Leoš Janácek | Jenufa
Sat, Jan. 06, 2024, 7.00 pm - 10.00 pm
Musikalische Leitung
Tomas Netopil
Musical Direction
Birthplace:
Czech Republic
Studies:
Violin and conducting in the Czech Republic, as well as at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm under the guidance of Professor Jorma Panula
Prizes:
Winner of the 1st Sir Georg Solti Conductors Competition at the Alte Oper Frankfurt
Career stages:
General Music Director – Aalto Musik Theater and Philharmonie Essen
Principal Guest Conductor – Czech Philharmonic
Founder and Artistic Director – International Summer Academy in Kroměříž (Czech Republic), since 2018
Music Director of the Prague National Theatre, 2008 – 2012
Stages:
Dvořák Prague Festival, Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden, Vienna Staatsoper, Netherlands Opera, Aspen Music Festival, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de Montpellier, Wiener Symphoniker, Essen Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra at the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai, et al.
photo: Marco Borggreve
Chor
Eberhard Friedrich
Choir Director
Birthplace:
Darmstadt, Germany
Studies:
Studies with Helmuth Rilling in Frankfurt am Main
Prizes:
Under his direction, the Bayreuther Festspielchor was awarded the International Opera Award for Best Choir of the Year in 2014. Under his direction, the choir of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden was named Choir of the Year in 2004 and received the European Cultural Award (2009). Eberhard Friedrich also received a Grammy for his recording of "Tannhäuser" at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden with Daniel Barenboim (2003)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Choir director of the Hamburg State Opera since 2013/14
Career stages:
Choir director of the Festspielchor / Bayreuther Festspiele (since 2000), choir director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (1998 to 2013), assistant at the Bayreuther Festspiele (since 1993), choir director at the Theater der Stadt Koblenz (1986 to 1991) as well as at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (1991 to 1998)
Cooperation with choirs:
MDR-Rundfunkchor, Amsterdam Opera Choir, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Philharmonischer Chor Prag, Chor des Niederländischen Rundfunks, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Rias Kammerchor, Bayerischer Rundfunkchor, Chöre des Westminster Choir College, et al.
photo: Enrico Nawrath
Alte Buryja
Janina Baechle
Mezzo-soprano
Birthplace:
Hamburg, Germany
Studies:
Musicology and history at the University of Hamburg, vocal studies at the Hamburg Academy of Music with Gisela Litz and Hanna Schwarz
Master classes:
with Brigitte Fassbaender and Grace Bumbry
Prizes:
Orphée d'Or Prix Élisabeth Schwarzkopf for the CD “Urlicht” with songs by Gustav Mahler with Markus Hadulla at the piano (2014), Honorary Member of the Richard Wagner Verband Braunschweig, Eberhard Wächter Médaille (2005)
Important parts:
Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Fricka/Erda/Waltraute (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Gertrud (Hänsel und Gretel), Adelaide (Arabella), Gaea (Daphne), Herodias (Salome), Geschwitz (Lulu), Filipjewna (Eugen Onegin), Genevieve (Pelleas et Melisande), Kabanicha (Katja Kabanowa), Jezibaba (Rusalka), La Nourrice (Ariane et Barbe Bleu), Mme de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmelites)
Stages:
Fixed engagements at the Staatstheater Braunschweig, Staatstheater Hannover, Wiener Staatsoper; others: Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Hamburg, Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Scala di Milano, Opéra National de Paris, Opera National de Bordeaux, Opera de Lyon, Theatre du Capitole de Toulouse, San Francisco Opera, Canadian Opera Company in Toronto
Cooperations with directors:
Sven-Eric Bechtholf, Martin Kuseij, Stefan Herrheim, Andreas Homoki, David McVickar, Stefano Poda, Nicolas Joel, Olivier Py, Josef Kôpplinger, Adrian Noble
Cooperations with conductors:
Christian Thielemann, Sir Simon Rattle, Christoph von Dohnany, Semyon Bychkov, Jeffrey Tate, Leif Segerstam,Andres Orozco Estrada, Tugan Sokhiev, Frank Beermann, Pascal Rophé, Krzysztof Penderecki, Gabriel Feltz,Philippe Jordan, Mariss Jansons
Find further information about Janina Baechle here.
photo: Mirco Magliocca
Laca
Clay Hilley
Tenor
Birthplace:
Athens, Georgia, USA
Studies:
Bachelor of Music, University of Georgia; Master of Music, Georgia State University; Professional Studies Certificate, Manhattan School of Music; Performer's Certificate, Boston University
Important parts:
Siegfried (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Der Kaiser (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos), Tannhäuser (Tannhäuser), Florestan (Fidelio), Tristan (Tristan und Isolde), et al.
