Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Wed, Dec. 14, 2022, 7.30 pm - 10.30 pm
Musikalische Leitung
Volker Krafft
Birthplace:
Tubingen, Germany
Studies:
Conducting and piano at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig as well as conducting, pianoforte and harpsichord at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam
Prizes:
First Prize at the Wigmore Hall/Kohn Foundation International Song Competition together with Dominik Königer (2011)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Solo repetitor since the 2012/13 season, additionally musical assistant to the General Music Director (since the 2017/18 season)
Repertoire:
Focus on the German repertoire (Wagner, Strauss etc.), Italian repertoire, Mozart; special predilection for song and chamber music
Career Stages:
Musikalische Komödie/Oper Leipzig, Theater Hagen, Royal Opera Covent Garden London
Stages:
Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Oper Leipzig, Theater Hagen, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, National Concert Hall Dublin, Mozartfest Würzburg, Opéra de Lille, Wigmore Hall London, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Member of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester and Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, collaboration with Concerto Köln, Accademia Bizzantina, et al.
Chor
Christian Günther
Associate Chorus Master
Birthplace:
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Studies:
Conducting at University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, conducting lessons with Neeme Järvi, Jorma Panula and Gianluigi Gelmetti
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Assistant Chorus Master at Hamburg State Opera since the 2019/20 season
Career stages:
Assistant of the Chorus Master at Hamburg State Opera (2008-2019), regular guest appearances at NDR-Chorus (since 2018), Guest Chorus Master at Zürich Opera House (2018), Assistant of Eberhard Friedrich with the Chorus of the Bayreuth Festival (2017), Guest engagements at Music Festival Bremen, at Festival der Projektgruppe Neue Musik Bremen as well as at Oh Ton-Ensemble Oldenburg, Leader of the Ensemble “Atelier Neue Musik”, Lectureship at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen (since 2007), Associate Chorus Master and Leader of the children's chorus at Theater Bremen (2002-2007), 2nd Capellmeister at Theater Bremen (2005-2007), Conductor of the Ensemble “piano possible” Munich (1996-2007), Guest répétiteur at Stuttgart State Theater, Theater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich and at the Biennale in Munich
Cooperation with choruses:
Chorus of Hamburg State Opera, NDR Chorus, Children's chorus of Theater Bremen, et al.
Sarastro
David Minseok Kang
Bass
Origin:
Korea
Studies:
Kyunghee University in Seoul with Alfred Kim, Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart Master class Oper with Gundula Schneider (since 2018)
Master classes:
With Jenny Anvelt, Bo Skovhus, Kwangchul Youn, Margreet Honig, Gundula Schneider
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since 2019/20
Important parts:
Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Colline (La Bohème), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte)
Stages:
Staatsoper Stuttgart, Ettlinger Schlossfestspiele
Cooperations with directors:
Blanka Radoczy, Solvejg Bauer, Bernd Schmitt
Cooperations with conductors:
Christopher Schmitz, Alois Seidlmeier
photo: Tamara Sophie Grieß
Tamino
Oleksiy Palchykov
Tenor
Birthplace:
Kiev, Ukraine
Studies:
At the Vocal Faculty of the Petro Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, Atelier Lyrique of the Opéra National de Paris
Prizes:
Grand Prix of the XVI International Lydia Abramova Vocal Student’s Competition “Bella voce” in Moscow, special prize of the Jury at the International Vocal Competition “Debut” in Wiekersheim, Prix Lyrique du Carpeaux, Prix Lyrique de L'AROP, finalist of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2017/18
Important parts:
Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Alfredo (La Traviata), Fenton (Falstaff), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore), Il Conte d’Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Pylade (Iphigénie en Tauride), Paris (La belle Hélène), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Cassio (Otello), Narraboth (Salome), Beppe (Pagliacci), Sinowi (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Lykow (The Tsar’s Bride), Gritsko (Sorochintsi Fair), Kudryash (Katia Kabanova), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), et al.
Stages:
The Lyon Opera house, Opera Bastille, Opera Garnier, Athénée-Théâtre, Opernhaus Zürich, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Edinburg International Festival, Garsington Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Champs Elysees Theatre, National Opera of Monpellier, National Opera of Ukraine, M. Dzhalil Tatar Academic State Opera, Chaliapin Festival, Le Théâtre du Léman, Palazzo dei Congressi Lugano, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Andreas Homoki, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Barrie Kosky, Calixto Bieito, Willy Decker,
Renaud Doucet/André Barbe, Mariame Clement, William Kentridge, Christophe Perton, Àlex Ollé, Laurent Pelly, Olivier Py, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Nello Santi, Philippe Jordan, Kent Nagano, Visiliy Petrenko, Michael Schønwandt, Riccardo Frizza, Kazushi Ono, Paolo Carignani, Alessandro De Marchi, Daniele Callegari, Henrik Nánási, Vakclav Luks, et al.
