Ballet by John Neumeier | Illusions – like Swan Lake
The King
Alexandr Trusch
Principal
BORN
26.6.89 in Dnipropetrovsk. Ukrainian
EDUCATION
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Kevin Haigen, Marianne Kruuse, Christian Schön, Irina Jacobson
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2007, Soloist in 2010, Principal since 2014
CREATIONS
Vaslav Nijinsky as a student in "Le Pavillon d'Armide"
Hermes' Attendant in "Orpheus"
A Shy Young Man in "Liliom"
Angel in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI"
Vladimir Lensky in "Tatiana"
The Soldier (Luciano Nicastro) in "Duse"
Prince Désiré in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
A Mystic in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Purgatorio
Beethoven Project II
The Rain (Miljana Vracaric)
Let's Keep it Black (Orkan Dann)
Zozula (Edvin Revazov)
Renku (Yuka Oishi/Orkan Dann)
Into this Wild Abyss (Braulio Alvarez)
Solo for Two (Konstantin Tselikov)
Vesna (Edvin Revazov)
REPERTORY
Joseph in "The Legend of Joseph"
A Young Man (Daphnis) in "Daphnis and Chloe"
Vaslav Nijinsky and Leonid Massine in "Nijinsky"
Günter and Fritz in "The Nutcracker"
The King, Count Alexander and Quadrille in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Vaslav Nijinsky in "Le Pavillon d'Armide"
Des Grieux and Count N. in "Lady of the Camellias"
Philostrat/Puck and Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Allan Gray in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Bohort in "Parzival – Episodes and Echo"
Louis in "Liliom"
Arlequin in "Carnaval" and The Spirit of the rose in "Le Spectre de la rose" in "Nijinsky"
Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet"
Ler Beau in "As You Like It"
Cassio in "Othello"
Albrecht in "Giselle"
The Prince in "A Cinderella Story"
Peer's Aspect – Vision in "Peer Gynt"
Man I and Love in "Bernstein Dances"
Hamlet in "Hamlet 21"
Aminta in "Sylvia"
Prince Désiré and Catalabutte in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Odysseus in *Odyssey"
Alexei Vronsky in "Anna Karenina"
Pas de deux of the Scotts in "La Sylphide" (Pierre Lacotte after Filippo Taglioni)
The Prodigal Son in "The Prodigal Son" (George Balanchine)
Man in Brick and Brown in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
The Shy Boy in "The Concert" (Jerome Robbins)
Gennaro in "Napoli" (August Bournonville / Lloyd Riggins)
Basil in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Prince Florizel in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
Edward Rochester in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Fourth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Seasons – The Colors of Time
Nocturnes from "Songs of the Night"
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Saint Matthew Passion
Vaslav
The Song of the Earth
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
La Vivandière (Pierre Lacotte after Arthur Saint-Léon)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
AWARD
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer-Prize 2010
More about Alexandr Trusch
Princess Natalia
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
Odette
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
The Man in the Shadow
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
Princess Claire
Olivia Betteridge
Soloist
BORN
21.12.99 in Westmead, Australia. Australian
EDUCATION
Tanya Pearson Classical Coaching Academy
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Gigi Hyatt, Janusz Mazon, Anna Urban, Leslie Hughes, Lucinda Dunn, Paul Boyd, Wim Broeckx
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2017, Soloist in 2023
REPERTORY
Marie in "The Nutcracker”
Olympia in "Lady of the Camellias"
Princess Claire and The Butterfly in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
Rosalinde in "Romeo and Juliet"
Evening Star in "A Sleeping Beauty" (Neufassung 2021)
Calipso in "Odyssey"
Diana Rivers in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Broadway's Pavlova
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Liebeslieder Walzer (George Balanchine)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
Shakespeare Sonnets (Marc Jubete, Aleix Martínez and Edvin Revazov)
More about Olivia Betteridge
Count Alexander
Matias Oberlin
Principal
BORN
27.4.96 in Santa Fe, Argentina. Argentinian/German
EDUCATION
Seminario Provincial de Ballet – Santa Fe, Argentina
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Elizabeth Sture, Christian Schön, Janusz Mazon, Kevin Haigen, Gigi Hyatt
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2014, Soloist in 2018, Principal since 2023
CREATIONS
Beethoven Project
Ghost Light
Pain Pushed me Forward (Braulio Alvarez)
REPERTORY
Lord Capulet and Brother Lorenzo in "Romeo and Juliet"
Gaston Rieux in "Lady of the Camellias"
The King in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI"
Günther in "The Nutcracker"
Count Alexander in "Illusion: like Swan Lake"
Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Fenge in "Hamlet 21"
The Wanderer, the Gondolier, a Dance Couple, Dionysos, the Hairdresser, the Guitar Player in "Death in Venice"
The Thorn, Cupid's Blessing, a Spanish Prince and an Egyptian Prince in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
The Balloon Man in "Liliom"
Serge Diaghilev and Thomas Nijinsky in "Nijinsky"
Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Levin in "Anna Karenina"
Mr Brocklehurst in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Beethoven Project I
Saint Matthew Passion
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Préludes CV
Liebeslieder Walzer (George Balanchine)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
HE CHOREOGRAPHED
"Flash"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2017
AWARD
Scholarship from the "Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation" (2011-2013)
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer-Prize 2019
More about Matias Oberlin
The Queen Mother
Yun-Su Park
Soloist
BORN
18.02.89 in Seoul. Korean
EDUCATION
Sun-Hwa Arts School, Seoul.
