Giuseppe Verdi | Falstaff
Musikalische Leitung
Finnegan Downie Dear
Musical Direction
Birthplace:
London, England
Studies:
Graduated with distinction from Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music
Prizes:
First prize at the Bamberger Symphoniker’s International Mahler Competition (2020)
Career stages:
Assistant to Simone Young, Thomas Adès, Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding and Richard Baker
Since 2014 Music Director of Shadwell
Cooperation with orchestras:
London Philharmonic Orchestra, Hallé, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Filarmonica di Bologna, Borusan Philharmonic Istanbul, Korean National Symphony Orchestra, et al.
photo: Frank Bloedhorn-Finn
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.
Falstaff
Christopher Purves
Baritone
Birthplace:
Cambridge, United Kingdom
Studies:
Choral Scholar, King’s College Cambridge
Master of Arts, Cambridge
Prizes:
Southbank Sky Arts Opera Award in 2012 for his performance in "La Damnation de Faust" at English National Opera
Important parts:
Balstrode (Peter Grimes), Alberich (Ring Cycle), Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande), Gianni Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi), Sharpless (Madama Butterfly), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Protector (Written on Skin), et al.
Stages:
Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid, Zurich Opera House, Houston Grand Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Canadian Opera Company, Théâtre du Châtelet, Houston Grand Opera, Adelaide Festival, English National Opera, Opéra National de Lyon, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Opera North, Salzburger Festspiele, Chicago Lyric Opera, et al.
More about Christopher Purves
photo: Chris Gloag
Ford
Simon Keenlyside
Bariton
Birthplace:
London, UK
Studies:
Zoology at Cambridge University and vocal training at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester
Prizes / Honours:
Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2018), Appointment as Austrian Kammersänger at the Wiener Staatsoper (2017), Best Opera Recording (Grammy Awards 2014), Music DVD Recording of the Year (Echo Klassik Awards 2014), Solo Vocal Award ( Gramophone Awards 2012), Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year Award (2011), Male Singer of the Year (ECHO Klassik Award 2007), Outstanding Achievement in Opera (Olivier Award 2006), Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (2003), et al.
Important parts:
Il Conte d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Prospero (The Tempest), Posa (Don Carlo), Germont Père (La Traviata), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Eugen Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande), Wozzeck (Wozzeck), Billy Budd (Billy Budd), Hamlet (Hamlet), Macbeth (Macbeth), Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Marcello (La bohème) sowie Brittens War Requiem, Mendelssohns Elijah, Mahlers Des Knaben Wunderhorn, et al.
Stages:
Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Scala, Salzburger Festspiele, New National Theatre Tokyo sowie Engagements in Luxemburg, Paris, Bratislava, Vancouver, Quebec, Washington DC, Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Straßburg, Amsterdam, London, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
David Bösch, Marco Arturo Marelli, Frederic Wake-Walker, Johannes Erath, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Franz Welser-Möst, Ryan Wigglesworth, Gianandrea Noseda, Paul McCreesh, Sir Simon Rattle, Edward Gardner, Claudio Abbado, Christian Thielemann, Ricardo Chailly, Richard Hickox, Charles Mackerras, René Jacobs, et al.
More about Simon Keenlyside
photo: Robert Workman
Fenton
Seungwoo Simon Yang
Tenor
Birthplace:
Gwangyang, South Korea
Studies:
Singing at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Prof. Carolyn Grace James
Master class:
Bo Skovhus, Eytan Pessen, Lioba Braun, Brigitte Eisenfeld, Gregory Kunde, Chris Merritt, Piotr Beczala, Dorothea Röschmann, Kwangchul Youn, Olga Peretyatko, Ralph Strehle, Harald Stamm, et al.
Prizes:
1st Prize Elise Meyer Competition (2020), 1st Prize of the Mozart Singing Competition (2020), Special Prize and 2nd Prize of the Maritim Music Award (2019), 2nd Prize of the Maritim Music Award (2018), 1st Prize of the Korean Singing Competition (2015), 1st Prize of the Korea Talent Award (2015), 1st Prize of the Ehwa & Kyunghyang Competition (2014), 1st Prize Shin Young-Ok Voice Competition (2014), 1st Prize of the Shinhan Music Award (2014)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2023/24 season
Was Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2020/21 to 2023/24
Important parts:
Lord Arturo Bucklaw (Lucia di Lammermoor), Pong (Turandot), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Beppe (Pagliacci), Jaquino (Fidelio), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Pilade (Oreste), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore), Rodolfo (La Bohème), et al.
Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Zurich Opera, Salzburg Festival
Cooperation with directors:
Guy Montavon, Yona Kim, Sascha Alexander Todtner, Amélie Niermeyer
Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Stefano Ranzani, Roberto Rizzi-Brignoli, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Daniele Callegari, Giampaolo Bisanti, Leonardo Sini, Matteo Beltrarmi, Paolo Arrivabini, Giacomo Sagripanti, et al.
photo: Johannes Xaver Zepplin
Dr. Cajus
Jürgen Sacher
Tenor
Birthplace:
Augsburg, Germany
Studies:
Church music and music education at the Leopold-Mozart Konservatorium in Augsburg, vocal studies with Leonore Kirschstein
Prizes:
Scholarship of the Richard Wagner Verband, Promotion Prize of the Hamburgische Staatsoper, appointment as Hamburger Kammersänger (2017)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Staatsoper Hamburg since 1991/92
Important parts:
Mime (Siegfried), Mime/Loge (Das Rheingold), Herodes (Salome), Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Hauptmann/Andres (Wozzeck), Monostatos/1. Geharnischter (Die Zauberflöte), Maler/Prinz/Marquis/Kammerdiener (Lulu), Dr. Cajus (Falstaff), Tichon (Katja Kabanova), Truffaldino (Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen), Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier), David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Junger Mann (Moses und Aron), Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), Peter Iwanow (Zar und Zimmermann), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Walther von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser), Goro (Madame Butterfly), Graf Elemer (Arabella), Raoul de St. Brioche (Die lustige Witwe), Novagerio (Palestrina), Orontes (Flavius Bertaridus), Asasello (Der Meister und Margarita), Tanzmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos), Graf von Kent (Lear), Reverend Adams (Peter Grimes), L´Aumonier (Dialogues des Carmélites), Aegisth (Elektra), Fedotik (Tri Sestri), Sylvester von Schaumburg (Mathis der Maler), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, La Monnaie, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Königliche Oper von Kopenhagen, Teatro alla Scala, Salzburger Festspiele, Theater an der Wien, Budapester Staatsoper, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Wagner Festival Budapest, Theater Dortmund, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Staatsoper Budapest, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Harry Kupfer, Willy Decker, Claus Guth, Mario Martone, Achim Freyer, Géza M. Tóth, Livia Sabag, Roger Vontobel, Stefan Herheim, Karoline Gruber, Vincent Boussard, Jochen Biganzoli, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Adam Fischer, Bertrand de Billy, Claudio Abbado, Kent Nagano, Semyon Bychkov, Horst Stein, Christian Thielemann, Ingo Metzmacher, Michael Boder, Kirill Petrenko, Simone Young, Daniel Barenboim, et al.
photo: Martina Cyman
Bardolfo
Daniel Kluge
Tenor
Birthplace:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Studies:
Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Klaus Dieter Kern
Master classes:
with Roman Trekel, Julia Varady and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as well as master classes for „Liedgesang“ with Markus Hadulla, Mitsuko Shirai and Hartmut Höll
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2019/20 season
Important parts:
Normanno (Lucia di Lammermoor), Abdallo (Nabucco), Remendado (Carmen), Flavio (Norma), Knappe und 1. Gralsritter (Parsifal), Kilian (Freischütz), Dr. Blind (Die Fledermaus), Spoletta (Tosca), Schreiber (Chowanschtschina), Jacquino (Fidelio), Ein Soldat (Reigen), Chick (Der Schaum der Tage), Borsa (Rigoletto), Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Orpheus (Orpheus in der Unterwelt), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Truffaldino (Die Liebe zu drei Orangen), Balakin (Charodeyka), Max (Der Freischütz), Tanzmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos), Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), Vierter Jude (Salome), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Stuttgart, Staatsoper Wien, Volksoper Wien, Stadttheater Bern, Aalto-Theater Essen, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Nationaltheater Mannheim, Opéra National de Lyon, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Jossi Wieler, Sergio Morabito, Kirill Serebrennikov, Nicola Hümpel , Tobias Hoheisel, Imogen Kogge, Armin Petras, Demis Volpi, Axel Ranisch, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Sylvain Cambreling, Georg Fritzsch, Roland Kluttig, Giacomo Sagripanti, Johannes Witt, Hans Christoph Bünger, Kirill Karabits, Willem Wentzel, Alejo Pérez, Christopher Schmitz, et al.