Find further information about Oleksiy Palchykov here.
photo: PHOT.CHE PHOTOGRAPHY
Pamina
Nikola Hillebrand
Biography will be published shortly.
photo: Guido Werner
Sprecher
Chao Deng
Bass-baritone
Birthplace:
Tianjin, China
Studies:
Vocal studies in Tianjin, China; diploma in voice at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg with Cheryl Studer; master studies with Christian Elsner and in the Lied class of Gerold Huber and opera studio at the Hochschule für Musik Weimar with Prof. Dr. Michail Lanskoi; master class exam at the Hochschule für Musik Dresden with KS Prof. Matthias Henneberg.
Master classes:
With Liang Li, Michaelis Doukakis, John Norris, KS Camilla Nylund, KS Helen Donath, KS Brigitte Fassbaender, Sonja Prina, Alberto Triola, Catherine Foster, Georg Zeppenfeld, Juliane Banse, Roberto Scandiuzzi, KS Deborah Polaski.
Awards:
Prize for Opera Singing of the Concerto Foundation Würzburg (2015), Prize Winner of the International Singing Competition of the Chamber Opera Schloss Rheinsberg (2014), Scholarship Holder of the Richard Wagner Association Bayreuth Festival (2014), et al.
Relation to the State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2020/21 season.
Important roles:
Peter (Hänsel und Gretel), Häuptling Abendwind (Chief Evening Wind), Ramfis (Aida), Gianni Schicchi/Betto di Signa (Gianni Schicchi), Papageno/Sprecher /2. Geharnischte (Die Zauberflöte), Frank (Die Fledermaus), Don Fernando (Fidelio), Schaunard (La Bohème), Kilian/Ottokar (Der Freischütz), Buonafede (Il mondo della luna), Förster (Das schlaue Füchslein), Le Duc (Romeo et Juliette), Angelotti (Tosca), Colas (Bastien et Bastienne), Priamus (Les Troyens), Antonio (Le nozze di Figaro), Marullo/Ceprano (Rigoletto), Zuniga (Carmen), De Retz (Les Huguenots), Lord Syndham (Zar und Zimmermann), Spielmann (Königskinder), Journalist (Lulu), Osias, High Priest (Judith), et al.
Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Dresden Semper Opera, German Opera on the Rhine, Dresden Philharmonic, Braunschweig State Theater, German National Theater Weimar, Dresden State Operetta, Erfurt Theater, Weimarhalle, Saar Music Festival, Shanghai Opera House, et al.
Collaboration with directors:
Peter Konwitschny, Lydia Steier, Barrie Kosky, Mariame Clément,Yona Kim, Manfred Weiß, Sabine Hartmannshenn, Hasko Weber, Anette Leistenschneider, Guy Montavon, Andrea Moses, et al.
Collaboration with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Sebastian Weigle, Stefano Ranzani, John Fiore, Stefan Soltész, Xu Zhong, Daniele Callegari, Speranza Scappucci, Giampaolo Bisanti, Ivan Repušić, Riccardo Minasi, Giacomo Sagripanti, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Thomas Leo Cadenbach, Moritz Gnann, Felix Krieger, Christoph Gedschold, Kristiina Poska, Tomáš Netopil, Antonino Fogliani, Omer Meir Wellber, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Stefan Lano, Martin Hoff, Georg Fritzsch, et al.
Find further information about Chao Deng here.
photo: Martina Cyman
Priester
Seungwoo Simon Yang
Tenor
Birthplace:
Gwangyang, South Korea
Studies:
Singing at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Prof. Carolyn Grace James
Master class:
Nicola Martinucci, Seoul in Korea 2016
Prizes:
1st Prize Elise Meyer Competition (2020), 1st Prize of the Mozart Singing Competition (2020), Special Prize and 2nd Prize of the Maritim Music Award (2019), 2nd Prize of the Maritim Music Award (2018), 1st Prize of the Korean Singing Competition (2015), 1st Prize of the Korea Talent Award (2015), 1st Prize of the Ehwa & Kyunghyang Competition (2014), 1st Prize Shin Young-Ok Voice Competition (2014), 1st Prize of the Shinhan Music Award (2014)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2020/21 season
Important parts:
Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Pilade (Oreste), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore), Rodolfo (La Bohème), et al.
