LINCOLN CENTER

Metropolitan Opera

National Council Grand Finals

This is our 3rd year to attend the National Finals.  It is always a hoot! The singers are all wonderful, the venue is filled, and the audience keeps score of the singers in their programs.  After each singer the house buzzes with conversations and the singers are evaluated.  It is a competition.

Today was no exception.  All the singers were good and all the songs they sang were "showstoppers."

At the end, though, something special happened.  We came to New York to find those transcendental moments during which it is evident that we're experiencing something really special.  That happened this afternoon.

While the judges were tallying their results, a performing member of the Metropolitan Opera fills that time with some singing.  This afternoon, Angela Meade sang two operatic "candysticks"; "Casta Diva" from Norma by Bellini and "Ebbed? Ne Sandro lantern" from "La Wally" by Catalani.  The music was amazingly beautiful and the human voice was why we moved to New York.

A human standing alone on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House with a full orchestra is a setting for fear, anticipation, and wonder.  Angela Meade filled a very big space with nothing but her voice.  It was wonderful.

This is not Angela Meade but it is Rene Fleming singing from La Wally...

Rene Fleming again singing "Casta Diva."

"The Met’s annual National Council Grand Finals Concert allows several of the finest young singers in the U.S. and Canada to impress some of the world’s most perceptive judges of talent, and, hopefully, to embark on major careers. The soprano Angela Meade, one of the most renowned of the recent winners, will host the event and also sing; Fabio Luisi, the company’s principal conductor, is on the podium."

"Some of today's greatest singers got their start in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Stephanie Blythe, Ben Heppner, Patricia Racette, Samuel Ramey, Deborah Voigt and Frederica von Stade."

"The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist, promote, and develop young opera singers. The competition is held in four stages: Districts, Regional, Semi-Final, and Final competitions. Each stage is judged by a panel of representatives from the Metropolitan Opera. There are a total of 14 regional competitions within the United States and Canada and 41 district competitions within each region. Winners from the district competition compete in Regionals, and then the winners of regionals are awarded a trip to New York City where they compete on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in the National Semi-Final Competition. Approximately 10 semi-finalists are chosen to compete in the final competition, 5 of which are awarded a grand prize of $15,000 and the remainder of which are awarded $5,000."

Met Competition Features Nation’s Top Opera Talent

The winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, left to right, Reginald Smith Jr, Marina Costa-Jackson, Nicholas Brownlee, Virginie Verrez and Joseph Dennis on Sunday. 

By Pia Catton

March 22, 2015 9:23 p.m. ET

Some of opera’s rising stars performed in a career-making concert on Sunday: the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions, a competition that helped launch international stars such as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson.

Out of nine finalists, five won individual cash prizes of $15,000. The competition is structured to award as many as five winners, though in some years fewer awards are given.

The 2015 winners are: Joseph Dennis, tenor, 30 years old; Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano, 26; Nicholas Brownlee, bass-baritone, 25; Marina Costa-Jackson, soprano, 27; and Reginald Smith Jr., baritone, 26.

Each of the nine finalists took the stage twice, singing alone onstage accompanied by the Met orchestra led by principal conductor Fabio Luisi.

Their work ranged from popular arias, such as Mr. Brownlee’s rendition of “Madamina, il catalogo è questo” from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” to rarities such as Mr. Smith’s performance of “Oh, Lawd Jesus, heah my prayer” from Louis Gruenberg’s “The Emperor Jones,” which premiered at the Met in 1933 and hasn’t been performed there since 1934.

“It was appreciated by the orchestra,” said Mr. Luisi, who led the musicians in learning the work for this occasion.

Arias last only a few minutes, but those few minutes on the Met stage have the potential to be life-changing. Mr. Smith said what calmed him was seeing Mr. Luisi in the pit. “He’s a relaxing conductor. You see him there smiling.”

To reach this level, the singers had previously won regional and district competitions, then came to New York for a semifinal round last Sunday that was closed to the public. 

Finalists were chosen by a panel of opera experts from the Met and other companies.

On Sunday, each finalist sang two arias onstage, then, while the judges deliberated, the audience was treated to a performance by 2007 winner Angela Meade, whose career trajectory is something any young star could envy. 

After the National Council performances, she was asked to cover, or understudy, at the Met—and when the lead soprano fell ill, Ms. Meade made her professional operatic debut at the Met in Verdi’s “Ernani.” 

On Sunday, Ms. Meade performed “Ebben?…Ne andrò lontana” from Catalani’s “La Wally” and “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s “Norma.”

“Even after eight years, that took me right back to the same place,” she told the audience after singing.

Now in its 62nd year, the National Council Auditions are designed to identify exceptional singers, but also to create a pipeline of talent for the Met Opera. 

The performance was as well-attended as most operas, and patrons packed the reception to meet the singers and seek autographs. 

After the performance, the winners and finalists—Jared Bybee, baritone, 28; Allegra De Vita, mezzo-soprano, 25; Kathryn Henry, soprano, 22; and Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano, 26—were toasted by Met general manager Peter Gelb.

Asked what she might do with her prize money, Ms. Verrez cited the high cost of training and auditioning: “I owe a lot of money to my mother.”

Below shows something interesting.  The Metropolitan Opera joins the wheelchair community with the Cocktail Bar.

The ushers help all patrons using assistance to their seats and then removes their devices to the lobby during the performance.  It's at that point that the wheelchairs, walkers, and cocktails become one.