Dramatic awareness, an essential skill for any opera practitioner, was prominent throughout this RTE concert at the NCH - and not just from the vocalists.
Conductor Colman Pearse, who abetted the efforts of the three young singers admirably, carried the musical drama into the orchestral items played by the National Symphony Orchestra. I particularly liked his unrushed way with the broad melodies of Puccini's Manon Lescaut intermezzo and his controlled pacing of Verdi's stirring Vepres Siciliennes overture.
Russian soprano Elena Voznessenskaia is a find. Her creamy tone, sense of line and dynamic control brought real distinction to Susanna's Deh vieni, Louise's Depuis le jour and, especially, Marfa's aria from Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride. Although not a very big voice, it had a vibrancy that, combined her vocal poise with the qualities already mentioned, suggested even better things to come.
Derry mezzo Doreen Curran, working within a narrower range of dynamics, showed her stylistic versatility in music that ranged from Handel's Ombra mai fu and Sta nel arcani, through Cherubino's Non so piu, to the chilling letter scene from Massenet's Werther. Some of her low notes tended to vanish, and in climactic high phrases there was a sense of little in reserve, but the middle of her range had considerable warmth and her belief in what she was singing about was palpable.
There was warmth, too, in the middle and bottom of Arutjun Kotchinian's voice. And, as long as the pressure was off, the Armenian bass offered good legato and telling declamation, particularly in an aria from Rachmaninov's Aleko and in the first part of the dream narration from Verdi's Attila. But in rumbustious music he resorted to blustering. His competent handling of recitative and his adept way with Mozart style in Figaro's Aprite un po and the trio from Cosi suggested that his immediate future lies in this area rather then in the big dramatic roles.