This is the ninth year that the Handel Singing Competition has been held and previous winners have included Andrew Kennedy, Elizabeth Atherton and Erica Eloff. St. George's, Hanover Square is an advantageous venue for singers of 18th century repertoire with good acoustics, a warm atmosphere and the knowledge that Handel himself used to attend services here in his final years.

Opening the evening was soprano Sophie Junker from Belgium who commenced with Merab's “Capricious man” from Saul. She demonstrated a well tuned, strong voice with plenty of character and clearly delineated the conflicted character of the haughty princess. A couple of the low notes were a stretch for her and her English was slightly accented especially in vowel sounds.

Junker followed with Acis' Death scene from Aci, Galatea e Polifemeo. Here her silvery sound and occasional deliberate jagged breaking of lines aptly conveyed the grief of the dying youth. The aria could have taken even more theatrical dolore but perhaps, aware of the relative smallness of the venue, she felt it would be over egging the pudding. She seemed to have a couple of breathing issues in the final section of the scene.

Saving the best for last, Junker delighted the audience with Atalanta's playful “Un cenno leggiadretto” from Serse. She took full advantage of her good looks and strong technique to convey the capricious, flirtatious nature of the character. My only slight criticisms were a failure to open out fully in long held notes and a lack of characterisation during the instrumental sections. Admittedly the latter quality is hard to bring off, especially in a concert session, and, if misjudged, can prove horribly distracting.

The second finalist was the only male singer of the evening. Were there really no tenors or basses good enough? Countertenor Christopher Lowrey went for broke straightaway with Rinaldo's bravura aria “Venti, turbini” written for Nicolini. Depicting the crusader knight summoning waves and tempest to speed him to his revenge the aria is a hair-raising test of the singer's agility and precision. Lowrey's voice is not huge but is a beautiful and very flexible instrument. Again one notes a slight lack of imagination in the phrasing of held notes.

His next aria “Stille amare” is taken from Tolomeo, the last opera Handel wrote for the Royal Academy of Music before its untimely demise. The titular hero drinks a supposedly poisoned cup and the ensuing aria is his farewell to the world and life. The piece calls for long sustained lines and an overwhelming sense of dignified grief (if that isn't too contradictory!). Lowrey showed a strong dramatic instinct and ravishing singing. The account was only marred by very slight pitching issues.

“Rompo i lacci” from Flavio is another piece calling for swiftness and precision. It tests the lower range substantially more than either of the other arias and, at present, it is not Lowrey's strongest area. He also should try to avoid the sense of jogging in time with the coloratura sections. It is a very easy habit to get into but can look unintentionally comical. The dramatic coda to the aria didn't quite come off on this occasion but this is still a voice and talent with huge potential.

Francesca Lombardi Mazzulli was the only native Italian in the final and this showed in her perfect accent and good diction. The soprano chose to commence with the cantata Un alma innamorata and in first section “Quel povero core” she seemed to be experiencing some problems with her voice especially with pitch and intonation. There was also a shortness of range in alt. Paradoxically as she progressed into the second and third sections she seemed to get more into her stride and she executed some felicitous decoration. I had a sense that there is a much bigger voice trying to get out and that possibly Handel will not be her Fach in the long term.

Mazzulli closed her programme (and the act) with Rodelinda's furious “Morrai si, l'empia tua testa”. This showed her at her best and she added some exciting unwritten stretti in the da capo section. However my reservations regarding her long term career path remain.

Soprano Elinor Rolfe Johnson (presumably a relative of the great Anthony?) opened the second half with “Ombre, pianto, urne funeste” from Act 1 of Rodelinda depicting the Queen at Bertarido's monument and mourning her (apparently) dead husband. Rolfe Johnson has a lovely presence and platform manner and (unlike many of the other performers) movingly characterised the long introduction to the aria. Her voice is very beautiful but she needs to pay attention to descending phrases as the line has a tendency to sag. She could afford to bring out more of the grandeur of Rodelinda's grief. Antonacci remains the benchmark in this role.

Rolfe Johnson moved on to one of Handel's Nine German Arias “Flammende Rose” espousing the slightly pantheistic message of seeing the proof of God in the beauty of a rose. Despite looking uncomfortably worried during the aria she brought beauty of tone and well delineated, easy runs. Mention should also be made of the excellent contribution of Leader Oliver Webber in the violin obbligato sections.

Rolfe Johnson closed with “Capricious man”. Here, although one still enjoyed the excellent vocal qualities, she was on less sure ground dramatically. She would be much more suited to the gentler character of Michal. Despite this I found her to be a lovely singer and performer and would have put her in the top two of the evening.

Katie Bray was the only mezzo-soprano of the evening and she tackled two of the big warhorses of the castrati repertoire. “Scherza infida” (written for Carestini, one of the castrati superstars of the period) portrays Ariodante's grief and rage at the perceived betrayal of his love, Ginevra. Where would Handel have been if his characters had just talked to each other? This is a hugely testing aria requiring dramatic declamation and an extensive range. Too often one hears singers resorting to brassy-toned lower notes which seem unconnected to the rest of the voice and this was a danger that Bray conspicuously avoided. She slightly over-attacked the opening phrases resulting in a billowing of tone but she managed the same phrases much better on the repeat section.

Bray closed with “Sorge nell'alma mia”, Tirinto's aria from Act 2 of Imeneo. Although the lowest reaches of the work stretched her Bray brought a really exciting bravura to the piece. This was the first time in the evening when the hairs on the back of the neck were raised.

The final artist of the evening was soprano Sarah Power. For me, although she certainly did not have a faultless programme, she was by some way the most promising artist with a large but agile voice and excellent platform presence. Opening with Ginevra's “Volate, amori” from Act 1 of Ariodante she gave a pretty much faultless performance only needing that absolute sense of joy that the character radiates at this point in the narrative.

For her second aria she gave Morgana's “Credete al mio dolore” from Act 2 of Alcina. This is one of those moments when, if done well, time seems to stand still and no one dares to breathe. Power largely achieved this with some breathtakingly beautiful singing. Unfortunately one also has to note that there was a particular note which gave her severe trouble in both the first and repeated sections.

Finishing with Dorinda's “Amor e qual vento” from Orlando, Power was taxed by some hideously low-lying phrases. One must only assume that they were a speciality of the role's creatrix, Celeste Gismondi, since they don't fit with the rest of the high-lying aria which Power sang beautifully.

For the record the first prize was won by Sophie Junker, second by Christopher Lowrey and the Audience Prize was awarded to Katie Bray.

Sebastian Petit
Opera Britannia