Anastasiya Taratorkina would probably not have been fobbed off with second place in the past either.

The Russian-born singer can apparently completely transform her soprano at will and in no time at all: Fragile and pleading, she embodies Anne Trulove in a scene from Stravinsky’s “The Rake’s Progress”, while her Norina from Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” is much more bel canto-like and full-bodied. The audience award, which she also received, was a certainty: Even under everyday masks, you can feel how the listeners smile when Anastasiya Taratorkina plays kittenishly with the colouratura.