Perhaps the golden age of singers have passed us by. Young and up & coming soprano Nicole Cabelle (2005 Cardiff Singer of the World winner) graced our 2010 gala concert on 18 September 2010. Unfortunately, she has a bad habit of garbling her words and her diction was in general very poor. There were various tests of her ability as she sung arias by Mozart (from Figaro), Puccini (Gianni Schicchi & La Boheme), Dvorak (Rusalka) and Gounod (Faust). An encore of Gershwin's Summertime re-inforced my view that she has poor clarity of diction and articulation.
The MPO under Flor gave a mixed performance. The first overture (Mozart's Magic Flute had some moments of un-characteristic poor ensemble as well as staid woodwind phrasing (in the flute & oboe scales). The Verdi Sicilian Vespers Overture was much better played - very dynamic playing. Dvorak's My Home Overture fell into an area of relative uninspired playing again before some superb and elegant phrasing (with lovely rubato) in Gounod's Faust Ballet Music (slightly abriged) from the MPO & Flor.
For my money, the Gounod Faust Ballet Music was the best piece of the night. Hopefully, Flor & the MPO can programme the whole piece in a future concert in the coming years (as I was taken by their performance this time).
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