Savonlinna Opera Festival July 2 - 31, 2010

 
The new work for the Savonlinna Opera Festival’s 2010 season is Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. Singing the title role will be the Festival’s Artist of the Year Kristin Lewis (soprano), last heard at the Festival in the title role of Aida in summer 2008. The Festival’s own productions of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly, Bizet’s Carmen and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor will also be in the repertoire.

During the 2010 season the Savonlinna Opera Festival will be holding its first International Singing Competition. There will be one category only, open to women and men of all nationalities born in or after 1983 and 1980, respectively. Not more than 20 singers will be selected to take part. During the preliminary rounds with piano accompaniment held at the Savonlinna Hall, six singers will be chosen for the finals in Olavinlinna Castle, where they will perform with the Savonlinna Opera Festival Orchestra. The first prize will be worth €20,000, the second €10,000 and the third €5,000. The other three finalists will each receive a prize worth €1,000.

The Chairman of the Jury will be Jari Hämäläinen, Artistic Director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival. Members: Director of Opera Elaine Padmore, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, United Kingdom; Artistic Director Joan Matabosch, Liceu Òpera Barcelona, Spain; General Director Andrés Rodrìguez, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Chile. The full Jury will be announced later

The visiting opera house in 2010 is the Royal Swedish Opera from Stockholm, bringing along Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro and Strauss’s Elektra. The Festival concerts will include a recital by soprano Lucia Aliberti at the Savonlinna Hall and a concert by mezzo-soprano Elina Garanča in Olavinlinna Castle.