This year marks 40 years since the founding of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World, one of the most prestigious international singing competitions for young opera singers. Since its inception, Welsh National Opera has played a key role in the competition’s history and many of its former competitors have since sung in a great number of our productions.
First launched by BBC Wales in 1983, the biennial singing contest was held to celebrate the opening of the brand-new concert venue, St David’s Hall in Cardiff. Ever since the inaugural competition, WNO Orchestra has shared responsibility of accompanying the singers with BBC National Orchestra of Wales. The competition includes four preliminary rounds where competitors showcase their talents in opera arias before finalists reach the Main Prize and/or the Song Prize final. The competition has become a launch pad for international singing careers, including major opera stars such as Elīna Garanča (Latvia), Jamie Barton (USA) and Karita Mattila (Finland).
Wales was first put on the competition map in 1989, the year of the battle of the baritones. A fierce contest was held between Dmitri Hvorostovsky who beat Sir Bryn Terfel to the main competition’s title, with Bryn winning the Song Prize (formerly the Lieder Prize). The following competition in 1991 saw fellow Welshman Neal Davies win the Song Prize. Both singers are familiar faces at the Company - Sir Bryn Terfel having performed roles including Hans Sachs in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg during our Summer 2010 Season and at the BBC Proms later that summer, and Neal Davies who returned to WNO in the same Spring as Papageno in our brand-new production of Mozart’s The Magic Flute.
Some more recent former competitors who have shared the stage with us include the 2019 main prize winner, Andrei Kymach, who starred as the devious title character in our Spring 2022 production of Don Giovanni. This year’s Welsh representative, Jessica Robinson, is also a previous WNO guest artist, having sung in Gair ar Gnawd in 2015. Our 2022/2023 Season featured 2019 Song Prize finalist Welsh mezzo-soprano Angharad Lyddon who sang the role of Branwen in Blaze of Glory! and Claire Barnett-Jones, who represented England in the 2021 competition and claimed the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize, as Third Lady in The Magic Flute. Watch her beautiful rendition of We’ll Gather Lilacs by the Cardiff-born actor and musician Ivor Novello here.
This year, we look forward to continuing our support of the competition. WNO General Director Aidan Lang will chair the main competition’s adjudication panel. It also sees one of the artists in our upcoming production of Ainadamar compete for the title of BBC Cardiff Singer of the World – Julieth Lozano, who will be representing Colombia. WNO Orchestra will provide accompanimentto the Main Prize Rounds 1 and 3, on Sunday 11 and Tuesday 13 June. All rounds are televised on BBC 2 Wales and BBC 4, available thereafter on BBC iPlayer, with the Song Prize final and Main final broadcast on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Radio Cymru. Poblwc | Good luck to everyone involved.
Completing the week of music, a celebratory World Gala Concert at the competition’s home, St David’s Hall, on Friday 16 June. Join WNO Orchestra and a host of soloists as we celebrate 40 years of the world-famous competition.