Giuseppe Verdi | Rigoletto
Musikalische Leitung
Henrik Nánási
Musical Direction
Birthplace:
Pécs, Hungary
Studies:
Piano and Composition, Béla Bartók Conservatory in Budapest
Orchestral Conducting, Coaching, Composition, University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna
Prizes:
Olivier Award 2022 as Best New Opera Production for Jenůfa – Royal Opera House Covent Garden
Opera Award 2015 as “Opera Company of the Year" – Komische Oper Berlin
Repertoire:
Mazeppa, Eugene Onegin, Turandot, Salome, Elektra, Tristan und Isolde, Don Giovanni, Duke Bluebeard's Castle, The Fiery Angel, Cendrillon, Der Fliegende Holländer, Otello, Falstaff, Der Rosenkavalier, Rusalka, Rigoletto, Jenůfa, Werther, et al.
Career stages:
General Music Director of the Komische Oper Berlin from 2012 to 2017
Stages:
Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Teatro alla Scala, San Francisco Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper München, Opéra National de Paris, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opernhaus Zürich, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Arena di Verona, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro di San Carlo, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Bruckner Orchester Linz, Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra del Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, Essener Philharmoniker, Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli, Orchestra del Teatro Massimo Palermo, Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Simfònica Illes Balears, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di Modena, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, et al.
photo: Henry Fair
Il Duca di Mantova
Piero Pretti
Tenor
Birthplace:
Nuoro, Italy
Important parts:
Rodolfo (La bohème), Sir Edgardo di Ravenswood (Lucia di Lammermoor), Alfredo Germont (La Traviata), Don Carlo (Don Carlo), Riccardo (Un ballo in maschera), The Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto)
Stages:
Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Regio in Parma, Ravenna Festival, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro Regio in Turin, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Royal Opera House in London, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Damiano Michieletto, Hugo de Ana, Mario Martone, Davide Livermore, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Riccardo Muti, Gianandrea Noseda, Nicola Luisotti, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Oren, et al.
photo: ph donatello tore
Rigoletto
Amartuvshin Enkhbat
Baritone
Birthplace:
Mongolia
Studies:
Graduate of the State University of Arts and Culture, Mongolia
Prizes:
awarded Honoured Artist of Mongolia, Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at BBC Cardiff Competition (2015), 1st Prize at Operalia Competition (2012), 1st Prize at International Opera Competition Baikal (2011), 2nd Prize and Audience Prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in St Petersburg (2011), 2nd Prize at Tenor Viñas Competition, semi-finalist Queen Sonja Competition
Important parts:
Eugen Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Nabucco (Nabucco), Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Macbeth (Macbeth), Miller (Luisa Miller), Amonasro (Aida), Il Conte di Luna (Il Trovatore), Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), Escamillo (Carmen), Baron Scarpia (Tosca), Don Carlo de Vargas (La forza del destino), Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana), Tonio (Pagliacci), et al.
Stages:
Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Regio di Parma, Arena di Verona, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro del Maggio Fiorentino, Arena di Verona, Opera di Genova, Teatro San Carlo, Festival Verdi in Parma and Padova, Macerata Opera, Mongolian State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Frazo Zeffirelli, Fura dels Baus, Mario Martone, Dorian Wilson, Leo Nucci, John Turturro, Hugo de Ana, etc
Cooperations with conductors:
Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Chailly, Daniel Oren, Marco Armiliato, et al.
photo: Laura Scaccabarozzi
Gilda
Katharina Konradi
Soprano
Birthplace:
Bischkek, Kyrgyzstan
Studies:
Singing education with Julie Kaufmann in Berlin, master's degree in song composition with Christiane Iven and Donald Sulzen at Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
Master class:
with Helmut Deutsch and Klesie Kelly-Moog
Prizes:
BBC New Generation Artist (2018–20), prize of Deutscher Musikwettbewerb in Bonn (2016), special prize of Walter und Charlotte Hamel Stiftung, prizewinner of Bundeswettbewerbs „Jugend musiziert“ and of Sommerakademie Mozarteum (2015), 1st prize of Kulturkreis Gasteig München in the classification „Lied-Duo“ (2015); scholarship holder of Paul-Hindemith-Gesellschaft Berlin, of Yehudi Menuhin Stiftung „Live Music Now“ and of Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2018/19 season
Important parts:
Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Zdenka (Arabella), Ännchen (Der Freischütz), Anne Frank (Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank), et al.
