Catriona Morison wins BBC Cardiff Singer of the World

Mezzo soprano Catriona Morison has won the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition 2017. The 31-year-old Scot overcame a strong field to take home the coveted Cardiff Trophy and GBP15,000 (€17,000) in prize money.

The result was something of a surprise, with Morison only making it through to the final on 18 June as a wildcard selection. Morison was also joint winner of the Song Prize (awarded on 16 June) with Mongolian baritone Ariunbaatar Ganbaatar.

In the final round she performed songs from Rossini’s Tancredi, Strauss’ Die Rosenkavalier, Ravel’s L’heure espagnole and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. Morison, a member of Wuppertal Opera in Germany, will next take to the stage as Maddalena in the company’s production of Rigoletto on 22 June.

Meanwhile, English soprano Louise Adler won the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize and picked up a cheque for GBP2,500. The other three finalists on Sunday were tenor Kang Wang (Australia), baritone Anthony Clark Evans (US) and Ganbaatar.

bbc.co.uk/cardiffsinger