Peter I. Tschaikowsky | Eugene Onegin
Musikalische Leitung
Ari Pelto
Musical Direction
After earning his Bachelor of Music in Violin Performance at Oberlin Conservatory, Ari Pelto studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, the Rubin Academy in Jerusalem and at Indiana University. At the age of 24 he was appointed Assistant Conductor at the Spoleto Festival, followed by his appointment Sarasota Symphony, then known as Florida West Coast Symphony, as Associate Conductor. He has conducted some of America’s leading symphonic orchestras, among them Detroit Symphony, San Diego Symphony, St Louis Symphony, Kansas City Symphony, Virginia Symphony, as well as opera orchestras in repertoire that includes Bartok, Boccherini, Britten, Debussy, Gluck, Korngold, Laitman, Gershwin, Haydn, Kodaly, Mozart, Mahler, Prokofiev, Puccini, Respighi, Schoenburg, Tchaikovsky, Verdi and Wagner.
Appointed Music Director at Opera Colorado in 2015, Ari Pelto has conducted acclaimed performances of La Traviata, Don Giovanni, Madama Butterfly, Aida, La Boheme, Falstaff, La Fanciulla del West, Le Nozze di Figaro and Lucia di Lammermoor, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, I Pagliacci, Otello, Carmen, Rigoletto and Die Tote Stadt among others for the company to date, and contemporary titles include The Shining; the world-premiere of Lori Laitman’s long-awaited work, The Scarlet Letter (a recording of which was released on the Naxos label); and the world premiere of Gerald Cohen’s new opera, Steal a Pencil for Me, based on a true love story set in a concentration camp during WWII.
In 2023, Maestro Pelto was appointed Principal Conductor and Artistic Advisor at Sacramento Philharmonic and Opera; symphonic concerts this season include Brahms’s Stormy Symphony, suite from Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé, Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with Michelle Cann, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 3, and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.
photo: Privat
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.
Larina
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
Tatjana
Sally Matthews
Soprano
Studies:
Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Prizes:
Winner of the Kathleen Ferrier Award, BBC Radio 3’s New Generation Artists Scheme
Important parts:
Blanche de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites), The Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Anna Ruthven (Il proscritto), Countess Madeleine (Capriccio), The Governess (The Turn of the Screw), Daphne (Daphne), Norma (Norma), the Vixen (The Cunning Little Vixen), Elisabetta de Valois (Don Carlos), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Sifare (Mitridate), Anne Truelove (The Rake’s Progress, et al.
Stages:
Glyndebourne Festival, BBC Proms, La Monnaie; Brussels, Norwegian National Opera, English National Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Salzburg Festival, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House; Covent Garden, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Barrie Kosky, Laurent Pelly, Christof Loy, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Simone Young, Franz Welser Möst, Daniel Harding, Sir Charles Mackerras, Bernard Haitink, et al.
Olga
Kristina Stanek
Mezzo-soprano
Birthplace:
Krefeld, Germany
Studies:
Master studies with distinction at the Royal Academy of Music, London
Prizes:
Best young singer at the European Music Festival in Rome, Italy; 1st prize at the Mozart Competition in Prague, Czech Republic; 1st prize at the Rotary Music Competition, Germany
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since season 2020/21
Important parts:
Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Prinzessin Eboli (Don Carlos), Azucena (Il trovatore), Carmen (Carmen), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), 2. Norn (Götterdämmerung), Maddalena (Rigoletto), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Hamburg, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Theater Basel, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Hans Neuenfels, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Michael Thalheimer, Lydia Steier, Yuval Sharon, David Bösch, Sebastian Baumgarten, Barbara Frey, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Christian Thielemann, Marco Armiliato, Philipp Jordan, Antonello Manacorda, Marek Janowski, Ivor Bolton, Marc Albrecht, Giampaolo Bisanti, Axel Kober, Jonathan Darlington, Erik Nielsen, Kristiina Poska, Joana Mallwitz, Titus Engel, Christopher Moulds, Gianluca Capuano, Jonathan Stockhammer, David Parry, Christian Curnyn, Michele Spotti, Thomas Guggeis, et al.
More about Kristina Stanek
photo: Felix Grünschloß
Filipjewna
Carole Wilson
Birthplace:
United Kingdom
Important parts:
Susanna (Khovanshchina), Alte Burya (Jenufa), Mrs Lovett (Sweeney Todd), Die Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Mrs Grose (Turn of the Screw), La Nourrice (Ariane et barbe-bleu), Auntie/Mrs Sedley (Peter Grimes); Mary (Der fliegende Holländer), Herodias (Salome), Jezibaba (Rusalka), Aksinya (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Gertrude (Roméo et JulieBe), Annina (Der Rosenkavalier), Babarhika (The Tale of Tsar Saltan), White Queen (Alice’s Adventures Underground), Adelaïde (Arabella), Old Countess (Pique Dame), et al.
