Russia (bbabo.net), - Casta Diva, Russia's leading professional opera award, which has existed since 1996 and celebrates the most important creative events of the Russian and world opera scene, as well as the work of opera singers, was able to collect a full short list this year. a list for all nominations, some of which had to be abandoned due to the pandemic last year.

This means that theaters and opera singers have noticeably restored the creative process in 2021. Recall that last year the award winners were determined only in the categories of singers: soprano Nadezhda Pavlova and tenor Nazhmiddin Mavlyanov, Norwegian soprano Liz Davidsen and German baritone Christian Gerhaer. And over the years, Irina Arkhipova, Galina Vishnevskaya, Elena Obraztsova, Pavel Lisitsian, Boris Pokrovsky, Vladimir Atlantov, Valery Gergiev, Evgeny Nesterenko, Anna Netrebko, Vladimir Galuzin, Olga Borodina, Khibla Gerzmava, Albina Shagimuratov, as well as outstanding opera performances, including: Parsifal, Semyon Cocteau, A Life for the Tsar, Der Ring des Nibelungen (Mariinsky Theatre), Eugene Onegin (Bolshoi Theatre), Pelléas et Mélisande (Stanislavsky Musical Theater and Nemirovich-Danchenko), "Coronation of Poppea" (Bavarian Opera, Munich), "Katya Kabanova" (Salzburg Festival), etc.

The announcement of the Casta Diva laureates for achievements in 2021 will traditionally take place on March 27, International Theater Day. A solemn ceremony and a concert of the award-winning singers will be held at the Bolshoi Theater on September 25, 2022. The autumn season for the annual Casta Diva ceremony has become a tradition: this is the time of the birth of the Opera - in October 1600, Peri-Rinuccini's "Eurydice" was presented in Florence, the first surviving opera in history.

Comment

Mikhail Muginshtein, president of the Casta Diva award, historian, critic, opera theater playwright:

- The most difficult was the nomination "Performance of the Year": only "Salome" of the Bolshoi Theater did not raise objections. The rest of the performances provoked a sharp discussion among the jury, which reflected the problematic situation of the national opera house.

The main thing is the lack of harmony, union between music and the stage: today the dominance of the visual principle destroys the phenomenon of opera as an art. Naturally, for the Casta Diva opera award, the determining criterion is the level of such a union. So, even the excellent musical solution (singers, choir, orchestra - Abashev's perfect work) in the Perm "Love for Three Oranges" did not draw out the artificial theatrical history (directed by F. Grigoryan). Another example is Bizet's The Pearl Seekers on the Chamber Stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. The stinginess of the plastic drawing of director Nastavshevs could decorate the full-fledged sound of Bizet's exquisite music (conductor A. Vereshchagin). However, the roughness of the singers and the depleted orchestra (small string group - the size of the pit!) did not provide not only balance, but also the desired style: the pearl divers lost the jewels of French lyric opera. Faust caused the greatest controversy. The only nominee from the laboratory of theater attracted the attention of a number of jury members. Vasily Barkhatov's brutal performance with music by Gounod and a new story stood out from the others, despite the vulnerable vocals of the soloists. Unfortunately, the traumatic stage aggression only underscored the imbalance of the whole and the obvious inconsistencies in the director's story, adapted for Perm after its production in Saarbrücken. And yet, it is no coincidence that Barkhatov's musical background gives advantages in comparison with the flow of dramatic colleagues (as well as another representative of the musical detachment, Dmitry Belyanushkin). His dynamic team "Marriage of Figaro" gave new life to the Nizhny Novgorod theater. Perhaps, the union of music and stage was more harmonious than the others presented by the good old "Ariodant", but its natural depreciation (staged in 1993!) did not win the majority of the jury's votes. The same fate befell "Love from afar" by the Yekaterinburg Theatre: the semi-concert, in fact, version is marked, first of all, by the choice of the beautiful opera Saariaho. Another work of the theater "Eugene Onegin" (K. Chudovsky, D. Volkostrelov), as well as productions by M. Gatsalov and K. Bogomolov (Perm) were not nominated for consideration due to non-compliance with the award criteria. If we add a noticeable absence of well-known Moscow and St. Petersburg theaters in the shortlist, we are forced to state the crisis of the genre on the domestic stage, which is especially noticeable in contrast to the rich picture in Europe. The performances included in the "European Event" nomination (more could have been nominated) captivate with expression in the fusion of music and stage. Their choice was predetermined. The choice of Russian and foreign singers also practically did not cause controversy.

