Gaetano Donizetti | Maria Stuarda
Inszenierung
Karin Beier
Director
Birthplace:
Cologne, Germany
Studies:
English language and literature as well as theatre, film and television studies at the Universität zu Köln
Prizes / Honours:
Bundesverdienstkreuz 1. Klasse (2017)
Die Deutsche Bühne: Best Production - „Das Werk / Im Bus / Ein Sturz“ (2011)
Theater heute: Theater of the Year - Schauspiel Köln (2010 und 2011)
Theater heute: Best Production - „Die Schmutzigen, die Hässlichen und die Gemeinen“ (2010)
Invitations to the Berlin Theatertreffen: Anthropolis II "Laios" by Roland Schimmelpfennig (Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg, 2024), "Reich des Todes" by Rainald Goetz (Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg, 2021), "Schiff der Träume" based on the film by Federico Fellini (Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg, 2016), Elfriede Jelinek "Das Werk", "Im Bus, "ein Sturz" (Schauspiel Köln, 2011), Ettore Scola and Ruggero Maccari "Die Schmutzigen, die Hässlichen und die Gemeinen" (Schauspiel Köln, 2010), William Shakespeare "Der Sommernachtstraum - ein europäischer Shakespeare" (Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, 1996), William Shakespeare "Romeo und Julia" (Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, 1994)
Career stages:
Intendant Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg (since 2013), Intendant Schauspiel Köln (2007 to 2013), five years as in-house director Burgtheater Vienna, from 1995 productions in Hamburg, Munich, Hanover, Bonn, Bremen, Basel, Bochum, Worms, Zurich and Cologne, in-house director Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus (1988 to 1995)
Productions Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg:
"Anthropolis I-V: "Prologue/Dionysus", "Laios", "Oedipus", "Iokaste", "Antigone" (2023/24), "Aus dem Leben" and "Kindeswohl" (2021/22), "Lärm. Blind seeing. Blinde sehen!" and "Reich des Todes" (2020/21), "Ivanov" (2019/20), "König Lear" and "Wer hat Angst vor Virginia Woolf? " (2018/19), "Tartare Noir" and "Der Kaufmann von Venedig" (2017/18), "Hysteria - Gespenster der Freiheit" and "The Who and the What" (2016/17), "Schiff der Träume" and "Unterwerfung" (2015/16), "Onkel Wanja", "Ab jetzt" and "Pfeffersäcke im Zuckerland & Strahlende Verfolger" (2014/15), "Die Rasenden" and "Der Gott des Gemetzels" (2013/14)
Music theatre productions:
"Maria Stuarda" opera by Gaetano Donizetti (Hamburg State Opera) / "Die Nase" opera by Shostakovich (Hamburg State Opera)/ "Carmen" opera by Georges Bizet (Theater Bremen) / "Rigoletto" opera by Giuseppe Verdi (Cologne Opera) / "Così fan tutte" opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Theater Basel) / "Semele" oratorio by Georg Friedrich Händel (Theater Basel) / "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" singspiel by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (co-production Vienna State Opera and Burgtheater Vienna)
photo: Florian Raz
Musikalische Leitung
Antonino Fogliani
Musical Direction
Birthplace:
Messina, Italy
Studies:
Graduated in Music Disciplines at the Bologna University, he graduated in Piano at the Bolonia Conservatory and Conducting at the Milan Conservatory. He specialized at the Chigiana Academy of Siena with Franco Donadoni and Ennio Morricone
Prizes:
In 2018 the President Sergio Mattarella awarded him the honorary title of “Ufficiale dell’Ordine al merito della Repubblica italiana”.
Repertoire:
Maria Stuarda, Don Pasquale, Amica and Mosè in Egitto, Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, Otello, Il barbiere di Siviglia, Rigoletto, Il turco in Italia, Turandot, La sposa di Messina, Lucia di Lammermoor, Carmen, Tosca, et al.
Career stages:
Music Director since 2012 of the Festival Rossini in Wildbad,
Since season 2017/18 Principal Guest Conductor of Deutsche Oper am Rhein
Since 2021 Professor in Orchestral Conducting at the "A. Scarlatti" Conservatory in Palermo
Stages:
Rossini Opera Festival, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro dell'Opera of Rome, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, La Fenice in Venice, San Carlo in Naples, Bolshoi Theatre, Donizetti Theater Bergamo, Bayerische Staatsoper, Bregenzer Festspiele, Semperoper in Dresden, Verona Arena, Frankfurt Opera, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Orchestra Nazionale dell’Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, Neue Philharmonie Westfalen Orchestra Dortmund, Moscow State Philharmonic Society, Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen, et al.