Stages:
Korea, Belgien, Bergedorf Musiktage, Elbphilharmonie, Laeiszhalle
Cooperation with directors:
Guy Montavon
photo: Jörn Kipping
Königin der Nacht
Julia Sitkovetsky
Biography will be published shortly.
photo: Victoria Cadisch
Erste Dame
Gemma Summerfield
Soprano
Biography will be published shortly.
Zweite Dame
Kady Evanyshyn
Mezzo-Soprano
Studies:
Bachelor and Master of Music at The Juilliard School in New York
Master classes:
with Emmanuel Villaume at The Juilliard School (live-streamed, 2017), with Margo Garrett and John Churchwell at Music Academy of the West (2019)
Prizes:
Encouragement award, Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Competition (2017/18), John Erskine Prize of The Juilliard School (2017), Tudor Bowl at Winnipeg Music Festival (2015)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since season 2019/20
Important parts:
Annio (La clemenza di Tito), Celia (La fedeltà premiata), Narciso (Agrippina), Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas), La Tasse Chinoise (L’enfant et les sortilèges), Frau Reich/Meg Page (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor), Phèdre (Hippolyte et Aricie), Claire (Cold Mountain)
Song:
World premiere of “Drei Grabschriften” (Stefano Gervasoni), performances of “Animus II” (Druckman), “Folk Songs” (Berio) and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Brahms), Competitor in the 2019 Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera Song Competition
Cooperation with directors:
Edward Berkeley, Mary Birnbaum, James Darrah, John Giampietro, Stephen Wadsworth
Cooperation with conductors:
William Christie, Jane Glover, Jeffrey Milarsky, Teddy Poll, Avi Stein, Stephen Stubbs
Find further information about Kady Evanyshyn here.
photo: Tamara Sophie Grieß
Dritte Dame
Ida Aldrian
mezzo-soprano
Birthplace:
Bruck an der Mur, Austria
Studies:
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Leopold Spitzer and Karlheinz Hanser; studies for Stage Performance (Opera and Musical Drama), Art Song and Oratorio with KS Marjana Lipovšek with honors; member of International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera (2012/13–2013/14)
Master class:
With Ann Murray, Bernarda Fink, Reri Grist, Peter Kooij, Andrew Watts, Thomas Hampson, Wicus Slabbert, Alan Titus, Brigitte Fassbaender, et al.
Prizes:
Dr.-Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Preis of Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburgischen Staatsoper (2014), prize winner of the jury ranking at international singing competition „Stella Maris“ (2014)
Important parts:
Wellgunde (Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung), Siegrune and Rossweiße (Die Walküre), Blumenmädchen and Stimme aus der Höhe (Parsifal ), 2. Maid (Daphne), Feodor (Boris Godunov), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Isabella (L'Italiana in Algeri), Adalgisa (Norma), Idamante (Idomeneo), Third Lady (The Magic Flute), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Penelope (Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria), Mercedes (Carmen), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Laura (Luisa Miller), Flora and Annina (La Traviata), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Meg Page (Falstaff), Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Orlofski (Die Fledermaus), et al.
Stages:
Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Kölner Philharmonie, Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein Wien, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Grafenegg Festival, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Barocktage Melk, Styriarte, International Brucknerfest Linz, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Andreas Homoki, Georg Schmiedleitner, Laura Scozzi, Mariame Clément, Verena Stoiber, Peter Konwitschny, Stéphane Braunschweig, David Bösch, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Simone Young, Kent Nagano, Martin Haselböck, Marcus Bosch, Yutaka Sado, Pablo Heras-Casado, Christopher Moulds, Cornelius Meister, Fabio Luisi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Simon Gaudenz, et al.
Find further information about Ida Aldrian here.
photo: Martina Cyman
Papageno
Blake Denson
Baritone
Birthplace:
Paducah, USA
Studies:
Music performance/University of Kentucky, Rice University, Shepherd School of Music
Prizes:
Winner of The George London Foundation, Winner of The International Concurs Tenor Viñas Competition, Winner of The Dallas Opera National Vocal Competition, Grand Finalist winner Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (2020), Winner of the Pasadena Vocal Competition, Winner of the Houson Saengerbund Opera Competition, Winner of the Opera Mississippi Competition, Winer of the National Opera Association Competition, Winner of the Perfect Day Foundation Competition, Winner of the Orpheus Vocal Competition, et al.
