On Friday, May 31st, the second edition of the International Lied Competition “Bolko von Hochberg” ended in the small hall of the Görlitz town hall (Stadthalle) with the celebratory award ceremony. Awards were given to three international artist Duos (singers and pianists) as well as several special prizes to other finalists and semi-finalists. The idea of a singing competition dedicated to classical song comes from Eleni Ioannidou, an opera singer who has lived in Görlitz for 9 years and who, together with her husband, the sound engineer Heinz Müller, and a few other friends of classical music and Polish- German relations founded the Ars Augusta e.V. society to promote culture and international understanding at Augustastrasse 6 in Görlitz in 2017. The association's projects are dedicated to the research and rediscovery of regional cultural heritage, which is often shared between Poland and Germany. Bolko von Hochberg, the composer and director of the former Silesian Music Festivals, who built an impressive monument with the town hall (Stadthalle), which today stands on the bridge that connects Poland and Germany, has created such a cultural heritage.
Every two years around May-June, hundreds of musicians from all over the world meet in Görlitz and Zgorzelec and present a program with songs from a repertoire selected by the society's chairwoman. This year the theme of the competition was “Orpheus: Spirit of the Renaissance”. The singers and pianists presented a rich program in several languages, dedicated to the poetry of the European Renaissance: from Petrarch, Shakespeare to Lope de Vega or Walter von der Vogelweide. In addition to songs by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf, there were songs in Italian by Franz Liszt, Rossini and Beethoven, in English (after Shakespeare) and in French. 60 artist duos from many countries took up this challenge, so that on May 25th 44 singers and 44 pianists finally came to Görlitz and faced an international jury: The jury, also selected by Eleni Ioannidou, connected Silesia with Saxony and the world: Prof. Alexander Schmalcz and Britta Schwarz from Dresden, Prof. Ewa Biegas and Bartosz Zurakowski from Katowice and Opole; Finally, the director of the Schubertiada Festival in Barcelona, Victor Medem, and the musicologist Alexandros Charkiolakis from Athens completed the jury. Eleni Ioannidou joined the committee as a seventh member.
The luminaries in the field of song art expressed their admiration for the high level of the competition, the beauty of the town hall and the cities of Görlitz and Zgorzelec. After three days of the first round in the Miejski Dom Kultury, the semifinals on Thursday, May 30th, and the final on May 31st, 2024 in the small hall of the town hall, the jurors agreed on three prizes. They awarded it to three sopranos and their piano accompanists, who impressed from the start with their high interpretive skills and their astonishing artistic level. The first prize was unanimously awarded to the English soprano Sarah Gilford, who, together with the Polish pianist Ewa Danilewska, presented a very well-prepared program in the finale and even ventured into rare songs, such as "Na lipę" from the song cycle by the Israeli composer Eynard Pessen, which was published in 2022 "Five songs after Jan Kochanowski” or the song “Spring Winds” by the composer Anna Teichmüller, who is part of the circle around the Hauptmann brothers in Szklarska Poreba (former Schreiberhau). The two artists met in Munich, as participants in the opera studio of the Bavarian State Opera. Since then they have been giving concerts all over Europe: this is the first prize they have won as a duo.
With only half a point difference, the Australian soprano Jessica Harper, who traveled to Görlitz from Antwerp with the Greek pianist Anna Alvizou, received the second prize. Jessica Harper's big, warm operatic voice sounded richly nuanced in the songs of Strauss, Schubert and Liszt. The singer's theatrical temperament, perfectly supported by the equally spirited Greek on the piano, resulted in profound interpretations of the songs. Another soprano, who also presented impressive interpretations, received the third prize: the Greek Theano Papadaki, accompanied by the Belgian pianist Thomas Eeckhout, came to Görlitz from London. Both artists impressed with their sensitive interpretation of a difficult repertoire.
The award for best song accompanist was won by Scottish pianist Daniel Silcock, accompanist of soprano Alexandra Beason. He impressed with his sensitive playing: he knew how to elicit the quietest sounds from the Bechstein grand piano; that was great piano art.
The Audience Award went to a young bass who sang in the semi-finals but did not make it to the finals. This proves that the opinion of the expert jury often varies from the audience's assessment. The young German bass with Polish roots Jan-Henrik Witkowski, accompanied by the Bulgarian pianist Doriana Tchakarova, impressed the audience with his nuanced voice and expression, capable of touching hearts. The audience award means an invitation for the two artists to perform again in Görlitz in 2025.
But the other finalists were also so impressively good that the Polish “Belle Voci” foundation led by Bartosz Zurakowski and the Ars Augusta association led by Eleni Ioannidou awarded further special prizes in the form of invitations to concerts in our city and region in 2025. Ars Augusta awarded the special “Orpheus” prize to soprano Jana Margová from Slovakia. With incredible maturity and stage presence, brilliant voice and strong expressiveness, the charismatic artist, accompanied by her teacher from the Katowice Music School, Prof. Grzegorz Biegas, moved the audience enormously. The tenor Jaewon Jung, who performed such a difficult song repertoire with a lot of soul and intelligence with his enormous voice, won the society´s second Orpheus Special Prize. He was accompanied by the pianist Eunshil Oh, who is both his pianist and wife. The couple traveled to Görlitz with their three-year-old son, who witnessed all of the talented father's preparations. These musicians will be invited to concerts by the society next year. In keeping with the spirit of patron Bolko von Hochberg, the Ars Augusta Society was once again able to support several young musicians. As sponsors of the competition, this was made possible by: the Cultural Foundation of the Free State of Saxony, the Saxon State Ministry of the Interior, the city of Görlitz, the Görlitz department store, the Sparkasse Oberlausitz-Niederschlesien, the Hotel Via Regia in Görlitz, which provided overnight accommodation for the jurors, and the Bechstein piano factory in Seifhennersdorf.
The great success of the competition would not have been possible without the friendly partnership and help as well as the voluntary commitment of several people from Görlitz. The “Johann Adam Hiller” music school made its rooms available to the musicians for practicing, as did the Ars Augusta cultural salon, the Alena gallery and the Peregrinus and Wartburg youth hostels. Friends of the club such as Klaus-Dieter Mende, Susanne Spahn, Gabriele and Richard Albrecht, Alena Becková, Gabriele Schönfelder, Doris Engel, Hubertus Becker as well as the young Colombian Angie Paola Ajiaco and the Polish singing student Alicja Bany, they all formed a solid team of colaborators and made the event a success. The sound recordings of Heinz Müller, the films of the Zgorzelec-based filmmaker Lukasz Chwalko and the young filmmaker from Görlitz Fabian Menzel from the entire competition will be available from June on the competition website and its YouTube channel. For the project of forming a team to organize the next edition, the Ars Augusta Society won a prize in the 2nd prize competition for associations in eastern Upper Lusatia.
The third edition of the song competition with the theme “Sacred Song and Folk Song” will take place in 2026, also around Corpus Christi. Save the dates: from May 30th to June 4th, 2026, also in Zgorzelec and Görlitz. More information will be available on this website soon.
Comments