More about Antonino Fogliani
photo: Konstantin Pavlenko
Bühnenbild
Amber Vandenhoeck
Stage Design
Amber Vandenhoeck studied In Situ Arts and Scenography at the Royal Academy of Antwerp. In 2009 she joined the Brussels Peeping Tom Dance Company as a technician, but soon began designing the stage design for their performances. She designed stage sets for the globally touring plays “A Louer”, “Vader” and “Moeder”. To this day she works with the ensemble and produces works with Gabriela Carrizo such as “The Land” for the Residenztheater, “La Ruta” for the Nederlands Dans Theater and “La Visita”, which was co-produced by the Fondazione Maramotti and awarded with the Fedora Prize for Dance. Collaborations with other directors and companies in the areas of dance, performance and musical theater have followed. Her collaboration with Karin Beier started in 2021 with the stage design for "Aus Dem Leben" in the MalerSaal of Schauspielhaus Hamburg.
She has ongoing collaborations with David Marton (Staatsoper Berlin), Kor’sia Dance Company (Madrid), Béatrice Lachaussee (Paris), Julien Chavaz (Magdeburg), Tomoko Mukaiyama (Tokyo), Lost Dog Dance (UK), Marcos Darbyshire, Post uit Hessdalen, Kyoko Scholiers… Her work is both graphically and architecturally inspired, with a focus on surreal and hyperrealistic spaces.
More about Amber Vandenhoeck
Kostüme
Eva Dessecker
Birthplace:
Karlsruhe, Germany
Studies:
Classical Archaeology and Art History at the Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg
Prizes:
Invitation to the Theatertreffen Berlin ("Platonow" at the Wiener Burgtheater, 2011/12 and "Die Geschichte von Kaspar Hauser" at the Schauspielhaus Zürich, 2013/14)
Important productions:
"Shakespeare's -The Twelfth Night" (SNG Drama Ljubljana, 2023), “Der Kaufmann von Venedig” (Deutsches Schauspielhaus, 2018), “La Bohème” (Opéra Bastille Paris, 2017), “Manon Lescaut” (Oper Amsterdam, 2016), “Juliette” Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, 2016), “Herzog Blaubart Burg” (Wiener Festwochen, 2015), “Lenz” (Stuttgart/ Berlin / Festival d’Aix en Provence, 2014), “Das Mädchen mit den Schwefelhölzern” (Ruhrtriennale, 2013), “Der Rosenkavalier” (Antwerpen, 2013), “Le Retour” (Théâtre de l’Odéon und Wiener Festwochen, 2012/13), “Die Soldaten” (Salzburger Festspiele, 2011), “Platonow” (Burgtheater Wien, 2011), “Le Chaise” (Theatre Nanterre Amandiers / Wiener Festwochen, 2010), “Doktor Faustus” (Opernhaus Zürich, 2006/7), “Splendid´s Jean Genet” (Schaubühne Berlin sowie Mailand Piccolo Theater 1995/6), “Das Gleichgewicht: Botho Stauß” (Salzburger Festspiele, 1993), “Aus einem Totenhaus” (Salzburger Festspiele, 1992), et al.
Career stages:
Freelance work (since 1991), assistant at Salzburger Festspiele 1990/91 with "Der Schwierige", assistant and collaborator of Moidele Bickel at the Schaubühne Berlin (1983 to 1989)
Cooperations:
Klaus Michael Grüber, Luc Bondy, Andrea Breth, Bob Wilson, Klaus Guth, Karin Beier, Janusz Kica, Evgeny Titiov, et al.
