Ballet by John Neumeier, inspired by Leo Tolstoy | Anna Karenina
Anna Karenina
Olga Smirnova
Guest Dancer
BORN
6.11.91, St. Petersburg. Russin
EDUCATION
Vaganova Ballet Academy, St. Petersburg
MAIN TEACHER AND COACHES
Lyudmila Kovaleva. Marina Kondratieva, Maria Allash
ENGAGEMENTS
Bolshoi Ballet
Dutch National Ballet
GUESTING
With: Mariinsky Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Vienna State Ballet, Hamburg Ballet and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. And in the USA, Japan, China, Korea, Singapore, Bahrain, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland and Norway
AWARDS
2016: Grand Prix, Dance Open Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg (with Semyon Chudin)
2014: Premio Positano
2013: Miss Expressivity Award, Dance Open Ballet Festival in St. Petersburg
2013: Benois de la Danse
2012: Soul of Dance Prize in the category Rising Star, Ballet Magazine
2012: Best Female Dancer, Bolshoi Ballet project
2009: Grand Prix Award, Mikhailovsky Theatre St. Petersburg
Photo © Maria-Helena Buckley
photo: Maria-Helena Buckley
Alexei Vronsky
Jacopo Bellussi
Principal
BORN
27.3.93 in Genoa. Italian
EDUCATION
Accademia Teatro alla Scala, Milan
The Royal Ballet School, London
MAIN TEACHERS
Gailene Stock, Jay Jolley, Kathryn Wade, Gary Norman, Marialuisa Capiferri, Valentina Massa, Emma Landolina
ENGAGEMENTS
Bayerisches Staatsballett II
Hamburg Ballet since 2012. Soloist in 2017, Principal since 2019
CREATIONS
A figure from the romantic novels Tatiana loves to read in "Tatiana"
The Soldier's Friend (Annunzio Cervi) in "Duse"
A Mystic in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Beethoven Project I
Ghost Light
Beethoven Project II
Peter and Igor
Yes we Could (Konstantin Tselikov)
REPERTORY
Romeo and Paris in "Romeo and Juliet"
Curio in "VIVALDI or What you will"
Cassio in "Othello"
Peasant Pas de deux in "Giselle"
Leonid Massine, Harlequin in ‘Carnaval' and Geist der Rose in 'Le Spectre de la rose' in "Nijinsky"
Armand Duval, Gaston Rieux, Des Grieux and Count N in "Lady of the Camellias"
Semyon Semyonovich Medvedenko in "The Seagull"
her husband in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI"
The Man in the Shadow and Count Alexander in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Man II in "Bernstein Dances"
Alexej Wronski in "Anna Karenina"
Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
The Unicorn in "The Glass Menagerie"
Aminta and Endymion in "Sylvia"
Frederick the Great in "Death in Venice"
Prince Désiré and a Spanish Prince in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Allan Gray in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Mann in Blue and in Purple in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
Espada in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
King Polixenes in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
St John Rivers in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
The Song of the Earth
Saint Matthew Passion
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Vaslav
Nocturnes
At Midnight
Third Symphony by Gustav Mahler
Christmas Oratorio I-VI
Préludes CV
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
Liebeslieder Walzer (George Balanchine)
King Polixenes in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
GUESTING
Munich (Matinee of the Heinz Bosl Foundation, 2019), Roma , Genova-Nervi, Ravenna and Padova (2021), L'Aquila (728° Perdonanza Celestiniana, 2022), Positano (Award Ceremony Gala 2022)
AWARDS
Premio Danza&Danza 2016 – Best Italian Dancer Abroad
Konstanze Vernon Prize 2019
Premio Nazionale Sfera d'Oro per la Danza 2021
Premio Positano Léonide Massine 2022
Jacopo Bellussi has been appointed Artistic Director of the Nervi Festival from the 2025 edition
More about Jacopo Bellussi
Levin
Aleix Martínez
Principal
BORN
17.5.92 in Barcelona. Spanish
EDUCATION
Escuela Ballet David Campos
Studio Ballet Colette Armand, Marseille
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
David Campos, Peter Lewton, Patrick Armand, Kevin Haigen
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2010. Soloist in 2014, Principal since 2021
CREATIONS
Louis in "Liliom"
Konstantin Dmitrievich Levin in "Anna Karenina"
