美国《纽约时报》对纽约大都会歌剧院声乐比赛进行了报道，来自美国和加拿大55个州（地区）的1500选手参加了本次比赛。经过层层筛选，最终有9名选手进入了总决赛。经过激烈的角逐，5名选手脱颖而出，获得了比赛的优胜奖，实现了登台大都会的梦想。
获奖的5位选手分别为：Patrick Guetti、Julie Adams、李鳌、 Amanda Woodbury、李毅。
Most aspiring opera singers in their mid-20s are still figuring out their voices and learning technique. It is always difficult for the judges to pick the winners of the Metropolitan OperaNational Council Auditions Grand Finals Concert. Are they assessing the performances they hear at the concert or the potential of still-evolving young artists?
More than 1,500 singers participated in the auditions this year, held in 40 districts and 13 regions in the United States and Canada. It all came down to nine artists, ranging in age from 24 to 29, for the 2014 Grand Finals Concert on Sunday afternoon at the Met. Each one sang two arias with the Met Opera Orchestra, conducted by Marco Armiliato. The house, as usual, was packed with opera lovers hoping to hear the stars of tomorrow. And this prestigious competition has an excellent track record in this regard, with past finalists including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Stephanie Blythe, Ben Heppner and, more recently, Angela Meade and Jamie Barton.
The program opened with Christopher Lowrey, a countertenor from Rhode Island. After his ravishing performance of “Furibondo spira il vento,” from Handel’s “Partenope,” I thought he would be a sure winner. His sound was glowing, focused and beautiful. He proved equally impressive in the second half of the program, offering a sensitive “Dove sei, amato bene?,” from Handel’s “Rodelinda,” and winning a rousing reception from the audience.
But he was not one of the five winners, who each received a $15,000 award. Still, Mr. Lowrey should have no problem finding a place for his artistry in the field. That Ao Li, a bass-baritone from China, was a winner suggested that the judges were looking for a complete performance, offering style and flair as well as vocal talent. With his robust voice, he gave a hearty, wily account of Leporello’s “Catalog Aria” from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” and, in complete contrast, an anguished, dark performance of the title character’s cavatina from Rachmaninoff’s “Aleko.”
Two of the winners were audience favorites, judging from the ovations. The Kentucky-born soprano Amanda Woodbury brought a rich, expressive voice and noble phrasing to “Non mi dir,” from “Don Giovanni,” and displayed coloratura agility, sparkle and character in an aria from Thomas’s “Hamlet.” And the soprano Julie Adams, from California, impressed me as the most mature of the winners with her elegant account of an aria from Debussy’s lyric cantata “L’ Enfant Prodigue” and an affecting performance of Mimi’s “Donde lieta uscì” from Puccini’s “La Bohème.” Her voice is rich, full and slightly earthy in an expressive way.
Patrick Guetti, another winner, a lanky bass from New Jersey with a firm, husky voice, seemed completely at home on the Met stage, especially in his gravely compelling account of “Il lacerato spirit,” from Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra,” a father’s lament. He was also impish and charming in “La calunnia,” from Rossini’s “Il Barbiere di Siviglia.”
The fifth winner (they are not ranked) was another young Chinese artist, Yi Li, a tenor, who gave an ardent account of “De’ miei bollenti spiriti,” from “Verdi’s “La Traviata,” and was better still in “Pourquoi me réveiller,” from Massenet’s “Werther.”
Rexford Tester, an appealing tenor from Virginia; Rafael Moras, a promising tenor from Texas; and Nicole Haslett, a technically accomplished coloratura soprano from New Jersey, were the other finalists. The winners were announced by the tenor Lawrence Brownlee, the program’s affable host, and the soprano Susanna Phillips, the guest artist, who had sung “Dove sono,” from Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro,” as the judges were in their final deliberations. Both of these artists, now essential to the Met, were past National Council winners. Those were good calls.
