Quest to soprano

Press, 6 August 1981, Page 6

Quest to soprano

Linden Loader, a mezzosoprano, aged 19, of Wellington, last evening won the Mobil Song Quest final.

An Aucklander, Richard Phillips, and Jillian Bartram, of Christchurch, were placed second and third respectively in the contest, held in the James Hay Theatre. For a young New Zealand singer, the Mobil Song Quest is the ultimate challenge, writes Heath Lees. Hundreds of hopefuls'up. and down the country submit their demonstration tape to the judges and by the night of the finals, only a select dozen remain. For the winner it must feel like “today New Zealand, tomorrow the world.”

It is easy to get carried away though. The world is full of top-class singers. Still, the importance of the quest

and the national interest mat it arouses is undeniable.

This year, the appearance of Dame Joan Hammond, happily revisiting the city of her birth, added extra lustre to the occasion, and distinction to the judging.

On these occasions it is always fun to put your money on a likely winner, but the standard, if not as high as one might have hoped for, was certainly uniform, and whilst this makes for an enjoyable evening it must also make the judging very difficult.

Of the contestants who missed the top three places some mention could be made of the Aucklander Gillian Trott's dramatic projection, and of the sumptuous tone that often emerged in Glenese Metcalfe’s French

aria. With Peter Stewart, of Wanganui, it seemed as though we might break the tradition and produce a real bass, but alas, not this time. By and large, the final half-dozen were much less nervous on their second appearance, but the evening’s tension grew to a climax for the audience.

Linden Loader’s second appearance in a piece by Britten was certainly the high point. She has a full, rich sound, and the quality of tone is maintained all through the voice. In the opinion of this reviewer at least, justice was amply done. The Mobil Song Quest has produced another winner. Whether it has discovered another singer of the calibre of Kiri Te Kanawa is for the future to decide.