Giuseppe Verdi | Il trovatore
Musikalische Leitung
Paolo Arrivabeni
Conductor
Birthplace:
Italy
Studies:
Composition at the Conservatorio di Musica Arrigo Boito in Parma with Camillo Togni, and conducting with Daniele Gatti, advanced courses with Daniele Gatti at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome
Repertoire:
Focus on 19th century Italian composers such as Rossini, Donizetti, Verdi and Puccini, but also Wagner, R. Strauss and Mussorgsky
Career stages:
Music director of the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège (2008-2017), assistant conductor at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna (1997-2000)
Stages:
Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro La Fenice, Opernhaus Zürich, Oper Leipzig, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra Bastille, Metropolitan Opera, Theater an der Wien, Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Opéra Municipal de Marseille, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Munich Opera Festival, New National Theatre Tokyo, Chorégies d'Orange, Teatro Auditorio San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Teatr Wielki, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Opéra de Lausanne, Teatro de La Maestranza, Santa Fe Opera, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Orchestra Sinfonica Haydn di Trento e Bolzano, Orchestra Sinfonica Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, Orchestre de l'Opéra de Marseille, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Radiosymphonieorchester Wien, Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Orchestra National de France, et al.
photo: Lorraine Wauters/Opéra Royal de Wallonie
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.
Luna
George Petean
Baritone
George Petean was born in Cluj-Napoca (Romania), where he finished the Music School (piano and trombone) and studied canto at the Music Academy "G. Dima" in Cluj-Napoca, continuing his studies with Vicente Sardinero and Giorgio Zancanaro.
In 1997 he made his romanian debut in the title role of “Don Giovanni”, followed by Malatesta in “Don Pasquale”, Silvio in “Pagliacci”, Figaro in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia”, Valentin in “Faust”, Ford in “Falstaff” and Marcello in “La Bohème” at the Opera in Cluj-Napoca.
In 1999 he was the winner of the Grand Prix of the international singing competition "Hariclea Darclée" in Romania. During the 2000 season he made his international debut in the role of Marcello in “La Bohème” at the Rome Opera House. During the period 2002-2010, he was member of the Hamburg State Opera.
He also appears in the most important international opera stages, as with “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” (in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Vienna State Opera, Peking, ROH Covent Garden, Opéra de Paris Bastille, Teatro Comunale Bologna), “Pagliacci” (in ROH Covent Garden), “Il Trovatore” (in Bregenz Festival, Grand Théâtre de Genève), “La Bohème” (at Opéra de Paris, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Opéra de Monte Carlo, Metropolitan Opera New York), “Don Carlo” (in Vienna State Opera, Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg), “Lucia di Lammermoor” (for the Vienna State Opera, Opéra National du Rhin Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Hamburg), “L’elisir d’amore” (at Opéra de Paris Bastille, Hamburg), “L’amico Fritz” (at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with recording for Deutsche Grammophon), “Un ballo in Maschera” (at Vienna State Opera, ORW Liège, Opéra de Lausanne, Aalto Theater Essen, Hamburg), “La Traviata” (at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg, Teatro de la Maestranza in Sevilla), “Faust” (at the Hamburg State Opera), “Rigoletto” and “Attila” (at the Opéra de Monte Carlo) as well as “I Puritani” in Zurich.
Recently he sang in “Simon Boccanegra” in Sydney, “Otello” in Madrid, “Il Trovatore” in Parma, “Macbeth” in Salerno and “Rigoletto” in Naples. Among his future engagements: “Rigoletto” in Hamburg and Liege, “La Traviata” at Metropolitan Opera in New York and at the Royal Opera House in London, “Otello” in Dresden, “Il Trovatore” in Barcelona, “Andrea Chenier” in Munich.
Manrico
Marco Berti
Tenor
Birthplace:
Como, Italy
Studies:
Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano
Prizes:
Giuseppe Verdi Gold Medal (2005) as well as Concorso Internazionale Giacomantonio (1990)
Important parts:
Dick Johnson (La fanciulla del West), Radamès (Aida), Calaf (Turandot), Canio (Pagliacci), Manrico (Il Trovatore), Turiddu (Cavalleria Rusticana), Mario Cavaradossi (Tosca), Pollion (Norma), et al.
