A musical and human coexistence
Between March 15th and 22nd, the 24th Maria Callas Brazilian Singing Competition , or more broadly, the Callas 2026 Festival , took place . Ninety-three candidates from ten Latin American countries and twelve Brazilian states registered free of charge. After video analysis in the elimination phase, 51 singers were selected to attend the semi-final, which took place on the 16th and 17th at the Teatro Sérgio Cardoso in São Paulo, and 16 advanced to the final, on March 19th, at the Sala Mário Lago in Jacareí. During the auditions and recitals, the singers were accompanied by pianists Daniel Gonçalves and Karin Uzun .
Throughout the program, the charisma and dedication of Paulo Abrão Esper , creator and director of the Maria Callas Competition, resonated . Esper knows how to cultivate friendships and build partnerships. The competition resulted precisely from a great partnership between the São Paulo Opera Company and Amigos da Ópera de Jacareí , both founded and directed by Esper, with a veritable list of entities: the José Maria de Abreu Cultural Foundation of Jacarehy (an agency of the Jacareí City Hall, Esper's hometown); APAA — Associação Paulista dos Amigos da Arte (a social organization linked to the Government of the State of São Paulo); Sustenidos ; the Italian Cultural Institute of São Paulo ; the Consulate General of Italy in São Paulo ; and the Consulate General of Greece in São Paulo .
Esper also counts on the collaboration of valuable friends. Among them are Antônio Roque Citadini , president of the Patrons of the São Paulo Opera Company, Alberto Marcondes , coordinator of the Maria Callas Competition , Dyra Oliveira , director of APAA, and Robson Tirotti , member of the Friends of the São Paulo Opera Company.
As a member of the board of the São Paulo Opera Company, I had the privilege of being part of the jury, which brought together personalities from five countries across the European and American continents. Chaired by the talented Brazilian conductor André Dos Santos , the jury also included: the Greek soprano Myrtò Papatanasiu , who performs as a leading actress in important theaters such as the operas of Rome, Paris, Vienna, and Munich, as well as the San Carlo and Liceu theaters and the Metropolitan; the Spanish artistic agent José Velasco ; the Italian Vincenzo De Vivo , artistic director of the opera season at the Teatro delle Muse in Ancona and the Academy of Lyric Art in Osimo; the Argentinian Maria Jaunarena , director of the Juventus Lyrica Association; and the Chilean Nicolás Vásquez Muñoz , general director of Lírica Disidente.
The award winners
The awards were divided into two categories: female and male. In the female category, four Brazilian sopranos won: Elisa Braga ( 1st prize ), Anna Hernandez and Marília Carvalho ( 2nd ), and Mayra Terzian ( 3rd ). The winners in the male category were the 19-year-old Argentinian bass Román Coccalotto ( 1st prize ), the Brazilian baritone Leandro Abreu ( 2nd ), and the Mexican tenor Christopher Gonzalez ( 3rd ).
Also awarded were baritone Isaque Oliveira and soprano Fernanda França , both Brazilians, with the Toriba Musical Prize , offered by the Hotel Toriba ; Brazilian soprano Raquel Fortes with an Honorable Mention from the Rotary Club of Jacareí ; and Mexican tenor Misael Corralejo with the Manaus Tenors Meeting and Lírica Dissidente awards .
The Lírica Disidente Prize was created in 2024 at the annual conference of Ópera Latinoamerica (OLA). According to the partnership established between this independent Chilean company and the Cia Ópera São Paulo, each year a singer who has performed at least in the semi-final stage of the Maria Callas Competition is chosen to participate in an opera in Santiago. Last year, the Brazilian baritone Flávio Antonione was Leporello in the opera Don Giovanni ; this year, Misael Corralejo will play Alfredo Germont in La Traviata .
