Jacques Offenbach | Les Contes d'Hoffmann
Fri, Feb. 14, 2025, 7.00 pm - 10.45 pm
Musikalische Leitung
Kent Nagano
General Music Director of Hamburg
Kent Nagano is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. Since September 2015, he has been General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg. In addition, he is committed as Artistic Director of the Ring project “The Wagner Cycles” of Dresdner Musikfestspiele with Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln, and as patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival. 2023 he was appointed Honorary Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra, in 2021 of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, in 2019 of the Concerto Köln, and in 2006 of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.
The 2023/2024 season in Hamburg begins with four concerts, performing with the Philharmonische Akademie at the Laeiszhalle, then with the Philharmonic State Orchestra at the Rathausmarkt Open Air and the Elbphilharmonie. This will be followed by a series of opera productions at the State Opera in September and October, with a premiere of Mussorgski’s Boris Godunow in a production by Frank Castorf and a premiere of Strauss’s Salome in a production by Dmitri Tcherniakov, as well as performances of Sciarrino’s Venere e Adone and Britten’s Peter Grimes. Furthermore, as in every season Nagano will conduct symphonic concerts with the Philharmonic State Orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie, including the New Year’s performance.
His past years in Hamburg include opera productions such as Les Troyens, Lulu, Lady Macbeth von Mzensk, the world premiere of Stilles Meer and German premiere of Lessons in Love and Violence, the "Philharmonische Akademie" at St. Michaelis, open-air concerts at the Rathausmarkt and the world premiere of Pascal Dusapin's work Waves for organ and orchestra at the Elbphilharmonie. Orchestral tours with the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg have taken Kent Nagano to Japan, Spain and South America.
Kent Nagano has worked with the world's leading international orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique Radio France, the Orchestre de l’Opéra national in Paris, the Chicago and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Wiener Symphoniker. Special projects were productions of Wagner's Das Rheingold with Concerto Köln and the Bernstein opera A quiet place at the Paris Opera. His operatic work has included Dusapin‘s Il viaggio, Dante at the Festival d‘Aix-en-Provence, Hindemith's Cardillac and Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites at the Opéra National de Paris and Henze’s The Bassarids and the premiere of Saariaho's L’amour de loin at the Salzburg Festival. Other world premieres conducted by Nagano include Bernstein's A White House Cantata and the operas Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin, Three Sisters by Peter Eötvös and The Death of Klinghoffer and El Niño by John Adams.
The 2023/24 season will see Kent Nagano make a wide variety of appearances at the Maison symphonique in Montréal, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Philharmonie in Berlin, the Konzerthalle in Bamberg and the Kulturpalast in Dresden. In addition, he will conduct the Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon and lead a new production of Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre by Krzysztof Warlikowski at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich.
Under the artistic direction of Kent Nagano and the Intendant of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele Jan Vogler, Wagner's "Ring Tetralogy" will be performed in the artistic context of the period in which it was composed, based on the latest findings of research into Wagner and performance practice, and integrated into an extensive supporting program as part of the multi-year project "The Wagner Cycles" of the Dresdner Musikfestspiele from 2023 to 2026. The prelude was the performance of "Das Rheingold" at the Dresden Music Festival in 2023 and the tour to Cologne, Ravello and Lucerne under the musical direction of Kent Nagano. With "Die Walküre," the second work in the epochal narrative will follow in 2024.
Highlights of Kent Nagano's collaboration with the OSM as Music Director from 2006 to 2020 included the inauguration of the orchestra’s new concert hall La Maison Symphonique in September 2011, performances of the complete cycles of Beethoven and Mahler symphonies, Schoenberg's Gurrelieder, concert versions of Wagner's Tannhäuser, Tristan und Isolde and Das Rheingold, Honegger's Jeanne d'Arc au Bücher, and Messiaen's Saint François d'Assise. Tours have taken Nagano and the orchestra to Canada including the Northern Territories, Japan, South Korea, Europe (latest 2019), Latin America and the USA. In July 2018, Kent Nagano conducted Krzysztof Penderecki’s St. Luke Passion with the OSM at the Salzburg Festival opening concert.
His recordings with the OSM on Sony Classical/Analekta include Mahler’s Orchestral Songs with Christian Gerhaher in 2013 and a complete recording of all of Beethoven’s symphonies in 2015. Decca released a recording of the North American premiere of L'Aiglon, a rarely performed opera by Honegger and Ibert in 2016, conducted by Nagano in 2015. Further releases by Decca are Danse Macabre with works by Dukas, Saint-Saens, Ives and others in 2016 as well as a recording of Bernstein's A quiet place in 2018 on the occasion of the composer's 100th birthday. John Adams' Common tones in simple time & harmony (Decca) was released in 2019, the Lukas Passion by Penderecki (BIS) and works by Ginastera, Bernstein and Moussa (Analekta) in 2020.