Master classes:
Ana Maria Martinez, Cynthia Lawrence
Important parts:
Donner (Das Rheingold), Ford (Falstaff), Monterone (Rigoletto), Escamillo (Carmen), Shaunard ( La bohème), Angelotti (Tosca), Paolo (Simon Boccanegra), Mr. Maguire (Emmeline), Daddy/Tim (The Snowy Day), Jailor (Dialogues des Carmélites), Gregorio (Romeo et Juliet), Jake (Porgy and Bess), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Ramiro (L’heure espagnole), Moralès/ (Carmen), Vater (Hänsel und Gretel), Kaiser (Der Kaiser von Atlantis), Pierot (L'île de Merlin), Joe (Show Boat), Dottore Grenvil (La Traviata), Mercurio (La Calisto), Elder McLean (Susannah), Captain/Eugen Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Marcello (La Bohéme), Sharpless (Madame Butterfly), et al.
Stages:
Washington National Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, Sante Fe Opera, English National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Tulsa Opera, The Metropolitan Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu, The Dallas Opera, et al.
Careerstages:
Wolf Trap Opera Studio, Houston Grand Opera Young Artist Vocal Academy, Houston Grand Opera Studio
Cooperations with directors:
Francesca Zambello, E. Loren Meeker, Tomer Zvulun, Richard Gammon, Lileana Blain-Cruz, Omar Ben Siedia, Rob Ashford, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Emmanuel Villaume, Patrick Summers, Lidiya Yankovskaya, Ben Manis, John Nardolillo, Bertrand de Billy, Daniel Monané, et al.
Find further information about Blake Denson here.
photo: Lynn Lane
Monostatos
Peter Galliard
Tenor
Birthplace:
Chur, Switzerland
Studies:
With Rico Peterelli, Conservatory in Feldkirch with Maria Eibenschütz, at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Rudolf Knoll
Prizes:
First Prize at the International Mozart Competition (1985), Förderpreis of the Kanton Graubünden (1987), Dr. Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Preis of the Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburgischen Staatsoper (1989), honored by the Hamburg Senate with the title of “Kammersänger” (2017)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 1986/87
Important parts:
Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Jaquino (Fidelio), Cassio (Otello), Froh and Loge (Das Rheingold), Alfred and Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Peter Iwanow (Zar und Zimmermann), Bardolfo (Falstaff), Hauptmann (Wozzeck), Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Lenski (Eugen Onegin), Narraboth (Salome), Don Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro), Prinz and Hauptmann (Lulu), L’Aumonier (Dialogues des Carmélites), Melot (Tristan und Isolde), Walther von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser), Wolfgang Capito (Mathis der Maler), Goro (Madama Butterfly), Red Whiskers (Billy Budd), Dämon (L’Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe), Bischof von Budoja (Palestrina), Mime (Siegfried), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Lucerne Festival, Salzburger Osterfestspiele, Opéra National de Paris, Enescu Festival in Bukarest, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, Semperoper Dresden, Oper Leipzig, Staatstheater Nürnberg, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Claus Guth, August Everding, Johannes Schaaf, Harry Kupfer, Peter Konwitschny, Johannes Erath, Renaud Doucet, Georg Schmiedleitner, Stefan Herheim, Herbert Wernicke, Calixto Bieito, Willy Decker, Paul-Georg Dittrich, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christian Thielemann, Ingo Metzmacher, Simone Young, Kirill Petrenko, Kent Nagano, Lawrence Foster, Gerrit Prießnitz, Marcus Bosch, Philippe Jordan, Paolo Carignani, Vaclav Luks, et al.
photo: Martina Cyman
Papagena
Yeonjoo Katharina Jang
Biography will be published shortly.
