Int. Voc. Comp. Den Bosch 50-YEARS (Book+CD)

International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch
50-YEARS JUBILEE BOOK (Physical book with included CD)
Full MP3-CD download included
Language book: ENGLISH !!
Pages: 120

FORMAT: Physical book with included CD
© 2014/2026 401DutchDivas/IVC

The 2014 issue of the International Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbosch (IVC) 50-Years Jubilee Book  is lavishly illustrated with hundreds of photographs from the IVC archives and the author’s private IVC archive. All recordings come from the author’s unique IVC collection. It opens with a lengthy illustrated history of the IVC, followed by an annual report of all winners, followed by biographies of the principle artists of that year. An incredible number of singers participated in the competition as off 1954. Starting with Dutch legends such as Elly Ameling or Maria van Dongen, the competition soon attracted international singers such as Ladislav Mráz and Halina Łukomska, Ursula Boese and Edna Graham. The 1960 were renowned for the participations of, among thousands of others, John Wakefield and Lise Arséguet (1960); Yvonne Minton (1961); Jules Bastin, Richard Novák and Giovanna Vighi (1962); Dan Iordăchescu (1963); Bożena Kinasz (1964); Viorica Cortez, Ileana Cotrubaș, Siegmund Nimsgern and Pompeiu Hărăşteanu (1965); Marina Krilovici (1966); Louis Hagen-William (1967); Csilla Zentai (1968); and Maria Slătinaru, Wolfgang Schöne and John Bröcheler (1969), László Polgár (1974), Misuko Shiray (1976), Nelly Miricioiù, Howard Crook (1979). The 1980s welcomed, among many others, Thomas Hampson (1980), Elżbieta Szmytka and Ildikó Komlósi (1982), Judith Malafronte (1983); Lani Poulson and Thomas Mohr (1984); Leontina Văduva (1985); Andrea Rost and Qing Miao (1986), Erik Kurmangaliev (1987); Ruth Ziesak, Adrianne Pieczonka and Claron McFadden (1988); Yvi Jänicke and Werner van Mechelen (1989); Oleg Malikov (1990); Petra Lang and Ralf Lukas (1991); and finally Angelina Ruzzafante (1994), Sophie Koch & Karina Gauvin (1994), Barbara Hannigan (1996), Lenneke Ruiten (2002), Cora Burggraaf & Measha Brueggergosman (2004), Joshua Ellicott & Kinga Dobay (2006), Pretty Yende (2008), Daniela Köhler (2010), nadine Koutcher & Gulnara Shafigullina (2012). All are included with biographies.

Another amazing list would be the jurors through those 50 competitions, starting with Julius Patzak and Franz Völker (1955) to Elisabeth Höngen, Jo Vincent  (1956), Scipio Colombo (1961), Kim Borg (1962),  Janine Micheau (1963), Josef Greindl (1966), Anton Dermota a(1968), Maria Stader (1969); Arta Florescu, Nan Merriman (1971), Gino Bechi, Gré Brouwenstijn (1973), Arthur Eisen (1974), Maureen Lehane  (1982),  Jules Bastin (1989), Carlo Cossutta and Irwin Gage (1991),  Yvonne Minton (1992), Elly Ameling, Ileana Cotrubaș (1994), Grace Bumbry, Júlia Hamari, Tom Krause, Evelyn Lear and Thomas Stewart (1996), Cristina Deutekom, Jewgeni Nesterenko,  John Shirley-Quirk (1998), Roberta Alexander, Nelly Miricioiù, Kenneth Montgomery (2004); Robert Holl and Charlotte Margiono (2006), Hanna Schwarz (2008) Sergei Leiferkus, Dunja Vejzović (2010), Ioan Holender, Siegfried Jerusalem and Peter Schreier (2012), Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Evamaria Wieser (2014).

The book is not just a treasure trove regarding the Internation Vocal Competition ‘s-Hertogenbsoch, but also regarding the way in which the art of opera and song transcended through the decades to the present. A unique feature, only available in the 50 Years Anniversary book, is the audio mp3 download (the physical book comes with a real cd, see there). It starts, amazingly, with recordings preserved on privately recorded tapes from the early 1950s!

The magic of the IVC is that everyone in the audience is a juror. When audience and press favorites such as Geraldine Hackett-Jones (1969) and Olga Maddalena (1961) were sent home empty-handed, audiences openly revolted. Time sided with the jury, as in about 70 percent of the cases where opinions diverged, but Maddalena and Hackett-Jones are IVC legends precisely for the sensation they caused in the heat of the moment. A singer who could move audiences and critics to tears in “Si, mi chiamano Mimì,” as Maddalena did, must have had something going for her. Now everyone interested can finally relive those competitions and judge for themselves!