At the Bayerische Staatsoper, where he was General Music Director from 2006 to 2013, Kent Nagano commissioned new operas such as Babylon by Jörg Widmann, Das Gehege by Wolfgang Rihm and Alice in Wonderland by Unsuk Chin. New productions included Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Die Frau ohne Schatten, Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmelites, Messiaen’s Saint François d'Assise, Berg’s Wozzeck, George Benjamin's Written on skin and Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. Tours took Nagano and the Bavarian State Orchestra through Europe and Japan. In addition to Bruckner's Symphonies Nos. 4 and 7 (Sony), Kent Nagano has released several opera performances with the Bavarian State Orchestra on DVD: Unsuk Chin's opera Alice in Wonderland (2008) and Mussorgsky's Chowanschtschina (2009) with unitel classica/medici arts, Dialogue des Carmélites with Bel Air Classiques (2011) and Lohengrin (2010) with Decca.
Another very important period in Nagano’s career was his time as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin from 2000-2006. He performed Schönberg’s Moses und Aron with the orchestra (in collaboration with Los Angeles Opera) and took them to the Salzburg Festival to perform both Zemlinsky’s Der König Kandaules and Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten, as well as to the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden with Parsifal and Lohengrin in productions by Nikolaus Lehnhoff. Recordings with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin for Harmonia Mundi include repertoire as diverse as Bernstein’s Mass, Bruckner’s Symphonies Nos. 3 & 6, Beethoven’s Christus am Ölberge, Wolf’s Mörike-Lieder, Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, Schönberg’s Die Jakobsleiter and Friede auf Erden, as well as Brahms’s Symphony No. 4 and Schönberg’s Variationen für Orchester Op. 31. In June 2006, at the end of his tenure with the orchestra, Kent Nagano was given the title Honorary Conductor by members of the orchestra – only the second recipient of this honour in their 60-year history. To this day he maintains a close friendship with the orchestra.
In October 2019, Kent Nagano and Mari Kodama expanded their joint recordings of Beethoven's works for piano and orchestra with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 0 E-flat Major WoO 4, a nearly unknown work from the composer’s youth, and his Rondo for Piano and Orchestra WoO 6 with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin. The complete edition of Beethoven’s piano concerti was released on the Berlin Classics label.
Nagano was awarded Grammys for his recordings of Busoni’s Doktor Faust with Opéra National de Lyon, Prokofjew’s Peter and the Wolf with the Russian National Orchestra and Saariaho’s L’amour de Loin with the Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin. He has worked with labels such as BIS, Decca, Sony Classical, FARAO Classics and Analekta for many years, and has also recorded CDs with Berlin Classics, Erato, Teldec, Pentatone, Deutsche Grammophon and Harmonia Mundi.
To celebrate Kent Nagano's 70th birthday in 2021, a 3-CD box set of works by Olivier Messiaen was released in October on the BR Klassik label. The release includes live recordings of the works Poèmes pour Mi, Chronochromie and La Transfiguration de Notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ from his concerts with the Symphonieorchester und Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, demonstrating Nagano's close familiarity with Messiaen's musical language in a special way.
In September 2021, Kent Nagano published his second book with Berlin Verlag. In "10 Lessons of my Life", he recalls ten deeply personal encounters from which he learned important lessons, not only for his career but for his life more broadly. Among those experiences are encounters with the Icelandic pop artist Björk, Frank Zappa, Leonard Bernstein, Pierre Boulez and the Nobel Prize winner in physics Donald Glaser.
In 2015 Kent Nagano published "Erwarten Sie Wunder!" also in Berlin Verlag, a passionate appeal for the relevance of classical music in today's world. In 2019 the book was released in English by the Canadian McGill-Queen's University Press under the title ″Classical Music - Expect the Unexpected" and in 2015 under "Sonnez, merveilles!" in French by Éditions du Boréal.
Born in California, Nagano maintains close connections with his home state and was Music Director of the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra from 1978-2009. His first major successes came with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1984, when Messiaen appointed him assistant to conductor Seiji Ozawa for the premiere of his opera Saint François d'Assise. Nagano’s success in America led to European appointments: Music Director of Opéra National de Lyon (1988-1998) and Music Director of the Hallé Orchestra (1991-2000). Kent Nagano became the first Music Director of Los Angeles Opera in 2003 having already held the position of Principal Conductor for two years.
