"The famous schools in Russian and the East did not disappoint," said the conductor Gergely Kesselyák who chaired the jury. "We were presented with an unbelievable array of voices and technical skills."
The 35 singers who auditioned were selected from a larger number of applicants.
"Almost any of the 35 singers we listened to would immediately meet the requirements to perform on any opera stage around the world," Kesselyák said.
Kesselyák said he regretted that the three dramatic mezzo-sopranos who auditioned were not offered any roles as there are only lyrical roles in this year's competition.
"This type of tone is very rare in Hungary," he said. "One could almost call it a shortage."
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
Source: Hungarian News Agency (MTI)
