Five opera companies in Europe and the United States - the Op?ra de Rennes (France), the Bremen Theater (Germany), the Balti Opera (Poland), the Dicapo Opera Theatre (US) and the Szeged National Theatre (Hungary) - will take auditions from local contestants for five special productions. In the first round of the competition, sound will be the most important element in the assessment, but in the second round - to take place in the Hungarian city of Szeged in November 2008 - theatrical presentation will be highlighted. The winners of the contest - best male and best female performer - will get to perform a selection of works to be broadcast on Mezzo.
The five productions will be directed by some of Hungary's best-known artists, including Róbert Alföldi, Balázs Kovalik, Zoltán Balázs and Péter Telihay.
"It's very important that many different people from many different cultural backgrounds meet at a certain point. I hope this will happen in Poland," said Telihay, who is directing Benjamin Britten's Lucretia in Gdansk, Poland.
Szeged Mayor László Botka said he was proud the contest's organisers had picked the city for the finals.
Source: Fidelio.hu