Back to news Casta Diva award shortlist for 2021:

Event of the year

Moscow Philharmonic Festival: "Handel. Above and Below". Concert performance of the operas "Julius Caesar", "Tamerlane", "Rodelinda" (project author M. Fikhtengolts)

Performance of the year

"Salome" by R. Strauss. Bolshoi Theater of Russia / co-production with the Metropolitan Opera (T. Sokhiev, K. Gut, E. Plyuss)

"The Marriage of Figaro" by Mozart. Nizhny Novgorod Opera and Ballet Theater (I. Velikanov, D. Belyanushkin, V. Schildkrot)

"Faust" Gounod. Perm Opera and Ballet Theater (A. Abashev, V. Barkhatov, Z. Margolin)

European event

Jenufa by Janacek. Covent Garden, London (H. Nanashi, K. Gut, M. Levine)

"Tristan and Isolde". Bavarian Opera, Munich (K. Petrenko, K. Warlikovskiy, M. Schchesniak)

Barry Kosky production series:

"The Knight of the Rose" by R. Strauss. Bavarian Opera, Munich (V. Yurovsky)

"The Golden Cockerel" by Rimsky-Korsakov. Aix-en-Provence (D. Rustinioni) "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahogany" by Weill. Komische Oper, Berlin (A. Rubikis)

Singer of the Year

Olga Peretyatko

Olympia, Antonia, Juliet, Stella (Hoffmann's Tales, Hamburg), Maria (Mazepa, Berlin, late Spanish, K. Petrenko), Gilda (Rigoletto, Liceu, Barcelona)

Ekaterina Semenchuk

Lady Macbeth (Macbeth, La Scala, Riccardo Chailly), Preziosilla (Force of Destiny, Bavarian Opera), Amneris (Aida, Arena di Verona, closing of the festival), Lyubava (Sadko, Bolshoi Theatre), Jocasta ("Oedipus Rex", Berlin Philharmonic, K. Petrenko), Joanna ("The Maid of Orleans", premiere and role debut), Katerina Izmailova ("Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District", role debut), Delilah ("Samson and Delilah"), Margarita ("The Condemnation of Faust") - all Mariinsky Theatre, Gergiev

Elena Stikhina

Salome ("Salome", La Scala, premiere, R. Chailly), Tosca ("Covent Garden), Maria ("Mazeppa"), Antonia ("The Tales of Hoffmann"), Rosalind ("The Bat"), Madame Butterfly - all Mariinsky Theatre, Gergiev

Singer of the Year

Liparit Avetisyan

Alfred (La Traviata, Covent Garden, Berlin, Zurich), Vaudemont (Iolanthe, Berlin, Staatsoper), Duke (Rigoletto, Covent Garden), Nemorino (Love Potion, Covent Garden)

Bogdan Volkov

Ferrando (That's What All Women Do, Salzburg/La Scala), Nemorino (Love Potion, Turin/Bavarian Opera, Munich), Fenton (Falstaff, Staatsoper, Berlin) Lensky (Eugene Onegin, Vienna Opera) Alfred ("La Traviata", Amsterdam)

Alexey Markov

Scarpia (Tosca, Covent Garden), Lionel (The Maid of Orleans, premiere, Mariinsky Theatre), Escamillo (Carmen, Bolshoi Theatre)

Boris Pinkhasovich

Major Kovalev (The Nose, Bavarian Opera, Munich), Rodrigo (Don Carlos, Vienna Opera), Ford (Falstaff, Vienna Opera), Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades, Vienna Opera).