Kent Nagano was awarded an honorary doctorate from McGill University in Montréal in 2005, an honorary doctorate from the Université de Montréal in 2006, and an honorary doctorate from San Francisco State University in 2018. Since 2017, Kent Nagano has been a "Compagnon" of the "Ordre des arts et des lettres" of Québec and in the fall of 2023, Kent Nagano was also awarded the title of "Chevalier" in the "Ordre des art et des lettres" of France. In February 2024, Kent Nagano was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by the Federal President.
Find further information about Kent Nagano here.
photo: Claudia Höhne
Chorleitung
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.
Hoffmann
Bernard Richter
Birthplace:
Switzerland
Studies:
Opera Studio Biel
Prizes:
Finalist at the Concours International de Paris 2001
Important parts:
Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Lurciano (Ariodante), Grimoaldo (Rodelinda), Belfiore (La finta Giardiniera), Idomeneo (Idomeneo), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Hylas (Les Troyens), Froh (Das Rheingold), Chevalier de la Force (Dialogues des carmélites), Castor (Castor et Pollux), Des Grieux (Manon), Camille de Rossillon (Die lustige Witwe), Erik (Der fliegende Holländer), Mitridate (Mitridate), et al.
Stages:
Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bolshoi Theater Moscow, De Nationale Opera Amsterdam, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatr Wielki Warsaw, Opéra de Lyon, Opéra National de Paris, Salzburg Festival, Verbier Festival, Theater an der Wien, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Laurent Pelly, Christof Loy, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Keith Warner, Pierre-Emmanuel Rousseau, Jean-Marie Villégier, Christophe Honoré, Zabou Breitman and Kasper Holten, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Philippe Jordan, Daniel Harding, Daniele Gatti, Adam Fischer, Kent Nagano, Marc Minkowski, Jeffrey Tate, Ivor Bolton, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Fabio Luisi, Sir Neville Marriner, Sylvain Cambreling, Peter Schneider, Iván Fischer, William Christie and Raphaël Pichon, et al.
photo: Kiran West
Antonia, Stella
Elbenita Kajtazi
Soprano
Birthplace:
Mitrovica, Kosovo
Studies:
Graduated summa cum laude from the Mitrovica Conservatory of Music (2009), subsequently studied at the University of Prishtina
Prizes:
Audience Prize and 3rd place at the first Glyndebourne Opera Cup (2018), first prize and special prize at the Riccardo Zandonai Competition (2015), first prize at the Spiros Argiris Competition of the Sarzana Opera Festival in Italy (2014), scholarship holder of the Förderkreis der Deutschen Oper Berlin (2014-2016), participant of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival (2016), Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer Prize Hamburg (2020).
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2018/19 season
Important parts:
Violetta (La Traviata), Nannetta (Falstaff), Mimi (La Boheme), Manon (Manon), Micaëla (Carmen), Liù (Turandot), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Musetta (La Bohème), Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Marzelline (Fidelio), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Hamburg, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Bayrische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, Semperoper Dresden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Aalto-Teater Essen, Philharmonie Essen, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Tomáš Netopil, Friedrich Haider, Riccardo Minasi, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Axel Kober, Patrick Fournillier, Donald Runnicles, Yoel Gamzou, Kent Nagano, Nicholas Carter, et al.
Find further information about Elbenita Kajtazi here.
photo: Marie Luise Calvero
Olympia
Caroline Wettergreen
Giulietta / Stella
Alessandra Di Giorgio
La Muse / Nicklausse
Angela Brower
Mezzosoprano
Birthplace:
Arizona, U.S.
Studies:
Young artist singing at the Glimmerglass Opera Young American Artists Program in 2008, Opera Studio at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich
Prizes:
Munich Festival Prize in 2009 for Dorabella (Così fan tutte)
Important parts:
Annio (Clemenza di Tito), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Rosina (The Barber of Seville), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Cherubino/Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Cendrillon (Cendrillon), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Annio/Sesto (La Clemenza di Tito), Prince Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos), Idamante (Idomeneo), Tamiri (Il re pastore), Siebel (Faust), Nicklausse (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Charlotte (Werther), Adalgisa (Norma)
Stages:
Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Royal Opera House, Norwegian National Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera, Mozartwoche Salzburgat, Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Opéra de Bordeaux, Opéra de Paris, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Salzburg Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne Festival, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lucerne Festival, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Festspielhaus Baden, San Francisco Opera, Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam
Cooperations with conductors:
Mark Minkowski, Maestro Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Yal Pascal Tortilier
Find further information about Angela Brower here.
