The tenor Luis Gomes grew up in Sarilhos Grandes, a small Portuguese town across the Tagus River from Lisbon. The only opera theater in Portugal, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, seemed like a world away. Like other young singers from his country, Mr. Gomes, 31, found it hard to make a career as an opera singer at home. “You need to challenge yourself, and there arrives a moment when you feel like you have to go somewhere else to grow,” Mr. Gomes said in a telephone interview. But this month he returns to his homeland as one of two Portuguese contenders among the 40 competitors in Operalia, Plácido Domingo’s nomadic opera competition, which has chosen the Teatro Nacional as its 2018 location.

Source: New York Times August 27, 2018 13:52 UTC