Mezzo-soprano Natalia Kutateladze sweeps four prizes at Barcelona's Tenor Viñas Singing Contest
Mezzo-soprano Natalia Kutateladze (pictured third from right, front row) among participants of the high-profile contest. Photo: Tenor Viñas Singing Contest.
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Young mezzo-soprano Natalia Kutateladze has swept four prizes at the high-profile Tenor Viñas Singing Contest in Barcelona, earning second prize and a selection of special awards from juries and audience at the Gran Teatre del Liceu venue on Sunday.
The tally of prizes came in the singer's first international contest in what was the 57th edition of the competition held since 1963 in honour of Catalan tenor Francesc Viñas. The Georgian singer was distinguished among 15 entrants, shortlisted from about 600 submissions from worldwide singing talent.
Following the closing concert at the Barcelona theatre Kutateladze secured both the second prize as well as two special prizes from the Teatro Real de Madrid and the Association of Friends of the Opera Sabadell.
Finally, she was also picked for the audience award following the final leg of the contest that saw the mezzo perform in the famed Habanera from the Bizet classic Carmen and O mio Fernando from Donizetti's La Favorita.
Hosted for a Georgian Public Broadcaster programme following her success in Barcelona, Kutateladze spoke of the length and level of competition at the two-week event, also noting effects of rising motivation with every round.
Mezzo-soprano Victoria Karkacheva of Russia was awarded first prize in the contest, with Chile's Yaritza Véliz Aquea taking up the final position of the top three.
¡Felicidades a los ganadores del #TenorVinas57! Hoy puedes seguir en directo el Concierto Final desde el Gran Teatre del Liceu, a las 18h.
— Gran Teatre Liceu (@Liceu_cat) January 26, 2020
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The prize-winning performance at the competition will mean the Georgian singer will also perform at a Teatro Real de Madrid gala in the spring, set up to host winning entrants of the Viñas contest.
Kutateladze graduated the Master's programme at New York's Juilliard School conservatory under the tutorship of Edith Wiens and was the winner of the school's 2017-18 Vocal Arts Honors Recital along with soprano Felicia Moore. She was trained at the school starting in 2015, following graduation from the Tbilisi State Conservatoire.
The mezzo featured at events including the Baltic Season Music Festival, Spivakov International Music Festival, and the International Classical Music Festival of Georgia. She is also recipient of the Rita Greenland Scholarship in Voice and the Risë Stevens Scholarship.