photo: Martina Cyman
Pistola
Tigran Martirossian
Bass
Birthplace:
Yerevan, Armenia
Studies:
Musical studies at the Gnessin State Academy of Music with Prof. Artur Eizen and Prof. Pavel Lisitsian
Prizes:
Prize winner of nine international singing competitions, inter alia, second prize in the “Neue Stimmen” Competition in Gütersloh (1997), second prize in the 2nd International Singing Competition in Shizuoka (2000), first prize in the Ondina Otta Competition in Marburg (1999)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2005/06
Important parts:
Ramfis (Aida), König René (Jolanthe), Salieri (Mozart und Salieri), Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Dulcamara (L’Elisir d’Amore), Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sulpice (La Fille du Régiment), Colline (La Bohème), Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Selim (Il Turco in Italia), Banco (Macbeth), Pagano (I Lombardi alla prima Crociata), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), Dossifei (Chowanschtschina), Fasolt (Das Rheingold), Rodolfo (La Sonnambula), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), Philippe II (Don Carlos), Méphistophélès (Faust), Fürst Galizky (Fürst Igor), Ein Eremit (Der Freischütz), Doktor (Wozzeck), Oroveso (Norma) , Pimen (Boris Godunov), et al.
Stages:
Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Salzburg Festival, Theater an der Wien, Bregenz Festival, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra Bastille, St. Galler Festspiele, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Achim Freyer, Yona Kim, Jochen Biganzoli, David Alden, Andreas Homoki, Vincent Boussard, Stefan Herheim, Florentine Klepper, Francesca Zambella, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Mstislav Rostropovich, Carlo Rizzi, Simone Young, Plácido Domingo, Kent Nagano, Sylvain Cambreling, Valery Gergiev, Michel Plasson, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Daniel Oren, Mark Wigglesworth, Philippe Jordan, Daniele Callegari, Riccardo Frizza, et al.
More about Tigran Martirossian
Alice Ford
Danielle de Niese
Soprano
Birthplace:
Melbourne, Australia
Studies:
Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program
Prizes:
Orphée d'Or (2008), ECHO Klassik Award (2008)
Important parts:
Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Barbarina and Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Atalanta (Xerxes), Norina (Don Pasquale), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Rodelinda and Poppea (Agrippina), Musetta (La bohème), Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Despina (Così fan tutte), Partenope (Partenope), Semele (Semele), et al.
Stages:
Opéra National de Paris, Opéra Bastille Paris, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Glyndebourne, London Coliseum, Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, Teatro Real Madrid, Semperoper Dresden, Wiener Staatsoper, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera Chicago, San Diego Opera, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Metropolitan Opera New York, Theâtre des Champs-Elysee, Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Real Madrid, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Jonathan Miller, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Sir Charles Mackerras, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa, Nicola Luisotti, Sir Andrew Davis, William Christie, Christophe Rousset, Marc Minkowski, et al.
photo: Chris Dunlop/DECCA
Nannetta
Elbenita Kajtazi
Soprano
Birthplace:
Mitrovica, Kosovo
Studies:
Graduated summa cum laude from the Mitrovica Conservatory of Music (2009), subsequently studied at the University of Prishtina
Prizes:
Audience Prize and 3rd place at the first Glyndebourne Opera Cup (2018), first prize and special prize at the Riccardo Zandonai Competition (2015), first prize at the Spiros Argiris Competition of the Sarzana Opera Festival in Italy (2014), scholarship holder of the Förderkreis der Deutschen Oper Berlin (2014-2016), participant of the Young Singers Project at the Salzburg Festival (2016), Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer Prize Hamburg (2020).
