Hamburg Ballett John Neumeier

Musikalische Leitung

Yoel Gamzou

Chorleitung

Christian Günther

Floria Tosca

Ailyn Pérez

Mario Cavaradossi

Adam Smith

Hailed as the “tenor that the whole opera world is talking about” (Marie Claire) and a “revelation” (Backtrack), Adam Smith is known for his voice that “overflows with dramatic conviction and heroic impact” (Opera Now Magazine). Recent standout roles include Don José in Carmen, Rodolfo La Bohème and Cavaradossi in Tosca. Having already made his debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival, La Monnaie de Munt and Opéra National de Bordeaux in previous seasons, his 2022/23 season includes multiple house debuts throughout Europe and a return to South America.

Adam Smith’s 2022/23 season begins with his debut at the BBC Proms as Luigi in Puccini’s Il Tabarro conducted by Sir Mark Elder. This is followed by his debut with the English National Opera in London, where sings Cavaradossi in Tosca, directed by Christof Loy. Returning to the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Adam Smith makes his debut at the Greek National Opera in a production by Warlikowski. His season also includes his Italian debut singing Erik in Wagner’s Der Fliegender Holländer at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna. After a triumphant recent South American debut, Mr. Smith returns to Bogotá to perform Cavaradossi at Teatro Mayor. He debuts at the Opera national de Lyon as Boris in Káťa Kabanov in April, and ends his season at Cincinnati Opera with a return to the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

Recent highlights include his heralded debut at the Théâtre Royale de la Monnaie de Munt in Brussels as both Luigi and Rinuccio in a new Tobias Krazer production of Puccini’s Il Trittico conducted by Alain Atinoglu. Bachtrach commented on the performance: “[the] tenor knows how to pierce the orchestral wall with insolence without however neglecting the line and the most subtle nuances,” Florestan in Fidelio at the Glyndebourne Festival, his South American debut at Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo as Cavaradossi in Tosca, Don José in Carmen, Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème, Duca di Mantova in Verdi’s Rigoletto at Scottish National Opera, and the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka. On the occasion of his debut in France, at Opéra national de Bordeaux as the title role in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, he was praised for his French diction, “The pronunciation, to which we French are so attached when it comes to opera in our language, is neat, the natural emission of the voice has the ideal timbre so that the poet stands out from the other tenors without forcing the line.” (Forumopera)

Adam Smith has worked with a distinguished list of conductors and directors including Calixto Bieito, Mariame Clément, Alexander Joel, Daniel Kramer, Cornelius Meister, Sir Jonathan Miller, Tomaš Netopil, Giacomo Sagripanti, and Alberto Zedda among many others.

Born in the UK, Mr. Smith began his musical studies with the violin at the age of four. He graduated from the RNCM with a first-class honours degree in music with additional degrees from the International Opera Course at the Guildhall and a Master of Music with Distinction. From 2014-2017 Adam was a member of the ensemble at Opera Vlaanderen in Antwerp, during his time there he performed a diverse collection of roles. Prizes include First Prize, Audience Prize, Critics’ Prize, and the prize for The Best Tenor at the 2015 Ferruccio Tagliavini International Singing Competition in Austria. In the same year he won Third Prize in the Ada Sari International Singing Competition in Poland and in 2016 he was a finalist in the International Moniuszko Vocal Competition.

Performances

Tosca

Baron Scarpia

Franco Vassallo

Baritone

Franco Vassallo

Birthplace:
Milan, Italy

Studies:
Private singing lessons with baritone Carlo Meliciani, Civic School of Music in Milan, Literature and Philosophy at The University of Milan

Master class:
With Leyla Gencer and Renata Scotto

Prizes:
Winner of the international singers competition “Associazione Lirica Concertistica Italiana“ in Milan (1994)

Important parts:
Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Macbeth (Macbeth), Ford (Falstaff), Barone di Valdeburgo (La Straniera), Amonasro (Aida), Count di Luna (Il Trovatore), Monforte (I Vespri Siciliani), Germont (La Traviata), Herzog von Nottingham (Roberto Devereux), Renato (Un Ballo in Maschera), Simon Boccanegra (Simon Boccanegra), Rodrigo (Don Carlos), Don Carlo (La Forza del Destino), Don Carlo (Ernani), Scarpia (Tosca), Jago (Otello), Don Alfonso (Lucrezia Borgia), Barnaba (La Gioconda), Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Nabucco (Nabucco), Miller (Luisa Miller), Ernesto (Il Pirata), Sir Riccardo Forth (I Puritani), et al.