HE in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Purgatorio
Beethoven Project I
Ghost Light
Beethoven-Projekt II
Vor dem Gestz (Alban Pinet)
3x2 für M&M (Constant Vigier)
Happy Valentine (Orcan Dann)
Aether (Luca Andrea Tessarini)
Soledad en Compañía (Aleix Martínez)
Countdown (Sasha Riva)
REPERTORY
The Hermit in "Parzival – Episodes und Echo »
Vaslav Nijinsky and Stanislav Nijinsky in "Nijinsky"
Vaslav Nijinsky as a student in "Le Pavillon d'Armide"
The Speaker in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
William in "As You Like It"
A young Aschenbach in "Death in Venice"
A Soldier (Moresca Dance) in "Othello"
Peasant Pas de deux in "Giselle"
Peer's Aspect – Innocence in "Peer Gynt"
A Bird in "A Cinderella Story"
Fritz in "The Nutcracker"
a man in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI"
Man III in "Bernstein Dances"
A Thorn in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Mann in Brick in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
A Gypsy in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
and solos in
Préludes CV
Vaslav
Kinderszenen
Winterreise
Messiah
Saint Matthew Passion
The Song of the Earth
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
HE CHOREOGRAPHED
"Ne Nehledej"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2011
"Trencadís"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2012
"Soledad en Compañía..."
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2015
"Kleines Requiem"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2016
AWARDS
Prix de Lausanne 2008
Premio Positano Léonide Massine 2008
Amigo de Honor 2010, awarded by the Casa de la Danza, Madrid
Promising Young Talent 2012 – "tanz" magazine
Dr. Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Prize 2013
More about Aleix Martínez
Kitty
Greta Jörgens
Corps de Ballet
BORN
19.10.96 in Bonn, Germany. German
EDUCATION
Ballettschule International Bonn
Staatliche Ballettschule Berlin
MAIN TEACHERS
Marina Tchijova, Flioura Charipowa, Marta Diminich, Kelvin Hardy, Jean-Hugues Assohoto, Christoph Böhm
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2015
CREATIONS
Princess Sorokina in "Anna Karenina"
and solos in
Beethoven Project I
Metamorphosis (Marc Jubete)
I Giorni (Florian Pohl)
M.A. (Lennart Radtke)
REPERTORY
Woman II in "Bernstein Dances"
Princess Ekaterina Alexandrovna Shcherbatskaya, Kitty and Princess Sorokina in "Anna Karenina"
Pas de deux 'La Fille du Pharaon' in "The Nutcracker"
Rosalinde in "Romeo and Juliet"
Cupid's Blessing in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
A Lady in "The Concert" (Jerome Robbins)
Helen Burns and Mary Rivers in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Broadway's Pavlova
Alexei Karenin
Christopher Evans
Principal
BORN
2.11.94 in Loveland, CO. American
EDUCATION
BalletMet Dance Academy
Canada's National Ballet School
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Susan Dromisky, Alexander Gorbatsevich, Kevin Haigen
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2012, Soloist 2015, Principal since 2018
CREATIONS
Jim O'Connor in "The Glass Menagerie"
A Mystic in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Turangalîla
Beethoven Project I
Ghost Light
Beethoven Project II
Aether (Luca Andrea Tessarini)
Metamorphosis (Marc Jubete)
Beautiful Soul (Marcelino Libao)
REPERTORY
The King, Count Alexander and Quadrille in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Benvolio and Antonio in "Romeo and Juliet"
Fabian in "VIVALDI or What you will"
Albrecht in "Giselle"
Günther in "The Nutcracker"
Vladimir Lensky in "Tatjana"
The Prince and A Bird in "A Cinderella Story"
Theseus/Oberon and Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Arlequin in ‘Carnaval' and The Spirit of the rose in 'Le Spectre de la rose' in "Nijinsky"
Konstantin (Kostya) Gavrilovich Triplev in "The Seagull"
Armand Duval and Des Grieux in "Lady of the Camellias"
Man I in "Bernstein Dances"
Gustav von Aeschenbach in "Death in Venice"
Koll/Fortinbras in "Hamlet 21"
Love/Thyrsis/Orion in "Sylvia"
Catalabutte in "The Sleeping Beauty" (Neufassung 2021)
Harold Mitchell (Mitch) in "Endstation Sehnsucht"
Odysseus in *Odyssey"
