Ukrainian wins Haydn competition – noe.ORF.at

This time, 32 singers were invited to the competition from 55 registrations, six of them made it to the final round. The jury, chaired by Kammersängerin Angelika Kirchschlager, was absolutely not to be envied.

Haydn’s dramatic and hyper-emotional interpretation of the aria “Perché se tanti siete” from the “Scena di Berenice” seemed almost a pre-programmed statement on pain and suffering to suggest the decision for the only Ukrainian participant. At the same time, the Russian soprano Mariia Alkhovik knew how to impress at least as much with her sovereign expression and convincing creative power – she finally won the second prize, which is endowed with 4,000 euros by the Haydnregion Niederösterreich.

At least nobody went away empty-handed from the final round. A Russian singer, Ekaterina Protsenko, also won the third prize (2,000 euros from the market town of Rohrau). The special prize for the best interpretation of a song was awarded to the Austrian baritone Benjamin Sattleder, that for the best interpretation of an aria to the soprano Natalie Weinberg (USA).

The audience got involved via YouTube

The Abkhazian baritone Said Gobechiya was able to accept the audience award donated by Alfred Dorfer with 2,000 euros (with a total of 1,199 votes, because the final round could also be followed live on YouTube). Dorfer expressed his delight that the audience has returned “at a time when a lot is being asked of us, just not thinking for ourselves”.

Michael Linsbauer, artistic director of the Haydn region of Lower Austria, was satisfied with the course of the competition and with the careers of previous participants and award winners from previous years. It was “a very loving competition”, emphasized jury chair Kirchschlager and gave the explanation for this as a message: “Everything works much better when people respect each other and treat each other lovingly. This competition really is proof of that.”

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