MUSIC-URUGUAY: From Carnival to Opera

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Raul Ronzoni

MONTEVIDEO, Jul 11 1995 (IPS) - Javier Fernandez is still trying to get over the excitement that took hold of him when he received the fax.

It began with the word “congratulations”. Then followed news that the 30-year-old Uruguayan singer had been selected as a finalist in the ‘International Competition of Canto Pavarotti’.

The selection had been done by the famous Italian tenor himself.

That competition will be held Nov. 5-13 in the U.S. city of Philadelphia. Fernandez will try to get accepted into Pavarotti’s international company. There he could get a big break, if the talent-spotters are kind.

This year’s is the fifth such competition organised by Pavarotti in the last 14 years. Since the first, in 1981, the legendary tenor has selected 100 singers from nearly 2,000 candidates throughout the world to participate in the final selection.

Along with Fernandez, who many consider the most outstanding tenor in the country’s history, two other Uruguayans will compete. They are Carlos Ventre, a tenor, and the soprano Josefina Costa, both of whom have already embarked upon international careers.

Three Uruguayans out of 100 finalists is not bad for this small South American country of 3.1 million inhabitants, where opera is given only secondary importance.

In this country, performances are promoted by ‘Pro Opera’, a private organisation backed by the music-loving president of the Inter-American Development Bank, Enrique Iglesias.

Fernandez has not had an easy path to follow. Born in Melo, a small city near the Brazilian border, 450 kilometres east of Montevideo, he came to the capital at age 16. He was “ready to sing”.

“My only goal was to sing. I was able to do so in all genres, and to support my wife and three kids. But attempting to work as a professional in the world of opera has been very difficult,” the singer told IPS. (MORE)

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