Giuseppe Verdi | La Traviata
Musikalische Leitung
Stefano Ranzani
Conductor
Birthplace:
Milan, Italy
Studies:
Violin and musical conduction at Conservatory Giuseppe Verdi in Milan
Repertoire:
Italian opera repertoire (Rossini, Bellini, Donizetti, Verdi, Puccini, Giordano, Leoncavallo, Mascagni, Cilea), Romantic opera repertoire (e. g. Caikovskij, French Opera), symphonic repertoire from late 18th century till early 20th century (among others Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Mahler, Richard Strauss, Berlioz, Debussy, Ravel, Caikovskij, Rachmaninov)
Career stages:
Music Director of the Teatro Massimo V. Bellini in Catania (2007-2008)
Stages:
Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Wiener Staatsoper, Washington Opera, Liceu de Barcelona, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Opernhaus Zürich, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro San Carlo di Napoli, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, I Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano, Mozarteumorchester Salzburg, Orchestra Nazionale della Rai di Torino, English Northern Philharmonia, Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano, Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Symphoniker Hamburg, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, et al.
photo: Roselina Garbo
Chorleitung
Christian Günther
Associate Chorus Master
Birthplace:
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Studies:
Conducting at University of Music and Performing Arts Munich, conducting lessons with Neeme Järvi, Jorma Panula and Gianluigi Gelmetti
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Assistant Chorus Master at Hamburg State Opera since the 2019/20 season
Career stages:
Assistant of the Chorus Master at Hamburg State Opera (2008-2019), regular guest appearances at NDR-Chorus (since 2018), Guest Chorus Master at Zürich Opera House (2018), Assistant of Eberhard Friedrich with the Chorus of the Bayreuth Festival (2017), Guest engagements at Music Festival Bremen, at Festival der Projektgruppe Neue Musik Bremen as well as at Oh Ton-Ensemble Oldenburg, Leader of the Ensemble “Atelier Neue Musik”, Lectureship at the Hochschule für Künste Bremen (since 2007), Associate Chorus Master and Leader of the children's chorus at Theater Bremen (2002-2007), 2nd Capellmeister at Theater Bremen (2005-2007), Conductor of the Ensemble “piano possible” Munich (1996-2007), Guest répétiteur at Stuttgart State Theater, Theater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich and at the Biennale in Munich
Cooperation with choruses:
Chorus of Hamburg State Opera, NDR Chorus, Children's chorus of Theater Bremen, et al.
Violetta Valery
Vera-Lotte Boecker
Soprano
There is no information yet.
photo: Monarca Studios
Flora Bervoix
Ida Aldrian
mezzo-soprano
Birthplace:
Bruck an der Mur, Austria
Studies:
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Leopold Spitzer and Karlheinz Hanser; studies for Stage Performance (Opera and Musical Drama), Art Song and Oratorio with KS Marjana Lipovšek with honors; member of International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera (2012/13–2013/14)
Master class:
With Ann Murray, Bernarda Fink, Reri Grist, Peter Kooij, Andrew Watts, Thomas Hampson, Wicus Slabbert, Alan Titus, Brigitte Fassbaender, et al.
Prizes:
Dr.-Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Preis of Stiftung zur Förderung der Hamburgischen Staatsoper (2014), prize winner of the jury ranking at international singing competition „Stella Maris“ (2014)
Relation to the State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2019/20
Important parts:
Wellgunde (Das Rheingold and Götterdämmerung), Siegrune and Rossweiße (Die Walküre), Blumenmädchen and Stimme aus der Höhe (Parsifal ), 2. Maid (Daphne), Feodor (Boris Godunov), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Isabella (L'Italiana in Algeri), Adalgisa (Norma), Idamante (Idomeneo), Third Lady (The Magic Flute), Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Penelope (Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria), Mercedes (Carmen), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Laura (Luisa Miller), Flora and Annina (La Traviata), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Meg Page (Falstaff), Dryade (Ariadne auf Naxos), Orlofski (Die Fledermaus), et al.
