Domingo’s Operalia kicks off today in Covid-stricken Moscow
NewsThe veteran singer and his Russian allies have rolled out a very long list of contestants.
None, strikingly, is from China. Or from Germany and the UK.
Russia today reached the tipping point of 1,000 daily deaths from Covid.
Here’s the Doming lineup:
Ivan Ayon-Rivas, tenor, Peru
Gayane Babajanyan, mezzo-soprano, Russia
Kirill Belov, tenor, Russia
Vladislav Buialskyi, bass-baritone, Ukraine
Dmitry Cheblykov, baritone, Russia
SungJun Cho, bass, South Korea
Linsey Coppens, mezzo-soprano, Belgium
Bekhzod Davronov, tenor, Uzbekistan
Nicolai Elsberg, bass, Denmark
Ochirsaikhan Erdenee, baritone, Mongolia
Axelle Fanyo, soprano, France
Marie-Laure Garnier, soprano, France
Aida Gimeno Garcia, soprano, Spain
Jonah Hoskins, tenor, USA
Lilia Istratii, mezzo-soprano, Moldova
Victoria Karkacheva, mezzo-soprano, Russia
Evgeniya Khomutova, mezzo-soprano, Russia
Hyoyoung Kim, soprano, South Korea
Seonwoo Lee, soprano, South Korea
Chelsea Lehnea, soprano, USA
Josh Lovell, tenor, Canada
Valery Makarov, tenor, Russia
Keymon Murrah, countertenor, USA
Edward Nelson, baritone, USA
Jusung Park, bass-baritone, South Korea
Emily Pogorelc, soprano, USA
Alexandra Razskazoff, soprano, USA
Ricardo José Rivera, baritone, USA
Ekaterina Sannikova, soprano, Russia
Ivan Sapunov, baritone, Russia
Valeriia Savinskaia, soprano, Russia
Aytaj Shikhalizada, mezzo-soprano, Azerbaijan
Claudia Urru, soprano, Italy
Joshua Wheeker, tenor, USA
In 2018 the Canadian tenor Josh Lovell (1991) won the Grand Prix and Opera Prize of the International Vocal Competition in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (the Netherlands). At that time I wasn’t impressed by his performance, but by now three years have passed!
I heard Lovell at Wiener Staatsoper in the lead role of Noboru in Henze’s “Das verratene Meer” about two weeks ago, and he was absolutely sensational, both as a singer and actor, totally committed to an extremely complex, physically-demanding production. I look forward to his Nemorino (“L’elisir d’amore”) later in the season.
Whether he wins or not, Lovell’s is already singing in some of the world’s best opera houses. The money would be nice, but his career is already on the upswing.
I would bet on Jonah Hoskins making it into the finals.
https://youtu.be/wtOJJ5UV_Q4
My money’s on a Russian winning it (doesn’t matter who)
My enthusiastic impressions of three of the artists representing the US: https://www.verismohotspot.com/post/yeass-ii-triple-shot-americano-operalia-2021-preview
I have seen Josh Wheeker in LA Opera productions as Malcolm in Macbeth, Cacambo in Candide, Abdallo in Nabucco, Borsa in Rigoletto and Count Lerma in Don Carlo.
I saw Chelsea Lehnea as Clorinda in a production of La Cenerentola in LA this summer.
Both are excellent BUT they’re competing against some singers who are already singing in La Scala, The Met, the Chicago lyric and Vienna. Singers who not only sing in the best houses but have also been coached by the best vocal coaches and musical conductors in the business.