Before last weekend’s Met Grand Finals (now officially known as the Eric and Dominique Laffont Competition), I had attended this annual event in person only once. That was in 2001, and even 22 years later, it remains a happy memory: a dear friend, the soprano Melissa Citro, won Second Place, and Lawrence Brownlee, to the roaring approval of the crowd, took First.
But I’m no stranger to this kind of event. Every year, I go to the Academy of Vocal Arts’ Giargiari Bel Canto Competition here in Philadelphia (and I’ve written about several of them for Parterre). Decades before, when I lived in Los Angeles, I was a frequent audience member of the regional Met Semi-Finals and various similar competitions, which gave me my first glimpses of many singers who established themselves later, including the as-yet-unknown Deborah Voigt and Leona Mitchell. (Yes, I am that old.)
At all of these vocal contests, including this one, I find myself fascinated and perplexed by the same question: What exactly are the judges looking for?…
Click here to read the full review at Parterre Box.
Categories: Criticism, Music, PARTERRE BOX
reclining standards 