Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Mitridate, re di Ponto
Inszenierung
Birgit Kajtna-Wönig
Director
Birgit Kajtna-Wönig was born in Graz and studied music theater directing at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. She has worked as a stage manager at the Hamburg State Opera since 2018. Prior to this, she worked at the Staatstheater Mainz and for eleven seasons at the Vienna State Opera, where she oversaw more than 30 productions. She has worked internationally at the Salzburg and Bregenz Festivals, the Bard SummerScape Festival in New York, the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, La Scala in Milan, the Schwetzingen SWR Festival, the Wuppertaler Bühnen, the Staatstheater Stuttgart, the Opernhaus Graz and the Vienna Burgtheater.
She has directed numerous projects, including "Schneewittchen" for the Hamburg State Opera and Alma Deutscher's "Cinderella" at the Vienna State Opera, which is also available on DVD. Birgit Kajtna-Wönig has a close working relationship with conductor Adam Fischer. Together they developed a new scenic form for Haydn's "Orfeo ed Euridice" for the Tonhalle Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker. They took the production on tour with the Danish Chamber Orchestra and performed the work in Copenhagen, at the Theater an der Wien and at the Musikverein Graz. At the 2023 Salzburg Festival, they brought Mozart's "Il re pastore" to the stage in a semi-staged version at the Mozarteum.
Birgit Kajtna-Wönig also repeatedly devotes herself to innovative formats beyond opera literature. For example, she created the art song project "Die Liebe liebt das Wandern - eine Smartphone Dichtung" for the Vienna State Opera and the scenic song recital "Das Laub fällt auch im Paradies" with songs by Schumann and Schönberg at the Hamburg State Opera.
Together with the Hamburg artist KUOKO and in cooperation with the Hamburg Dehmelhaus Foundation, she developed "Ida's Song", a music video about Ida Dehmel, which premiered at the Thalia Theater/Nachtasyl in Hamburg in October 2022. The music video was honored at the Female Filmmakers Festival Berlin 2023, awarded Best Music Video at the Portugal Independent Film Festival 2023 and received an Honorable Mention at the Vienna International Film Awards 2023.
In addition, Birgit Kajtna-Wönig initiated the project "Zuhause bei Ida Dehmel", a staged reading with Barbara Nüsse and Günter Schaupp, for which she was responsible for project development, production and staged realization in cooperation with the Dehmelhaus and as part of the first Jewish Culture Days in Hamburg.
More about Birgit Kajtna-Wönig
photo: Dominik Odenkirchen
Bühne und Kostüme
Marie-Luise Otto
Licht
Bernd Gallasch
Lightning
Birthplace:
Rostock, Germany
Important productions:
„Weine nicht, singe“ (Hamburg State Opera, 2015), „Aspekte der Kreativität“ (Hamburg Ballet, 2015 / 2016), „Erzittre, feiger Bösewicht“ (Hamburg State Opera 2017), „Il Ritorno d‘Ulisse in Patria“ (Hamburg State Opera, 2017), „Sinfonie der Tausend“ (Elbphilharmonie, 2017), „Frankenstein“ (Hamburg State Opera / Kampnagel, 2018), „Nabucco“ (Hamburg State Opera, 2019), „Thérèse“ (Salzburg, 2019), et al.
Career stages:
Lighting Master at the Hamburg State Opera / opera stabile (since 2008) and Deputy Head of Lighting (since 2017)
Cooperations:
Jette Steckel, George Delnon, Willy Decker, Philip Stölzl, John Neumeier, u. a.