More about Eva Dessecker
Dramaturgie
Rita Thiele
Dramaturgy
Birthplace:
Essen, NRW, Germany
Studies:
History, German studies and theater studies in Cologne
Prizes:
“Dramaturge of the Year 2011” in the survey of the magazine Theater heute for “Das Werk/Im Bus/Ein Sturz” at Schauspiel Köln
2019 Hamburg Theater Prize Rolf Mares for “Die Übriggebliebenen” at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg
Career stages:
1984 LTT Tübingen and Schauspielhaus Kiel
From 1990 dramaturge and member of Claus Peymann's directorate at the Burgtheater Vienna
From 1999 member of Claus Peymann's directorate at the Berliner Ensemble
2001 to 2006 Chief dramaturge and deputy director at Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, from 2007 at Schauspiel Köln (director Karin Beier)
2013-14 until the 2020-21 season Chief Dramaturge and Deputy Director at the Deutsches SchauSpielHaus Hamburg (Director Karin Beier)
Cooperations:
Karin Beier, Karin Henkel, Falk Richter, Katie Mitchell, Einar Schleef, Johan Simons, Jürgen Gosch, et al.
photo: Sonja Rothweiler
Chorleitung
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
Elisabetta
Barno Ismatullaeva
Soprano
Birthplace:
Andijan, Uzbekistan
Studies:
State Conservatory of Uzbekistan, Tashkent
Prizes:
1st prize "Competizione dell'Opera", Tashkent 2014
Important parts:
Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Suor Angelica, Mimì (La bohème), Desdemona (Otello), Amelia (Simon Boccanegra), Tatiana (Evgeni Onegin), Micaëla (Carmen), et al.
Stages:
Bregenz Festival, Hanover State Opera, Musikverein Graz, Bucharest State Opera, Tashkent State Opera, Nuremberg State Theater, Düsseldorf Opera, Essen Aalto Theater, Innsbruck Tyrolean State Theater, Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Music Theaters, Mariinsky Teatre Primorsky Vladivostok
Cooperations with directors:
Andreas Homoki, Barbora Horáková, Lydia Steier, Immo Karaman, Elisabeth Stöppler, Eva-Maria Höckmayr, Carlos Wagner
Cooperations with conductors:
Enrique Mazzola, Axel Kober, Constantin Trinks, Cristian Macelaru, Matteo Beltrami, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Michele Spotti, Jordan de Souza, Stephan Zilias, James Hendry
photo: Sandra Then
Maria Stuarda
Ermonela Jaho
Birthplace:
Albania
Studies:
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Rome
Prizes:
Reader's Award at the 2016 International Opera Awards,
International Classical Music Awards for Vocal Music (solo album) “Anima Rara” (2021)
Critics award Puccini competition, Milano, Italy (1997)
First price Riccardo Zandonai competition, Italy (1998)
Important parts:
Violetta (La Traviata), Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly), Suor Angelica (Il trittico), Manon (Massenett), Manon Lescaut (Puccini), Adriana Lecouvreur (Cilea), Mimì (La Bohème), Sapho (Sapho), Antonia (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), Marguerite (Faust), Nedda (Pagliacci), Liú (Turandot), Luisa (Luisa Miller), Desdemona (Otello), et al.
Stages:
Royal Opera House London, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Wiener Staatoper, New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, El Liceu Barcelona, La Scala Milan, Staatsoper Berlin, Sydney Opera House, Teatro Colon Argentina, NHK Tokio Metropolitan Theater, National Center for the Performing Arts Beijing, San Paolo, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Franco Zeffirelli, Hugo de Ana, John Copley, David McVicker, Richard Jones, Jean Claude Auvrey, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Stefano Poda, David Alden, Graham Vick, Robert Carsen, Larent Pelly, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Antonia Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Ricardo Muti, Daniel Oren, Marco Armiliato, Renato Palumbo, Dan Etinger, Nicola Luisotti, Daniele Rustioni, Alain Guingal, Valery Gergiev, Daniele Callegari, et al.
More about Ermonela Jaho
photo: Fadil Berisha
Anna
Aebh Kelly
Mezzo-Soprano
Birthplace:
Dublin, Ireland
Studies:
Mascarade Emerging Artists, Florence
Georg Solti Accademia
Irish National Opera Studio
Royal Irish Academy of Music (BMus)
Master class:
Richard Bonynge, Aigul Akhmetshina, Freddie De Tommaso (Georg Solti Accademia), Vivica Genaux (Mascarade Emerging Artists), Tara Erraught, Paula Murrihy (Irish National Opera), Bernarda Fink (Neue Stimmen Masterclass), Ann Murray (Royal Irish Academy of Music)
Prizes:
2nd Prize & Dermot Troy Prize (Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition)
Final Round (Neue Stimmen)
1st Prize (Maura Dowdall Concerto Competition)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2024/2025 season.
