It was “Wagner Idol” in Seattle when Seattle Opera presented its International Wagner Competitions in the summers of 2006 and 2008. Each year, eight singers (39 years old or younger, with at least one professional Wagner performance experience) competed for $15,000 prizes awarded by judges including Eva Wagner-Pasquier, Peter Jonas, Stephen Wadsworth, Stephanie Blythe, and Peter Kazaras. Here are excerpts sung by the winners on those memorable evenings!

This competition returns in August 2014; go to seattleopera.org/tickets/producti…productionID=157 for more information.