Placido Domingo - Operalia 18-24 July 2011

OPERALIA MOSCOW 2011

“Come and meet the next generation of opera stars!”

Rolex has once again joined Plácido Domingo to present and celebrate the annual World Opera Competition OPERALIA, which will be held in Moscow from July 18th to 24th of this year of 2011, at the historic Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater. Forty young competitors of all voice ranges and from all around the world will be flown to the Russian capital to participate in the preliminary rounds of the competition before an international panel of experts; twenty of the singers will continue on to the semi-finals and, thereafter, ten singers will reach the final round presented as a Gala concert to be conducted by Plácido Domingo himself.  OPERALIA was created in 1993 with the mission of discovering, nurturing and ultimately launching the careers of some of the most gifted young vocal artists of our time. Each year, the competition is held in a different city hosted by that city’s most important Opera House and Orchestra, and each year Maestro Domingo selects a experienced panel of judges amongst the artistic administrators and directors of some of the world’s major opera companies, qualified not only to audition, judge and award the prize money but also to very possibly recommend and engage these young singers for their theater’s upcoming productions. In other words, participating in OPERALIA is not only a very prestigious and competitive venture but it can be a real stepping-stone to a career. Previous OPERALIA winners include Ainhoa Arteta, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Joseph Calleja, José Cura, Joyce DiDonato, Giuseppe Filianoti, Elizabeth Futral, Joseph Kaiser, Inva Mula, Eric Owens, Erwin Schrott, Nina Stemme, Ludovic Tézier, Rolando Villazon, Elena Manistina, Dmitry Korchak, Vasiliy Ladyuk, Alexey Kudrya, Julia Novikova, Sonya Yoncheva among many other current stars lighting up Opera stages around the world.

This year’s Money Prizes will include:

• Two First Prizes* US$30,000

• Two Second Prizes* US$20,000

• Two Third Prizes* US$10,000

• Two Birgit Nilsson Prizes (Wagner-Strauss repertoire)* US$15,000

• The Pepita Embil Domingo Zarzuela Prize US$10,000

• The Don Plácido Domingo, Sr., Zarzuela Prize US$10,000

• Two Audience Prizes* Watches offered by Rolex

• The Culturarte Prize US$10,000

• Ex aequo prizes

* One each for the best female and best male singer.

In previous years, OPERALIA has taken place in the following venues:

• 1993, Paris (Palais Garnier) • 1994, Mexico City (Televisa Recording Studios) • 1995, Madrid (Teatro de la Zarzuela) • 1996, Bordeaux (Grand Théâtre) • 1997, Tokyo (Yuport Kan-I Hoken Hall) • 1998, Hamburg (Musikhalle) • 1999, Puerto Rico (Centro de Bellas Artes, Luis A. Ferré) • 2000, Los Angeles (Royce Hall, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)) • 2001, Washington, D.C. (Lisner Auditorium, George Washington University)• 2002, Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet) • 2003, Lake Constance Region (Austria, Germany and Switzerland) • 2004, Los Angeles (Dorothy Chandler Pavillion) • 2005, Madrid (Teatro Real) • 2006, Valencia (Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía) • 2007, Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet)

• 2008, Québec (Palais Montcalm, Grand Théâtre de Québec) • 2009, Pécs and Budapest (Pécs National Theatre, Hungarian State Opera) • 2010, Milan (Teatro alla Scala)

So many previous OPERALIA winners have been Russian: it is certainly time for this remarkable competition to take place in a country that has long been one of the world’s greatest schools for talented young musicians. That is why Operalia is proud to finally come to Moscow for its 19th. Annual Edition in 2011, the same year that USSR People’s Artist, and Plácido Domingo’s good friend and colleague Mrs. Galina Vishnevskaya celebrates her 85th birthday. She will be an honorary member of the international Operalia Jury Panel as her founded Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre will be Operalia’s most prestigious host. Furthermore, Russian Baritone and International Opera Star Dmitri Hvorostovsky will also grace this year’s Operalia Jury.

