On April 22nd the International Opera Awards were handed out in London.
Tenor Jonas Kaufmann took home the Best Male Singer of the year while Swedish Soprano Nina Stemme won Best Female Singer of the Year.
Stemme did not attend the ceremony but Kaufmann was present. When he received his award he stated "You don't do your performing first of all for the critics, you do it to let the audiences catch fire. There's a rumour that the British are cooler and don't show their feelings. Anyone who believes that should come to a performance at Covent Garden."
Kaufmann also won the reader's award which was voted on by the Opera Magazine fan base. According to the organization 6,000 people voted for him.
Sir Antonio Pappano also took home two awards for Best Conductor and for his DVD of "Il Trittico" from the Royal Opera House. He stated "this is amazingly impressive because Covent Garden receives considerably less subsidy than most European companies." He added, "We're striving to do more with less, but this can't go on. The dip in our arts funding is worrying. We need support."
Sophie Bevan won the Best New Star award and stated "I'm more a village soprano, a county soprano, than an international soprano. Now maybe I will start to get more work internationally."
Other winners included Dimitri Tcherniakov for Best Director and for Best New Production. The Metropolitan Opera won two awards for Best Orchestra and Best Accessibility while Frankfurt won the Best Opera Company of the Year.
Among the stars who attended the evenings proceedings included nominee Joyce Didonato, Janet Baker and Sarah Connelly.
The awards were held at the Hilton Park Lane Hotel and were sponsored by the Evening Standard, Classic FM and the Opera Magazine.
Complete List of Winners:
Accessibility: Metropolitan Opera, New York
CD Complete Opera: GF Handel's Alessandro (Decca)
CD Operatic Recital: Christian Gerhaher (Sony)
Chorus: Cape Town Opera
Conductor: Antonio Pappano
Costume Designer: Buki Shiff
Director: Dmitri Tcherniakov
DVD: Il Trittico - Opus Arte
Female Singer: Nina Stemme
Festival Opera: Salzburg
Lifetime: Sir George Christie, Glyndebourne
Lighting Designer: Paule Constable
Male Singer: Jonas Kaufmann
New Production: Invisible City - Netherlands Opera
Newcomer: Daniele Rustioni
Opera Company: Frankfurt Opera
Orchestra: Metropolitan Opera, New York
Philanthropist: Sir Peter Moores
Readers' Award: Jonas Kaufmann
Rediscovered Work: Les Arts Florissants for David et Jonathas by Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Set Designer: Antony McDonald
Young Singer: Sophie Bevan
World Premiere: Aix Festival for Written on Skin by George Benjamin