Stages:
Elbphilharmonie, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Kölner Philharmonie, Wiener Konzerthaus, Musikverein Wien, Staatstheater Nürnberg, Grafenegg Festival, Laeiszhalle Hamburg, Barocktage Melk, Styriarte, International Brucknerfest Linz, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Andreas Homoki, Georg Schmiedleitner, Laura Scozzi, Mariame Clément, Verena Stoiber, Peter Konwitschny, Stéphane Braunschweig, David Bösch, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Simone Young, Kent Nagano, Martin Haselböck, Marcus Bosch, Yutaka Sado, Pablo Heras-Casado, Christopher Moulds, Cornelius Meister, Fabio Luisi, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Simon Gaudenz, et al.
More about Ida Aldrian
photo: Christoph Ziegler
Annina
Renate Spingler
Mezzo-soprano
Birthplace:
Kempten, Germany
Studies:
Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Munich
Master class:
with Prof. Reri Grist
Prizes:
Honored by the Hamburg Senate with the title of “Hamburger Kammersängerin” (2017)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 1986/87
Important parts:
Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Margret (Wozzeck), Sdena (Das Fest im Meer), Gräfin Helfenstein/Üppigkeit (Mathis der Maler), Sigrune/Rossweiße/Wellgunde (Der Ring des Nibelungen), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Herodias (Salome), Adelaide (Arabella), Flora (La Traviata), Larina (Eugen Onegin), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), Prinz Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Lœna (La belle Hélène), Brigitta (Die tote Stadt), Mary (Der fliegende Holländer), Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande), Mère Jeanne de l’Enfant-Jésus (Dialogues des Carmélites), Circe (I.th.Ak.A.), Gräfin Geschwitz (Lulu), Mercédès (Carmen), Hippolyta (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Marthe Schwerdtlein (Faust), Lola/Mama Lucia (Cavalleria Rusticana), Ottavia (L’Incoronazione di Poppea), 2. Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Tebaldo (Don Carlos), Emilia (Otello), Gaea (Daphne), Hänsel/Hexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Miss Baggott (Der kleine Schornsteinfeger), Auntie (Peter Grimes), Die böse Königin (Schneewittchen), et al.
Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Oper Frankfurt, Semperoper Dresden, Theater Bonn, Oper Leipzig, Theater Bremen, La Monnaie, Oper Köln, Königliche Oper Kopenhagen, Prinzregententheater München, Theater an der Wien, Theatro Municipale de Sao Paulo, Gran Teatre del Liceu, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Ruth Berghaus, Willy Decker, Gian-Carlo di Monaco, Dieter Dorn, Adolf Dresen, August Everding, Jürgen Flimm, Achim Freyer, Ramin Gray, Caroline Gruber, Claus Guth, Hans Hollmann, Andreas Homoki, Günter Krämer, Harry Kupfer, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Juri Ljubimov, Marco Aturo Marelli, Christian Pade, Simon Philips, Ernst-Theo Richter, Nils-Peter Rudolf, Johannes Schaaf, Sir Peter Ustinov, Christoph von Bernuth, Robert Wilson, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Gerd Albrecht, Marc Albrecht, Marco Armiliato, Gary Bertini, Michael Boder, Nathan Brock, Semyon Bychkov, Giuliano Carella, Bertrand de Billy, Jaqcues Delaôte, Alessandro di Marci, Peter Eötvös, Alfred Eschwé, Lawrence Foster, Michael Halasz, Eliahu Inbal, René Jacobs, Günter Jena, Alexander Joel, Karen Kamensek, Paul Kildea, Bernhard Klee, Jun Märkl, Cornelius Meister, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Garcia Navarro, Giuseppe Patané, Christoph Prick, Wolfgang Rennert, Donald Runnicles, Michael Schønwandt, Peter Schreier, Klauspeter Seibel, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Leonard Slatkin, Alexander Soddy, Stefan Soltesz, Marcello Viotti, Sebastian Weigle, Bruno Weil, Simone Young, Lothar Zagrosek, Hans Zender, et al.
