Lexus Song Quest won by Benson Wilson

As with all the recent Lexus Song Quest finals, this one was a close race between the contestants, with the four finalists whittled down from 10 semi-finalists. All of them displayed amazing levels of technical accomplishment and emotional maturity

In the end, it was 25-year-old baritone Benson Wilson of Auckland that judge Yvonne Kenny awarded first prize to at the Grand Final Gala at the Auckland Town Hall. Second place getter was Auckland tenor Filipe Manu and in third place was Hamilton soprano Madison Nonoa, with Auckland bass baritone Tavis Gravatt in fourth place.

The four finalists were all worthy of the award, with many of the audience favouring other contestants but Ms Kenny was basing her judgment on more than the performance at the final concert in Auckland. She had heard them under different conditions and had worked closely with each of them.

Benson Wilson will receive a cash prize of $20,000 and a study scholarship of $27,000, plus international travel up to the value of $3000.

Runner-up Filipe Manu received a cash prize of $8000  supported by the Dame Malvina Major Foundation and a study scholarship of $10,000. The third and fourth place-getters each receive a cash prize of $3500.

Madison Nonoa, who could easily have taken the second place was awarded the $15,000 Kiri Te Kanawa Foundation scholarship "for the singer who shows the most promise."

The four finalists each performed four pieces in front of a live audience – two accompanied by pianist Terence Dennis, and two arias alongside the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Edo de Waart.

Singing his two pieces with the piano accompaniment, Benson Wilson chose an Ibert song in which Don Quixote reflects on his life as he lies on his death bed. Wilson in a dapper white jacket gave an imposing performance. He was Don Quixote conveying a real sense of the man and his reflections on his life.

Technically, he was impressive with his high notes sounding like those of an angel.

Singing a Poulenc, he changed his presentation taking on the role of a showman and in full control of the stage like a consummate actor and he judiciously used his hand gestures to add to his expressive account.

After the two songs, he was an obvious winner but it was with his two arias that he clinched his title singing the role of Fritz / Pierrot from the rarely performed Korngold opera Die Tote Stadt (NBR October 9, 2015), which was initially banned in Germany.

It was a courageous decision to go with a modern work but he seemed to be totally engaged in the character as he sang the haunting work with his superbly controlled voice.

His other aria from Bellini’s I Puritani also allowed him to display his voice as well as his total engagement with the work and his ability to connect with the audience.

Second place-getter Filipe Manu gave a relaxed performance singing Lilburn’s setting of the Glover poem Holiday Piece as well as Strauss’s Allerseelen.  In the Lilburn work he lacked a clear articulation of the words and with the Strauss he was not able to display the emotional dimensions of the piece.

In his arias – from Mozart’s Cosi fan Tutti and Donizetti’s La fille du regiment he displayed a technical competence and a fine voice but this occasionally seemed constricted and lacking real colour. His Donizetti showed him to have an easy stage presence as he performed with a mixture of the dramatic and the comic.

Madison Nonoa sang her first song Strauss’s Standchen with a beautiful lightness and an expressive face, her voice as velvety as her red dress and she also showed a sharper and biting aspect.

Singing Britten’s, The Last Rose of Summer her beguiling voice showed her fully controlled over a big range of volumes and tones and she also displayed a fine coloratura.

Singing Ach, ich fühl¹s, Pamina's aria from Die Zauberflöte she chose well as the aria allowed her to show her voice to the full, expressing deep-seated emotion, handling the higher reaches brilliantly.

Tavis Gravatt began with a song by Schubert and Schonberg allowing him to express a haunted character which he emphasised with discrete gestures, anguish on his face. He followed this with Empty chairs, Empty Tables from Les Miserables where he took a more demonstrative approach

With the orchestra he sang  arias from Gounod’s Faust and Leoncavallo’s I Pagliacci.

The orchestra completed the concert with the Prelude and Liebestod from Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde.

Tune into NBR Radio’s Sunday Business with Andrew Patterson on Sunday morning, for analysis and feature-length interviews.