Agnes Baltsa, Marina Rebeka, Asmik Grigorian, Nicholas Brownlee, Adèle Charvet, Hugh Cutting & many more rewarded at the 2025 International Opera Awards in Athens

Agnes Baltsa, Lifetime Achievement Award winner International Opera Awards 2025 – (Photo: GNO/Simopoulos)

‘Tis the season for awards. Hot on the heels of the Ivors Classical Awards [see my article] comes the International Opera Awards whose ceremony, this year, was held in Athens at the Stavros Niarchos Hall of the Greek National Opera. The event featured performances by soloists Marina Rebeka and Nicholas Brownlee, winners of the Readers’ and Male Singer Awards respectively, along with performances of works by Greek composers Spyridon Samaras, Paolo Carrer, Theofrastos Sakellaridis, Nikos Skalkottas, Mikis Theodorakis and Giorgos Koumendakis from Greek National Opera forces. 

The evening was live-streamed and is available on OperaVision.

Marina Rebeka, winner of Readers’ Award IOA 2025  (Photo: GNO / Akriviadis Charis)

• CONDUCTOR: Alain Altinoglu, music director of La Monnaie De Munt

• DESIGNER: Paolo Fantin 

• for his inventive sets in new productions including the world premiere of Francesco Filidei’s Il nome della rosa at La Scala in Milan.

• DIRECTOR: Claus Guth 

• impressed the jury for his bold staging of Salome at the Metropolitan Opera

• EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES & IMPACT: The Dallas Opera, Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors

• the world’s only programme dedicated to advancing the careers of women conductors in opera training, mentorship, and professional development, with alumnae now leading productions and orchestras worldwide

• FEMALE SINGER: Asmik Grigorian 

• whose remarkable season included embodying all three heroines in Il trittico at the Paris Opera and Salome with the London Symphony Orchestra
• See our review of Il trittico in Paris ‘An almost perfect triptych’

• FESTIVAL: Janáček Brno Festival 

• (see also the award for New Production)

• LEADERSHIP: Anthony Freud

• LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT: Agnes Baltsa. 

• 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. 

• MALE SINGER: Nicholas Brownlee

• the American bass-baritone for performances including Macbeth and Amfortas for Opera Frankfurt, and Wotan in Das Rheingold for the Paris Opera.

• MUSICAL: Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George at the Glimmerglass Festival

• NEW PRODUCTION: Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Brouček (director Robert Carsen)

• staged at the Janáček Brno Festival, a co-production by the National Theatre Brno, Staatsoper Berlin, and Teatro Real. 

• OPERA COMPANY: MusikTheater an der Wien. 

• following a two-year closure and extensive renovation to one of Europe’s most historic houses, the company made a triumphant return in the 2024/25 season, presenting a bold and wide-ranging programme that spanned over four centuries of music theatre, from fully staged productions to concert operas and educational initiatives.

• PHILANTHROPY: C. Graham Berwind III

• READERS’ AWARD – OPERA MAGAZINE WITH OPERA NEWS: Latvian soprano Marina Rebeka

• the only Award of the night decided by the public 

• RECORDING (COMPLETE OPERA): Lully’s Atys 

• from Château de Versailles Spectacles conducted by Leonardo García Alarcón. 

• RECORDING (SOLO RECITAL): Ann Hallenberg & The Mozartists: Gluck Arias (Signum). Ann Hallenberg’s third International Opera Award

• See my recent interview with Ann Hallenberg discussing the new recording

• REDISCOVERED WORK: Baldassare Galuppi’s 1762 work L’uomo femina

• a surprisingly modern exploration of traditional gender roles which was revived by Opéra de Dijon in a co-production with Le Poème Harmonique, Théâtre de Caen and Château de Versailles Spectacles.

• RISING STAR: Adèle Charvet (mezzo-soprano)

• a season including role debuts as Ariodante, Carmen and Charlotte in Werther
• we caught her as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro with Glyndebourne at the BBC Proms this summer, see my review
• RISING STAR: Hugh Cutting (countertenor)
• a BBC New Generation artist and the first countertenor to win the Kathleen Ferrier Award
• we caught him in Handel’s Rodelinda at Garsington this summer, see my review

• SUSTAINABILITY: Teatro Real Madrid 

• 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.

• WORLD PREMIERE: Mark-Antony Turnage & Lee Hall: Festen at The Royal Opera, Covent Garden

Yannis Christopoulos and Vassiliki Karayanni with Chorus of the Greek National Opera perform at International Opera Awards 2025 – (Photo: GNO / G.Antonoglou)