Sep 18, 2025

Sondra Radvanovsky, Freddie De Tommaso, Anastasia Bartoli, Elīna Garanča & Huw Montague Rendall Lead International Opera Awards Nominees

The International Opera Awards have announced its 2025 nominees.

The nominees for Opera Company of the Year are Deutsche Oper Berlin, GöteborgsOperan, Houston Grand Opera, MusikTheater an der Wien, Opernhaus Zürich, and Teatro alla Scala.

Meanwhile, in the Female Singer category, Anastasia Bartoli, Elsa Dreisig, Véronique Gens, Asmik Grigorian, Sondra Radvanovsky, and Adela Zaharia are the nominees.

In the Male Singer category, Nicholas Brownlee is nominated alongside Solomon Howard, Mika Kares, Huw Montague Rendall, Brindley Sherratt, and Reinoud van Mechelen.

The Readers’ Award category features a star-studded lineup that includes Freddie De Tommaso, Amartuvshin Enkhbat, Elīna Garanča, Wallis Giunta, Jakub Jozef Orliński, Marina Rebeka, Nadine Sierra, and Bogdan Volkov.

Alain Altinoglu, Edward Gardner, Karen Kamensek, Susanna Mälkki, Kent Nagano, and Giacomo Sagripanti are nominated for Conductor of the Year.

The awards ceremony will be held on November 13 at the Greek National Opera, in the Stavros Niarchos Hall.

Here is a full list of the nominees:

Conductor

Alain Altinoglu
Edward Gardner
Karen Kamensek
Susanna Mälkki
Kent Nagano
Giacomo Sagripanti

Designer

Ben Baur
Paolo Fantin
Erhard Rom
Rainer Sellmaier
Leslie Travers
takis

Director

Calixto Bieito
Valentina Carrasco
Johannes Erath
Claus Guth
Andreas Homoki
Jetske Mijnssen

Equal Opportunities

Dallas Opera: Hart Institute for Women Conductors
Denyce Graves Foundation
Minnesota Opera
Opera sin fronteras
Pegasus Opera: Mentoring
Vache Baroque: Visionaries (Deaf-Blind Workshops)

Female Singer

Anastasia Bartoli
Elsa Dreisig
Véronique Gens
Asmik Grigorian
Sondra Radvanovsky
Adela Zaharia

Festival

Innsbruck Festival of Early Music
Janáček Brno Festival
Munich Opera Festival
Opera Forward Festival
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
Rossini Opera Festival

Male Singer

Nicholas Brownlee
Solomon Howard
Mika Kares
Huw Montague Rendall
Brindley Sherratt
Reinoud van Mechelen

Musical Theatre

Fiddler on the Roof (Cincinnati Opera)
Gypsy (Philharmonie de Paris)
Love Life (Opera North)
Rent (The Atlanta Opera)
Sunday in the Park with George (Glimmerglass Festival)
West Side Story (Opera di Roma/Caracalla Festival)

New Production

Castor et Pollux (Opéra national de Paris/Peter Sellars)
The Excursions of Mr Brouček (National Theatre Brno & Staatsoper Berlin/Robert Carsen)
La forza del destino (Greek National Opera/Rodula Gaitanou)
Innocence (Semperoper/Lorenzo Fiorini)
Khovanshchina (Salzburg Easter Festival/Simon McBurney)
Louise (Festival d’Aix-en-Provence/Christof Loy)
Salome (Metropolitan Opera/Claus Guth)
Wozzeck (Opera Ballet Vlaanderen/Johan Simons)

Opera Company

Deutsche Oper Berlin
GöteborgsOperan
Houston Grand Opera
MusikTheater an der Wien
Opernhaus Zürich
Teatro alla Scala

Readers’ Award

Sponsored by Opera Magazine with Opera News

Freddie De Tommaso
Amartuvshin Enkhbat
Elīna Garanča
Wallis Giunta
Jakub Jozef Orliński
Marina Rebeka
Nadine Sierra
Bogdan Volkov

Recording (Complete Opera)

Bizet: Carmen (Bru Zane, DVD)
Lully: Atys (Château de Versailles Spectacles, CD & DVD)
Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (Erato, CD)
Ruo: An American Soldier (Platoon, CD)
Strauss: Salome (Chandos, CD)
Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin (Naxos, DVD)
Verdi: Simon Boccanegra – 1857 version (Opera Rara, CD)
Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen (Accentus, DVD)

Recording (Solo Recital)

Eleonora Buratto: Indomita (Pentatone)
Rosa Feola: Son regina e sono amante (Pentatone)
Amanda Forsythe: Ino—Telemann arias for soprano (CPO)
Ann Hallenberg: Gluck Arias (Signum)
Roberta Mameli: The Ghosts of Hamlet (Arcana)
Huw Montague Rendall: Contemplation (Warner Classics)
Lisette Oropesa: Mis amores son las flores (EuroArts)
Eva Zaïcik: Rebelle (Alpha)

Rediscovered Work

Boccherini: Doña Clementina (Opera Southwest)
Galuppi: L’uomo femina (Opéra de Dijon)
Lemoyne: Phèdre (Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe)
Moore: Giants in the Earth (South Dakota Symphony Orchestra)
Porpora: Ifigenia in Aulide (Bayreuth Baroque)
Steffani: Orlando generoso (Musikfestspiele Potsdam)
Strauss: Waldmeister (Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz)
Traetta: Ifigenia in Tauride (Innsbruck Festival of Early Music

Sustainability

Longborough Festival Opera
Oper Leipzig
Oper Wuppertal
Santa Fe Opera
Teatro Real, Madrid
Volksoper Wien

World Premiere

Cánovas/Iglesias: Don Juan no existe (Festival Perelada/Teatro Maestranza/Teatros del Canal (Madrid) / Teatro Real / Gran Teatre del Liceu)
Filidei/Busellato: Il nome della rosa(Teatro alla Scala)
Gordon/Nottage/Gerber: This House (Opera Theatre of Saint Louis)
Hosokawa/Tawada: Natasha (New National Theatre Tokyo)
Milch-Sheriff/Ricklin: Alma (Volksoper Wien)
Prestini/Vavrek: Silent Light (National Sawdust)
Saunders/Atkins: Lash – Acts of Love (Deutsche Oper Berlin)
Turnage/Hall: Festen (The Royal Opera)
Venables/Huffman/Segal: We Are the Lucky Ones (Dutch National Opera)
Walshe/O’Connell: MARS (Irish National Opera)