Stages:
Bayreuther Festspiele, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Dutch National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Lydia Steier, Deborah Warner, Stefan Herheim, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Sir Donald Runnicles, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Antonio Pappano, Stéphane Denève, Juraj Valčuha, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Edward Gardner, Marin Alsop, Lorenzo Viotti, Cornelius Meister, Erik Nielsen, Nicola Luisotti, et al.
photo: Suzanne Vinnik
Stewa
Dovlet Nurgeldiyev
Tenor
Birthplace:
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Studies:
Vocal studies at the Music College in Ashgabat, at the Turkmen National Conservatory, at the Conservatory Tilburg and at Koninklijk Conservatorium Den Haag
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio (2008/9-2009/10)
Ensemble member since 2010/11
Important parts:
Dmitriy (Boris Godunov), Stewa (Jenufa), Tito (La Clemenza di Tito), Erik (Der fliegende Holländer), Fenton (Falstaff), Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore), Alfredo (La Traviata), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Vladimir (Prince Igor), Telemaco (Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Chevalier (Dialogues des Carmelites), Hylas (Les Troyens), Macduff (Macbeth), Ismaele (Nabucco), Cassio (Otello), Naraboth (Salome), Medoro (Orlando Paladino), Belfiore (La finta giardiniera), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Münchner Opernfestspiele, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, Ungarische Staatsoper, Polnische Staatsoper, Opéra National de Montpellier, Opéra de Rouen Normandie, Auditorium de Bordeaux, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Laeizhalle Hamburg, Prinzregententheater München, Santa Fe Opera(US), Gran Teatre del Liceu, Concertgebow Amsterdam, Palau del la Musica, Auditoriu Barcelona, Auditoriu Madrid,et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Hans Neuenfels, Marie-Eve Signeyrole, Renaud Doucet, Vincent Boussard, Jette Steckel, Willy Decker, Axel Ranisch, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Ivor Bolton, Kent Nagano, Bertrand de Billy, Keri Lynn Wilson, Philippe Auguin, Lothar Zagrosek, Michael Schonwandt, Stefan Soltesz, Henrik Nánási, Stefano Ranzani, Andrea Battistoni, Simone Young, et al.
photo: Jörn Kipping
Küsterin
Eliška Weissová
Soprano
Czech dramatic soprano Eliška Weissová has been a regular guest on international stages since 2006, performing with the National Theatre Prague, Welsh National Opera, Opéra de Rennes, Theatre Ústí nad Labem, and Slovak National Theatre. She made her auspicious house debut in 2022 at the Vienna State Opera as Kostelnička in Jenůfa under the baton of Tomáš Hanus. Her performance received critical acclaim, with many praising her powerful voice and dramatic depth.
Weissová’s 23/24 season begins at the Latvian National Opera in performances of Kostelnička (Jenůfa) after which she makes her highly anticipated role debut as Tosca at The State Theatre Košice in Slovakia. She then returns to the Vienna State Opera as the Foreign Princess in Rusalka. Major cover contracts this season include title role in Turandot and Minnie in La fanciulla del West at the Vienna State Opera followed by the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos on the Bavarian State Opera tour in Hong Kong.
In recent seasons, Eliška Weissová has performed the roles of Martinka (Smetana’s The Kiss) at the Wexford Festival, Kostelnička (Jenůfa) at the Opéra de Rennes, Opéra-Théâtre de Limoges and Grand-Théâtre de Reims, the Foreign Princess and Ježibaba (Rusalka) at the Slovak National Theatre, Azucena (Il trovatore) and Amneris (Aida) at the Theater Erfurt. At the Opéra de Rennes she appeared as Ulrica (Un ballo in Maschera) and Rossweisse (Die Walküre) – she performed the latter also with the Bayreuth Festival.
