Cape Town - South Africa has been on a winning streak in the past few weeks, putting the country on the world map.
Among the recent list of accolades is the country’s achievement of playing host to the world-renowned Operalia, for the first time. Each year, Operalia is hosted in a different city and this week, Cape Town joined the world’s cultural capitals such as London, Paris, Madrid, Hamburg, Tokyo and Milan which have put opera on the map and, for Capetonians, ignited a passion for the genre after tickets sold out in record time.
In a closely contested semi-final round that played out at the Artscape Theatre on Wednesday, the Operalia jury selected 12 singers, including South Africa’s Nombulelo Yende, who will go through to the final round on Sunday.
Nombulelo is the sister of opera star Pretty Yende, who made history when she sang a solo at the coronation of Charles, the British monarch, in May.
Showcasing young opera talent from around the world, Cape Town-based opera singers Yende and Siphokazi Molteno are finalists in the Zarzuela, a Spanish genre close to Placido Domingo’s heart.
All will perform with the Maestro himself, conducting the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, assisted by guest conductor Kamal Khan.
Coming to Africa for the first time, the competition is hosted in Cape Town by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, together with Cape Town Opera and Artscape.
A diverse richness of voices will now compete for the prestigious honour of winning this world-renowned competition that has a total prize money of more than $200 000 (about R3 687 300), which is the difficult task for the jury comprised of opera directors, casting directors, artistic directors, and consultants of renowned opera houses, and presided over by Domingo.
The starting 34 from 15 different countries and selected from over 800 entrants, was narrowed to 22 for the semi-finals, in which three of South Africa’s five hopefuls competed to much applause from the appreciative audience.
The 21 finalists that will go head to head on Sunday are:
Semyon Antakov, baritone, Russia
Caitlin Gotimer, soprano, USA
Navasard Hakobyan, baritone, Armenia
Eugénie Joneau, mezzo-soprano, France
Taehan Kim, baritone, South Korea
Omer Kobiljak, tenor, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Stephano Park, bass, South Korea
Julie Roset, soprano, France
Luke Sutliff, baritone, USA
Elena Villalón, soprano, USA
Nombulelo Yende, soprano, South Africa and,
Siphokazi Molteno, mezzo-soprano, South Africa who is a finalist in the Zarzuela competition.
Limited tickets on the Computicket and cost R1500.