Important parts:
Dido (Dido & Aeneas), Flora (La Traviata), Olga (Eugene Onegin), Popova (The Bear), Endimione (La Calisto), Catherine (A Thing I Cannot Name), Melissa (La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina)
Stages:
Teatro La Fenice, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, Teatr Wielki Opera, National Opera House Wexford, Cork Opera House, National Concert Hall Dublin
Cooperation with directors:
Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, Noa Naamat, Jean-Romain Vesperini, Pedro Ribiero, Federico Grazzini, Olivia Fuchs, Sonja Trebes
Cooperation with conductors:
Laurent Wagner, Roland Kluttig, Jonathan Santagada, Jonathan Bloxham, Wyn Davies, Christian Curnyn, Fergus Sheil, Killian Farrel, David Brophy, Jonathan Cole-Swinard
More about Aebh Kelly
photo: Jörn Kipping
Roberto
Long Long
Tenor
Birthplace:
Shandong, China
Studies:
Shanghai Music Academy, University Opera Research Institute in Beijing
Master class:
With Georg Solti Accademia (2017)
Prizes:
Winner 18th International Singing Competition “Neue Stimmen" (2019), winner Music Competition Harbin (2019), 3rd prize and 5 special prizes at the Moniuszko Vocal Competition in Warsaw (2019), 3rd prize winner at the Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition in Barcelona (2019), winner Giovani Voci Verdiane competition in Busseto (2017), winner Grand Prix de l'Opera in Bucharest (2016)
Important parts:
Romeo (Romeo et Juliette), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'Amore), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rinuccio (Gianni Schicchi), Rodolfo (La Bohème), Godefroy de Vaudémont (Iolanta), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Alfredo (La Traviata), Il Duca di Mantua (Rigoletto), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), et al.
Stages:
Royal Opera House, Santa Fe Opera Festival, Atlanta Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Opéra National de Montpellier, Staatsoper Hamburg, Dallas Opera, Israeli Opera, Prague National Opera, NCPA Beijing, Canadian Opera Company, Bregenzer Festspiele, Glyndebourne Festival, Ópera Nacional de Chile and Teatre Principal de Palma, Bayerische Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt and Göteborg Opera, Polish National Opera, Dutch National Opera, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hannover, Salzburg Festival, Aalto-Theater Essen
Cooperations with conductors:
Valery Gergiev, Kirill Petrenko, Bertrand de Billy, Carlo Rizzi, Simone Young, Asher Fish, Keri Lynn Wilson, et al.
photo: He Ping
Talbot
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
Cecil
Gezim Myshketa
Der in Albanien geborene Gezim Myshketa erhielt seine Ausbildung am Arrigo Boito Konservatorium in Parma bei Giuliano Ciannella und Lelio Capilupi. Er gab sein Debüt als Figaro (»Le Nozze di Figaro«) unter der Leitung von Antonello Allemandi. 2006 gewann er die beiden Wettbewerbe ‚Associazione Lirica e Concertistica Italiana‘ und ‚Francesco Paolo Tost‘. Nach seinem Debüt als Leporello (»Don Giovanni«) führten ihn Engagements an zahlreiche Opernhäuser in Italien und Frankreich, darunter Montpellier, Verona, Rom, Zürich, Toulouse, Tirana und Stuttgart. Sein Repertoire umfasst Bariton-Partien wie Don Giovanni (»Don Giovanni«), Germont (»La Traviata«), Il Conte d’Almaviva (»Le Nozze di Figaro«), Danilo (»Die lustige Witwe«), Escamillo (»Carmen«), Oroe (»Semiramide«) und Garibaldo (»Rodelinda«). Außerdem gastierte Gezim Myshketa als Graf Almaviva (»Le Nozze di Figaro«) und in der Titelpartie von »Don Giovanni« an der Palm Beach Opera sowie als Achill in »Giulio Cesare in Egitto« in Bilbao. Weitere Engagements führten ihn zu den Salzburger Festspielen, zum Rossini Festival in Bad Wildbad sowie zum Verdi-Festival in Palermo.
Gezim Myshketa arbeitete unter anderem mit Philippe Auguin, Frédéric Chaslin, Will Humburg, Daniel Oren und Nello Santi zusammen, er wirkte in szenischen Produktionen von Robert Carsen, Giancarlo del Monaco, Dante Ferretti, Pier Luigi Pizzi und Graham Vick mit. Seit der Spielzeit 2014/15 ist Gezim Myshketa Mitglied im Ensemble der Staatsoper Stuttgart.
Foto: (c) Giovanni Gori
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
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