In 2018, Weissová successfully made the transition to dramatic soprano when she debuted as Giorgetta in Il tabarro at the National Theatre in Bratislava. Since then, she has continued to impress audiences with her performances in leading roles: she sang the title role in Smetana´s Libuše at the North Bohemian Theatre in Ústí nad Labem where she later debuted as Isolde (Tristan and Isolde). In 2019, she performed the role of Amneris in a new production of Aida at the historic Hatshepsut Temple complex in Luxor under the baton of Oksana Lyniv. She frequently performs at the National Theatre in Prague: she appeared there as Fata Morgana in The Love for Three Oranges and Ortrud in Lohengrin directed by Katharina Wagner. There she made her role debuts as Turandot and Abigaille (Nabucco) in 2020. In Prague she also appeared as Kostelnička (Jenůfa) – the role that she later performed at the Welsh National Opera.
Eliška Weissová graduated from the Brno Conservatory and the Prague Academy of Music under the tutelage of René Tuček. She has won several prizes at international singing competitions, including first prize at the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary in 2004, and third prize at the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský Singing Competition in Slovakia in 2006. She was also a semi-finalist at the Competizione dell’opera in Dresden and a finalist at the Boris Christoff Competition in Sofia.
photo: Anastasia Haritonova
Jenufa
Laura Wilde
Soprano
A 2019 Richard Tucker Foundation career grant recipient, American soprano Laura Wilde has been praised by Opera News as having “a ravishingly beautiful sound, [and] a fine sense of style and character.” In the 2023/24 season, Ms. Wilde will debut the role of Mimi in La bohème with Utah Opera, Sieglinde in Die Walküre with Atlanta Opera, and the 4th Maid in Elektra with The Dallas Opera. In concert, Ms. Wilde returns to her homestate of South Dakota to sing Brahms’ Requiem with the South Dakota Symphony. In the 2022/23 season, Ms. Wilde made house and role debuts as the title role in Salome with Houston Grand Opera, the Metropolitan Opera to sing Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, and debuted the role of Floria Tosca at Arizona Opera.
Highlights of recent seasons include the title role in Janáček’s Jenůfa with the Santa Fe Opera and English National Opera, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte and Agathe at Staatstheater Stuttgart, the title role of Káťa Kabanová with the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma and Scottish Opera, Washington National Opera as Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte, Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni in a film produced by Seattle Opera, the Opéra national de Paris as the Fifth Maid in Elektra, Freia, Ortlinde and the cover of Sieglinde in Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, respectively, part of David Pountney’s new Ring Cycle conducted by Sir Andrew Davis at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ortlinde for Act III of Die Walküre with Gustavo Dudamel at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gretel with Sir Andrew Davis at the Edinburgh Festival and Melbourne Symphony, The Dallas Opera as Laura in Korngold’s Der Ring des Polykrates, Micaëla in Carmen with Nashville Opera, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis as Vitellia in La Clemenza di Tito, Jane Withersteen in the world premiere of Craig Bohmler’s Riders of the Purple Sage and Mamah Cheney in the world premiere of Daron Hagen’s Shining Brow, both at Arizona Opera, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni with the Berkshire Opera Festival, as well as Freia, and the Foreign Princess in Rusalka with Des Moines Metro Opera. Finally, as a cover, she learned Eva in Die Meistersinger with the Metropolitan Opera.
In concert, Ms. Wilde has shared the stage with mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe and baritone Quinn Kelsey in the inaugural season of Beyond the Aria recital series at Chicago’s Harris Theater, accompanied by Craig Terry. She has presented solo recitals at the Marcus Center in Milwaukee, her hometown of Watertown, South Dakota and at South Dakota State University, all with Craig Terry, performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Charlotte Symphony and Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder with the Elgin Symphony in Illinois.
As a member of the Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Ms. Wilde covered Renée Fleming in Capriccio and the role of Marta in The Passenger, performed Marianne Leitmetzerin in Der Rosenkavalier and covered Marschallin. She also covered the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro, Hanna in The Merry Widow and sang the role of Anna in Nabucco. Additionally, she covered the roles of Foreign Princess in Rusalka, and Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito.