photo: Rebecca Fay
Lindorf / Coppélius / Dr. Miracle / Dapertutto
Giorgi Manoshvili
Andrès / Cochenille / Frantz / Pitichinaccio
Andrew Dickinson
Tenor
Birthplace:
Liverpool, Great Britain
Studies:
studies at the Royal Academy Opera School (degree 2011)
Prizes:
Maureen Lehane Singing Competition at the Wigmore Hall (2014), British Wagner Association Competition (2015)
Important Parts:
Truffaldino (L'amour des trois oranges), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Max (Der Freischütz), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Andrès/Cochenille/Frantz/Pitichinaccio (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Novice (Billy Budd), Hexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Beppe (I Pagliacci), Tom Rakewell (The Rakes Progress), Jonas (Le Prophete), White Minister (Le Grand Macabre), Quint (Turn of the Screw), Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Kaufmann (Jakob Lenz), et al.
Stages:
Ensemble member at the Deutsche Oper Berlin from 2016 to 2022, collaboration with Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Ensemble Resonanz, Danish National Opera, Brooklyn Academy of Arts New York, Hyogo Performing Arts Center Japan, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Mozarteum Salzburg, Podium Festspiele, Bregenzer Festspiele, Glyndebourne Festival, Royal Festival Hall London, Stephansdom Wien, Liszt Academy Budapest, Berliner Dom, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Ivo Van Hove, David McVicar, Olivier Py, David Poutney, Graham Vick, Deborah Warner, Doug Fitch, Fiona Shaw, Frederic Wake-Walker, David Alden, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Donald Runnicles, Robin Ticciati, James Conlon, Alan Gilbert, Enrique Mazzola, Vladimir Jurowski, et al.
Find further information about Andrew Dickinson here.
La Mère
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
Maître Luther / Crespel
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.
Nathanaël
Seungwoo Simon Yang
Tenor
Birthplace:
Gwangyang, South Korea
Studies:
Singing at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Prof. Carolyn Grace James
Master class:
Bo Skovhus, Eytan Pessen, Lioba Braun, Brigitte Eisenfeld, Gregory Kunde, Chris Merritt, Piotr Beczala, Dorothea Röschmann, Kwangchul Youn, Olga Peretyatko, Ralph Strehle, Harald Stamm, et al.
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:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2023/24 season
Was Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2020/21 to 2023/24
Important parts:
Lord Arturo Bucklaw (Lucia di Lammermoor), Pong (Turandot), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Beppe (Pagliacci), Jaquino (Fidelio), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Pilade (Oreste), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore), Rodolfo (La Bohème), et al.
Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Zurich Opera, Salzburg Festival
Cooperation with directors:
Guy Montavon, Yona Kim, Sascha Alexander Todtner, Amélie Niermeyer
Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Stefano Ranzani, Roberto Rizzi-Brignoli, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Daniele Callegari, Giampaolo Bisanti, Leonardo Sini, Matteo Beltrarmi, Paolo Arrivabini, Giacomo Sagripanti, et al.
photo: Johannes Xaver Zepplin
Spalanzani
Jürgen Sacher
Tenor
Birthplace:
Augsburg, Germany
Studies:
Church music and music education at the Leopold-Mozart Konservatorium in Augsburg, vocal studies with Leonore Kirschstein
Prizes:
Scholarship of the Richard Wagner Verband, Promotion Prize of the Hamburgische Staatsoper, appointment as Hamburger Kammersänger (2017)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Staatsoper Hamburg since 1991/92
Important parts:
Mime (Siegfried), Mime/Loge (Das Rheingold), Herodes (Salome), Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Hauptmann/Andres (Wozzeck), Monostatos/1. Geharnischter (Die Zauberflöte), Maler/Prinz/Marquis/Kammerdiener (Lulu), Dr. Cajus (Falstaff), Tichon (Katja Kabanova), Truffaldino (Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen), Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier), David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Junger Mann (Moses und Aron), Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), Peter Iwanow (Zar und Zimmermann), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Walther von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser), Goro (Madame Butterfly), Graf Elemer (Arabella), Raoul de St. Brioche (Die lustige Witwe), Novagerio (Palestrina), Orontes (Flavius Bertaridus), Asasello (Der Meister und Margarita), Tanzmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos), Graf von Kent (Lear), Reverend Adams (Peter Grimes), L´Aumonier (Dialogues des Carmélites), Aegisth (Elektra), Fedotik (Tri Sestri), Sylvester von Schaumburg (Mathis der Maler), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, La Monnaie, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Königliche Oper von Kopenhagen, Teatro alla Scala, Salzburger Festspiele, Theater an der Wien, Budapester Staatsoper, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Wagner Festival Budapest, Theater Dortmund, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Staatsoper Budapest, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Harry Kupfer, Willy Decker, Claus Guth, Mario Martone, Achim Freyer, Géza M. Tóth, Livia Sabag, Roger Vontobel, Stefan Herheim, Karoline Gruber, Vincent Boussard, Jochen Biganzoli, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Adam Fischer, Bertrand de Billy, Claudio Abbado, Kent Nagano, Semyon Bychkov, Horst Stein, Christian Thielemann, Ingo Metzmacher, Michael Boder, Kirill Petrenko, Simone Young, Daniel Barenboim, et al.
