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By Ben Mattison
11 Jun 2005
The BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition opens tonight in the Welsh capital.
The preliminary rounds for the main prize run June 12-16; they are accompanied by the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera and the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The finals, which will feature the five top-ranked singers from the preliminary concerts, are on June 19 and are accompanied by the NOW.
Some of the competitors will also vie for the Song Prize, a separate award for the performance of art song. Those who choose to compete will sing in one of four recitals which take place through June 14. The highest-ranked singers will meet in a final on June 17.
The 25 young singers competing in Singer of the World were selected by audition; they represent 24 countries. The United States has sent two singers, soprano Nicole Cabell and baritone Quinn Kelsey; both are members of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, the Lyric Opera of Chicago's training program.
The jury for the competition includes mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne, soprano Anne Evans, baritone Sergei Leiferkus, and Brian McMaster, director of the Edinburgh Festival. Anthony Freud, general director of the Welsh National Opera, is the jury's chair.
Founded in 1989, Singer of the World is held every other year. Previous winners include soprano Karita Mattila, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and soprano Lisa Gasteen. In 1989, baritone Bryn Terfel won the prize for art song (then called the Lieder Prize), but was bested by Hvorostovsky in the main competition.
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