Levin in "Anna Karenina"
Mann in Green in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
Basil in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Prince Florizel in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
St John Rivers in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Préludes CV
Petrushka-Variations
Christmas Oratorio I-VI
The Song of the Earth
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Nocturnes
At Midnight
Saint Matthew Passion
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
HE CHOREOGRAPHED
"Soul Sketch"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2016
"A Cosmic Second"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2017
AWARDS
Prix de Lausanne 2010
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer-Prize 2015
More about Christopher Evans
Seryozha
Quinn Bates
A Mushik
Karen Azatyan
Principal
BORN
13.10.87 in Yerevan, Armenia. Armenian
EDUCATION
Yerevan Dancing Art State College
Tanz Akademie Zürich
MAIN TEACHERS
Hovhannes Divanyan, Oliver Matz
ENGAGEMENTS
Bavarian State Ballet in 2007, Soloist in 2010 and First Soloist in 2012
Hamburg Ballet 2014 to July 2019 as Principal, Soloist in September 2020, Principal since 2023
CREATIONS
in Munich
Daphnis in "My Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe" (Terence Kohler)
Prometheus in "Helden" (Terence Kohler)
and solos in
Zugvögel (Jirí Kylián)
Unitxt (Richard Siegal)
in Hamburg
The Seducer (Gabriele D’Annunzio) in "Duse"
A Mushik in "Anna Karenina"
and solos in
Beethoven Project
Ghost Light
REPERTORY
in Munich
Sebastian and Antonio in "The Tempest" (Jörg Mannes)
Romeo and Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet" (John Cranko)
An Athlete in "Les Biches" (Bronislava Nijinska)
Albrecht in "Once Upon an Ever After" (Terence Kohler)
Hortensio and Lucentio in "The Taming of the Shrew" (John Cranko)
Graf Alexander in "Illusion: like 'Swan Lake'" (John Neumeier)
Basilio in "Don Quixote" (Ray Barra nach Marius Petipa, Alexander Gorski, Tradition)
Fritz in "The Nutcracker" (John Neumeier)
Blauer Vogel in "The Sleeping Beauty" (Marius Petipa / Ivan Liska)
Pas de six and Russian Dance in "Swan Lake" (Ray Barra)
The Bronze Idol in "La Bayadère" (Marius Petipa / Patrice Bart)
Demetrius in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (John Neumeier)
Peasant Pas de deux in "Giselle" (Mats Ek)
and solos in
Voice of Spring – Pas de deux (Frederick Ashton)
Gods and Dogs (Jirí Kylián)
Birthday Offering (Frederick Ashton)
4th Solo in Choreartium (Léonide Massine)
Multiplicity (Nacho Duato)
Artifact (William Forsythe)
in Hamburg
Aschenbach's Concepts in "Death in Venice"
Peasant Pas de deux in "Giselle"
Ein Hirte in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI"
Günther in "The Nutcracker"
Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet"
Peer's Aspect – Aggression in "Peer Gynt"
Liliom and A Sailor in "Liliom"
The Golden Slave in ‘Sheherazade' and The Faun in 'L'Après-midi d'un faune' in "Nijinsky"
Boris Alexeyivich Trigorin in "The Seagull"
Man III in "Bernstein Dances"
Prince Leopold in "Illusions: like Swan Lake"
The Thorn and an Egyptian Prince in "The Sleeping Beauty" (Neufassung 2021)
The Duke in "Lady of the Camellias"
Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Gennaro in "Napoli" (August Bournonville / Lloyd Riggins)
Mann in Purple in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
King Polixenes in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
Edward Rochester in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
The Song of the Earth
Saint Matthew Passion
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Préludes CV
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
AWARDS
2nd at the "Tanz Olymp Berlin 2005"in the category classic variation
Prix de Lausanne 2005
Prize for Promising Young Dancer at the Varna International Ballet Competition 2006
Dolly
Madoka Sugai
Principal
BORN
12.7.94 in Atsugi City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. Japanese
EDUCATION
Sasaki Mika Ballet Academy (Yamato, Kanagawa Prefecture)
MAIN TEACHERS
Mika Sasaki, Mikio Ikehata
ENGAGEMENTS
National Youth Ballet in 2012
Hamburg Ballet since 2014. Soloist in 2017, Principal since 2019
