As a full house gathered in the Savoy Theatre, the audience well represented the tone of the evening: a division between the old and the new, the traditional and the groundbreaking. Along with the divas in the beaded dresses, and the patrons in furs, there was a young and hip faction, best represented by Barrie Kosky of the Komische Oper Berlin, sporting a hip pair of sneakers with his evening attire. This theme carried on throughout the evening, with veiled references about the sad state of opera today often counteracted with optimism and evidence of the art form’s continuous vitality and evolution. 

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Richard E. Grant made for a great host. The running gag of him trying to pitch his new opera, “Reg”, about a simple peasant/super-spy and his nemesis the pirate queen was hit and miss, but he was always sensitive to the audience, supremely charming, and kept the pace moving (coming in only 5 min over).

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The first low note of the evening came as the Philanthropist Award was presented to Ann Ziff. As Peter Gelb was unable to attend the awards, he sent a message to be read on his behalf. The letter was as elitist and smug as anything Mr. Gelb has ever said in person. It talked about his regrettable absence, and jokingly warned the attendants present to stay away from Ms. Ziff and her deep purse. The note was riddled with first person pronouns, as Mr. Gelb proclaimed that to him, Ms. Ziff is the philanthropist of a lifetime (apparently only for the Met, of course). It all came off as condescending and self involved, even to members of the audience unfamiliar with Mr. Gelb’s particular charms. 

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A true nigh note of the evening was a video message from Conductor winner Semyon Bychkov, filled with humility and grace, speaking of the best instrument in the world: the beauty that fills the hearts and souls of his colleagues. 

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Graham Vick, accepting the New Production award for Birmingham Opera Company’s production of Khovanskygate, countered earlier comments about opera audience age averaging over 65 years by stressing that Birmingham Opera’s average audience age is under forty, and that “50 percent of them were black or of mixed ethnicity”. He made a call that this infusion of youth and diversity is the future of opera and needs to be talked about. A refreshing breath of fresh air in an industry desperately needing this type of vision and initiative. 

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The evening’s live performances had the tendency to suffer from poor programming, especially represented by Male Singer nominee John Osborne, who performed an aria from Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini. Although finely phrased, the piece was too obscure, did not show the tenor off, and was a touch too long, resulting in the audience checking out midway through the performance. 

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Barrie Kosky

While accepting the Opera Company award for the Komische Oper Berlin, Barrie Kosky spoke about authenticity, presenting a large portion of the works in the original language, and opera as “living vital music theatre”.

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One of the most touching moments of the evening came as Lawrence Brownlee presented Speight Jenkins with the Lifetime Achievement Award. Mr. Brownlee spoke with endearing sincerity about Mr. Jenkins’ unwavering support, and followed the presentation with a superb rendition of the Italian Singer’s Aria from Strauss’ Die Rosenkavalier. Among the performances of the evening, this one truly shined. 

In an evening otherwise filled with class, Nicholas Payne made an unnecessary jab at soprano Anja Harteros, as he received the Female Singer award on her behalf, snidely remarking that her inability to attend was “not the first time in London”. What followed was a heartfelt acceptance note by Ms. Harteros, promising to continue to do her best for her audiences. 

Soprano Aleksandra Kurzak seemed truly surprised to win the Readers award (the joint winner, Jonas Kaufmann, was absent), and gave a beautiful performance of “O mio babbino caro”. A perfect finish to a wonderful night.