe every part of the competition. You learn so much by watching other people. When I competed in Oostende in 1977 I saw and heard Waltraud Meier rehearsing and I knew immediately that she would win. That’s not discouraging at all, it’s stimulating. I was always very modest when I competed; you meet so many great people and the sun comes up the next day regardless.’
