The 6th Éva Marton International Singing Competition ended with a grand gala concert
With the performance of the twelve finalists and the ceremonial presentation of prizes and special awards, the Éva Marton International Singing Competition of 2024 organised by the Liszt Academy closed on Sunday evening at the Hungarian State Opera.
In his speech at the gala concert, the patron of the competition, Balázs Hankó, Minister of Culture and Innovation, congratulated Éva Marton, the contestants for their performance in the competition, as well as the members of the international jury and the organising Liszt Academy for the outstanding work they have done to help Hungary become a leading player on the world’s classical music scene. He also recalled that the competition opens up a wealth of career opportunities for participants. The minister quoted Kodály, who said already in 1966 that if we were to describe the essence of musical education in one word, it would be singing, because "our mechanising age is on a path that will turn man into a machine, and only the spirit of singing will protect us from this". He added that the aim is not only to preserve value, but also to create it, and that classical culture representing value has a key role to play in this regard. Music and singing have been an inseparable companion since the earliest times of mankind, making life better, more beautiful and happier, creating a sense of community, not only entertaining but also giving value and meaning to our lives, inspiring and motivating us to explore unknown territories, making us wiser and more beautiful in spirit, the Minister stressed. Speaking about Éva Marton, he said that she has left an unforgettable memory on the international opera stage, she is a shining star of the world of opera, and will forever be part of the immortals.
In her assessment, Éva Marton said that the quality of the competition and the quality of the contestants had not dropped over the past ten years, singers entering the competition have been getting better and better, so that this time there were again very talented ones with very good voices. She expressed his gratitude to the Hungarian State Opera for hosting the gala and to the Liszt Academy for organising it. “There is no competition like this, no Opera House like this, no Academy of Music like this in the world,” she added. "Hungarians are a friendly, kind and talented people, and we can compete with anyone in the world, whether in science, literature or music," she said. Thanking the judges for their work, she recalled that the best competitors would sing again at this gala concert.
As announced the evening before, the first prize of 30,000 euros went to Korean tenor Park Jihoon, the second prize of 20,000 euros to Romanian baritone Mihai Damian and the third prize of 10,000 euros to Chinese mezzo-soprano Wu Hongni. Éva Marton awarded her personal special prize of 10,000 euros, courtesy of the Hungarian Academy of Arts, to Russian soprano Alexandra Zotova, while the audience prize went to Korean soprano Yeo Yeeun.
The other prestigious special prizes were announced at the gala on Sunday. The award for best Liszt interpretation went to the Russian soprano Zoe Hippius and Park Jihoon, as decided by the jury. The latter was invited by the Hungarian State Opera, which also offered performance opportunity to Wu Hongni.
Romanian baritone Mihai Damian has been invited by Müpa Budapest and the Hungarian Radio Art Group.
Alexandra Zotova may attend a master class with jury member Anatoli Goussev, Ukrainian-born vocal master from Italy, and she has been invited by the Margitszigeti Theatre, too.
Russian soprano Elizaveta Kulagina has received invitations from the Liszt Academy and the Hungarian State Opera, and has also won a package from media company Fidelio.
Kazakh baritone Dinmukhamed Koshkinbayev received the 1000 euros Bravo Baritone Prize from the Classic Mecenat Foundation Of Mongolia.
American soprano Shannon Keegan received an invitation from the House of Music Hungary, and Hungarian soprano Renáta Gebe-Fűgi won a package from the media company Papageno.
