This year the competition received a record number of 265 applications from around the world. In her own address, Éva Marton highlighted the responsibility of the artistic community to nurture and protect young talent, helping promising singers find their place on the world’s opera stages and supporting them in building fulfilling careers and lives. “We must take care of talent, help them to find their place on the world’s opera stages and lead happy lives — so that we, as an audience, can be even happier.”
At the event, Dr Gábor Farkas, Rector of the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music and one of the patrons of the competition, emphasized that the event was much more than simply another international singing competition. “Éva Marton’s legendary artistry is a source of inspiration and a benchmark for us all. Not only because she conquered the world’s greatest opera stages, but also because the extraordinary passion and humility with which she has always approached music still shine through in every word she speaks and every look she gives."
The jury was chaired by Éva Marton herself and included some of the most celebrated representatives of the Hungarian and international world of opera. Among them Peter Mario Katona (Covent Garden) and Dmitry Vdovin (Bolchoi Theater).
