The city of Saint Petersburg is currently paying tribute to the renowned Catalan opera singer Conxita Badia (Barcelona, 1897-1975), one of the greatest Catalan interpreters of 20th century. Russian mezzo-soprano Elena Obraztsova is the person responsible for the International Chamber Music Competition, a memorial to the Catalan artist that is being held from 24 to 30 August. Badia and Obraztsova met for the first time at International Singing Contest Francesc Viñas in 1970, which the Saint Petersburg singer won, and since then they were close friends.
The international contest convenes 58 young singers between ages 20 to 35 from all over the world. The jury, led by Obraztsova, will choose a maximum of 30 contestants to go to the second round and, among these, a maximum of 15 will be chosen to enter the final round. Contestants must perform the works in its original language from memory. Among the authors, there are the Italian composers Verdi or Rossini and the Spanish artists Granados and Falla, who were inspired by Badia.
During a international competition
