"and the WINNER is..."
Over two exciting nights, Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 February 2023, thirteen exceptional finalists competed for a prize pool of $ 9,000 for the Inaugural Nicholas Tarling Aria Competition on the stage of the BNZ Theatre at the Due Drop Events Centre, Manukau.
The First Prize of $ 5,000 was shared by Katherine Winitana, soprano and Emmanuel Fonoti-Fuimaono, tenor. Katherine, Ngāti Kahungunu and Ngaariki Kaiputahi, born in Flaxmere, Hawke’s Bay, wooed the judges and the audience with a moving rendition of Puccini’s ‘Chi’il bel sogno di Doretta’ from La Rondine. Emmanuel gave a captivating performance of Massenet’s ‘Pourquoi me reveiller’. Maeve Herd placed as the secure second spot winning $ 3,000 with an inspiring “Eccomi in lieta vesta… Oh quante volte!” aria by Bellini.
Alexandra Francis, soprano and tenor Shiddharth Chand were joint winners of the $ 1,000 ‘Most Promising Singer Award’. Alexandra transported us into Handel’s plot of Julius Caesar when Cleopatra contemplating her demise sings “I shall lament my fate so cruel and so wicked, as long as I breathe”. Shiddharth displayed fine virtuosity and poked good fun at ‘Ah! Mes Amis’ by Donizetti from La Fille du Regiment.
The Finalists’ Concert was a huge success. Competing singers were selected from over 50 diverse entries. Rosemary Barnes, the competition’s official accompanist, provided exemplary support for every nuance of each singer and style throughout the evening. Nicholas Reid, MC for the night, gave succinct and informative introductions to each aria.
The BNZ Theatre, with its excellent acoustics, first-class Steinway Concert Grand and comfortable seating, proved an inviting venue for this new event which is surely here to stay for years to come.
www.tarlingaria.org.nz