Stages:
Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera House, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Opéra national de Paris, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Franco Zeffirelli, Pier Luigi Pizzi, Pier Luigi Pier'Alli, Liliana Cavani, Luc Bondy, Ferzan Ozpetek, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Riccardo Muti, Antonio Pappano, Daniel Oren, James Conlon, James Levine, Nicola Luisotti, Donato Renzetti, et al.
More about Marco Berti
Leonora
Olga Peretyatko
Soprano
In St.Petersburg geboren, ist Olga Peretyatko heute eine der international gefragtesten Koloratur-Sopranistinnen. Nach Abschluss ihres Gesangsstudiums an der Hanns Eisler Hochschule in Berlin, war sie zunächst Mitglied des Opernstudios der Hamburgischen Staatsoper und Gast der Staatsoper Wien, Metropolitan Oper in New York, Opéra Bastille in Paris, des Festivals in Aix-en-Provence der Mailänder Scala, der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, des Festpielhauses Baden-Baden, des Teatro Real in Madrid, New National Theatre Tokyo und beim Rossini Opera Festivals. Weitere Debüts erwarten sie unter anderem an der Opéra in Montecarlo, beim Festival des Chorégies in Orange sowie am Royal Opera House in London.
Ihr Repertoire umfasst neben vielen Rollen des Rossini-Repertoires, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Gilda (Rigoletto), Violetta (La Traviata), Elvira (I Puritani), Amina (La Sonnambula), Adina (L’Elisir d’amore), Lucia di Lammermoor, Leila in Bizets „Die Perlenfischer“, alle vier weiblichen Rollen in Offenbachs „Hoffmanns Erzählungen“, aber auch Raritäten des russischen Repertoires wie Marfa (Die Zarenbraut) und Stravinsky’s „Le Rossignol“.
In den nächsten Spielzeiten stehen weitere Debüts als Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Norina (Don Pasquale), Mathilde (Guillaume Tell) sowie die Titelrolle in Donizettis „Anna Bolena“ und die Hauptrolle in Massenets „Manon“ auf dem Programm.
Im Rahmen ihres Vertrags mit Sony Classical hat Olga Peretyatko bisher vier Solo-CDs veröffentlicht, von denen das dritte Album „Rossini!“ mit dem Echo Klassik ausgezeichnet wurde.
More about Olga Peretyatko
photo: Dario Acosta
Azucena
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
Ferrando
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
Inez
Marie Maidowski
Soprano
Birthplace:
Berlin, Germany
Studies:
Bachelor in singing and music theater with KS Prof. Julie Kaufmann at the Berlin University of the Arts Master in concert singing with KS Prof. Christiane Iven at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich
Master class:
19th Lotte Lehmann Week in Perleberg (2016)
Masterclass with Prof. Marga Schiml in Switzerland (2019)
Masterclass with Prof. Gabriele Lechner in Baden near Vienna (2020)
Prizes:
Scholarship from the Young Musicians Foundation in Mühlheim (2018) Scholarship from the Cusanuswerk study grant (since 2020) Finalist at the German National Singing Competition in the Junior Competition category (2020) Scholarship from the German Stage Association (2023) Staetshuys Fund Prize and Van Amelsvoort Prize for the best interpretation of a work by a female composer at the International Vocal Competition 2023 in `s Hertogenbosch with Lied Duo partner YoungSeob Jeon
Audience and jury prize at the HIDALGO Song Prize 2023 with Lied Duo partner YoungSeob Jeon
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from the 2024/25 season
Important parts:
Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro), Nurse (Alzheim), Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro), Silvia (L'isola disabitata), Lovis (Der Baumgeist), Papagena (Die Zauberflöte), Daphne Colgate (Georgia Bottoms), et al.
Stages:
Staatstheater Cottbus, Philharmonie Luxembourg, Cuvilliéstheater Munich, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Frank Hilbrich, Bernarda Horres, Tomo Sugao, Maximilian Berling, Isabel Hindersin, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Errico Fresis, Johannes Zurl, Johanna Soller, Aris Blettenberg, Henri Bonamy, Gad Kadosh, et al.
More about Marie Maidowski
photo: Jörn Kipping
Ruiz
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
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
