Engelbert Humperdinck | Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)
Tue, Dec. 26, 2023, 2.00 pm - 4.15 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 Köninger (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.
Kinderchor
Luiz de Godoy
Musical Direction
Birthplace:
Mogi das Cruzes, Brasil
Studies:
Piano at Universidade de São Paulo (Bachelor) and at Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas (Master), Erasmus stay with focus on piano and conducting at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, Diploma course conducting at Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (with honors)
Prizes:
Würdigungspreis der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (2019), Scholarship from UNESCO, the European Union and the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, Erwin-Ortner-Preis zur Förderung der Chormusik (2016)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Leader Alsterspatzen since 2019/20
Repertoire:
Focus on choral symphonic repertoire (spiritual and secular oratorios; in particular Wiener Klassik and Deutsche Romantik), special relationship to performance practices of old and new music
Career stages:
conductor of the Wiener Sängerknaben (2016–2019), choir director of Chorakademie des Wiener Staatsopernchores (2016–2018), assistent of the artistic director of the Wiener Singakademie at the Wiener Konzerthaus (2015–2019), musical director of Opera Studio at Sommerfestival „ Música nas Montanhas“ in Poços de Caldas, Brasilien (2010–2012), corepeater of opera projekts at Theatro Municipal de São Paulo (2005–2009)
Stages:
Esplanade Singapur, Peking National Opera, Seoul Lotte Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Taiwan National Theater, Teatro Real Madrid, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wiener Musikverein; Carinthischer Sommer, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Grafenegg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival
Cooperations with orchestras (as conductor):
Camerata Schulz, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Orquestra de la Armada de Chile, Orquestra Juvenil da Bahia, Polish Baltic Filharmonic, Schubert-Akademie Wien, Youth-Orchestra Singapur et al.
cooperations (choral rehearsal / assistance):
Berliner Philharmoniker, Les Sciècles, Mariinsky-Theaterorchester Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker et al.
Cooperations with artists:
Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Ton Koopman, Sir Simon Rattle, Simone Young, Franz Welser-Möst
photo: Fernanda Nigro
Peter
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), Mr. Fluth (The Merry Wives of Windsor), 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, Bavarian 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: Jie Chen
Gertrud
Katja Pieweck
Soprano
Birthplace:
Hannover, Germany
Studies:
Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg with Prof. Ks. Judith Beckmann
Prizes:
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer Preis of the Körber-Stiftung (2007), Cultural Prize of the Berenberg Bank Hamburg (2000), First Prize of the International Robert Stolz Singing Competition in Hamburg (2000), Masefield Fellowship of the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 1999/2000, member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera (1997/98 to 1998/99)
Important parts:
Adalgisa (Norma), Mercédès (Carmen), Hexe (Königskinder), Smeton (Anna Bolena), Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor), Marquise de Berkenfield (La fille du régiment), Sélysette (Ariane et Barbe-Bleue), Arsamene (Xerxes), Sancta Susanna (Klementia), Gertrud/Sandmännchen (Hänsel und Gretel), Frau des Dorfrichters (Jenufa), Valencienne (Die lustige Witwe), Witwe Browe (Zar und Zimmermann), Lola (Cavalleria Rusticana), Damigella Pallade (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Marcellina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Schenkwirtin (Boris Godunov), Mutter (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Mère Marie (Dialogues des Carmélites), Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Frugola (Il Tabarro), Goneril (Lear), Berta/Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Marchese Melibea (Il Viaggio a Reims), Ariadne (Ariadne), Adelaide (Arabella), Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), Aufseherin/1. Magd (Elektra), Curra/Preziosilla (La Forza del Destino), Annina (La Traviata), Meg Page/Alice Ford (Falstaff), Giovanna/Maddalena (Rigoletto), Fenena (Nabucco), Emilia (Otello), Fricka (Das Rheingold), Siegrune/Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Magdalena (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Ortrud (Lohengrin), Adriano (Rienzi), Eglantine (Euryanthe), Ericlea (Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria), Larina (Eugen Onegin), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Semperoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Staatstheater Mainz, Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Leipzig, Internationale Herrenchiemsee Festspiele, Staatsoper Hannover, et al.
Zusammenarbeit mit Regisseuren:
Peter Konwitschny, Karoline Gruber, Claus Guth, Willy Decker, Achim Freyer, Roger Vontobel, Stefan Herheim, Michael Thalheimer, et al.