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Brian Yoo, Elena Selivanova, Kevin Haigen, Ingrid Glindemann, Marianne Kruuse, Christian Schön
EDUCATION
Hamburg Ballet since 2007, Soloist since 2018
CREATIONS
Beethoven Project I
The Rain (Miljana Vracaric)
Let's Keep it Black (Orkan Dann)
Happy Birthday (Orkan Dann)
My Dear Love (Orkan Dann)
Nobody Sees (Florian Pohl)
3x2 für M&M (Constant Vigier)
The Jealousy Theory (Eliot Worrell, Dale Rhodes)
Poppy (Lennart Radtke)
I Giorni (Florian Pohl)
Little Requiem (Aleix Martínez)
Oratio (Kristína Borbélyová)
From a "C-Utopia" (Lizhong Wang)
Countdown (Sasha Riva)
REPERTORY
La Fille du Pharaon and The Beautiful Girl from Granada in "The Nutcracker"
The Queen Mother and one of the Big Swan in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Isabella in "Romeo and Juliet"
Bianca in "Othello"
Princess from Another Country in "A Cinderella Story"
Cupid's Blessing and Mars in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
The Sea in "Odyssey"
The Queen of the Dryads and First Bridesmaid in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
and solos in
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Le Sacre
Préludes CV
Christmas Oratorio I-VI
Messiah
The Nutcracker
Illusions – like Swan Lake
Shall we dance
Vaslav
Saint Matthew Passion
Nocturnes
Renku (Yuka Oishi und Orkan Dann)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
More about Yun-Su Park
Prince Leopold
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
Prince Siegfried
Florian Pohl
Soloist
BORN
19.9.89 in Karlsruhe. German
EDUCATION
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHER
Kevin Haigen
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2009. Soloist since 2019
CREATIONS
A figure from the romantic novels Tatiana loves to read in "Tatiana"
and solos in
Einflüsse (Miljana Vracaric)
Rely on Trust (Florian Pohl)
I Giorni (Florian Pohl)
REPERTORY
The Man in the Shadowand Prince Siegfried in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
La Fille du Pharaon in "The Nutcracker"
Horvendel in "Hamlet"/"Hamlet 21"
Charles in "As You Like It"
Paris in "Romeo and Juliet"
The three wise men in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI"
Ilya Afanasevich Shamrajev and The Star of the Revue in "The Seagull"
Stiva in "Anna Karenina"
The Wanderer, the Gondolier, a Dance Couple, Dionysos, the Hairdresser, the Guitar Player in "Death in Venice"
King Florestan XXIV and a Russian Prince in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
The Balloon Man in "Liliom"
Monsieur Duval in "Lady of the Camellias"
Allan's Friend in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
He in "Odyssee"
Prince Gremin in "Onegin" (John Cranko)
Antigonus in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
and solos in
Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Préludes CV
Winterreise
Birthday Dances
Saint Matthew Passion
HE CHOREGRAPHED
"Nobody Sees"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2012
"Rely on Trust"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2015
"I Giorni"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2016
"Embrace"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2017
"el la"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2018
More about Florian Pohl
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