Dramaturgie
Michael Sangkuhl
Dramaturgy
Birthplace:
Regensburg, Germany
Studies:
Historical musicology, philosophy and art history at the University of Regensburg
Relation to the State Opera:
Dramaturge at the Hamburg State Opera and for the concerts of the Philharmonic State Orchestra since the 2022/23 season
Stations:
Internships, assistant director, evening stage manager and stage manager for surtitles at the Staatstheater Saarbrücken, at the Theater Regensburg and at the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl
Academic teaching in the field of musicology at the University of Regensburg
photo: Johannes Xaver Zepplin
Mitridate
Anthony Gregory
Tenor
Birthplace:
Hereford, United Kingdom
Studies:
Royal College of Music
Harewood Artist, English National Opera
Jerwood Young Artist, Glyndebourne Festival Opera
National Opera Studio
Verbier Festival Academy
Prizes:
Breakthrough Artist, WhatsOnStage 2015
Important parts:
Title role (Candide), Conte Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Title role (Acis & Galatea), Pane (La Calisto), Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Oronte (Alcina), Grimoaldo (Rodelinda), Odoardo (Ariodante), title role (Dardanus), Peter Quint/Prologue (The Turn of the Screw), Shepherd (L’Orfeo), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), et al.
Stages:
Den Norske Opera, Oslo, Theater an der Wien, Glyndebourne Festival, Royal Opera House, English National Opera, Festival de Aix-en-Provence, Teatro Real, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Bergen National Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, Scottish Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
David Alden, Christian Spuck, Jo Davie, Netia Jones, Christopher Alden, Graham Vick, Jonathan Miller, Robert Carsen, Oliver Mears, Richard Jones et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Enrique Mazzola, Edward Gardner, Karen Kamensek, Sir Andrew Davis, Valery Gergiev, Charels Dutoit, Ivor Bolton, Laurence Cummings, Dalia Stasevska, Daniel Raiskin, Trevor Pinnock, Sir Mark Elder, Harry Bicket, William Christie, et al.
photo: CGF photography
Aspasia
Nikola Hillebrand
Soprano
Birthplace:
Recklinghausen, Germany
Studies:
in Munich with Fenna Kügel- Seifried
Prizes:
CHOROS Award, International Song Competition "Das Lied" (2022)
John Christie Award (Glyndebourne),
Arnold Petersen Prize, Theodor Heuss Culture Prize
Important parts:
Konstanze (Entführung aus dem Serail), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Adele (Die Fledermaus), Zdenka (Arabella), Musetta (La Bohème)
Stages & Festivals:
Semperoper Dresden, Zurich Opera House, Opéra Bastille, Bavarian State Opera, Cologne Philharmonic, Essen Philharmonic, Vienna Konzerthaus, Vienna Musikverein,
Glyndebourne Festival, Salzburg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival
Cooperations with directors:
Lydia Steier, Josef E. Köpplinger, Marco Arturo Marelli, Calixto Biëto, David Bösch
Cooperations with conductors:
Christian Thielemann, Antonello Manacorda, Marin Alsop, Manfred Honeck, René Jacobs, Adam Fischer, Raphaël Pichon, Alexander Soddy, Robin Ticchiati, Fabien Gabel, Franz Welster-Möst, et al.
More about Nikola Hillebrand
photo: Miina Jung
Sifare
Olivia Boen
Soprano
Birthplace:
Chicago, USA
Studies:
Opera Course at Guildhall School of Music and Drama (2021), Master of Music with Distinction at Guildhall School of Music and Drama (2019), Bachelor of Music in Voice from Oberlin Conservatory of Music (2017)
Prizes:
Finalist Guildhall Gold Medal Prize (2021), Awarded English Song Prize from London Song Festival (2019), Third Place Hurn Court Singing Competition (2019), First Place Musicians Club of Women Lynne Cooper Harvey Foundation Award (2018), Awarded Frank Huntington Beebe Fund for Musicians Grant (2018), First Place Tuesday Musical Competition (2017)
Master classes:
Renée Fleming, Roderick Williams, Thomas Hampson, Eric Owens, Helmut Deutsch, Marilyn Horne, Thomas Quasthoff, Dame Felicity Lott, Kamal Khan, Kate Royal
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2022/2023 season
Important parts:
Alice Ford (Falstaff), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Sifare (Mitridate), Servilia (La Clemenza di Tito), Gretel (Hänsel und Gretel), Musetta (La Bohéme), Susanna (Il Segreto di Susanna), Queen Mother (The Little Green Swallow), Alcina (Alcina), Romilda (Serse), et al.