Stages:
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, Elbphilharmonie, Kammeroper München, Theater Hof, Mainfranken Theater Würzburg, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Lionel Bringuier, Paavo Järvi, Thomas Hengelbrock, Patrick Lange, Konrad Junghänel, et al.
More about Katharina Konradi
photo: Martina Cyman
Il Conte Monterone
Grzegorz Pelutis
Baritone
Birthplace:
Słupsk, Poland
Studies:
Bachelor and Masters at Academy of Art in Szczecin, both graduated with honours, Janusz Lewandowski’s singing class (2016-2021)
Master classes:
Opera Academy Young Talent Development Programme of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera In Warsaw (since 2021):
Consant tutelage by: Izabela Kłosińska, Olga Pasiecznik, Eytan Pessen, Matthias Rexroth, Michał Biel, Katelan Tran Terrell;
Guest masterclasses: Edith Wiens, Ewa Podleś, Mariusz Kwiecień, Maciej Pikulski, Hedwig Fassbender, Tobias Truniger, Adrian Kelly, Vesselina Kassarova, Fausto Nardi, Małgorzata Walewska
Prizes:
3rd prize and Juan Pons Prize at I International Juan Pons Singing Competition - Palma de Mallorca, Spain, June 2022
2nd prize winner at 1st Swiss International Music Competition – online, July 2021
2nd prize winner and special prize winner of the Director of the K. Namysłowski Symphony Orchestra in Zamość at 7th Krystyna Jamroz National Vocal Competition - Kielce/Busko-Zdrój, Poland, February 2022
3rd prize winner at 7th National Vocal Competition in Drezdenko, Poland, November 2021
3rd prize winner in"Opera Singers" category at"Prague Romansiada" competition, Prague 2017
Only Polish contestant of Plácido Domingo's Operalia 2022
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2023/24
Important parts:
Chorąży “Ensign” (Hrabina - "The Countess"), Dudziarz (Halka), The Mayor “Burmistrz” (Szarlatan, czyli wskrzeszanie zmarłych - “Charlatan, or resurrection of the dead”), Escamillo (Carmen), Archiereios (King Roger), et al.
Stages:
Teatr Wielki – National Polish Opera, The Castle Opera in Szczecin, Polish Philharmonic "Sinfonia Baltica" named after Wojciech Kilar in Słupsk, Gorzów Philharmonic, Tadeusz Baird Philharmonic in Zielona Góra, Stanisław Moniuszko Philharmonic in Koszalin, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Cracow, Various concerts across Europe, e. g. Berlin, Kaliningrad, Prague, Magdeburg, Warsaw, Varna
Cooperation with directors:
Mariusz Treliński, Barbara Wiśniewska, Rafał Matusz, Jitka Stokalska, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Jerzy Wołosiuk, Małgorzata Bornowska, Tadeusz Kozłowski, Michał Klauza, Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny, Stefan Plewniak, et al.
photo: Jörn Kipping
Il Conte di Ceprano
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
La Contessa di Ceprano
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
Marullo
David Minseok Kang
Bass
Origin:
Korea
Studies:
Kyunghee University in Seoul with Alfred Kim, Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart Master class Oper with Ulrike Sonntag (2018-2022)
Master classes:
With Jenny Anvelt, Bo Skovhus, Kwangchul Youn, Margreet Honig, Gundula Schneider
Important parts:
Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Colline (La Bohème), Dr. Grenvil (La Traviata), Gremin (Eugen Onegin), Reinmar von Zweter (Tannhäuser), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Colline (La Bohème), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Stuttgart, Ettlinger Schlossfestspiele, Theater Kiel, Oper Zürich
Relation to the State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio from 2019/2020 to 2021/2022
Ensemble member since 2022/2023
Cooperations with directors:
Blanka Radoczy, Solvejg Bauer, Bernd Schmitt
Cooperations with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Nicolas Andre, Matteo Beltrami, Paolo Arrivabeni, Giampaolo Bisanti, Francesco Ivan Ciampa
photo: Brinkhoff/Mögenburg
Borsa
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
Sparafucile
Hubert Kowalczyk
Bass
Birthplace:
Radom, Poland
Studies:
Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin with Prof. Martin Bruns and Prof. Dr. Michail Lanskoi; Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali "Pietro Mascagni" in Livorno with Prof. Graziano Polidori; Young Talents Development Program - Opera Academy in Warsaw
Master class:
Lioba Braun, Helmut Deutsch, Brigitte Fassbaender, Tomasz Konieczny, Bogdan Makal, Olga Pasiecznik, Eytan Pessen, Rudolf Piernay, Matthias Rexroth, Harald Stamm, et al.