Erster Geharnischter
Daniel Kluge
Tenor
Birthplace:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Studies:
Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Klaus Dieter Kern
Master classes:
with Roman Trekel, Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as well as master classes for „Liedgesang“ with Markus Hadulla, Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Höll
Important parts:
Normanno (Lucia di Lammermoor), Abdallo (Nabucco), Remendado (Carmen), Flavio (Norma), Knappe und 1. Gralsritter (Parsifal), Kilian (Freischütz), Dr. Blind (Die Fledermaus), Spoletta (Tosca), Schreiber (Chowanschtschina), Jacquino (Fidelio), Ein Soldat (Reigen), Chick (Der Schaum der Tage), Borsa (Rigoletto), Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Orpheus (Orpheus in der Unterwelt), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Truffaldino (Die Liebe zu drei Orangen), Balakin (Charodeyka), Max (Der Freischütz), Tanzmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos), Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), Vierter Jude (Salome), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Stuttgart, Stadttheater Bern, Aalto-Theater Essen, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Opéra National de Lyon, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Jossi Wieler, Sergio Morabito, Kirill Serebrennikov, Nicola Hümpel , Tobias Hoheisel, Imogen Kogge, Armin Petras, Demis Volpi, Axel Ranisch, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Sylvain Cambreling, Georg Fritzsch, Roland Kluttig, Giacomo Sagripanti, Johannes Witt, Hans Christoph Bünger, Kirill Karabits, Willem Wentzel, Alejo Pérez, Christopher Schmitz, et al.
photo: Martina Cyman
Zweiter Geharnischter
Hubert Kowalczyk
Basso
Birthplace:
Radom, Poland
Studies:
Young Talents Development Programme - Opera Academy in Warsaw (from 2016 to 2019), Instituto Superiore di Studi Musicali Pietro Mascagani in Livorno with Prof. Graziano Polidori (2017/18), Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" Berlin with Prof. Martin Bruns
Master class:
Lioba Braun, Helmut Deutsch, Brigitte Fassbaender, Tomasz Konieczny, Bogdan Makal, Olga Pasiecznik, Eytan Pessen, Rudolf Piernay, Matthias Rexroth, et al.
Important parts:
Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Collatinus (The Rape of Lucretia), Haly (L‘italiana in Algeri), Hauptmann, Saretzki (Eugen Onegin), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Pistola (Falstaff), Zuniga (Carmen), et al.
Stages:
Bregenzer Festspiele, Teatr Wielki – Opera Narodowa Warschau, Deutsche Oper Berlin
Cooperation with directors:
Calixto Bieito, David Bösch, Andrzej Chyra, Brigitte Fassbaender, Dmitri Tcherniakov
Cooperation with conductors:
Giampaolo Bisanti, Jonathan Brandani, Daniele Callegari, Paolo Carignani, Michał Klauza, Axel Kober, Volker Krafft, Carlo Montanaro, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Kent Nagano, Sébastien Rouland, Robin Ticciati, Keri-Lynn Wilson
photo: Martina Cyman
Drei Knaben
Solisten des Tölzer Knabenchors
The Tölzer Knabenchor is one of the most famous and successful boys' choirs in the world and performs more than 150 concerts and operas a year. Since the 2021/22 season, Michael Hofstetter has been Artistic Director and continues to cultivate the choir's wide-ranging repertoire. The choral repertoire encompasses all areas of choral singing from the Baroque to the present, with a special focus on the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, as well as all the important boys' parts of the opera literature, especially in Mozart's "Magic Flute".
Highlights of the 2021/22 season include concerts with the Berlin Philharmonic, choral concerts in venues such as the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, the Alte Oper Frankfurt, Dresden's Frauenkirche, Konzerthaus Blaibach, Festspielhaus Füssen, Erfurt Cathedral and the Stiftsbasilika Waldsassen. In June 2022, the 6th Bad Tölz Boys' Choir Festival will take place, which the choir will run itself as a biennial. As soloists, boys of the Tölzer Knabenchor can be heard in opera productions of the Bavarian State Opera, Komische Oper Berlin and Dresden Semperoper.
Concert tours have taken the Tölzer Knabenchor throughout Europe, to Russia, Israel, Asia and the USA. The choir is regularly invited to the most renowned festivals such as the Salzburg Festival, the Bach Festival Leipzig, the Rheingau Music Festival or the Shanghai Baroque Festival. It makes guest appearances in all the world's great concert halls, for example the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Musikverein or Suntory Hall.
In recent decades, the Tölzer Knabenchor has worked with many important conductors, such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Herbert von Karajan or Christian Thielemann.
The choir has received numerous awards for its recordings, including the German Record Prize, the French Record Prize, the Diapason d'Or, the ECHO Klassik of the German Phono Academy Berlin, and a nomination for the Grammy Award.
Currently, about 170 boys in the Tölzer Knabenchor are professionally taught by the artistic director and his team in Munich. In several stages of training, the famous "Tölzer Klang" is created, which is characterized by special homogeneity, luminous treble, precise intonation and clear articulation. Targeted encouragement and age-appropriate learning allow for optimal training of the children.
The choir was founded in 1956 by Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden, who musically directed it until 2014.
Find further information about Solisten des Tölzer Knabenchors here.
