International Opera Awards 2016: a long, long shortlist

The annual International Opera Awards shortlist has been announced and it’s a worthy clutch with relatively few surprises. Several of the UK-based nominees were also chosen for our own WhatsOnStage Opera Poll

Unlike our poll, however, these awards cover the entire world. An international jury chaired by John Allison, the editor of Opera magazine, comprises 12 globetrotting experts, both practitioners and critics.

The range of categories is all-encompassing and includes World Premieres and Rediscovered Works as well as all the more traditional subdivisions. A good number of excellent names will leap to British eyes, not least that of English National Opera Chorus, nominated as one of the six best choruses in the world. Long may that be allowed to continue.

The full list is as follows:

Accessibility
Atlanta Opera;
Birmingham Opera Company;
English Touring Opera;
Monster in the Maze (Aix en Provence, Berlin, London);
Opera Holland Park;
The Opera Platform

CD (Complete Opera)
Brett Dean: Bliss, ABC Classics;
Donizetti: Les Martyrs, Opera Rara;
Handel: Partenope, Erato;
Nielsen: Maskarade, Dacapo;
Smetana: Dalibor, Onyx;
Verdi: Aida, Warner

CD (Operatic Recital)
Diana Damrau: 'Fiamma del Belcanto', Warner;
Ann Hallenberg: Agrippina, DHM;
Bryan Hymel: 'Héroïque', Warner;
Christiane Karg: 'Scene!', Berlin Classics;
Matthew Rose: 'Arias for Benucci', Hyperion;
Sonya Yoncheva: 'Paris, Mon Amour', Sony

Chorus
English National Opera;
Glyndebourne;
Komische Oper;
Metropolitan Opera;
MusicAeterna;
Opera Vlaanderen

Conductor
René Jacobs;
Vladimir Jurowski;
Gianandrea Noseda;
Carlo Rizzi;
Christian Thielemann;
Mark Wigglesworth

Designer
Michael Levine;
Vicki Mortimer;
Rebecca Ringst;
Heike Scheele;
Vita Tzykun;
Annemarie Woods

Director
Kasper Holten;
Damiano Michieletto;
Katie Mitchell;
Laurent Pelly;
David Pountney;
Mariusz Treliński

DVD
Puccini: Manon Lescaut (The Royal Opera), Sony;
Rameau: Les Indes galantes (Les Talens Lyriques), Alpha;
Rimsky-Korsakov: The Tsar's Bride (Staatsoper Berlin), Bel Air;
Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne), Opus Arte;
Szymanowski: Król Roger (The Royal Opera), Opus Arte;
Wagner: Tannhäuser (Bayreuth Festival), Opus Arte

Female Singer
Anna Bonitatibus;
Mariella Devia;
Rosa Feola;
Christine Goerke;
Evelyn Herlitzius;
Anna Netrebko

Festival
Aix-en-Provence;
Glyndebourne;
Grimeborn;
Ruhr Triennale;
Santa Fe;
Wexford

Male Singer
Javier Camarena;
Anthony Roth Costanzo;
Stéphane Degout;
Igor Golovatenko;
Gregory Kunde;
Henry Waddington

New Production
Bellini: I puritani, Welsh National Opera;
Berg: Wozzeck, Lyric Opera of Chicago;
Britten: Peter Grimes, Theater an der Wien;
Halévy: La Juive, Opera Vlaanderen;
Handel: Saul, Glyndebourne;
Mascagni/Leoncavallo: Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci, Salzburg Easter Festival

Opera Company
Deutsche Oper Berlin;
Dutch National Opera;
Opera Philadelphia;
Polish National Opera;
Theater an der Wien;
Welsh National Opera

Readers’ Award*
Danielle De Niese;
Joyce DiDonato;
Michael Fabiano;
Gerald Finley;
Juan Diego Flórez;
Dmitri Hvorostovsky;
Ermonela Jaho;
Eva-Maria Westbroek

Rediscovered Work
Donizetti: Il furioso all’isola di San Domingo, English Touring Opera;
Egk: Peer Gynt, Staatstheater Braunschweig;
Mascagni: Guglielmo Ratcliff, Wexford Festival;
Offenbach: Le Roi Carotte, Opéra de Lyon;
Porpora: Il Germanico, Innsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musik;
Tippett: The Ice Break, Birmingham Opera Company

World Premiere
Harrison Birtwistle: The Cure, Aldeburgh Festival;
Pascal Dusapin: Penthesilea, La Monnaie;
Hans Gefors: Notorious, Gothenburg Opera;
Jennifer Higdon: Cold Mountain, Santa Fe Opera;
Jimmy López: Bel Canto, Lyric Opera of Chicago;
Kate Miller-Heidke: The Rabbits, Barking Gecko/Opera Australia/Perth and Melbourne Festivals

Young Conductor
Bassem Akiki;
Matthew Aucoin;
Mirga Gražinyté-Tyla;
Christian Kluxen;
Giacomo Sagripanti;
Duncan Ward

Young Director
Fabio Ceresa;
Daisy Evans;
Max Hoehn;
Sjaron Minailo;
Eva-Maria Melbye;
Rafael Villalobos

Young Female Singer
Ekaterina Bakanova;
Aida Garifullina;
Asmik Grigorian;
Golda Schultz;
Nadine Sierra;
Nozuko Teto

Young Male Singer
Michele Angelini;
Atalla Ayan;
Stanislas de Barbeyrac;
Ioan Hotea;
Gyula Orendt;
Fernando Javier Radó

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday 15 May which will be held as usual in central London.

*To vote in the Readers’ Award, go the International Opera Awards website: http://www.operaawards.org