Soloist The Hvorostovsky Krasnoyarsk State Opera and Ballet Theatre Eugeny Sevastianov won a diploma of the Competition’s Competition of vocalists that was held in Saratov as part of the 32nd Sobinovsky Music Festival.

The reason for such a peculiar name is that a proficient jury selects twelve young vocalists from Russia and abroad who have already won prizes in other competitions to participate in it. The Competition’s Competition is held annually at the end of May.

In the first round, the contestants performed Russian folk songs and romances (Russian art songs), in the second one - arias of the opera classics masterpieces. Eugeny Sevastianov had the chance to open the second part of the competition concert; he decided to perform Aleko’s cavatina of the eponymous opera by Sergei Rachmaninov and Don Basilio’s aria of The Barber of Seville by Gioachino Rossini.

Artistic Director of the Saratov Opera and Ballet Theatre Yuri Kochnev chaired the competition’s jury that assessed the singers’ performances. It consisted of opera artists and teachers. The competition has international status but foreign artists didn’t take part in it this year: according to the jury’s opinions, foreigners had very weak applications in 2019.

The competition’s diploma winner Eugeny Sevastyanov will already perform on the stage of his hometown theatre on June 6 - he’s going to sing the part of the Miller in the mystical show Rusalka (The Mermaid) based on the opera of Alexander Dargomyzhsky.