What makes the Opera Competition and Festival special?

The competition awards complexity of performance.

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.

Performers compete in productions.

In order for the jury and the audience to be able to judge the singers’ complex performing talent, they need to see the competitors perform in productions. This is why the festival produces them. Every year five productions will be developed in opera houses in five different countries, and they all will be presented at the finals as part of the festival.

The festival partner opera houses in 2010:

Den Nye Opera (Bergen, Norway)

Josef Kajetán Tyl Theatre (Pilsen, Czech Republic)

Szeged National Theatre (Szeged, Hungary)

Dicapo Opera Theatre (New York, USA)

Csokonai Theatre (Debrecen, Hungary)

First round • April 2010

The first round takes place in five locations (Budapest, Moscow, Paris, New York and Bergen) and the jury will select the best competitors for the second round based exclusively on vocal capabilities and musicality. In the first round, one applicant is selected for each of the competition roles of the five competing productions, at all 5 five locations. Therefore, there will be maximum five performers for each of the competing roles in the second round.

Second round • 14, 15, 16 May 2010

The second round takes place in Hungary, the location of the festival. Here the directors of the productions will select the final cast for every production, the fourteen competitors who will participate in the finals. This is followed by the full-scale mounting of the productions in partner opera houses; under the guidance of the director and the conductor, the competitors prepare for the final competition at the festival and on Duna Television.

The Finals • 3–17 November 2010

The finals take place during a two-week festival. The audience and the jury will see the productions from five different countries in Szeged, Hungary.

Awards:

The performers will be judged on their final performances by an international jury and awarded prizes as follows:

Best Female Performer: 10 000 Euros

Best Male Performer: 10 000 Euros