In addition to tests and prizes
But the Maria Callas Competition goes beyond tests and a list of winners. It is, above all, a learning experience, a true journey that impacts the lives of the participants, even those who didn't reach the final. And all this is not only free, but also includes accommodation and a stipend for those who come from other countries or more distant cities.
The importance of this experience became clear on Saturday the 21st. The original program was a morning masterclass with the experienced and precise maestro De Vivo. What actually happened was a masterclass that he and Papatanasiu gave together. When a singer finished working on their aria under De Vivo's guidance, they would sit in the audience next to Papatanasiu, who would patiently talk to the young singer, point out their flaws, and suggest paths forward. All this while, along with De Vivo, they would also offer their opinions on the next candidate's performance!
During the masterclass , De Vivo taught the importance of studying the text well—the correct pronunciation, the open vowels of Italian, memorizing whether consonants are doubled or not—before moving on to singing. Regarding the voice, Papatanasiu taught that the middle register of the voice, where so many singers struggle, is the "home" of the voice, the foundation, the register we use in speaking, and it must be very well developed.
The conversations and guidance, however, did not end when the masterclass concluded. Throughout the day, De Vivo and Papatanasiu carried the competition notebook, where they had made their respective notes about the candidates, and patiently and generously attended to each one who came to ask them for guidance. This continued even during dinner, kindly offered by the Rotary Club of Jacareí after the winners' recital.
The joy brought to these young people by the opportunity to learn from such qualified and generous teachers was evident, especially considering they live so far from the major European centers where opera is most vibrant. The celebration filled the air, and everyone felt rewarded.
A rich and intense week.
On Sunday the 15th, a concert at the Teatro Sérgio Cardoso in São Paulo opened the week of events for the Callas Festival . The Experimental Repertory Orchestra (OER) , under the direction of Wagner Polistchuk , accompanied soloists Maria Sole Gallevi , Richard Bauer , and Anibal Mancini , winners of previous editions, as well as the Kazakh soprano based in Italy, Anastassiya Kozhukharova .
On that occasion, Paulo Esper paid a beautiful and well-deserved tribute to an important supporter of the contest who, as always, was present: Domenico Fornara , the Consul General of Italy in São Paulo, who will be leaving Brazil this year. Accompanied by the friendly Deputy Consul Mariana Haddad , Fornara took the opportunity to make a commitment to his successors: the Consulate will continue to support the Maria Callas Contest . We will miss the sincere and welcoming smile of this dynamic Consul, passionate about the arts.
It was precisely at the Italian Consulate General in São Paulo, with Fornara and Haddad as the attentive hosts, that the event took place on the evening of March 16th, after a day of semi-final exams. Paulo Esper interviewed Vincenzo De Vivo about his vast experience as director of various opera houses in Italy and Spain. The conversation was interspersed with music: baritone Vinicius Atique and soprano Thayana Roverso performed arias by Verdi and Puccini, accompanied on the piano by Fernando Carrera .
Divina D'Acciaio
On Friday, March 20th, at the Municipal Theater of São Paulo, an emotional ceremony was held, promoted by the Consulate General of Greece in São Paulo: the opening of the exhibition of the sculpture Divina D'Acciaio ( Divine of Steel ), by the Greek artist Nikos Floros , in homage to Maria Callas. After having been exhibited in cities such as Venice, Rome, Paris, Dubai and Florence, the sculpture arrived at the TMSP, where it will be on display in the foyer for three months.
Floros, who was present, explained that he chose steel because it is timeless, like Callas's voice. Since Callas's ashes were scattered in the Aegean Sea, he represented the singer as a caryatid—after all, caryatids are one of the symbols of the architecture of the Aegean region. Floros's Callas holds in her left hand a golden structure which, according to him, represents the spectrogram of her interpretation of Casta Diva : "The intangible becomes form, and the voice acquires presence . "
The event was attended by authorities such as the Consul General of Greece, Thomas Matsoukas , the Municipal Secretary of International Relations of São Paulo, Angela Gandra , and the Secretary of Culture, Economy and Creative Industries of the State of São Paulo, Marília Marton , as well as other personalities, such as the director of TMSP, Andréa Caruso , and the entire jury of the Callas Competition .