Stages:
Opéra national de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, La Scala Milan, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra national de Lorraine, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro Real Madrid, the Glyndebourne Festival, La Monnaie Brussels, Teatro San Carlo Napoli, Dutch National Opera, Ópera de Oviedo, Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf, Opera de Monte Carlo, Opera de Oviedo, Wiener Staatoper, Theater an der Wien, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Dmitri Tcherniakov, Sir David McVicar, Richard Jones, Martin Kusej, Otto Schenk, Anthony MacDonald, John Cox, Robert Carsen, Andrea Breth, David Alden, Sir Graham Vick, Axel Ranisch, Stefan Herheim, Tatjana Gürbaca, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Antonio Pappano, Sir Andrew Davis, Yannick Nezet Seguin, Nikolas
Harnancourt, Bernard Haitink, Semyon Bychkov, Kirill Petrenko, Adam Fischer, Sir Charles
Mackerras, et al.
Eugen Onegin
Christoph Pohl
Baritone
Birthplace:
Hanover, Germany
Studies:
Opera singing studies at University of Music and Drama Hanover in Hanover at Prof. Carol Richardson-Smith, member of International Opera Studio of Staatsoper Hamburg (2003–2005)
Master class:
Prof. Klesy Kelly (Cologne), Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Piotr Beczala, Neal Shicoff
Prizes:
prizewinner of Bundeswettbewerb Gesang, prizewinner of Deutscher Musikrat-Wettbewerb, Schumann-Liedwettbewerbs (2008), Christel-Goltz-Preis der Semperoperstiftung (2008)
Important parts:
Papageno (The Magic Flute), Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Marcello (La Bohème), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Olivier and Count (Capriccio), Harlequin and Music Teacher (Ariadne auf Naxos), Frank/Fritz (Die tote Stadt ), Ottokar (Der Freischütz), Danilo (Die lustige Witwe), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Valentin (Faust), Figaro (Il Barbiere di Sevillia), Belcore (L'elisir d'amore), Schwanda (Svanda dudak), Heerrufer (Lohengrin), Lescaut (Manon Lescaut), Sharpless (Butterfly), Germont (La Traviata), Posa (Don Carlo), Guillaume Tell (Guillaume Tell), Spielmann (Königskinder), Eugen Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Amfortas (Parsifal), Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), Johannes (Morgen und Abend), Alfonso (Die Jüdin von Toledo)
Stages:
Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Oper Leipzig, Maifestspiele Wiesbaden, Oper Frankfurt, Bayerische Staatsoper, Royal Albert Hall, Royal Opera Covent Garden, Wigmore Hall London, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro La Fenice Venice, Bregenz Festival, Theater an der Wien, Opernhaus Zürich, Vlaamse Opera Antwerpen, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Johannes Erath, Klaus Guth, Peter Konwitschny, Stefan Herheim, Robert Carsen, Graham Vick, Andreas Homoki, Hans Neuenfels, Calixto Bieito, Damiano Michieletto, Jetzke Mijnssen, Lydia Steyer, Torsten Fischer, Elisabeth Stöppler, Axel Köhler, Markus Bothe
Cooperation with conductors:
Peter Schneider, Christian Thielemann, Donald Runnicles, Michael Boder, Axel Kober, Ivor Bolton, Nicola Luisotti, Giorgio Morandi, Cornelius Meister, Omer Meier Wellber, Sebastian Weigle
More about Christoph Pohl
Wladimir Lenski
Bogdan Volkov
Tenor
Birthplace:
Thorez, Ukraine
Studies:
Glier Kyiv Institute of Music and Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, member of the Young Artists Program of the Bolshoi Theatre
Prizes:
First Prize and Audience Prize at the Paris Opera Competition in 2015, and Second Prize at Plácido Domingo’s Operalia Competition in 2016.
Important parts:
Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Nemorino ( L’elisir d’amore), Alfredo (La Traviata), Fenton (Falstaff), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Guidon (The Tale of Tsar Saltan) et al.
Stages:
Teatro alla Scala, Royal Opera House London, Metropolitan Opera New York, Vienna State Opera, La Monnaie, Dutch National Opera, Staatsoper unter den Linden, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Bayerische Staatsoper, Salzburg Festspiele et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Dmitri Tcherniakov, Christof Loy, Christoph Marthaler, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Laurent Pelly.et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Daniel Barenboim, Daniele Rustioni, Speranza Scappucci, Michele Mariotti, Joana Mallwitz, Stefano Montanari, Evelino Pidò, Alain Altinoglu.et al.
