"It didn't matter that there were three or four people who could have made the cut for one role or the other: unfortunately, for each role we could pick just one person," said the conductor Gergely Kesselyák, who chaired the jury. There was a bigger difference between the talents of those who auditioned in Paris than those who tried out in Moscow at the beginning of April, he added.
As in Moscow, the jury did not find people in Paris to fill all of the roles in the second round of the competition.
The second round will take place in Szeged on May 14-16. Szeged will also host the finals on November 3-17.
As in the past two years, the competition jury will assess not only singers' voices, but their talents as performers.
"The winner will not be the young talent with the most exquisite vocal capabilities or the most beautiful singing voice; he or she will be the "best performer", who meets the all-round requirements of the genre, which includes not only singing, but also stage movement and acting, all to the highest standard," says production office Armel.
The competition will again feather five opera houses, but two of them are joining the event for the first time: the Josef Kajetán Tyl Theatre of Pilsen and the Opera Krakowska from Krakow, Poland. Returning to the competition will be Den Nye Opera of Bergen, the Dicapo Opera Theatre from New York and the Csokonai Theatre from the Hungarian city of Debrecen, Hungary.
The productions in the finals:
Knut Vaage: Veslefrikk (Den Nye Opera)
Performances: November 3, 4
Marco Tutino: The servant (Josef Kajetán Tyl Theatre)
Performances: November 6, 7
Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata (Opera Krakowska)
Performances: November 9, 10
Thomas Pasatieri: The Seagull (Dicapo Opera Theatre)
Performances: November 12, 13
Sergei Prokofiev: The Fiery Angel (Csokonai Theatre)
Performances: November 15, 16
Performances: November 15, 16
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