Orchester
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
The Philharmonic State Orchestra is Hamburg’s largest and oldest orchestra, looking back on many years of musical history. When the “Philharmonic Orchestra” and the “Orchestra of the Hamburg Municipal Theatre” merged in 1934, two tradition-steeped orchestras combined. Philharmonic concerts have been performed in Hamburg since 1828, artists such as Clara Schumann, Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms being regular guests of the Philharmonic Society. The history of the opera company goes back even further: Hamburg has been home to musical theatre since 1678, even if a regular opera or theatre orchestra was only formed later. To this day, the Philharmonic State Orchestra has embodied the sound of the Hansa City, a concert and opera orchestra in one.
During its long history, the orchestra encountered great artist personalities. Apart from composers of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, such as Telemann, Tchaikovsky, Strauss, Mahler, Prokofiev and Stravinsky, since the 20th century chief conductors such as Karl Muck, Joseph Keilberth, Eugen Jochum, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Horst Stein, Aldo Ceccato, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gerd Albrecht, Ingo Metzmacher and Simone Young have shaped the orchestra’s sound. Renowned conductors of the pre-war era such as Otto Klemperer, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Walter, Karl Böhm and Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt gave brilliant performances, as did outstanding conductors of our times: suffice it to mention Christian Thielemann, Semyon Bychkov, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Neville Marriner, Valery Gergiev and Sir Roger Norrington.
Starting with the 2015/2016 season, Kent Nagano has taken on the position of Hamburg’s General Music Director and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Hamburg State Opera. In his first season Kent Nagano initiated a new project, the Philharmonic Academy, focusing on experimentation and chamber music. In 2016 Nagano and the Philharmonic undertook a successful three-week concert tour in South America, a tour of Spain followed in 2019. Since 2017 Kent Nagano and the Philharmonic State Orchestra have continued the traditional Philharmonic Concerts at the new Elbphilharmonie, for which they commissioned Jörg Widmann to compose the oratorio ARCHE, which was given its world premiere during the hall’s opening festivities. The concert recording has been released at ECM.
The Philharmonic State Orchestra offers approximately 35 concerts per season and performs more than 240 performances per year at the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Ballet John Neumeier, making it Hamburg’s busiest orchestra. The stylistic bandwidth covered by the 140 musicians, ranging from historically informed performance practice to contemporary works and including concert, opera and ballet repertoire, is unique throughout Germany. Chamber Music has a long tradition at the Philharmonic State Orchestra: what began in 1929 with a concert series for chamber orchestra has been continued since 1968 by a series of chamber music only.
In 2008 Simone Young and the Philharmonic State Orchestra won the Brahms Award of the Schleswig-Holstein Brahms Society. The orchestra has recorded the complete Ring by Wagner as well as the complete symphonies of Johannes Brahms and Anton Bruckner – the latter in the rarely-performed original versions – as well as works by Mahler, Hindemith and Berg, and has released DVDs of opera and ballet productions by Hosokawa, Offenbach, Reimann, Auerbach, J.S. Bach, Puccini, Poulenc and Weber.
The members of the Philharmonic State Orchestra feel equally beholden to Hamburg’s musical tradition and responsible for the city’s artistic future. Since 1978 the musicians have been participating in education programmes in Hamburg’s schools. Today, the orchestra maintains a broad education programme, including school and kindergarten visits, patronage for music projects, introductory events for children and family concerts. The orchestra’s own academy prepares young musicians for their professional careers. The Philharmonic’s musicians thereby make an equally enjoyable and valuable contribution to tomorrow’s music education in the music metropolis of Hamburg.
photo: Foto: Felix Broede
Chor
Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
The chorus members appear on stage at the Hamburg State Opera in a different role almost every night. From one day to the next, they might be sailors, pilgrims or conspirators, then courtiers, hunters, the deranged or the imprisoned. In the role of crusaders in I Lombardi alla prima Crociata they travel to Jerusalem, other nights they are invited to Madama Butterfly's marriage or acclaim Prince Igor. The ladies and gentlemen of the opera chorus demonstrate their artistic prowess, their flexibility, and their love of the stage in every performance.
With a membership around 70, the chorus of the Hamburg State Opera has been one of the world’s best opera choruses for many years. The varied repertoire – almost always in the original language – is multifaceted and includes baroque operas and dramatic operas, major works by Verdi and Wagner as well as contemporary pieces. At the start of the 2013/14 season, Eberhard Friedrich took over the post of Chorus Master.
