Anthea Pichanik
(c) S.Jourdan
The 29-year-old French singer Anthea Pichanick won the 6th International Singing Competition for Baroque Opera Pietro Antonio Cesti. She was awarded the first prize (endowed with 4,000 Euros).
The second prize (3,000 Euros) was awarded to the 28-year-old Ukrainian countertenor Konstantin Derri who already won the Ferruccio Tagliavini competition in Italy and since has performed at the Hamburg and Kiev operas.
The third prize (2,000 Euros) went to the 23-year-old Italian soprano Alice Rossi.
The audience at the Tyrolean State Conservatory chose another Italian soprano as the winner of the audience award (1,000 Euros): 28-year-old Arianna Venditelli.
All in all, 67 singers from 26 countries faced the international jury during the four days of the most important competition for baroque opera. In addition to Schwarz and De Marchi, the jury was composed of Sophie de Lint, director of the Zurich Opera House, Sophie Joyce of the English National Opera, the two German opera directors Heribert Germeshausen (Heidelberg) and Michael Fichtenholz (Staatstheater Karlsruhe and Karlsruhe Handel Festival), Pål Moe (Bavarian State Opera Munich, Glyndebourne Opera Festival) and the artist manager Eitan Sorek.