Zusammenarbeit mit Dirigenten:
Simone Young, Sir Simon Rattle, Peter Schneider, Ingo Metzmacher, Gerd Albrecht, Sebastian Weigle, Rolf Beck, Krzysztof Penderecki, et al.
photo: Ida Aldrian
Hänsel
Jana Kurucová
Mezzosoprano
Birthplace:
Kežmarok, Slovakia
Education / Studies:
Classical singing at the Konzervatórium J. L. Bellu in Banska Bystrica, in Bratislava as well as at the Musikhochschule in Graz, opera studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper (season 2005/2006), ensemble member of the Theater Heidelberg (2006 to 2009), ensemble member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin ( 2009 to 2018)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2019/20 season
Important parts:
Niklausse/Muse (Les contes d‘Hoffmann), Prinz Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Isolier (Le comte Ory), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Marta (Faust), Carmen (Carmen), Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Romeo (I capuleti e i Montecchi), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Meg Page (Falstaff), Fuchs (Das schlaue Füchslein), Maffio Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia), Melisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Mercedes (Carmen), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Fenena (Nabucco), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Idamante (Idomeneo), Sesto (La clemenza di tito), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Ramiro (La finta giardiniera), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), et al.
Stages:
Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Nationaltheater Prag, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Oper Peking, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Oslo, Semperoper Dresden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, New National Theater Tokyo, Musikfestival Klangvokal in Dortmund, Banská Bystrica, Festival Svátky hudby v Praze, Filharmonie Reduta in Bratislava, Bratislava Nationaltheater, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Laurent Pelly, David Alden, Robert Borgmann, Philipp Himmelmann, Katharina Thalbach, David Herrmann, Roland Schwab, Philipp Stölzl, Christof Loy, Kirsten Harms, Andreas Homoki, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Pedro Halffter, Enrique Mazzola, Michele Mariotti, Ido Arad, Donald Runnicles, Daniel Cohen, Stefan Soltesz, Fabio Luisi, Zubin, Mehta, Alessandro de Marchi, Jacques Lacombe, Omer Meir Wellber, Carlo Rizzi, Ivan Repusic, Moritz Gnann, Jonathan Darlington, Marco Letonja, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Giacomo Sagripanti, Constantin Trinks, Yves Abel, Ottavio Dantone, Matteo Beltrami, Jonathan Nott, et al.
Find further information about Jana Kurucová here.
photo: Martina Cyman
Gretel
Narea Son
Soprano
Birthplace:
Seoul, South Korea
Studies:
Bachelor's degree at Seoul National University, master's degree opera and concert exam opera at Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hamburg
Master class:
with Edita Gruberová, Jaume Aragall, Cheryl Studer, Mariella Devia, Thomas Quastoff, Edda Moser, Brigitte Fassbaender und Joyce DiDonato at Carnegie Hall in New York with Live Stream by Arte TV, et al.
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2019/20 season
Was a member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera 2016/17 and 2017/18
Important parts:
Adele (Die Fledermaus), Pamina (Erzittre, feiger Bösewicht!, Neufassung der Zauberflöte von J. Harneit), Marzelline (Fidelio), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Katze Ivanka ( U.A. Katze Ivanka ), Ljusja (Moskau, Tscherjomuschki ), Marthe, Sorge, Seliger Knabe und Sopran Solo ( Szenen aus Goethes Faust), Javotte (Manon), Echo (Ariadne auf Naxos), Oberto (Alcina), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Theater Bremen, Sejong Center (Seoul Metropolitan Opera), Shanghai Grand Theater, Geumho-Konzerthalle, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Achim Freyer, Philipp Stölzl, Georges Delnon, Vera Nemirova, David Bösch, BARBE&DOUCET et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Alexander Joel, Johannes Fritzsch, Massimo Zanetti, Christopher Moulds, Renato Palumbo, Axel Kober, Jonathan Darlington, et al.
photo: Sangdon Lee
Knusperhexe
Hellen Kwon
Soprano
Birthplace:
Seoul, South Korea
Studies:
Hochschule für Musik Köln with Dietger Jacob (1979-1984)
Prizes:
First prize in the Novara International Singing Competition (1984), winner of the Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer Preis (1987), Rolf-Mares-Preis in the category “Exceptional Performances of an Actresses” for her interpretation of “Frau” in Wolfgang Rihm’s “Das Gehege” (2010), Grammy Award Nomination for the recording of Walter von Braunfels’ “Die Vögel” conducted by Lothar Zagrosek, honored with the title of “Hamburger Kammersängerin” by the Hamburg Senate (2011), “Order of Civil” by the Korean Government for exceptional artistic achievements (2013), “Star of Ewha” Prize (2018)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 1987/88
Important parts:
The Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Zdenka (Arabella), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Blonde/Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Donna Anna/Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Despina/Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Elettra (Idomeneo), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Musetta/Mimì (La Bohème), Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Liú (Turandot), Violetta Valéry (La Traviata), Gilda (Rigoletto), Oscar (Un Ballo in Maschera), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Micaëla (Carmen), Norina (Don Pasquale), Adina (L’Elisir d’Amore), Adele/Rosalinde (Die Fledermaus), Agathe (Der Freischütz), Senta (Der fliegende Holländer), Minni (La Fanciulla del West), Frau (Das Gehege), Salome/Herodias (Salome), Chrysothemis (Elektra), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Bayreuther Festspiele, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Oper Leipzig, Oper Stuttgart, Oper Köln, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Festwochen, Salzburger Festspiele, Opernhaus Zürich, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Festival d‘Aix-en-Provence, Opéra Comique de Paris, Glyndebourne Festival, Den Norske Opera, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Teatro Filarmonico Verona, The Israeli Opera, Jerusalem Opera Festival, New National Theatere Tokio, Korean National Opera, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Achim Freyer, Peter Konwitschny, Johannes Schaaf, Günther Krämer, Marco Marelli, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Peter Sellars, John Dew, Adolf Dresen, Nikolas Brieger, Johannes Erath, Claus Guth, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Giuseppe Sinopoli, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Horst Stein, Neville Marriner, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Jeffrey Tate, Marcello Viotti, Simone Young, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Kent Nagano, Christian Thielemann, et al.
