Stars on the horizon
One of the world`s most prestigious international singing forums, Operalia, the brainchild of the legendary Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo, will kick off on Monday and take place in Russia for the first time in nearly two decades.
ґSince the first edition of the music tournament held in Paris back in1993, The World Opera Competition has been held annually in different cities across the world, from Mexico to Tokyo.
Over 800 applications from aspiring singers were submitted to the competition this year. In the long run, only 40 finalists from 20 countries have been chosen, with nine participants flying the flag for Russia. Twenty of the singers will be admitted to the semi-finals and ten to the finals. One of the highlights, a gala concert, will be conducted by Placido Domingo himself.
Russia`s luminaries Galina Vishnevskaya and Dmitry Hvorostovsky will be sitting on the jury, among others.
The jury of ten opera masters, presided over by Plácido Domingo as a non-voting member, will hear the finalists during two days of quarter-finals in Moscow.
Held under Domingo`s artistic guidance, Operalia is open to all voice categories for singers from 18 to 30 years old keen to perform on the world?s great opera stages.
His goal is to attract singers from all around the globe and to let them be heard by a panel of distinguished international opera personalities.
Winning a prize is only the beginning of each singer`s creative union with Operalia. Given that the jury is comprised for the most part of opera house directors, the jury members often invite the singers to perform in future productions in their theaters. Plácido Domingo himself, as a singer, conductor and director of the opera companies of Los Angeles and Washington, DC, takes a sincere interest in the career development of Operalia singers.
"My purpose in Operalia is to help identify not only the best voices, but also to discover those singers whose personalities, characters and powers of interpretation show that they have the potential to become complete artists. Individuals such as these become tomorrow`s stars. This is why the jury is not exclusively made up of great singers, but also includes general managers, stage directors and casting directors. The importance of the international jury of each Operalia competition has helped to create the necessary stir and has usually led to important engagements for these artists," Placido Domingo is quoted as saying.
Apart from lucrative professional offers, top winners of Operalia will take home a $30,000 reward.
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