PLÁCIDO DOMINGOS OPERALIA
THE WORLD OPERA CONTEST
Operalia was founded in 1993 as a competition
that gifted young singers would be able to attend regardless of
their economic means and that would lead not only to one-off prizes
but also to employment in opera ensembles around the world.
Under Plácido
Domingo's artistic aegis since its inception, Operalia has become
one of the most important international contests for opera singers
of all voice categories who are in the early stages of their career.
It is a non-profit organization that maintains a head office in
Paris. Each year, the competition's rules and application forms
are distributed to opera companies, conservatories and individual
teachers, coaches, managers and agents all over the globe; press
representatives publicize the contest via international, national,
regional and local television, radio and newspapers. An average
of 800 to 1, 000 applications and audio cassette tapes are received
each year. Operalia's Artistic Committee, whose members are chosen
by Domingo and work independently of each other, reviews all the
applications, listens to all the cassettes, and rates each candidate
on a scale of one to ten; the results are collated by the head office,
and the top forty candidates are flown at the sponsors' expense
to the city where the competition is to be held. Over a three-day
period, an expert Jury (none of whose members have been part of
the Artistic Committee during the same year) listens to each young
performer sing two arias to piano accompaniment, after which the
number of contestants is narrowed down to approximately twenty for
the semifinals. Each semifinalist sings one aria, again to piano
accompaniment, and the competitors are narrowed to approximately
ten for the final round - a public performance with orchestral accompaniment.
In addition to the first, second and third prizes - there are two
special prizes for potential singers of zarzuela (Spanish operetta),
offered by Plácido Domingo in memory of his parents, who
were both zarzuela artists. Another special prize is awarded to
the singer who receives the greatest number of votes from the audience.
Plácido Domingo is present throughout the competition; he
does not vote, but he supervises the proceedings and is available
to give artistic and career advice to all of the participants. As
he believes that the number of outstanding young singers is much
greater than the number of prizes, he is encouraging the creation
of a free "follow-up service" for Operalia laureates who
are seeking engagements appropriate to their capabilities. This
branch of Operalia will be permanently in contact with opera managers
and agents.
Operalia winners appear frequently at La Scala, the Vienna Staatsoper,
the Opéra de Paris, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera,
and in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Madrid, Barcelona, Washington, Los
Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Geneva, Zurich, San Francisco and at
other major venues all over the world. Plácido Domingo's
goal in creating Operalia, however, was to develop a "team
spirit" attitude based on mutual trust and friendship among
the various contestants, the Operalia organization, and himself.
This remains his, and the competition's, main purpose.
The Finals of 1993 Operalia competition was held at the glorious
Salle Garnier of the Opéra National de Paris, where Plácido
Domingo has often performed since 1973. In 1994, the venue was the
Recording studios of Televisa in Mexico City, where Domingo lived
from the age of eight to the age of twenty-one. The Teatro de la
Zarzuela in Madrid, his birthplace, hosted the 1995 competition,
whereas in 1996 Bordeaux's magnificent Grand Théâtre
was the site of the event. In 1997, Operalia was held in the Yuport
Kan-I Hoken Hall in Tokyo - a city that has often welcomed Domingo
- and the following year the competition moved to the Musikhalle
in Hamburg, a city that has played a major role in Domingo's career
almost since its inception. 1999 brought Operalia to the Caribbean
- specifically, the Centro de Bellas Artes, Luis A. Ferré
in San Juan, Puerto Rico - and the following year the competition
moved to the Royce Hall, UCLA in Los
Angeles, one of the two American cities whose opera companies
have made Domingo their Artistic Director. In 2001, Operalia was
a guest of the Washington
National Opera - the other ensemble of which Domingo is Artistic
Director - at the Lisner Auditorium, Georges Washington University
In 2002, Operalia returned to Paris, but this time its venue was
the historic Théâtre du Châtelet. Operalia 2003 took place in the international Lake Constance region in three different cities and countries and Operalia 2004 was hosted by Los Angeles Opera. In 2005, Operalia returned to Madrid and in 2006 Operalia was held once again in Spain during the inauguration of Palau de les Arts in Valencia. For its Fifteenth Anniversary, Operalia 2007 was hosted again at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.
In 2008 Operalia is invited
by the Opéra de Québec to participate in the celebrations
for the 400th anniversary of the city. The competition will take
place from September 18 to 24 at the Palais Montcalm and the Grand Théâtre de Québec. |