Originally from Watertown, South Dakota, Wilde’s love of music began with the trumpet. While attending the prestigious Interlochen Arts Camp as a trumpet player, she discovered her classical voice and was encouraged to pursue that musical avenue as well. She attended St. Olaf College for her undergraduate degree, focusing first on trumpet performance. Singing, however, became her true musical passion, and she graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. Ms. Wilde earned her Master of Music degree from Indiana University, where she studied with Costanza Cuccaro. She is a winner of a 2018 Mabel Dorn Reeder Foundation Award from Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, 2017 Sullivan Grant award winner, 2016 Sara Tucker Study Grant from the Richard Tucker Foundation, the 2016 Luminarts Women’s Voice Fellowship, the 2015 Jerome and Elaine Nerenberg Award, and the 2015 Musicians Club of Women Eleanor Pearce Sherwin Award from the American Opera Society of Chicago. She currently resides in Chicago.
photo: Kelly Kruse
Altgesell
Tigran Martirossian
Bass
Birthplace:
Yerevan, Armenia
Studies:
Musical studies at the Gnessin State Academy of Music with Prof. Artur Eizen and Prof. Pavel Lisitsian
Prizes:
Prize winner of nine international singing competitions, inter alia, second prize in the “Neue Stimmen” Competition in Gütersloh (1997), second prize in the 2nd International Singing Competition in Shizuoka (2000), first prize in the Ondina Otta Competition in Marburg (1999)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2005/06
Important parts:
Ramfis (Aida), König René (Jolanthe), Salieri (Mozart und Salieri), Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Dulcamara (L’Elisir d’Amore), Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sulpice (La Fille du Régiment), Colline (La Bohème), Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Selim (Il Turco in Italia), Banco (Macbeth), Pagano (I Lombardi alla prima Crociata), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), Dossifei (Chowanschtschina), Fasolt (Das Rheingold), Rodolfo (La Sonnambula), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), Philippe II (Don Carlos), Méphistophélès (Faust), Fürst Galizky (Fürst Igor), Ein Eremit (Der Freischütz), Doktor (Wozzeck), Oroveso (Norma) , Pimen (Boris Godunov), et al.
Stages:
Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Salzburg Festival, Theater an der Wien, Bregenz Festival, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra Bastille, St. Galler Festspiele, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Achim Freyer, Yona Kim, Jochen Biganzoli, David Alden, Andreas Homoki, Vincent Boussard, Stefan Herheim, Florentine Klepper, Francesca Zambella, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Mstislav Rostropovich, Carlo Rizzi, Simone Young, Plácido Domingo, Kent Nagano, Sylvain Cambreling, Valery Gergiev, Michel Plasson, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Daniel Oren, Mark Wigglesworth, Philippe Jordan, Daniele Callegari, Riccardo Frizza, et al.
Find further information about Tigran Martirossian here.
Dorfrichter
Han Kim
Bass
Birthplace:
Pohang, South Korea
Studies:
Bachelor, Seoul National University with Kwangchul Youn; Master Vocal performance, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Christian Elsner; Soloist’s Diploma Vocal performance, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Christian Elsner
Master class:
with Ann Murray, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (2019), with David Selig, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (2019)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2023/24 season
Was Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera 2021/22 and 2022/23
Important parts:
Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Leporello/Masetto (Don Giovanni), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), Il conte Rodolfo (La sonambula), Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Don Fernando (Fidelio), Colline (La Bohème), Zuniga (Carmen)
Stages:
Theater Heidelberg
Cooperation with directors:
Sonja Trebes
Cooperation with conductors:
Dietger Holm
photo: Johannes Xaver Zepplin
Seine Frau
Olivia Warburton
Soprano
Birthplace:
Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Studies:
Royal Academy of Music, London (Bachelor of Music with honours, Master of Arts with distinction, Artist Diploma in Opera studies), Hochschule für Musik und Tanz, Köln (Erasmus MA), Georg Solti Accademia, Tuscany.
Masterclasses:
Anne Sofie von Otter (Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme), Richard Bonynge (Georg Solti Accademia), Barbara Frittoli (Georg Solti Accademia), Rachel Willis-Sørensen (Royal Academy of Music), Florian Boesch (Royal Academy of Music).
