Ballet by John Neumeier | Illusions – like Swan Lake
The King
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
Princess Natalia
Charlotte Larzelere
Soloist
BORN
March 20, 1998 in San Antonio, Texas. American
EDUCATION
Houston Ballet Academy
Houston Ballet II
MAIN TEACHERS
Cheryne Busch, Priscilla Nathan-Murphy, Susan Bryant, Sally Rojas, Andrew Murphy, Claudio Muñoz, Sabrina Lenzi
ENGAGEMENT
National Youth Ballet 2016-2018
Hamburg Ballet since 2018, Soloist since 2023
CREATION
solo in
Beethoven Project II
REPERTORY
Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Prudence Duvernoy in "Lady of the Camellias"
Princess Natalia und one of the Big Swan in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Mercury in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Penelope and Eurycleia in "Odyssey"
Mary Rivers in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Broadway's Pavlova
Beethoven Project II
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
More about Charlotte Larzelere
Odette
Anna Laudere
Principal
BORN
19.2.83 in Sigulda. Latvian
EDUCATION
Riga Ballet School
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Valentins Blinovs, Marianne Kruuse, Kevin Haigen, Irina Jacobson, Radik Zaripov
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2001, promoted Soloist in 2008 and Principal in 2011
CREATIONS
The Maiden-who-never-laughs in "Parzival – Episodes and Echo"
Calliope in "Orpheus"
The Friend (Isadora Duncan) in "Duse"
Anna Arkadyevna Karenina in "Anna Karenina"
A Widow in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solos in
Nachtwanderung from "Songs of the Night"
Purgatorio
Um Mitternacht
Beethoven Project I
Ghost Light
Beethoven Project II
A Foreign Sound (Thiago Bordin)
At Asyl-Um (Luva-Andrea Tessarini)
Anima (Edvin Revazov)
REPERTORY
Lady Capulet and Rosalind in "Romeo and Juliet"
Cinderella, Cinderella's Mother, A Stepsister and Princess from Another Country in "A Cinderella Story"
Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina, Primaballerina and Nina Mikhailovna Zarechnaya in "The Seagull"
Desdemona in "Othello"
Eleonora Bereda in "Nijinsky"
Odette and Princess Claire in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Marguerite Gautier and Manon Lescaut in "Lady of the Camellias"
Louise and La Fille du Pharaon in "The Nutcracker"
Ophelia in "Hamlet"
Mrs. Muskat in "Liliom"
Giselle and Myrtha in "Giselle"
Tatiana Larina in "Tatiana"
Solveig and Aase in "Peer Gynt"
Eurydice in "Orphée et Eurydice"
La Barbarina and Aschenbach's assistant, his mother and Tadzio's mother in "Death in Venice"
Aminta in "Sylvia"
The Queen and The Rose in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Blanche DuBois in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Penelope in *Odyssey"
The Siren in "The Prodigal Son" (George Balanchine)
Woman in Mauve and in Green in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
The Wife and the Ballerina in "The Concert" (Jerome Robbins)
Tatiana in "Onegin" (John Cranko)
The Queen of the Dryads in "Don Quixote" (Rudolf Nurejev after Marius Petipa)
Queen Hermione in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
Blanche Ingram in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Christmas Oratorio I-VI (she danced this role for the premiere)
Verklungene Feste
Saint Matthew Passion
Requiem
Vaslav
Seasons – The Colors of Time
Adagietto
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Le Sacre
Préludes CV
Winterreise
Messias
Turangalîla
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
The Fifth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Nocturnes
Les Sylphides (Michail Fokine)
Jewels – Emeralds/Rubies (George Balanchine)
Reflet (Stefano Palmigiano)
Liebeslieder Walzer (George Balanchine)
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
GUESTING
Munich (Marguerite Gautier in "Lady of the Camellias", Bavarian State Opera), Stuttgart, Lausanne, London, Milan (Marguerite Gautier in "Lady of the Camellias", Teatro alla Scala), Tallinn, Riga, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Hong Kong, Tokyo (World Ballet Festival 2015 and 2018), Beijing
AWARDS
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer-Prize 2008
Premio Positano Léonide Massine 2018
Latvian Excellence Award in Culture 2019
The Russian-Italian Prize Benois-Massine 2019
Order of the Three Stars – Highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia
More about Anna Laudere
The Man in the Shadow
Alessandro Frola
Principal
BORN
3.9.2000 in Parma, Italy. Italian
EDUCATION
Profession Dance Parma
Fomento Artístico Cordobés, Córdoba, Veracruz/Mexico
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Lucia Giuffrida, Francesco Frola, Adria Velásquez, Kevin Haigen, Janusz Mazon, Gigi Hyatt
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2019, Soloist in 2022, Principal since 2023
CREATIONS
The Shadow in "Dona Nobis Pacem"
and solo in
Peter and Igor
REPERTORY
Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Endymion in "Sylvia"
Prince Désiré, Catalabutte and Cupid's Blessing in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Wolf Beifeld in "Liliom"
Frederick the Great in "Death in Venice"
Pas de deux in "A Cinderella Story"
The Man in the Shadow, Prince Siegfried and Prince Alexander in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
Love in "Bernstein Dances"
Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet"
Allan Gray in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Arlequin in ‘Carnaval' and The Spirit of the rose in 'Le Spectre de la rose' in "Nijinsky"
Drosselmeier in "The Nutcracker"
Armand in "Lady of the Camellias"
A Suitor / The War in "Odyssey"
Mr Brocklehurst in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
and solos in
Saint Matthew Passion
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Préludes CV
AWARD
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer-Prize 2023
More about Alessandro Frola
Princess Claire
Ana Torrequebrada
Soloist
BORN
3.5.2000 in Burgos, Spain. Spanish
EDUCATION
Escuela Profesional de Danza "Ana Laguna"
Ballet School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Ana González Barca, Juan Carlos Santamaría, Gigi Hyatt, Leslie Hughes, Ann Drower
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2019, Soloist since 2023
REPERTORY
Marie, The Beautiful Girl from Granada and The Chinese Bird in "The Nutcracker"
Cupid's Blessing and the Moon in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Princess Claire in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire"
Prudence Duvernoy in "Lady of the Camellias"
Circe in "Odyssey"
A Shepherdess in "The Winter's Tale" (Christopher Wheeldon)
Young Jane Eyre in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
solos in
Broadway's Pavlova
Ghost Light
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Préludes CV
More about Ana Torrequebrada
Count Alexander
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
Prince Siegfried
Lasse Caballero
Corps de Ballet
BORN
21.2.2000 in Hamburg, Germany. German
EDUCATION
Ballet School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Kristin Strauss, Eric Miot, Kevin Haigen, Janusz Mazon, Christian Schön
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 2019
REPERTORY
The Unicorn in "The Glass Menagerie"
A Russian Prince in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Prince Siegfried in "Illusions – like Swan Lake"
The Duke in "Lady of the Camellias"
and solo in
Saint Matthew Passion
More about Lasse Caballero
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
Pepijn Gelderman
Corps de Ballet
BORN
27.2.2000 in Arnhem, Netherlands. Dutch
EDUCATION
Boys Action, Arnhem
Codarts Rotterdam
Royal Conservatoire The Hague
ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem
School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Kevin Haigen, Janusz Mazoń, Christian Schön
ENGAGEMENTS
National Youth Ballet in 2019
The Latvian National Ballet in 2022
Hamburg Ballet in 2023
REPERTORY
King Florestan XXIV in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Thomas Nijinsky in "Nijinsky"
Prince Leopold in "Illusions – like Swan Lake""
Photo © Silvano Ballone
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