CREATIONS
A Mystic and A young Woman in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Beethoven Project
Ghost Light
Beethoven Project II
Solo for Two (Konstantin Tselikov)
Little Requiem (Aleix Martínez)
Götterboten (Aljoscha Lenz)
REPERTORY
Peasant Pas de deux in "Giselle"
Cinderella in "A Cinderella Story"
Marguerite Gautier and Prudence Duvernoy in "Lady of the Camellias"
Princess Natalia in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
Woman III in "Bernstein Dances"
Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Ophelia in "Hamlet 21"
Sylvia in "Sylvia"
Princess Aurora, Princess Florine, Mercury and Aurora, the Dawn in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Louise and The Beautiful Girl from Granada in "The Nutcracker"
Bronislava Nijinsky in "Nijinsky"
Circe in "Odyssey"
Dolly in "Anna Karenina"
Woman in Apricot in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
Kitri/Dulcinea in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Princess Perdita in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
Jane Eyre in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Vaslav
Broadway's Pavlova
Saint Matthew Passion
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Préludes CV
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
AWARDS
Prix de Lausanne 2012
Dr.-Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Prize 2018
More about Madoka Sugai
Stiva
Nicolas Gläsmann
Corps de Ballet
BORN
3.8.93 in Dusseldorf, Germany. German
EDUCATION
Gymnasium Essen Werden
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Kevin Haigen, Heinz Loipe
ENGAGEMENTS
National Youth Ballet in 2013
Hamburg Ballet since 2015
CREATIONS
Ghost Light
Little Requiem (Aleix Martínez)
Soul Sketch (Christopher Evans)
Pain Pushed me Forward (Braulio Alvarez)
REPERTORY
Oratio in "Hamlet 21"
A Thorn Creature in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Shaw in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Stiva in "Anna Karenina"
Sancho Panza in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Antigonus in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
and solos in
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Vaslav
Saint Matthew Passion
HE CHOREOGRAPHED
"Stimmung"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2017
More about Nicolas Gläsmann
Lidia Ivanovna
Xue Lin
Principal
BORN
9.11.91 in Beijing. Chinesin
EDUCATION
Beijing Dance Academy
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Yuanmei Cai, Kevin Haigen, Marianne Kruuse
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2011, Soloist since 2016, Principal since 2022
CREATIONS
The Ballerina Istomina as Cleopatra in "Tatiana"
A Mystic in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Meine Vorstellung von der Wirklichkeit (Braulio Alvarez)
3x2 für M&M (Constant Vigier)
Mizaru – Kikazaru – Iwazaru (Miljana Vracaric)
Into this Wild Abyss (Braulio Alvarez)
Meant to Fly (Winnie Dias)
At Asyl-Um (Luca Andrea Tessarini)
Aether (Luca Andrea Tessarini)
REPERTORY
Odette, Princess Claire and Quadrille in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Rosalind and Emilia in "Romeo and Juliet"
Silvia in "Préludes CV"
The Little Mermaid in "The Little Mermaid"
La Primavera in "Othello"
Moyna and Zulma in "Giselle"
Manon Lescaut and Olympia in "Lady of the Camellias"
Louise, La Fille du Pharaon, The Chinese Bird and Pas de huit in "The Nutcracker"
The Ballerina, Tamara Karsavina in "Nijinsky"
Masha in "The Seagull"
Woman I in "Bernstein Dances"
Anna Karenina and Lidia Ivanovna in "Anna Karenina"
Helena in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Princess Florine, The Rose and Aurora, the Dawn in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Pallas Athene in "Odyssey"
Pas de six in "Napoli" (August Bournonville / Lloyd Riggins)
Olga in "Onegin" (John Cranko)
Amor and a Friend in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Princess Perdita in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
and solos in
Préludes CV
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Saint Matthew Passion
Messiah
The Song of the Earth
Turangalîla
Bach Suite 2
Nocturnes
Dialogue
Kinderszenen
Shall we dance?