photo: Martina Cyman
Wilhelm / Wolfram
Aaron Godfrey-Mayes
Tenor
Birthplace:
Mansfield, United Kingdom
Studies:
Mascarade Emerging Artist (2022-2023)
Mascarade Opera Studio (2021-2022)
Advanced Diploma, Royal Academy Opera
Master of Arts, Royal Academy of Music
Bachelor of Music, Royal Academy of Music
Master class:
Allan Clayton, Royal Academy of Music
Dennis O’Neill, Royal Academy of Music
Carmen Santoro, Mascarade Opera Studio
Ann Murray
Ian Partridge, Royal Academy of Music
Prizes:
1 st place, Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize
3 rd place & Wil Keune Mozart Prize, Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition
1 st place, David Clover Festival of Singing Recital Prize
19 th century Italian opera prize, Mozart Singing Competition
Prize winner, Richard Lewis/Jean Shanks Award
1 st place, Nottinghamshire Masonic Music Association Bursary
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2023/24
Important parts:
Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Alì (Adina), Albert Herring (Albert Herring), Triquet (Eugene Onegin)
Stages:
Teatro La Fenice, Garsington Opera, Nevill Holt Opera, Königliches Kurtheater Bad Wildbad, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Oliver Mears, Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, Noa Naamat, Douglas Boyd, Paul Curran, Federico Grazzini, Pedro Ribeiro, Jean-Romain Vesperini, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Philippe Herreweghe, Trevor Pinnock, Iain Ledingham, Luciano Acocella, Jonathan Santagada, Douglas Boyd, Sian Edwards, Peter Robinson, Matthew Scott Rogers, Nicholas Chalmers, Dionysis Grammenos, Tom Seligman, et al.
photo: Jörn Kipping
Le Capitaine des Sbirres
William Desbiens
Baritone
Birthplace:
Québec City, Canada
Studies:
Bachelor in voice. Mannes School of Music in New York
Prizes:
Finals at the Paris opera competition at the Palais Garnier
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from the season 2024/25
Important parts:
Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Schaunard (La Boheme), Conte almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Dandini (La cenerentola)
Stages:
Opéra de Québec, Teatro la fenice, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, Landestheater Linz, Palais Garnier
Cooperation with directors:
Robert Lepage, Fabricio Melano, Damon Nestor Ploumis, Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, Jean-Romain Vesperini, Guillermo
Cooperation with conductors:
Wyn Davis, Jonathan Santagada, Elias Grandy, Kens Lui, Claudio Novati, Thomas Rösner, Jorge Parodi
Find further information about William Desbiens here.
photo: Marco Borrelli
Schlémil / Hermann
Nicholas Mogg
Baritone
Birthplace:
Manchester, United Kingdom
Studies:
International Opera Studio, Hamburg State Opera; National Opera Studio, London; Royal Academy of Music, London; Clare College, University Cambridge
Masterclass:
with Sir Simon Keenlyside, Christian Gerhaher, Malcolm Martineau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Gerald Finley, Sir Thomas Allen
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2022/23 season
Was Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2019/20 to 2022/23
Prizes:
Royal Over-Seas League Singers’ Section; Richard Lewis/Jean Shanks Award
Roles:
Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Ned Keene (Peter Grimes), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Steward (Flight), Herr Peachum (Die Dreigroschenoper), Melisso (Alcina), Jupiter (Orphée aux Enfers), et al.
Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Het Concertgebouw, Festival Aix, Elbphilharmonie, Theater Lübeck
Cooperation with directors:
Keith Warner, Herbert Fritsch, Tim Albery, Orpha Phelan, Richard Jones
Cooperation with conductors:
Robin Ticciati, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Ton Koopman, Sir Roger Norrington, Yoel Gamzou, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Alan Gilbert, Kent Nagano
photo: linden.shots
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
