Photo credit: mos.ru (CC BY 4.0)
The Elena Obraztsova competition for young opera soloists started on Wednesday, July, 12. Traditionally, it is hosted by St. Petersburg. Most of the life of the great singer is connected with this city. The competition is being held for the 14th time, vocalists from nine countries will take part in it, TASS reports.
This year the qualifying round was held online. From almost 400 applications, only 56 people got into the next stage. According to Natalia Ignatenko, who heads the charitable foundation of the great singer, it was decided to let them all into the second round at once. She noted that the competition will be tough, as the number of participants is usually smaller. In addition, soloists who have received awards from the Tchaikovsky Competition will compete for victory this year.
All fans of classical vocals will be able to watch competitive performances for free. They are invited to the Academic Chapel of St. Petersburg. The public will be able to vote for the participants, the winner will receive an audience award.
Among the soloists who will perform in the second round are singers from Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Ukraine and other countries. They will perform two chamber vocal compositions by Russian and foreign authors and an opera aria by an Italian composer, accompanied by piano. In the final round, which is scheduled for July, 15, opera arias will be performed.
The organizers are the St. Petersburg Cultural Center of Elena Obraztsova and the Elena Obraztsova Fund Moscow Charitable Foundation for the Support of Musical Art.
Russkiy Mir
