France triumphed in the “World Cup of Opera” on Sunday night when French soprano Julie Roset won first prize for the best female voice at the finale of Plácido Domingo’s Operalia competition, in Cape Town.
The first male voice prize went to bass Stephano Park, from South Korea, at the gala event presented by Rolex at Artscape.
The second prize for the best female voice again went to a French singer, mezzo soprano Eugénie Joneau, who also won the Zarzuela prize (female voice) as well as the Birgit Nilsson prize awarded to singers “interpreting arias of Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner”.
“I nearly swooned,” a new fan was overheard saying, after her astonishing performance. “Her voice was like honey, with its smoothness and richness.”
Nombulelo Yende — sister of international diva and 2011 Operalia winner, Pretty Yende — drew thunderous applause for her performance of the powerful aria Puskai pogibnu ya, by Tchaikovsky, and won the CulturArte prize worth $10,000 (R180,000), donated by Guillermo and Bertita Martínez.
From the moment that the first finalist, Luke Sutliff, walked onto the stage against the backdrop of a burnt building, the audience at Artscape was spellbound. He gave a heart-rending performance of the aria C’est moi Carlos... Carlos écoute from Verdi’s opera, Don Carlos.
For the next two hours, opera aficionados (and relative newcomers like me) were dazzled by an array of voices and performances, each of the singers earning exuberant clapping. Hundreds of people rose to their feet in a standing ovation when the curtain fell.
Internationally-acclaimed tenor and conductor, maestro Domingo — guest conductor maestro Kamal Khan — conducted the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, which gave a stellar performance as the presenting host, together with Cape Town Opera, Artscape and the City of Cape Town.
Elena Villalón, a soprano from the US — whose mastery of tone and modulation in the lower registers was flawless — won the audience Rolex wristwatch prize and Taehan Kim, from South Korea, won the male voice Rolex wristwatch prize with a commanding rendition of Pietà, Rispetto, Amore from Verdi’s Macbeth.
Eight hundred applicants from 15 countries entered the prestigious international competition, in its 30th edition. When Operalia 2023 opened at Artscape a week ago, 34 singers from 15 countries had been picked for the preliminary rounds, in which they sang a range of arias accompanied by Khan on the piano.
Five South Africans were selected for the competition, with mezzo soprano Siphokazi Molteno, among the five Zarzuela finalists to perform in the finale.
Domingo’s parents were famed Zarzuela singers and this category of prizes celebrates their art form. Baritone Navasard Hakobyan, from Armenia won the Don Plácido Domingo (male voice) prize in this category, with Joneau’s prize named after Pepita Embil de Domingo (female voice).
Ten jurors from the world’s top opera houses chose the finalists for the Sunday night spectacular, at which every finalist who did not win a prize was awarded a $5,000 (R90,000) encouragement award. Cape Town Opera’s artistic director, Magdalene Minnaar, joined the jury this year.
Domingo said of the jurors: “Most of them have been with us for many years ... and when the jurors hear great voices, those (singers) leave the competition already with a contract.”
The southern tip of Africa is seen as a nursery for rising voices and musicians.
— Louis Heyneman, Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra CEO
The first prize winners, Roset and Park, won top honours and $30,000 (R540,000) each, while the second prizes awarded to Joneau and US baritone Luke Sutliff were $20,000 (R380,000). Third prize was $10,000 (R180,000).
US soprano, Elena Villalón, won the third prize for the female voice and baritone, Navasard Hakobyan from Armenia, scooped the third prize for male voice.
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra CEO Louis Heyneman stated after the finale: “We are particularly proud, and happy that we had two South African finalists. This shows that some of the best voices in the new generation of opera singers come from this southern tip of Africa, which is seen as a nursery for rising voices and musicians.”
Rolex hosted a grand gala dinner at Artscape, once the prize-giving fanfare was over, at which the winners, finalists, jurors and sponsors were free to celebrate the soaring end to Operalia — a contest with the power to catapult each singer to fame.
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