Legendary mezzo-soprano Agnes Baltsa received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th International Opera Awards, held at the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera in Athens last night (13th November).
With a career spanning over five decades, Baltsa’s powerful voice, dramatic intensity, and magnetic stage presence earned her global acclaim, especially for her iconic portrayal of Carmen, performed over 60 times at the Vienna State Opera. A regular at the Salzburg Festival, she also graced the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, La Scala, Covent Garden, and the Paris Opera, in repertoire ranging from Mozart and Rossini to Verdi, Bellini and Strauss.
20 awards were presented at the ceremony, which underscored the art form’s enduring power to inspire audiences and transform communities across borders. The winners were chosen from over 14,000 nominations for artists and companies from 25 countries.
In a standout year for American companies and artists, Dallas Opera's Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors, founded to redress the gender imbalance on opera podiums, received the Equal Opportunities and Impact Award, while the Philanthropy Award honoured the generosity of C. Graham Berwind III, a prominent American patron. American bass-baritone Nicholas Brownlee was named Male Singer of the year, and the newly introduced Musical Theatre award went to the Glimmerglass Festival (Cooperstown, NY) for its recent production of Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George, directed by Ethan Heard.
There was also notable success for Czechia, with Festival of the Year awarded to Janáček Festival Brno, and New Production going to Robert Carsen’s fantastical production of Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Brouček, staged at that Festival in a co-production by the National Theatre Brno, Staatsoper Berlin and Teatro Real.
The evening’s most prestigious honour, the 2025 Opera Company Award, was awarded to MusikTheater an der Wien.
Other awards included Rediscovered Work, won by Opéra de Dijon for Baldassare Galuppi’s 1762 work L’uomo femina, Complete Opera Recording for Château de Versailles Spectacles for Lully’s Atys, and Solo Recording, awarded to Ann Hallenberg for her recording of Gluck arias with The Mozartists on Signum.
The World Premiere award, with an expanded shortlist to ten, a testament to the strength of contemporary opera this year, was won by Mark-Anthony Turnage's and Lee Hall 's Festen, premiered at The Royal Opera in London. The Readers’ Award – Opera Magazine with Opera News, the only award of the night decided by the public, was presented to Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka. La Monnaie / De Munt’s music director Alain Altinoglu was named Conductor of the Year, while Female Singer went to Asmik Grigorian. Claus Guth took home the Director award, and the Designer award went to Paolo Fantin.
The Rising Star award was presented to two outstanding young singers: countertenor Hugh Cutting and French mezzo-soprano Adèle Charvet. The International Opera Awards event raises funds for the Opera Awards Foundation, which nurtures aspiring operatic talent around the world to help achieve their career potential.
Two awards celebrated the crucial role of opera's leaders – the Good Governance Award for Leadership in Opera was awarded to Anthony Freud, recognising his outstanding three-decade contribution to the global opera industry, and Teatro Real, Madrid was awarded the Sustainability Award for its installation of a walkable photovoltaic roof which generates clean energy, becoming the first historic building in the world to integrate such solar panel energy production.
The evening also included performances of Greek classical music, with soloists of the Greek National Opera performing works by Greek composers accompanied by the Orchestra, Chorus, Ballet, and Children’s Chorus of the GNO. Excerpts from Puccini’s operas were also performed by Marina Rebeka and Nicholas Brownlee, winners of the Readers’ and Male Singer Awards, respectively.