Important parts:
Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Collatinus (The Rape of Lucretia), Colline (La Bohème), Crespel (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Haly (L'italiana in Algeri), Nourabad (Les Pêcheurs de perles), Oroveso (Norma), Pistola (Falstaff), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Zuniga (Carmen), et al.
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2021/22 season
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2019/20 to 2021/22
Stages:
Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Zurich Opera House, Bregenz Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa, Opera Rara Festival in Krakow, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Calixto Bieito, David Bösch, Frank Castorf, Petra Deidda, Brigitte Fassbaender, Herbert Fritsch, Alexander Riemenschneider, Dmitri Tcherniakov, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Matteo Beltrami, Bertrand de Billy, Giampaolo Bisanti, Jonathan Brandani, Daniele Callegari, Paolo Carignani, Nicholas Carter, Vladimir Conta, Axel Kober, Volker Krafft, Carlo Montanaro, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Kent Nagano, Ivan Repušić, Sébastien Rouland, Robin Ticciati, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Lidiya Yankovskaya, et al.
More about Hubert Kowalczyk
photo: Martina Cyman
Maddalena
Jana Kurucová
Mezzosoprano
Birthplace:
Kežmarok, Slovakia
Education / Studies:
Classical singing at the Konzervatórium J. L. Bellu in Banska Bystrica, in Bratislava as well as at the Musikhochschule in Graz, opera studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper (season 2005/2006), ensemble member of the Theater Heidelberg (2006 to 2009), ensemble member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin ( 2009 to 2018)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2019/20 season
Important parts:
Niklausse/Muse (Les contes d‘Hoffmann), Prinz Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Isolier (Le comte Ory), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Marta (Faust), Carmen (Carmen), Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Romeo (I capuleti e i Montecchi), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Meg Page (Falstaff), Fuchs (Das schlaue Füchslein), Maffio Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia), Melisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Mercedes (Carmen), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Fenena (Nabucco), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Idamante (Idomeneo), Sesto (La clemenza di tito), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Ramiro (La finta giardiniera), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), et al.
Stages:
Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Staatstheater Stuttgart, Nationaltheater Prag, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Oper Peking, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Oslo, Semperoper Dresden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, New National Theater Tokyo, Musikfestival Klangvokal in Dortmund, Banská Bystrica, Festival Svátky hudby v Praze, Filharmonie Reduta in Bratislava, Bratislava Nationaltheater, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Laurent Pelly, David Alden, Robert Borgmann, Philipp Himmelmann, Katharina Thalbach, David Herrmann, Roland Schwab, Philipp Stölzl, Christof Loy, Kirsten Harms, Andreas Homoki, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Pedro Halffter, Enrique Mazzola, Michele Mariotti, Ido Arad, Donald Runnicles, Daniel Cohen, Stefan Soltesz, Fabio Luisi, Zubin, Mehta, Alessandro de Marchi, Jacques Lacombe, Omer Meir Wellber, Carlo Rizzi, Ivan Repusic, Moritz Gnann, Jonathan Darlington, Marco Letonja, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Giacomo Sagripanti, Constantin Trinks, Yves Abel, Ottavio Dantone, Matteo Beltrami, Jonathan Nott, et al.
More about Jana Kurucová
photo: Martina Cyman
Giovanna
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
Il Paggio della Duchessa
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
Un Usciere di Corte
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
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