And in this tribute to Callas, what truly reigned supreme was the music. And Myrtò Papatanasiu played a fundamental role. Accompanied on the piano by Daniel Gonçalves, the Greek soprano performed the Moon Song from Dvořák's opera Rusalka , Un bel dì vedremo and Vissi d'arte , respectively from Puccini's operas Madama Butterfly and Tosca , and a Greek song—I apologize for being unable to write the song's name in Greek. In this small recital, it was possible to experience a little of Papatanasiu's art, who interpreted the four pieces with great sensitivity.
Paulo Esper took the opportunity to honor Papatanasiu, who officially joined the extensive list of Great Voices he has brought to Brazil — the first on that list was Magda Olivero, who, in 1997, participated in the jury of the third edition of the Maria Callas Competition .
Visibly moved, Papatanasiu spoke of the importance of Callas's memory and art in these times we are living through. “Maria Callas unites us, she taught us, she teaches us the voice of heaven; she teaches us to seek the peace we need, she teaches us to have inner peace, to ask for peace from other hearts and to be faithful to these great values—culture and music; values such as family, friendship, faith, faith in life .” For Papatanasiu, we must learn from music, this music that makes us dream. And this dream “is something we should have and offer both to those who deserve it and to those who don't, because, who knows, that person might become a better person . ”
A dream was born in everyone who was there: that Papatanasiu would return to São Paulo, either as the protagonist of an opera or performing in a longer recital.
The closing
The week concluded with a double recital by the young winners. Late Saturday afternoon, the 21st, the eleven award winners, accompanied by Daniel Gonçalves and Karin Uzun, performed at the Mário Lago Hall in Jacareí. The audience was welcomed with art from the hall's lobby, where there was an exhibition of paintings by local artists. Among the city's opera fans, who always fill the events of the São Paulo Opera Company, were the Mayor of Jacareí, Celso Florêncio , the president of the José Maria de Abreu Cultural Foundation, Felipe Auricchio , and, of course, Mrs. Ruth and Mr. Paulo , Paulo Esper's parents.
On Sunday morning, these brave young people sang again. This time the recital was in São Paulo, at the Teatro Sérgio Cardoso, for an audience that included several supporters of the Cia Ópera São Paulo and personalities from the city's opera world. Among them were the ever-faithful Cidinha Rasetti , a pianist who has been by Esper's side for many years since the first edition of the Competition , Roque Citadini, and the Secretary of Culture, Marília Marton, who reaffirmed her support for the Competition and for opera.
With Callas, sowing values and investing in the future.
At the ceremony held at the TMSP, as the gong of Norma , installed next to the sculpture, sounded, Esper recalled that in 2027 we will celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Callas' death and the 25th edition of the competition that bears her name will be held. At that moment, he took the opportunity to launch the 25th edition of the Maria Callas Brazilian Singing Competition .
I want to conclude by confessing to the reader how gratifying it was not only to experience these precious moments of the Callas Festival , but also to relive them while writing this account. Every day I feel more grateful to Paulo Esper. Part of this gratitude is personal, for having given me the joy of sharing these moments, for the warm welcome in the city of Jacareí — where lunch at the delicious Harissa Arabic restaurant is a must — and for the camaraderie with such a united jury: as Papatanasiu said, tearfully at the moment of parting, we all became friends.
But I also feel a strong sense of gratitude in a broader, collective sense, as a human being. I echo Papatanasiu's words: music, like art in general, strengthens values, brings people closer, creates friendships, cultivates dreams, brings inner peace and empathy. Offering such an experience to these young people is, therefore, sowing important values in those who represent our future and cultivating humanism. May the next editions of the Maria Callas Competition come soon !