photo: Martina Cyman
Sandmännchen
Claire Gascoin
Mezzosoprano
Birthplace:
France
Studies:
Bachelor’s degree at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, Master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna,
Prizes:
Kammeroper Rheinsberg (2015), Brahms competition (2014) Clara-
Schumann competition (2014), owner of a scholarship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Master classes:
Claudia Visca, Krassimira Stoyanova
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2022/2023 season
Important parts:
Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Carmen (Carmen), Testo (Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda), Aschenputtel (Cenerentola), Annina (Romilda e Costanza), et al.
Stages:
Staatstheater Cottbus, Oper Krakau, Opéra de Lyon, Royal Opera House Muscat, Opera de Tenerife, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Michael Sturminger, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Stéphane Fuget, Antonino Fogliani, et al.
Find further information about Claire Gascoin here.
photo: Jörn Kipping
Taumännchen
Yeonjoo Katharina Jang
Soprano
Birthplace:
Pohang, South Korea
Studies:
Bachelor’s degree in singing at the Seoul National University with Heion Seo, Master’s degree in singing at the Hochschule für Musik Franz Liszt Weimar with Marietta Zumbült owning a DAAD scholarship
Prizes:
First prize at the Piero Boni international singing contest (2020), second prize at the Anton Rubinstein internhational music competition (2019), first prize at the Vienna Grand Prize Virtuoso international music competition (2019), special award at the international music competition Paris (2019), second prize at the korean singing competition (2016), first prize at the international singing competition of the korean singing club (2015), third prize at the Dong-A music competition (2015), u. a.
Refernce to the Staatsoper:
Member of the international opera studio at the Staatsoper Hamburg since the 2022/23 season
Master classes:
with Samuel Yoon (2021), Edda Moser (2019)
Important parts:
Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Königin der Nacht / Erste Dame / Papagena (Die Zauberflöte),
Gilda (Rigoletto), Olympia (Les Contes d‘Hoffmann), Ida (Die Fledermaus)
Stages:
Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Daegu Opernhaus, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Christian Weise, Roman Hovenbitzer, Stephanie Koch, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Stefan Lano, Joongbae Jee,et al.
photo: Jörn Kipping
Kinderchor
Alsterspatzen – Kinder- und Jugendchor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
Die Alsterspatzen bezaubern seit vielen Jahrzehnten als Lebkuchen- oder Straßenkinder, als Ministranten und Elfenchor. In der Spielzeit 2019/20 übernahm Luiz de Godoy die Leitung des Kinder- und Jugendchores der Hamburgischen Staatsoper. Die jungen Sängerinnen und Sänger stehen in Produktionen wie „Hänsel und Gretel“, „Carmen“ oder „La Bohème“ neben Ensemblemitgliedern und internationalen Gästen auf der großen Bühne der Staatsoper. Darüber hinaus sind sie mit dem Philharmonischen Staatsorchester unter anderem in der Elbphilharmonie und im Rahmen eigener Projekte in der opera stabile zu erleben.
Wir danken der Alster-Hof Melzner-Stiftung für die Unterstützung.
Find further information about Alsterspatzen – Kinder- und Jugendchor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper here.
photo: Niklas Marc Heinecke
Orchester
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Orchestra
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, Adam Fischer 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 and since June 2023 also its honorary conductor. 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 toured South America, followed by concert tours to Spain and Japan in 2019, and in the spring of 2023, the Philharmonic State Orchestra made its debut at New York's Carnegie Hall under his direction, which was acclaimed by audiences and the press. 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 by ECM, for which Widmann received the OPUS KLASSIK as Composer of the Year 2019, and ARCHE was performed again in 2023 to great acclaim.
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