Alexey Tikhomirov

The Inquisitor ("The Fiery Angel", premiere, An der Wien), Chub ("The Night Before Christmas", Frankfurt am Main), Pimen ("Boris Godunov", premiere, Monaco/Bolshoi Theatre), Prince Bolkonsky ("War and world", premiere, Geneva), Tsar Saltan ("The Tale of Tsar Saltan", Bolshoi Theatre), Mephistopheles ("Faust", Novaya Opera)

Stanislav Trofimov

Lindorff, Coppelius, Miracle, Dapertutto ("The Tales of Hoffmann", premiere), Pope Clement VII ("Benvenuto Cellini", premiere), Chub ("The Night Before Christmas") - all Mariinsky Theatre, Gergiev

Rise

Vasilisa Berzhanskaya

Dorabella ("So Do All Women", Florence, Z. Meta), Rosina ("The Barber of Seville", Vienna Opera), Fenena ("Nabucco", premiere, Covent Garden)

Ivan Gyngazov

Sergei (Katerina Izmailova, Bolshoi Theatre), Sadko (Bolshoi Theatre), Samson (Samson and Delilah), Aeneas (Berlioz's The Trojans), Guevara (Christopher Columbus, Franchetti), Benvenuto Cellini (Benvenuto Cellini) ) - all Mariinsky Theater

Albina Latipova

Guinevere ("Ariodant", D. Capuana, D. Alden), Susanna ("The Marriage of Figaro"), Donna Anna ("Don Giovanni") - all Bolshoi Theater

Best foreign singer

Elina Garancha

Kundry (Parsifal, Vienna Opera, F. Jordan, K. Serebrennikov) Delilah (Samson and Delilah, Berlin, Staatsoper, D. Barenboim)

Aushrine Stundite

Elektra (Salzburg, Warlikovsky/Hamburg, D. Chernyakov), Regan (Reimann's Lear, Bavarian Opera, K. Marthaler)

Anya Harteros

Isolde ("Tristan and Isolde", Bavarian Opera, K. Petrenko, K. Warlikovskiy)

Best foreign singer

Christophe Dumos

Polinesso (Handel's Ariodant, Bolshoi Theatre, D. Capuan, D. Alden)

Jonas Kaufman

Parsifal (Vienna Opera, F. Jordan, K. Serebrennikov), Tristan ("Tristan and Isolde", Bavarian Opera, K. Petrenko, K. Varlikovsky)

Michael Volle

Hans Sachs ("The Nuremberg Meistersingers", Bayreuth, F. Jordan, B. Koski), Jack Rance ("Girl from the West", Berlin, Staatsoper, A. Pappano)

HelpThe award is professional in nature: its jury includes well-known critics. Unlike the theatrical award "Golden Mask", "Casta Diva" is predominantly operatic in nature and was established for the 400th anniversary of the opera. The award has established itself at a high level: in Russia (the concert of the award winners - world stars in December 1999 at the Musical Theater named after Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko was covered by almost all radio and television channels in Russia, the programs "Vremya", "Vesti", etc., as well as a number of leading newspapers) and in Europe (the awarding of the Bavarian Opera in Munich in 1998 and the Salzburg Festival in 1999 covered more than 10 European media, including the world's leading opera magazine "Opernvelt"). When presenting the prize in the European Event nomination, the director of the Bavarian Opera, Mr. Gerd Uecker, said that the theater management was "stunned by such a new cultural development in Russia."

Casta Diva jury: Ekaterina Biryukova, Marina Gaikovich, Irina Muravyova, Nora Potapova, Elena Tretyakova (chairperson), Sergey Khodnev.

Founders of the Casta Diva award: the Humanitarian University and the Center for Musical Theater (Yekaterinburg), the Humanitarian and Political Science Center "Strategy" (Moscow), publications: "Culture", "Screen and Stage", "Literary Newspaper", "Musical Academy", "Petersburg theater magazine", "Mariinsky Theatre", radio "Orpheus"

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