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2018/19 season
Important parts:
Violetta (La Traviata), Nannetta (Falstaff), Mimi (La Boheme), Manon (Manon), Micaëla (Carmen), Liù (Turandot), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Contessa (Le Nozze di Figaro), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Musetta (La Bohème), Adina (L'elisir d'amore), Marzelline (Fidelio), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Hamburg, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Bayrische Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich, Semperoper Dresden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Teatro Municipal de Santiago, Aalto-Teater Essen, Philharmonie Essen, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Tomáš Netopil, Friedrich Haider, Riccardo Minasi, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, Axel Kober, Patrick Fournillier, Donald Runnicles, Yoel Gamzou, Kent Nagano, Nicholas Carter, et al.
More about Elbenita Kajtazi
photo: Marie Luise Calvero
Mrs. Quickly
Anna Kissjudit
Hailed as ‘the Berlin discovery of the year’, 27 year old Hungarian mezzo-soprano / contralto Anna Kissjudit is a prodigious talent, having already debuted the role of Erda under the baton of Christian Thielemann in the new Ring Cycle at the Staatsoper Berlin, where she is an ensemble member. Future seasons see Kissjudit make debuts with Hamburg State Opera, the Bayreuther Festspiele, Gran Teatre del Liceu and the Berliner Philharmonic.
In the 2023/24 season she makes a hugely anticipated debut as Ježibaba in a new production of Rusalka at Staatsoper Berlin where she also can be heard as Erda Das Rheingold and Siegfried, Gaea Daphne and Third Lady Die Zauberflöte. In concert, she appears with the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchester Frankfurt in Rossini’s Stabat Mater, and as St Catherine in Honegger’s dramatic oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Alan Gilbert.
Last season in Berlin Kissjudit sang Gaea in Romeo Castellucci's new production of Daphne and Third Lady in Die Zauberflöte as well as Erda. On the concert platform, she performed Mahler Symphony No.3 with Orchestre Philarmonique de Strasbourg in Strasbourg and Paris, and Beethoven Missa Solemnis with the Staatskapelle Berlin.
An alumna of the International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Berlin, she has sung in previous seasons Tetka Jenůfa; Kate Pinkerton Madama Butterfly; and Chambermaid in Claus Guth's new production of Janáček’s Die Sache Makropulos.
On the concert platform, she made her debut at the Berlin Philharmonie under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim in Bruckner Te Deum and appeared at the Wagner Days festival at Müpa Budapest in Die Walküre under the direction of Ádám Fischer.
photo: Sophie von Becker Photodesign
Meg Page
Kady Evanyshyn
Mezzo-Soprano
Birthplace:
Winnipeg, Canada
Studies:
Bachelor and Master of Music, The Juilliard School
Awards/Competitions:
First Prize of the New Orleans District and Second Prize of the Gulf Coast Region at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (2023), Award from the Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Competition (2017/18), Winner of the John Erskine Prize at The Juilliard School (2017) and the Tudor Bowl at the Winnipeg Music Festival (2015)
Masterclasses:
Lioba Braun, Brigitte Fassbänder, Elena Garanča, Thomas Hampson, Malcom Martineau, Anne Sofie von Otter, Bo Skovhus, Emmanuel Villaume, and others
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2022/2023 season
Was member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2019/20 to 2022/23
Important parts:
Annio (La clemenza di Tito), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Charlotte (Werther), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Siébel (Faust), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Mercédès (Carmen), Meg Page (Falstaff), Tisbé (La Cenerentola), Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas), Fjodor (Boris Godunov), Frau Reich (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor), Phèdre (Hippolyte et Aricie), and others
Stages:
Opernhaus Zürich, Bregenzer Festspiele, Carnegie Hall, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Opera Holland Park, Verbier Festival, Aspen Music Festival
Song:
World Premiere of “Drei Grabschriften” (Stefano Gervasoni), Performances of “Animus II” (Druckman), “Folk Songs” (Berio) and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Brahms), Competitor of the 2019 Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera Song Competition
Cooperation with Directors:
Edward Berkeley, Frank Castorf, Georges Delnon, James Darrah, Axel Ransich, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Jana Vetten, Stephen Wadsworth
Cooperation with Conductors:
Nicolas André, Paolo Arrivabeni, Giampaolo Bisanti, Daniele Callegari, William Christie, Jane Glover, Alexander Joel, Francesco Lanzillotta, Claire Levacher, Jeffrey Milarsky, Evelino Pidò, Teddy Poll, Avi Stein, Stephen Stubbs
More about Kady Evanyshyn
photo: Brinkhoff/Mögenburg
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
