At the end of a long and intense Tuesday of semi-finals, jury president Sergei Leiferkus announced the names of the eight singers who will compete for the prizes in the third edition of Cascais Ópera at the Final at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation next Sunday, 7 June.
Twenty semi-finalists took to the stage at the Cascais Cultural Centre throughout the day. Each had twenty minutes to show what their week in Cascais had given them, and what they had brought with them from home. The international jury, comprising some of the most renowned professionals in European and world opera, deliberated for hours before reaching a decision that Leiferkus himself described as “not an easy one”: each member with their own perspective, each voice with its own merits.
‘When they got something wrong, we suffered,’ said Leiferkus as he announced the results, referring to the way the jury had followed each performance. ‘And when they sang fantastically well, we were happy for you.’ A phrase that sums up the spirit of this contest perfectly: rigorous, yet humane.
The eight finalists
- Arianna Manganello
- Beatriz Maia
- Junyoung Choi
- Ljubomir Milanović
- Nuri Park
- Seonwoo Lee
- Tomislav Jukić
- Wu Tongyu
The eight finalists represent five countries and a variety of vocal traditions – from soprano to baritone, from the Mozart repertoire to Italian verismo, from French opera to Russian and German music. A diversity that reflects well the truly international character of this edition, which received 499 applications from 59 countries.
The run-up to Sunday
Before the final, the eight finalists still have several days of intensive work ahead of them. Tomorrow, Thursday, they will take part in masterclasses in singing with Liliana Bizineche, in interpretation with Jorge Balça and in stage preparation with Aleksandar Nikolić – sessions specifically designed to prepare each singer for the Gulbenkian stage. On Friday, they have their first rehearsal with the orchestra. On Saturday, the dress rehearsal.
On Sunday, 7 June, at 6.00 pm, the Grand Auditorium of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation will host the Cascais Ópera 2026 Final. The eight finalists will sing accompanied by the Cascais Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Antonio Pirolli, on an evening presented by musicologist Inês Thomas Almeida.
During the interval for the jury’s deliberations, between 8.00 pm and 9.15 pm, a discussion entitled “One day we shall all go to the Opera” will take place in Auditorium 3 of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, under the theme “Without patrons there is no Traviata”. Moderated by Hugo van der Ding, author and a well-known figure on Portuguese radio and television, the session will bring together Ana Proença (Portuguese Arts Association), Ambassador António Monteiro (Millennium bcp Foundation), José Pena do Amaral (BPI ‘la Caixa’ Foundation) and Jorge Leitão (Leitão & Irmão Joalheiros), for a discussion on the role of patronage in supporting artistic creation and the sustainability of cultural institutions.
Finally, there will be an awards ceremony and an informal feedback session with the jury members.
For the twelve semi-finalists who did not progress, the competition does not end here either. Tomorrow, they have masterclasses with Aleksandar Nikolić, María Bayo and Juliane Banse, and on Thursday they take to the stage at the Palácio da Cidadela de Cascais for the Semi-Finalists’ Concert. A unique opportunity to be heard, as Leiferkus emphasised, by those who can make a difference to a career.
The voices continue.
