The Palau de les Arts wins three Campoamor Theatre Awards 2013
02.12.2013
· Carmen Romeu from Valencia, best new singer for her performance as Musetta in this same production of Puccini's opera
Gregory Kunde wins the award for best singer for his role in Verdi's Otello at the Festival del Mediterrani, with Zubin Mehta
Valencia. The Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía has won three awards at the eighth edition of the Campoamor Theatre Lyric Awards, which were announced this past weekend in Oviedo. The Valencian arts center has become the most awarded opera company this year thanks to its productions of Puccini's La Bohème and Verdi's Otello .
Riccardo Chailly wins the award for best musical direction for La Bohème, which premiered in Valencia on December 2, 2012. The Milanese maestro made his debut leading the Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana in this Palau de les Arts production with stage direction by Davide Livermore.
Carmen Romeu, from Valencia, has brought the opera house its second award for this Puccini opera. The soprano, who was performing her first major role in the Calatrava building, has also received this distinction for her work in La Bohème during the ABAO Season (Bilbao) and in Marina , by Arrieta, at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid.
Gregory Kunde has been named the best male opera singer for his role as Otello in Giuseppe Verdi's opera of the same name, which was the centerpiece of the recent Festival del Mediterrani, conducted by Zubin Mehta. The Campoamor Awards also recognize the American tenor's work in Verdi's Les Vêpres Siciliennes at ABAO and Bellini's Il Pirata at the Liceu in Barcelona.
The Palau de les Arts has achieved its best result ever in these awards, which bring together Spanish theaters and seasons and whose purpose is to recognize the growing and robust opera and zarzuela scene in Spain. As a national competition, the Campoamor Lyric Awards are the equivalent of the Goya Awards in the film world or the Max Awards in the theater world.
These two titles will soon increase the catalog of DVD and Blu-ray productions at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
A total of eight awards
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.
