Ekaterine Buachidze, a beautiful lady from Georgia with a superb mezzo-soprano voice and Mihai Damian, the charismatic baritone from Romania are the winners of the first prize in the Opera category of the famed world opera competition Operalia which took place in Bulgaria 20-26 October. 

This time the opinion of the prestigious jury coincided fully with the opinion of the Bulgarian opera fans, and the two singers won the audience awards as well.

The Don Plácido Domingo Ferrer Prize of Zarzuela was awarded to baritone Grisha Martirosyan from Armenia, another one of the Bulgarian audience’s favourites; he also won the second prize. The contest’s finals, known throughout the world as the “opera Olympics” took place in Bulgaria Hall on 26 October.

The history of the competition started in Paris. Plácido Domingo’s idea was to help the careers of talented young singers by giving them an opportunity to perform in front of managers from the world’s most prestigious opera theatres. The participants must be 18 to 32 years of age and must have already had professional appearances. The organizers say that every year Operalia receives 700-1,000 applications for participation which are reviewed by a special commission, 40 of the applicants reach the quarterfinal, which takes place, live, in the town and theatre selected. Chairman of the jury, reviewing the vocal technique and the stage presence of the young talents is Plácido Domingo, and the members include his wife Marta Domingo, singers, opera directors, casting directors, artistic directors and consultants to the world’s opera theatres. After taking place in Cape Town, Riga, Moscow, Prague, Lisbon and Astana, from October 20 to 26 this year the competition was hosted by Sofia, on the suggestion of Bulgarian opera singer Sonya Yoncheva and her production company SY11 in partnership with the Sofia Philharmonic. 

In the world of music Operalia is often compared to the Olympic Games, setting world opera standards and tendencies for more than three decades. Some of the competition laureates are now among the most renowned performers on the world’s leading stages.  

Sonya Yoncheva was winner of the first and the special prize CultuArte at the Operalia contest held in Milan in 2010. The only other Bulgarian to have won Operalia is basso Orlin Anastassov in 1999.

The finalists from the latest edition include Samira Galimova, soprano from Russia who won third prize for women, Alexander Grassauer, bass-baritone from Austria who won the Birgit Nilsson Prize for his performance of aria by Richard Wagner or Richard Strauss; the same prize also went to Natalie Lewis, mezzo-soprano from USA who also won second prize for women. Tenor Dave Monaco from Italy won third prize and the prize of the State Opera-Plovdiv. Unfortunately, the only Bulgarian singer to have been admitted to the contest this year – basso Bozhidar Bozhkilov – did not make it to the semifinal.

At a press conference in Bulgaria Hall on Wednesday, Sonya Yoncheva thanked Plácido Domingo for having created the competition. “You know that 15 years ago I was laureate, and to my utmost surprise, won first place at Operalia, which opened all possible doors in our industry for me… I can say that the work here is at an exceptional level. The criteria are incredibly high and when I listen to the debates and the way work is done here I say to myself: Oh, was I criticized like that too? That is a sign of incredible quality. Operalia really is looking for the biggest stars,” says Sonya Yoncheva. “I would like to say that when a singer wins Operalia, things never stop there. That was how it was with me, but I have seen it happen with other singers too – Plácido is one of us. He invites us to his concerts, we can sing with him, perform alongside him, and that is a huge part of our future inspiration.”


“I would like to say a few words to the participants and the young singers,” Sonya Yoncheva said before the award ceremony. “Wherever you may have been born your art belongs to the world. There will be ups and downs in your career but please, never give up! Do not forget that opera is not an individual game, it is teamwork… Always remember that as artists, as public figures, we bear an enormous responsibility, the responsibility of nurturing art as part of history and our cultural identity.”

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova
Photos: BTA