KEY POINTS:
It was one of the performances of the year, as Phillip Rhodes gave a reprise of Leoncavallo's "Si puo? Signore, Signori", after winning this year's Lexus Song Quest. And, yes, we were all sure that this dynamic young baritone could have followed it with another sing through his electrifying "Credo" from Verdi's Otello.
The evening had run as expected, with six finalists each giving a lied, or song, followed by two arias - the songs with masterly accompaniments from pianist Terence Dennis, the arias with full lashings of NZSO brilliance, conducted by Michael Lloyd.
Necks craned occasionally to catch a glimpse of judge Elizabeth Connell, although MC Christopher Doig worked smoothly from item to item, using his own experience as a Mobil Song Quest winner and international tenor to background each offering.
The first flaws appeared in the lieder section.
Bass Wade Kernot seemed uncomfortable in the lower reaches of Brahms' "Denn es gehet dem Menschen" and could have communicated more with his audience; Frances Moore did not penetrate very deeply or confidently into Wolf's "Bedeckt mich mit Blumen".
Emma Fraser pushed Strauss' "Huldigung" to the brink of sprechgesang and the flamboyant Aivale Cole gave the full diva treatment to John Woolrich's tiresomely facetious "Poor Mr Snail".
The first aria revealed potential. Claire Barton, whose Brahms lied had shown a real engagement with words and music, delivered a feisty "Di tanti Palpiti" from Rossini's Tancredi.
Kernot did not quite manage the depths of "O Isis and Osiris"; Fraser gave us Handel's "Ho perduta" as a languid throwaway. Moore's "Hear ye Israel" was simply dull and Cole's full-on acting in Mozart's "Come Scoglio" didn't compensate for rough passage work and the occasional very un-Mozartian yelp.
By the third round, adrenalin was well and truly flowing.
Kernot secured attention by soaring into a higher register and adding dramatic clout to Verdi's "Ella giammai m'amo", while Barton's "Divinites du Styx" went down a notch or two in the energy stakes.
Cole held nothing back for Strauss' "Es gibt ein Reich", but memories of snails and rocky coloratura could not be erased; Fraser, with a change of gown, glittered as Manon in "Je marche sur tous les chemins".
She basked in effortless coloratura and the knowing little touches of Massenet's orchestration, using a burst of early applause to wag her finger at the audience before she continued.
It was a star turn.
Kernot would carry off second prize and Fraser third.
Throughout, Rhodes showed a consistency that no one could equal.
First up, he had chosen an English artsong in Finzi's "Come away Death" and delivered it movingly.
His playful yet slightly menacing Leoncavallo Prologue made one feel cheated in not seeing the whole opera.
His final mafioso "Credo", pointing and gesticulating like a villain from The Sopranos, nailed his victory, not surprising for those of us who experienced Rhodes as Monostatos in last year's The Magic Flute, or as the Clock in Opera Factory's Les Enfant et les Sortileges.
Connell's speech was perfectly pitched. She was cheered for her brave "Tena kotu" before she reminded us of the significance of the event's title.
The use of the word "song" meant that singers had to balance the heft of the operatic aria with the finesse of the recital song; labelling it a "quest" rather than a "competition" inferred that this was not so much gladiatorial combat as a journey of discovery for each singer as they searched for their Holy Grail.
Rhodes is well on his way and many will be eager to see him, come October, in NBR New Zealand Opera's Turandot.