Stages:
Opéra national de Paris, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Wigmore Hall, Grant Park Music Festival, Oxford Lieder Festival, Verbier Festival, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Barbican Centre, Ravinia Festival, International Meistersinger Academy, Samling Institute, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Frank Castorf, Immo Karaman, Lee Blakeley, Stephen Medcalf, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Sir Andrew Davis, Valery Gergiev, Dominic Wheeler, Stanislav Kochanovsky, et al.
More about Olivia Boen
photo: Simon Pauly
Farnace
Adriana Bignagni Lesca
Mezzo-Soprano
Birthplace:
Libreville, Gabon
Studies:
Conservatoire de Bordeaux with Maryse Castets
Important parts:
Arbate (Mitridate, re di Ponto), Ježibaba (Rusalka), Junon (Platée), Brambilla (La Périchole), Juno (Orphee aux enfers), Dorotea Frescopane (Viva la mamma), Zefka (The Diary of One Who Disappeared), etc al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, Grand Teatre del Liceu, Opéra national de Paris, Auditorio de Tenerfie, Aix-en-Provence Festival, Opéra du Rhin, Salzburg Easter Festival, Opéra National de Bordeaux, Opéra-Comique de Paris, Montpellier Festival, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Christoph Loy, Barrie Kosky, André Heller-Lopes
Cooperations with conductors:
Marc Minkowski, Duncan Ward, John Adams, Adam Fischer, Paul Daniel
More about Adriana Bignagni Lesca
photo: Richard Puyane
Ismene
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
Marzio
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
Arbate
Peter Galliard
Tenor
Birthplace:
Chur, Switzerland
Studies:
With Rico Peterelli, Conservatory in Feldkirch with Maria Eibenschütz, at the Mozarteum Salzburg with Rudolf Knoll
Prizes:
First Prize at the International Mozart Competition (1985), Förderpreis of the Kanton Graubünden (1987), Dr. Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Preis of the Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburgischen Staatsoper (1989), honored by the Hamburg Senate with the title of “Kammersänger” (2017)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 1986/87
Important parts:
Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Jaquino (Fidelio), Cassio (Otello), Froh and Loge (Das Rheingold), Alfred and Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus), Peter Iwanow (Zar und Zimmermann), Bardolfo (Falstaff), Hauptmann (Wozzeck), Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Lenski (Eugen Onegin), Narraboth (Salome), Don Basilio (Le Nozze di Figaro), Prinz and Hauptmann (Lulu), L’Aumonier (Dialogues des Carmélites), Melot (Tristan und Isolde), Walther von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser), Wolfgang Capito (Mathis der Maler), Goro (Madama Butterfly), Red Whiskers (Billy Budd), Dämon (L’Upupa und der Triumph der Sohnesliebe), Bischof von Budoja (Palestrina), Mime (Siegfried), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Lucerne Festival, Salzburger Osterfestspiele, Opéra National de Paris, Enescu Festival in Bukarest, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Oper Frankfurt, Semperoper Dresden, Oper Leipzig, Staatstheater Nürnberg, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Claus Guth, August Everding, Johannes Schaaf, Harry Kupfer, Peter Konwitschny, Johannes Erath, Renaud Doucet, Georg Schmiedleitner, Stefan Herheim, Herbert Wernicke, Calixto Bieito, Willy Decker, Paul-Georg Dittrich, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Christian Thielemann, Ingo Metzmacher, Simone Young, Kirill Petrenko, Kent Nagano, Lawrence Foster, Gerrit Prießnitz, Marcus Bosch, Philippe Jordan, Paolo Carignani, Vaclav Luks, et al.
photo: Martina Cyman
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