Stages:
Teatro alla Scala, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro San Carlo, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro Carlo Felice, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Arena di Verona, Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Opernhaus Zürich, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Semperoper Dresden, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Teatro Real, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, De Nationale Opera, Teatro Arriaga, Washington National Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Opéra Bastille, La Monnaie, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Robert Carsen, Andreas Homoki, David McVicar, Olivier Py, Bob Willson, Hugo De Ana, Gianfranco De Bosio, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Claus Guth, Denis Krief, Christof Loy, Ermanno Olmi, Pierluigi Pizzi, Toni Servillo, Bartlett Sher, Ferruccio Soleri, Graham Vick, Franco Zeffirelli, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Andris Nelsons, Zubin Metha, Dan Ettinger, Marc Minkowski, Roberto Abbado, Nicola Luisotti, Daniele Rustioni, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, James Levine, Nello Santi, Sir Jeffrey Tate, James Conlon, Fabio Luisi, Daniel Oren, Anton Guadagno, Marco Armiliato, Marcello Viotti, Michele Mariotti, Gianandrea Noseda, Giampaolo Bisanti, Fabrizio Maria Carminati, et al.

More about Franco Vassallo

Performances

Tosca

Cesare Angelotti

Liam James Karai

Sagrestano

David Minseok Kang

Spoletta

Peter Galliard

Tenor

Peter Galliard

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.

Performances

photo: Martina Cyman

Sciarrone

Grzegorz Pelutis

Bass-baritone

Grzegorz Pelutis

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.

Performances

photo: Jörn Kipping

Un Carceriere

Leo Yeun-Ku Chu

Un Pastore

Solist des Hamburger Knabenchores

Choir

Solist des Hamburger Knabenchores

For more than fifty years, boys have discovered their love of music at Hamburg's Boys Choir. They grow up and mature with masterworks from music history that are simply part of their everyday lives, and they take many unique experiences and skills into their adult lives.

Established in 1960 as the Boys Choir of Northern Germany Radio, currently about one hundred boys and young men aged from 5 to 25 sing in Hamburg's Boys Choir. At various choral levels, they are comprehensively prepared for the choir’s demanding repertoire and active concert schedule.

The choir’s repertoire comprises both an extensive range of a capella works as well as large oratorios. Bach’s passions and Christmas Oratorio are performed annually. Other works of their core repertoire include Haydn's Creation (performed in 2019 in Tokyo), Mozart's "Mass in C-minor" and "Requiem", Schubert's Mass in E flat-major, Mendelsohns' "Elias" and "Paulus", Faure's "Requiem", Britten's "War Requiem", as well Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" and "Mass".

The choir can be regularly heard performing motets in the services of Hamburg’s main protestant Church St. Nikolai, with which it is associated. These numerous performances ensure a regular fine-tuning of the choir, something that also characterizes boarding school choirs. The Hamburg Boys Choir is a regular guest of professional ensembles as well as concert halls and opera houses. Soloists from the choir have taken on the parts of the three boys in Mozart's "Magic Flute" at opera houses from Kiel and Lübeck to Lisbon. In October 2021, they sang Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" at Elbphilharmonie, conducted by Zubin Metha. The choir sang in 2022, for example with Kent Nagano and Thomas Hengelbrock.

Concert tours both in Germany and abroad are also part of the Hamburg Boys Choir's established traditions. The choir has toured in Asia several times, as well as in Argentina and several European countries. In 2022, the Choir performed in São Paulo and Vienna.

LUIZ DE GODOY
Artistic Director

Luiz de Godoy discovered his love of music at the age of five. He completed his training in piano solo, choral and orchestral conducting over several stages in Brazil, the USA, France, Germany and Austria. In 2019, he received the appreciation award from his Viennese alma mater, the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He has also worked as a choral conductor for renowned ensembles such as the Vienna Singakademie and the Chorakademie of the Vienna State Opera and has worked with many greats such as Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Ton Koopman, Sir Simon Rattle, Franz Welser-Möst and Simone Young, as well as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonic Orchestras, among others. He made his debut as an orchestral conductor in Brazil in 2015 and subsequently conducted in several countries in Europe, Asia and South America, including the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra in productions of the Hamburg State Opera.

In 2016, Luiz de Godoy was appointed Kapellmeister of the Vienna Boys' Choir, with whom he toured over 20 countries. At the same time, he was awarded the Erwin Ortner Prize for the Promotion of Choral Music. The Hamburg State Opera brought him to the Hanseatic city for the 2019/20 season and entrusted him with the direction of its children's and youth choir. Since January 2021, Luiz de Godoy has also been the artistic director of the Hamburg Boys' Choir.

More about Solist des Hamburger Knabenchores

Performances

Tosca

photo: Marcelo Hernandez

Kinderchor

Alsterspatzen – Kinder- und Jugendchor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper

Chor

Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper

Orchester

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg