Promising young talents of the international opera scene, selected from the students of the Georg Solti Accademia in Italy, will perform at the special concert titled Solti Gala with Rising Stars on 19 October 2025, on the stage of the Hungarian State Opera. The gala’s colourful program features some of the most beautiful arias, duets, and ensembles from the operatic repertoire, ranging from Mozart to Puccini. The OPERA Orchestra will be conducted by Sámuel Csaba Tóth.
Highlights from Così fan tutte, Il barbiere di Siviglia, L'elisir d'amore, La traviata, Faust, Carmen, La bBohème, and Turandot will be performed at the gala evening organised by the Georg Solti Accademia for its young talents in collaboration with the Hungarian State Opera. Eight singers on the brink of distinguished international careers will appear on stage. Although they come from seven countries across three continents, they are united by their exceptional skill and profound dedication to the art of opera. The evening’s performers are:
- William Desbiens, French-Canadian baritone, member of the Hamburg State Opera International Opera Studio, known for several memorable portrayals of Figaro in TIl barbiere di Siviglia;
- Wallis Giunta, Irish-Canadian mezzo-soprano, winner of the 2018 International Opera Awards’ “Young Singer of the Year,” who has recently appeared at the Royal Opera House in London, La Scala in Milan, and the Volksoper in Vienna;
- Emma Kajander, Finnish-Swedish soprano, who, after winning first prize in Finland’s most prestigious competition, the Lappeenranta Singing Competition in 2025, will make her debut at the Royal Swedish Opera this year;
- Eva Rae Martinez, Colombian-American soprano and former prize-winning student of the Yale Opera Studio, who begins the season as a member of the Dutch National Opera Studio after making her debut at Carnegie Hall in November 2024 in Orff’s Carmina Burana;
- Hongrui Ren, Chinese tenor and student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, whose lyrical voice and technique have been praised by Opera News; he has already collaborated in concert settings with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, music director of the Metropolitan Opera and the Philadelphia Orchestra;
- Gosh Sargsyan, Armenian bass and member of the Armenian National Opera and Ballet, who was a finalist in this year’s prestigious Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition and received an invitation to the Royal Opera House in London, but will first perform Verdi’s Requiem in Budapest this November;
- Etina Saulite, 19-year-old Latvian mezzo-soprano, one of the prizewinners of the 2024 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition, now in her second season as a member of the Latvian National Opera Chorus.
Alex Vereshchak, Ukrainian bass and one of the new members of the Éva Marton Opera Studio of the Hungarian State Opera, who previously participated in the Georg Solti Accademia’s courses in 2021 and 2023, has also been invited to perform.
This concert marks the second major milestone in the collaboration between the OPERA and the Georg Solti Accademia. Following last year’s grand gala concert celebrating the academy’s 20th anniversary, the two institutions once again join forces for another exceptional evening.
Sir Georg Solti, one of the most influential conductors of the 20th century, always placed great emphasis on supporting young talents. The Georg Solti Accademia, founded in 2004 by, among others, Valerie Solti, the conductor’s widow, continues this tradition. Through internationally recognized masterclasses and performance opportunities, the academy nurtures some of the most promising artists shaping the future of opera. For the Hungarian State Opera, this concert offers a unique opportunity to introduce to the Budapest audience the potential opera stars of tomorrow.
