MADRID, Nov 28 (Reuters) – Two Ukrainian opera homes had been awarded this yr’s “Opera Oscar” for providing up mellifluous cadenzas and virtuosic trills amid energy cuts and artillery blasts on their nation’s territory – permitting audiences to evade, if just for just a few hours, the struggle exterior.
In recognition of their “excellent work in difficult circumstances”, the opera theatres within the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Odesa collectively clinched the Firm of the Yr prize on the Worldwide Opera Awards ceremony held on Monday in Madrid’s Teatro Actual.
“We got here from cities the place streets are darkish, however our souls are full of sunshine …. Our music now could be buzzing with mills in every single place, however that is the music of our survival, of our life,” mentioned Oksana Taranenko, stage director on the Odesa Nationwide Opera, as representatives of the 2 corporations accepted the accolade to a standing ovation.
Each theatres resumed staging productions after they had been compelled to droop performances when Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. The jury celebrated their “braveness and resilience for persevering with to carry out regardless of the hazards and depredations unleashed by the struggle.”
Monday’s occasion, hosted by BBC presenter Petroc Trelawny, marked the primary time the ceremony had been held exterior of London and its return to reside performances after pandemic disruptions.
[1/2] Stage Director of the Odesa Nationwide Opera Oksana Taranenko speaks in the course of the worldwide opera awards at Madrid Royal Theatre, Spain, November 28, 2022.REUTERS/Juan Medina
Spectators on the Nineteenth-century Teatro Actual, whose firm received the highest award final yr, had been serenaded by its in-house orchestra and refrain in addition to among the world’s high singers.
In a nod to the host metropolis, Mozart, Verdi and Puccini had been accompanied by items from opera’s Spanish cousin, Zarzuela, a musical theatre style born in Madrid that mixes parts from well-liked music and conventional dance.
Samoan tenor Pene Pati bagged the Opera Journal Readers’ award, the one one determined by well-liked vote as a substitute of a jury.
Italy’s Daniele Rustioni earned the Conductor prize and British cantatrice Nardus Williams was topped Rising Star. Soprano Sabine Devieilhe and baritone Stephane Degout, each French, received Feminine Singer and Male Singer, respectively.
The awards had been based by British philanthropist Harry Hyman in 2012 to boost cash for a charity that gives bursaries to aspiring operatic expertise.
Reporting by David Latona; Modifying by Aislinn Laing and Bradley Perrett
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