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Broadway's Pavlova
At Midnight
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
GUESTING
The Little Mermaid in "The Little Mermaid" with the National Ballet of China in Wuhan, China
AWARD
Dr.-Wilhelm-Oberdörffer Prize 2014
More about Xue Lin
Princess Sorokina
Priscilla Tselikova
Corps de Ballet
BORN
15.3.90 in Sydney. Australian
EDUCATION
Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy, Sydney.
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Tanya Pearson, Rita Dubovsky, Julie Wells, Marianne Kruuse, Kevin Haigen
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2009
CREATIONS
An Actress in "Duse"
Betty in "The Glass Menagerie"
and solos in
Einflüsse (Miljana Vracaric)
3x2 für M&M (Constant Vigier)
Yes we Could (Konstantin Tselikov)
Vesna (Edvin Revazov)
REPERTORY
La Fille du Pharaon and Mrs. Stahlbaum in "The Nutcracker"
La Primavera in "Othello"
Quadrille and The Butterfly in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
Lady Capulet in "Romeo and Juliet"
Princess Sorokina in "Anna Karenina"
Giovannina in "Napoli" (August Bournonville / Lloyd Riggins)
A Gipsy and Pas de trois (Dryad) in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Tante Reed in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Saint Matthew Passion
More about Priscilla Tselikova
Conductor
Nathan Brock
Conductor
Birthplace:
Canada
Studies:
Hochschule der Künste in Zürich with Johannes Schlaefli, Aspen Conducting Academy, degree in History and International Relations from the University of Toronto
Master class:
with David Zinman, Bernard Haitink, Jorma Panula, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Michael Tilson Thomas
Prizes:
Recipient of the Ontario Arts Council’s Heinz Unger Award, recipient of the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award from the Canada Council for the Arts, Prix Opus of the “Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec” for the creation of a new series of concerts for young adults in Montreal, winner of Quebec’s Prix Opus for best disc of the year (2015)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Musical Assistant of the General Music Director (2015/16-2016/17)
Kapellmeister since 2017/18
Repertoire:
“L’Elisir d’Amore“, “Der kleine Schornsteinfeger”, “Il Barbieri di Siviglia”, “Duse”, “Die Zauberflöte”, “Hänsel und Gretel”, “Der Nussknacker”, “Romeo und Julia”, “Alice im Wunderland”, “La Belle Hélène”, “Le Nozze di Figaro”, “Eugen Onegin”, “Don Quixote”, “Anna Karenina”, “Chopin Dances”, et al.
Career stages:
Assistant Conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (2009-2011), Resident Conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (2011-2014), foundation of the Aaron Brock Foundation (2007)
Stages / Cooperation with orchestras:
Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National D’Ile de France, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Komische Oper Berlin, Royal Swedish Operan, Orchestre Symphonique de Québec, Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire, et al.
More about Nathan Brock
Orchestra
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
