Placido Domingo’s Operalia 2023 is coming to Cape Town as the city joins an elite list of musical destinations across the globe.
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Preparations are well underway, and the Artscape Opera House is ready to host the competition from 30 October 30 to 5 November.
Each year, Operalia is hosted in a different city, and Cape Town joins the world’s cultural capitals such as London, Paris, Madrid, Hamburg, Tokyo, and Milan as a host city.
The competition was founded in 1993 and has helped establish the careers of many singers, like Yende, Sekgapane and Metropolitan Opera star Sonya Yoncheva.
The successful contestants come from 15 countries, including South Africa, the US, the UK, Germany, France, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Israel, South Korea, Malta, Russia and the Ukraine. The jurors are mainly leading casting directors of opera houses in Europe and the US, as well as Cape Town Opera’s artistic director Magdalene Minnaar, and the coaches are based in America.
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Alvaro Domingo, vice president of Operalia, says that a very important drawcard is that five of the 34 successful applicants from a total of 800, are from South Africa and all studied in Cape Town. They are Nombulelo Yende (soprano), Siphokazi Molteno (mezzo soprano), Luvo Maranti (tenor), Thando Mjandana (tenor) and Sakhiwe Mkosana (baritone).
Explaining the rationale for staging this prestigious event in Cape Town, Domingo said: ‘In making the decision where to host the 30th anniversary competition, we took into account that South Africa has an international reputation for the quality of its singers such as previous Operalia winners Pretty Yende and Levy Sekgapane, the reputation and quality of the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO), the body of work of Cape Town Opera (CTO), and the versatility of the venue within the Artscape Theatre Centre, plus, needless to say, the inherent beauty of the city of course.’
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Geordin Hill-Lewis, mayor of Cape Town, was also quick to come on board, saying that Cape Town is the perfect destination thanks to its accent on culture and its gorgeous location.
‘We look forward to welcoming the organizers, candidates and international visitors who have already made arrangements to come to Cape Town and thank Rolex and Operalia for their understanding of the fact that we can stage this foremost opera event with panache and efficiency.’
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Picture: Artscape / Facebook
