The Palau de les Arts wins two Campoamor Theatre Lyric Awards 2014

Verdi's La forza del destino , directed by Davide Livermore, chosen as the best new production of last season

In its nine-year history, the Palau de les Arts has received ten mentions in these awards, considered the 'Goya' of opera.

Valencia. The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía has won two awards at the ninth edition of the Campoamor Theater Lyric Awards, which were announced this weekend in Oviedo.

Master Zubin Mehta and the new production of La forza del destino , staged by Davide Livermore, have been winners in their respective categories, bringing to ten the number of Campoamor Awards received by the Valencian arts center in its nine years of history.

This ninth edition received over 260 nominations from Spain's leading theaters, festivals, and seasons with regular opera programming. The awards, which aim to recognize the growing and robust operatic and zarzuela scene in Spain, are the operatic equivalent of the Goya Awards in the film industry or the Max Awards in the theater world.

Zubin Mehta receives the award for best musical direction for the second time, a distinction he already received for Beethoven's Fidelio , the opera that inaugurated the first season of the Palau de les Arts in October 2006. On this occasion, three titles have made the maestro from Bombay deserving of this mention: Wagner's Die Walküre , Verdi's La forza del destino , and Puccini's Turandot .

As the jury explained at the subsequent press conference, this is a unanimous distinction for the maestro from Bombay for his work since his arrival in Valencia together with Lorin Maazel and the Intendant Helga Schmidt to position the Palau de les Arts as one of the best opera houses in Europe in recent years.

La forza del destino , the title that opened the last Festival del Mediterrani, has been distinguished as the best new production of 2014. Davide Livermore directed the staging of his second Verdi in Valencia, with Gregory Kunde, Liudmila Monastirska, Ekaterina Semenchuk, Stephen Milling and Liang Li in the cast.

Ten awards since its opening

The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía competed for the Campoamor Lyric Awards in 2007 after its first season, with Beethoven's Fidelio , in October 2006. The new production of the German composer's only opera allowed the arts center to win the distinction for best musical direction, by Zubin Mehta, as well as the best male performer, which went to Matti Salminen.

In 2008, the first two titles of the Valencian co-production with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen ( Das Rheingold and Die Walküre ) earned the opera house its third award, for best production. A year later, Carlus Padrissa of La Fura dels Baus won the award for best stage direction in Oviedo for the Valencian Ring .

In 2010, Marcelo Álvarez received the award for best male performer for his work in Spain. Among his performances, the jury highlighted his role in Verdi's Luisa Miller at the Palau de les Arts with Lorin Maazel.

In 2013, the Valencian arts center established itself as the most awarded opera house, winning three statuettes. Riccardo Chailly received the award for best musical direction for La Bohème in his debut leading the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana.

Carmen Romeu, from Valencia, brought the opera house its second award of the year for her performance as Musetta in this same Puccini opera. The soprano, who was performing her first major role in Valencia, also received this distinction for her work in La Bohème at the ABAO Season (Bilbao) and in Marina , by Arrieta, at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid.

Gregory Kunde, also in his first appearance at the Palau de les Arts, won the award for best male opera performer in 2013 for Verdi's Otello , the Valencian arts center's production with musical direction by Zubin Mehta and stage direction by Davide Livermore, which was the focus of the VI Festival del Mediterrani.

Campoamor Awards Gala

At the awards ceremony, the winners will receive, along with the prize, a bronze statuette of 'The Gypsy of Paris' by Sebastián Miranda, and a prize of 10,000 euros, during a gala to be held at the Campoamor Theatre in Oviedo at the end of March 2015.

As is tradition, the Oviedo Philharmonic and the Oviedo City Polyphonic Chapel will participate. The awards ceremony will be directed by Joan Antón Rechi and conducted by Oliver Díaz, from Asturias.