There was reason to rejoice last night in London for the Salzburg Festival: Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler was the first to congratulate Thomas Adès on winning the Opera Award in the category “World Premiere”. His opera The Exterminating Angel, commissioned by the Salzburg Festival and premiered in 2016, convinced the expert jury of the Opera Awards.
Prize winner Thomas Adès, Salzburg Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler and director and librettist Tom Cairns in London, Photo Salzburg Festival
“It is wonderful that we have now won our third Opera Award: in 2013 it was the category ‘Best Festival’, the second time in 2014, when Norma, with our incomparable Cecilia Bartoli, was voted ‘Best New Production of the Year 2013’, and now for The Exterminating Angel. It is very important for the Salzburg Festival to be recognized internationally for a contemporary opera,” Festival President Helga Rabl-Stadler said.
The Exterminating Angel, Photo Salzburg Festival//Monika Rittershaus
The Exterminating Angel is a co-production of the Salzburg Festival and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, the Metropolitan Opera, New York, and the Kongelige Opera, Copenhagen. It is currently being performed in London with the same cast as in Salzburg under the composer’s baton.
The Exterminating Angel, Photo Salzburg Festival/Monika Rittershaus
Thomas Adès was overjoyed: “Salzburg was the ideal cradle for my baby! I had weeks to rehearse under optimal conditions and with the best singers on the main stage of the Haus für Mozart.”
Christof Loy won the Opera Award in the category “Director”. Photo Opera Awards/Daniel Jones
In the category “Director”, Christof Loy emerged as the winner. He directs Handel’s opera Ariodante at the upcoming Salzburg Whitsun Festival, a production which will also be revived during the Festival’s summer season.
The Opera Award for Female Singers went to Anna Netrebko, who makes her role debut as Aida during this Festival summer.
Anna Netrebko in Salzburg, Photo Salzburg Festival/Karl Forster
Lorenzo Viotti garnered the majority of votes in the “Newcomer” category. He conducts a concert with Camerata Salzburg this summer.
Juan Diego Flórez won the “Opera Magazine Readers’ Award” – with almost 7000 votes from the readers of this English magazine. Juan Diego Flórez will appear in the concert performance of Lucrezia Borgia this summer.
The following artists who will perform during the 2017 Salzburg Festival were also among the nominees:
The musicAeterna Choir was nominated in the category “Chorus”. The musicAeterna orchestra performs the opera La clemenza di Tito and two concerts this summer under the baton of Teodor Currentzis.
Ingo Metzmacher was nominated in the “Conductor” category. He returns to the Festival this summer to conduct a concert with the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra.
For the “Designer” award, two Festival artists were nominated: Johannes Leiacker, who designed the sets for Ariodante, and Christian Schmidt, who is responsible for Aida.
Simon Stone, who directs Lear, was also nominated as a “Newcomer”.
Marianne Crébassa was nominated in the category “Recording (Solo Recital”) for herOh, Boy!, released by Erato. She sings the role of Sesto this summer in La clemenza di Tito and also gives a song recital.
In the category “Readers’ Award”, the list included several Festival artists: Cecilia Bartoli, who sings Ariodante at Whitsun and during the summer, Elīna Garanča, who is scheduled for a song recital, and Bryn Terfel, who appears as the soloist in one of the Whitsun orchestra concerts.
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Marijan Zlobec