More about Bogdan Volkov
photo: Monika Rittershaus
Fürst Gremin
Alexander Roslavets
Bass
Birthplace:
Brest, Belarus
Studies:
Rimsky-Korsakov Staatskonservatorium in St. Petersburg bei Professor Nikolai Okhotnikov (2009-2014), Young Artist Programme Bolschoi-Theater in Moskau (2014-2016)
Master classes:
With Elena Obraztsova, Edda Moser, Dmitry Vdovin, Evgeny Nesterenko, Irina Bogacheva, Lubov Orfenova, Neil Shicoff, Bernd Weikl, Carol Vaness, John Fisher
Prizes:
Third prize in the first International Music Competition in Harbin (2018), third and special prize in the Queen Sonja International Music Competition (2017), second prize in the second International Opera Singing Competition of Portofino (2017), special prize in the 36th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition (2017), grand prix and audience prize in the second International Eva Marton singing competition in Budapest (2016), second prize in the sixth Galina Vishnevskaya International Opera Singers Competition (2016), grand prix in the Special Foundation Of The President Of Belarus Supporting Talented Youth (2016), first prize in the seventh International Competition of Opera Singers in Saint-Petersburg (2015), diploma in the 10th Elena Obraztsova International Competition Of Young Opera Singers (2015), special prize in the first International Christmas Vocal Competition in Minsk (2014), grand prix in the 42nd Russian National Vocal Graduates Competition in St. Petersburg (2014)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2016/17
Important parts:
Malyuta Skuratov (Die Zarenbraut), Mephistopheles (Faust), König Dodon (Der goldene Hahn), Colline (La Bohème), Bartolo (Le Nozze de Figaro), Commenadatore, Masetto (Don Giovanni), Brander (La Damnation de Faust), Il Conte di Monterone (Rigoletto), 5.Jude (Salome), Lodovico (Otello), Il Sagrestano und Cesare Angelotti (Tosca), Raimondo Bidebent (Lucia di Lammermoor), Peter Quince (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Lo zio Bonzo (Madama Butterfly), Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Fafner (Das Rheingold), Fafner (Siegfried), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), King René (Iolanta), Banco (Macbeth), Prince Gremin (Eugen Onegin), Daland (Der Fliegende Holländer), Vodnik (Rusalka), Dulcamara (L’Elisir d’Amore), Ali Baba (Ali Baba), et al.
Stages:
Mikhailovsky Theater, Bolschoi Theater, Tschaikowsky-Konzertsaal in Moskau, Bolschoi Theater in Weißrussland, St. Petersburger Philharmonie benannt nach Schostakowitsch, Ungarische Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Berliner Philharmoniker, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Rimas Tuminas, Calixto Bieito, Tito Capobianco, Paul Curran, Stanislav Gaudasinsky, Peter Stein, Alexey Stepaniuk, Achim Freyer, Liliana Cavani, Mariusz Trelinski, Melly Still, Jan Bosse, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Adam Fischer, Robin Ticciati, Henrik Nanasi, Vladimir Jurowski, Ainars Rubikis, Daniele Rustioni, Tugan Sokhiev, Fabio Mastrangelo, Anton Grishanin, Michal Klauza, Gregor Bühl, Kent Nagano, Paolo Carignani, Renato Palumbo, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Yves Abel, Stefano Ranzani, Carlo Rizzari, Christof Prick, Nathan Brock, Sergei Stadler, Yuri Simonov, Michail Jurowski, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Alexander Anisimov, et al.
photo: Martin Paulsson
Ein Hauptmann
Keith Klein
Bass-Baritone
Birthplace:
Overland Park, Kansas, United States of America
Studies:
Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance, Eastman School of Music
Masters Degree in Vocal Performance, Florida State University
Prizes:
Laffont Competition Regional 3rd Place Winner, Metropolitan Opera, 2024
Laffont Competition District Winner, Metropolitan Opera, 2024
Barbara and Stanley Richman Memorial Award, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, 2022
NATS SouthEast Conference- Best College Male Florida State University, 2019
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2024/25
Important parts:
Dr. Grenville (La Traviata), Colline (La boheme), Sparafucille (Rigoletto), Angelotti (Tosca), Notary (Der Rosenkavalier) Dr. Podsnap (Awakenings)
Stages:
Santa Fe/Crosby Theatre, Opera Colorado/Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Florida Grand Opera/ Adrienne Arscht Theatre, Lyric Opera of Kansas City/Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Theatre of St. Louis/ Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts
Cooperation with directors:
James Robinson, Patricia Racette, Chia Patiño, Matthew Lata
Cooperation with conductors:
Patrick Summers, Roberto Kalb, Daniella Candillari, Benton Hess
More about Keith Klein
photo: Jörn Kipping
Saretzki
William Desbiens
Baritone
Birthplace:
Québec City, Canada
Studies:
Bachelor in voice. Mannes School of Music in New York, Mascarade Emerging artist program
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
More about William Desbiens
photo: Jörn Kipping
Triquet
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
Vorsänger
Chorsolist
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
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.
More about Philharmonisches Staatsorchester 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