On the subject of this competition, Plácido Domingo says:

"I am often asked how Operalia came into existence. Through the years, I have always taken a special interest in promising young singers, and I have thought a lot about the enormous difficulties these artists face as they start their careers. It has become clear to me that talent alone is not enough; it is also essential for young singers to come to the attention of those impresarios, managers, casting directors, conductors and stage directors who can further their professional careers. "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. "I take great interest in the careers of the Operalia winners and follow them closely. I owe it not only to them but also to my friends who work so hard to make Operalia a reality each year."

MEMBERS OF THE JURY

Galina Vishnevskaya

Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Centre, Moscow, Russia – Artistic Director

Jean-Luc Choplin

Théâtre du Châtelet, Paris, France - General Director
Marta Domingo

Stage Director
Thierry Fouquet

Opéra National de Bordeaux, France - General Director
Jonathan Friend
The Metropolitan Opera, New York, USA - Artistic Administrator

Jean-Louis Grinda

Opéra de Monte Carlo, Monaco - General Director

Ioan Holender

Artistic Advisor (Metropolitan Opera, Budapest State Opera, Tokyo Spring

Festival) George Enescu Festival, Bucharest, Romania – Artistic Director

Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Opera Singer

Peter Katona

Royal Opera House, London, United Kingdom - Director of Casting

Joan Matabosch

Gran Teatro del Liceu, Barcelona, Spain - Artistic Director

Jean-Louis Pichon

Stage Director

Andrés Rodriguez

Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile - General Director

Helga Schmidt

Palau de les Arts, Valencia, Spain - Director

OPERALIA 2011 Selected Participants (in alphabetical order)

NAME VOICE COUNTRY

ROSY ANOUSH Soprano USA/Armenia

MARÍA ANTÚNEZ Soprano Uruguay

JAVIER ARREY Baritone Chile

KHACHATUR BADALYAN Tenor Russia

RENÉ BARBERA Tenor USA

LENA BELKINA Mezzo-Soprano Ukraine

ERICA BROOKHYSER Mezzo-Soprano USA

OLGA BUSUIOC Soprano Moldova

MICHAEL CARLIYAN Tenor Armenia

MEDET CHOTABAEV Tenor Kazakhstan

OLEKSANDR CHUVPYLO Baritone Ukraine

IRINA DE BAGHY Mezzo-soprano Canada/France

JUAN PABLO DUPRÉ Baritone Chile

TEONA DVALI Soprano Georgia

NAZANIN EZAZI Soprano Iran

ISAAC GALÁN Baritone Spain

YURI GORODETSKI Tenor Belarus

HAERAN HONG Soprano South Korea

VIKTOR KOROTICH Baritone Ukraine

ANNA KRAYNIKOVA Soprano Russia

EVGENY KUNGUROV Baritone Russia

MAYA LAHYANI Mezzo-Soprano Israel

ALEXEY LAVROV Baritone Russia

JAESIG LEE Tenor South Korea

SUREN MAKSUTOV Tenor Ukraine

EKATERINA MARKOVA Soprano Russia

LYS NARDOTO Soprano Brazil

ADAM PALKA Bass Poland

JONGMIN PARK Bass South Korea

SERGEY POLYAKOV Tenor Russia

OLGA PUDOVA Soprano Russia

FERNANDO JAVIER RADÓ Bass Argentina

NATALIA RYTOVA Soprano Russia

JONATHAN SELLS Baritone UK

KONSTANTIN SHUSHAKOV Baritone Russia

ALEXEY TATARINTSEV Tenor Russia

UMUT TINGÜR Bass Turkey

JULIEN VERONESE Bass-Baritone France

JOHANNA WINKEL Soprano Germany

NARINE YEGHIYAN Soprano Armenia

PRETTY YENDE Soprano South Africa

SARAH ZHAI Soprano China

For further information, please contact:


OPERALIA
230, rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré

75008 PARIS
France.
Tel : (+33-1) 5375-0082
Fax : (+33-1) 7543-9215
E-mail : info@operaliacompetition.org

For the Press
Francesca Zardini
francesca.zardini@gmail.com