{"id":485,"date":"2019-09-29T22:25:29","date_gmt":"2019-09-29T22:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/?p=485"},"modified":"2021-10-03T22:28:48","modified_gmt":"2021-10-03T22:28:48","slug":"bass-baritone-manuel-fuentes-figueira-is-grand-winner-of-vii-concurso-internacional-de-canto-alfredo-kraus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/bass-baritone-manuel-fuentes-figueira-is-grand-winner-of-vii-concurso-internacional-de-canto-alfredo-kraus\/","title":{"rendered":"Bass-baritone Manuel Fuentes Figueira is grand winner of VII Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u2022 Fuentes Figueira, from Valencia, scored a hat trick by winning first prize, the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall prize for the best singer of Spanish nationality, and the audience prize
\n\u2022 Italian\/Venezuelan countertenor Rodrigo Sosa dal Pozzo and Mexican soprano Mar\u00eda Caballero took second and third place
\n\u2022 Auditorio Alfredo Kraus hosted the gala show on Saturday 28, when the nine finalists showcased their artistic talents to the audience<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Spanish bass-baritone Manuel Fuentes Figueira, from Valencia, was the grand winner of the VII Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus 2019, taking three of the prizes awarded at the final gala performance held on 28 September in Auditorio Alfredo Kraus, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.<\/p>\n

The VII CICAK was organised by Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus and Cabildo de Gran Canaria. The 2019 event was especially significant, because it coincided with the 20th anniversary of the death of famous tenor Alfredo Kraus.<\/p>\n

Manuel Fuentes Figueira<\/strong>\u00a0won the highest award, taking the\u00a0first prize<\/strong>\u00a0of the VII CICAK, of 14,000 euros, a diploma, and a gold medal. He also received the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall prize of 3,000 euros for the\u00a0best singer of Spanish nationality<\/strong>, and the\u00a0audience prize\u00a0<\/strong>of 2,500 euros, based on spectators\u2019 votes.<\/p>\n

Second prize<\/strong>\u00a0went to Italian\/Venezuelan countertenor\u00a0Rodrigo Sosa dal Pozzo<\/strong>, who received 12,000 euros, a diploma and a silver medal.<\/p>\n

Mexican soprano\u00a0Mar\u00eda Caballero<\/strong>\u00a0won\u00a0third prize<\/strong>, of 10,000 euros, a diploma and a bronze medal.<\/p>\n

The medals for Concurso Internacional de Canto Alfredo Kraus were designed by the tenor\u2019s granddaughter, Gara Mart\u00edn Kraus.<\/p>\n

The participants in the final gala performance were the nine finalists chosen from the 65 candidates in the auditions during the semi-final, held on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 in Auditorio Alfredo Kraus. In addition to the three prize winners, the performers in the final were soprano Patricia Calvache Rodr\u00edguez (Spain), mezzo-soprano Rosanna Cooper (United Kingdom), tenors Gabriel \u00c1lvarez (Spain), Vicent Romero (Spain) and H\u00e9ctor Rodr\u00edguez Vera (Cuba), and baritone C\u00e9sar M\u00e9ndez Silvagnoli (USA\/Puerto Rico).<\/p>\n

The jury of the VII CICAK, comprising Italian soprano Mariella Devia as Chair, theatre directors Daniel Bianco (La Zarzuela Madrid), Pierangelo Conte (MMF, Florence), Lorenzo Amato (San Carlo, Naples), and Manuel Rondal (Op\u00e9ra Royal de Wallonie-Li\u00e8ge), with Cesidio Ni\u00f1o (ABAO, Bilbao) and Ulises Ja\u00e9n (ACO, Las Palms de Gran Canaria) and honorary members Guillermo Garc\u00eda-Alcalde and Jer\u00f3nimo Saavedra Acevedo, assessed the vocal and technical qualities of the singers selected after performing their chosen opera and Zarzuela pieces.<\/p>\n

Manuel Fuentes Figueira performed the arias\u00a0Vi ravviso<\/em>, from Bellini\u2019s\u00a0La Sonnambula<\/em>, and\u00a0Votre toast<\/em>, from Bizet\u2019s\u00a0Carmen<\/em>. Rodrigo Sosa dal Pozzo sang\u00a0Che far\u00f2 senza Euridice<\/em>, from Gluck\u2019s\u00a0Orfeo ed Euridice<\/em>, and\u00a0Empio, dir\u00f2, tu sei<\/em>, from Handel\u2019s\u00a0Giulio Cesare<\/em>. Mar\u00eda Caballero performed\u00a0In quali eccessi.\u00a0<\/em>Mi trad\u00ec<\/em>, from Mozart\u2019s\u00a0Don Giovanni<\/em>, and\u00a0Tres horas antes del d\u00eda<\/em>, from Moreno Torroba\u2019s\u00a0La Marchenera<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The singers were accompanied by the\u00a0Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra<\/strong>, directed by\u00a0\u00d3liver D\u00edaz<\/strong>. In addition to the pieces performed by the singers, the orchestra played\u00a0La vie parisienne<\/em>, by Jacques Offenbach, in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer, and the prelude\u00a0El ni\u00f1o jud\u00edo<\/em>, by Pablo Luna.<\/p>\n

The prize giving, which took place after the jury had deliberated, was presided over by the President of Cabildo de Gran Canaria,\u00a0Antonio Morales<\/strong>, the Chair of Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus and daughter of the tenor,\u00a0Rosa Kraus<\/strong>, and the Chair of the jury, soprano\u00a0Mariella Devia<\/strong>. Taking part alongside the rest of the jury, the Councillor for Education from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall,\u00a0Lourdes Armas<\/strong>, awarded the prize for the best singer of Spanish nationality.<\/p>\n

Both Antonio Morales and Rosa Kraus highlighted the competition\u2019s ongoing commitment to the founding principles of Alfredo Kraus, of discovering new opera talent from around the world. They expressed their wish to continue working to uphold and promote the legacy of Gran Canaria\u2019s universally renowned tenor.<\/p>\n

They also said that the main challenge is to ensure the success of the project for the headquarters of Fundaci\u00f3n Internacional Alfredo Kraus, to be housed in a renovated building that was once part of the residential home of San Antonio, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria\u2019s old town, Vegueta.<\/p>\n

More than 100 participants and 65 semi-finalists<\/strong><\/p>\n

Applications for the seventh singing competition closed on 20 June with 105 entries from 52 sopranos, 15 mezzo-sopranos, 2 countertenors, 15 tenors, 14 baritones, 4 bass-baritones and 3 basses.<\/p>\n

Participating singers were from 31 countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, the United Sates and Venezuela.<\/p>\n

On this occasion, 65 singers took part in the semi-final after they were chosen at the preliminary rounds in Florence, Madrid, Naples and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.<\/p>\n

You can see a complete photo gallery on our official Facebook page.<\/a><\/h5>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2022 Fuentes Figueira, from Valencia, scored a hat trick by winning first prize, the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria City Hall prize for the best singer of Spanish nationality, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":387,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":487,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cicakraus.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}