From Bellini to Lecuona
Emma Marhefka’s Operalia victory has another work beside it: Mulata infeliz. The American soprano sang Ah, non credea mirarti from Bellini’s La sonnambula in the opera final. Her Pepita Embil zarzuela prize accompanied the romanza from Lecuona’s Maria La O. The same singer’s two awards therefore rest beside two distinct repertoire choices. Reading only the repeated name on the prize list loses that difference in the programme.[1]
Separate opera and zarzuela awards keep two questions about Marhefka’s singing visible. The first prize establishes her place in the opera competition; the Pepita Embil award singles out her interpretation in a particular repertoire. For listeners, treating the awards as distinct musical judgements gives more information than treating the second as an enlargement of the first. Adding composer and piece beside the singer’s name preserves the musical content of the result.[1]
Different voices before the orchestra
Men’s first-prize winner Vladyslav Buialskyi chose Sia qualunque delle figlie from Rossini’s La Cenerentola. The Ukrainian bass-baritone and Marhefka appeared in the same final at Shanghai’s Shangyin Opera House with different works. The Shanghai Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra accompanied the singers under Nayden Todorov. Orchestra and hall supplied the shared concert setting for their different choices.[1]
I read this programme as a meeting of different interpretive tasks. Voice type and chosen work give each contestant a distinct musical problem. The repertoire difference between the two first-prize winners also describes the breadth offered to listeners. The useful scale remains the programme itself: naming the recognised singers together with what they sang conveys more than extending one final into a hierarchy covering entire careers.[1]
Keep the work beside the winner
The 34th Operalia brought together 34 young singers from 16 countries. Marhefka and Buialskyi both appeared among the opera and zarzuela finalists. That overlap suggests two repertoires can provide distinct areas of work for one singer. The award structure offers another possible explanation: contestants may be encouraged to enter both sections. The result gives no basis for assigning either singer a personal training method or career strategy.[1]
The pairings to retain are clear: Marhefka with Bellini, Marhefka with Lecuona, Buialskyi with Rossini. After the awards, listeners can watch for these works in later programmes. A concert announcement returning to those pieces, or moving to different repertoire, changes the comparison available to listeners. For now, the most useful map of the result keeps voice type, composer and piece on the same line.[1]