A masterclass is not a lesson. It is an encounter. It is the moment when a young artist sits face to face with someone who has walked the path – the great stages, the great careers, the great mistakes and the great discoveries – and receives what books and conservatoires rarely manage to provide: first-hand experience.
At Cascais Ópera, masterclasses are not a complement to the competition. They are an integral part of its mission. Because the project was always conceived as a platform – not just for those who reach the final, but for everyone who has passed through Cascais this week.
Today, Wednesday, this work continues, with the candidates who will take to the stage tomorrow at the Palácio da Cidadela for the Semi-Finalists’ Concert receiving specialised preparation – a final meeting with their mentors before a concert that is a unique opportunity to be heard by a discerning audience.
A fresh perspective: Aleksandar Nikolić
The mentor making his debut today at Cascais Ópera is Aleksandar Nikolić, a Serbian director born in Kruševac in 1983 and one of the most prolific opera creators in Eastern Europe. His masterclass has a specific focus: preparing the singers for tomorrow’s Semi-Finalists’ Concert, working on the repertoire they will perform and developing the performative dimension of each interpretation.
Nikolić’s career path is unique. He began in the world of opera as a pianist and set designer at the National Theatre in Belgrade, later taking on roles as a director, teacher and playwright. He studied Drama and Audiovisual Arts, Art History and Set Design, and furthered his training in Brescia, Hanover and Thessaloniki. Between 2019 and 2023 he was Principal Opera Director at the Dushko Radovic Small Theatre in Belgrade, where he staged 22 productions. In 2016, he was assistant director at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, on the production of La Traviata directed by Richard Eyre.
What he brings to the masterclasses is a dual perspective – that of someone who understands music from the inside and that of someone who knows what happens when a singer takes to the stage. His sessions focus on the musical and textual interpretation of the Italian and French repertoire and aim to prepare artists not only to sing well, but to inhabit the stage with authenticity and presence.
The returning mentors
Joining them today are mentors who have already worked with the contestants throughout this week – each with a different perspective, each making a specific contribution.
Liliana Bizineche, a lecturer at the University of Évora and winner of prizes in ten international competitions, works with the semi-finalists in a singing session offering more time and greater depth than the initial masterclasses allowed – 50 minutes per singer, a space to explore what remained unsaid.
María Bayo, a Spanish soprano with over 70 roles in her repertoire and one of the Iberian voices with the greatest international renown, does the same at the Condes de Castro Guimarães Museum – a space which, like the Paula Rego House of Stories where she has been working over the last few days, invites a more intimate and attentive listening experience.
Sergei Leiferkus – baritone, co-founder of Cascais Ópera and one of the great names in the world of opera – also returns to the Condes de Castro Guimarães Museum for further singing sessions with the semi-finalists. The same Leiferkus who announced the semi-finalists is today teaching and…
And Juliane Banse, who spoke of singing as “a microcosm” and of the importance of turning frustration into learning, is back at the Cascais Cultural Centre for another afternoon’s work with the semi-finalists.
Tomorrow’s concert as the destination
For many of the singers currently working with Aleksandar Nikolić and the other mentors, tomorrow will be a special day. The Semi-Finalists’ Concert, taking place at the Cascais Citadel Palace, brings together the twelve semi-finalists for an evening dedicated to Mozart – a tribute to the 270th anniversary of his birth.
It is a rare opportunity. To sing at the official summer residence of the President of the Republic of Portugal, following a week of intensive preparation, and under the watchful eye of jury members and industry professionals who, as Colin Brush recalled this week, also come to these competitions in search of voices for their programmes and institutions.
Today’s masterclasses are, in part, preparation for that moment. A final conversation with those who knows. A final adjustment before the stage speaks for itself.
The voices continue.