Prizes:
Winner of Arthur Bucher Memorial Prize for highest mark in final recital, Prize winner at the 1st International Haydn Competition in Vienna, Finalist in Renata Tebaldi Competition 2022.
Important parts:
Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Euridice (L’anima del Filosofo), Anne Frank (Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank), Teseo (Teseo), Valetto (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Fox (The Cunning Little Vixen), L’enfant (L’enfant et les sortilèges), et al.
Stages:
Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar; Festival d’Aix en Provence; The Grange Festival; Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Paris; London Handel Festival; Halle Handel Festival; Wigmore Hall, London; Oxford Lieder Festival; The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace; Aldeburgh Festival; Lincoln Centre, New York; Royal Festival Hall, London et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Simon McBurney, Tim Supple, Jack Furness, Jonathan Moore, Kay Kuntze, Martin Duncan, Olivia Fuchs, Oliver Platt.
Cooperations with conductors:
John Adams, Masaaki Suzuki, Jane Glover, Gregor Bühl, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Jan Pascal Tortelier, Finnegan Downie Dear, Laurence Cummings, Victor Jacob, Ruben Gazarian, et al.
Find further information about Olivia Warburton here.
photo: Elena Ramirez
Karolka
Na'ama Shulman
Soprano
Birthplace:
Israel
Studies:
Bachelor (with honors) and Master of Music in Classical Singing at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance
Prizes:
Second Prize at the International Opera Competition in Jerusalem (2018), First Prize at the Charles Schneider Competition (2017), First Prize at the Tavor-Fintz Memorial Competition (2016)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2018/19 till 2019/20
Important parts:
Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Musetta (La bohème), Clorinda (La Cenerentola), Despina (Così fan tutte), Servilia (La clemena di Tito), Najade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Juliette (Die tote Stadt), Berta (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Diana (Orpheus in der Unterwelt), Bacchis (La belle Hélène), 2. Niece (Peter Grimes), Lidochka (Moscow, Tscherjomuschki), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Hamburg, Theater Magdeburg, Staatstheater Mainz, The Jerusalem Opera, Piccolo Opera Festival Friuli Venezia Giulia, Jerusalem Theatre, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Kirill Serebrennikov, Vera Nemirova, Olivia Fuchs, Stephen Lawless, Karen Stone, Igor Pison, Mirella Weingarten, Ulrich Wiggers, Shirit Lee Weiss, Anna Bernreitner, Eva Buchmann, Monica Waitzfelder, Ari Teperberg, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Paolo Carignani, Nathan Brock, Ricardo Minasi, Roland Kluttig, Christoph Gedschold, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Matteo Beltrami, Anna Skryleva, Svetoslav Borisov, Sebastiano Rolli, Pablo Mielgo, Paolo Spadaro, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Magdeburgische Philharmonie, Ramat Gan Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Simfònica De Les Illes Balears, Ashdod Symphony Orchestra, Israel NK Orchestra, Concerto Hamburg, et al.
Find further information about Na'ama Shulman here.
Eine Magd
Anna-Maria Torkel
Alto
Birthplace:
Bremen, Germany
Studies:
School music at the University of Bremen Math and music
Bachelor's and Master's degree in singing at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama
Prizes:
2012 Brahms Scholarship
2013 Scholarship holder of the Franz Wirth Memorial Foundation
2014 2nd prize at the Gustav Mahler Competition
Important parts:
Hänsel (Humperdinck Hänsel und Gretel), Bertha (Rossini Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Nancy (Flotow Martha), Lucy (Brecht Dreigroschenoper)
Stages:
Theater Bremen, Thalia Theater Hamburg, Staatstheater Wiesbaden
Cooperations with directors:
Marco Stormann, Georg Dittrich, Alexander Riemenschneider, Michael Talke
Cooperations with conductors:
Markus Poschner, Alexander Soddy, Thomas Hengelbrock, Alan Gilbert
Find further information about Anna-Maria Torkel here.
photo: Patrick Leo
Barena
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
Jano
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
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
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.
photo: Niklas Marc Heinecke
