The winners of the ninth edition of Renata Tebaldi International Voice Competition – Opera section
The winner of the ninth Renata Tebaldi competition in San Marino was born in Pesaro as Renata Tebaldi: the baritone Matteo Mancini won the first overall prize by interpreting one of the most famous pieces by his fellow citizen Gioachino Rossini, “Largo al factotum” from “Il barbiere di Siviglia”.
Mancini, born in 1998, was a student of the Accademia del Blecanto “Rodolfo Celletti” in Martina Franca, of the Accademia Rossiniana “Alberto Zedda” in Pesaro and of the Accademia del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; he presented himself to the jury with a program that ranged from Mozart to Richard Strauss, from Ambroise Thomas to Nino Rota, as well as the aforementioned Rossini. In addition to the first prize, Mancini was also given a contract in the season of the An der Wien theater in Vienna and for a concert in São Paulo in Brazil.
The second overall prize was awarded to the Kazakh soprano Altynbek Aigerim (1996), who sang “Senza mamma” from Puccini’s Suor Angelica in the final concert.
The third place went to the Norwegian Lydia Hoen Tjor (1994), who performed “Bel raggio lusinghier” from Rossini’s Semiramide. The soprano also won the critics’ prize and the audience’s prize.
Among the numerous special prizes (which will be announced in detail in the next days), it is also worth mentioning the scholarship for the youngest finalist – kindly offered by Soroptimist International and Single Club Repubblica di San Marino – which went to the Italian soprano Mariam Suleiman (born in 2000, who performed Pamina’s aria from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in the final), while the scholarship for emerging talent went to the youngest voice admitted to the competition, the Korean soprano Hyemyung Kim (2003).
The other finalists who performed in the concert on December 20 at the Teatro Concordia in San Marino were the Norwegian soprano Hannah Edmunds (1999, “Tu che di gel sei cinta”, Turandot, Puccini), the Korean bass Hyukwoo Kwon (1992, “La calunnia”, The Barber of Seville, Rossini), the Korean baritone Seungwoo Sun (1995, “Votre toast”, Carmen, Bizet), the Bolivian soprano Shelén Hughes (1996, “Deh vieni, non tardar”, The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart), the Austrian soprano Vanessa Waldhart (1994, “Ach, ich liebte”, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Mozart). The concert, opened with Rossini’s Cenerentola symphony, was accompanied by the G. Rossini Symphony Orchestra conducted by Nicola Valentini.