More about Renate Spingler
Alfredo Germont
Oleksiy Palchykov
Tenor
Birthplace:
Kiev, Ukraine
Studies:
At the Vocal Faculty of the Petro Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, Atelier Lyrique of the Opéra National de Paris
Prizes:
Grand Prix of the XVI International Lydia Abramova Vocal Student’s Competition “Bella voce” in Moscow, special prize of the Jury at the International Vocal Competition “Debut” in Wiekersheim, Prix Lyrique du Carpeaux, Prix Lyrique de L'AROP, finalist of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2017/18
Important parts:
Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Alfredo (La Traviata), Fenton (Falstaff), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore), Il Conte d’Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Pylade (Iphigénie en Tauride), Paris (La belle Hélène), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Cassio (Otello), Narraboth (Salome), Beppe (Pagliacci), Sinowi (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Lykow (The Tsar’s Bride), Gritsko (Sorochintsi Fair), Kudryash (Katia Kabanova), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), et al.
Stages:
The Lyon Opera house, Opera Bastille, Opera Garnier, Athénée-Théâtre, Opernhaus Zürich, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Edinburg International Festival, Garsington Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Champs Elysees Theatre, National Opera of Monpellier, National Opera of Ukraine, M. Dzhalil Tatar Academic State Opera, Chaliapin Festival, Le Théâtre du Léman, Palazzo dei Congressi Lugano, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Andreas Homoki, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Barrie Kosky, Calixto Bieito, Willy Decker,
Renaud Doucet/André Barbe, Mariame Clement, William Kentridge, Christophe Perton, Àlex Ollé, Laurent Pelly, Olivier Py, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Nello Santi, Philippe Jordan, Kent Nagano, Visiliy Petrenko, Michael Schønwandt, Riccardo Frizza, Kazushi Ono, Paolo Carignani, Alessandro De Marchi, Daniele Callegari, Henrik Nánási, Vakclav Luks, et al.
More about Oleksiy Palchykov
photo: Antonia Sievierova
Giorgio Germont
Alexey Markov
Baritone
Birthplace:
Vyborg, Russia
Studies:
Mariinsky Academy of Young Opera Singers
Prizes:
First prize at Rimsky-Korsakov Vocal Competition, First prize at Elena Obraztsova Vocal Competition, Second prize at Competizione dell'Opera, First prize at International Stanislaw Moniuszko Vocal Competition, Russian theatre prize Golden Mask
Important parts:
Renato (Un ballo in Maschera), Don Carlo di Vargas (La forza del destino), Iago (Otello), Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), Conte di Luna (Il Trovatore), Rodrigo (Don Carlo), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Riccardo (I Puritani), Michonnet (Adriana Lecouvreur), Silvio (Pagliacci), Marcello (La Bohème), Scarpia (Tosca), Amfortas (Parsifal), Eugen Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Jeletzky und Tomsky (Pique Dame), Robert (Iolanta), Grigory Gryaznoy (Die Zarenbraut), Andrey Bolkonsky (Krieg und Frieden), Valentin (Faust), Escamillo (Carmen), Chorèbe (Les Troyens), et al.
Stages:
Metropolitan Opera, Opéra de Lyon, Opernhaus Zürich, Bayerische Staatsoper, De Nederlandse Opera, San Francisco Opera, Semperoper, Salzburger Festspiele, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg, Bolschoi Theater Moscow, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Peter Stein, Robert Carsen, Dmitry Tcherniakov, Barrie Kosky, Keith Warner, Mario Martone, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Valery Gergiev, Mariss Jansons, Yuri Temirkanov, Kirill Petrenko, James Levine, Marco Armiliato, Nello Santi, Teodor Currentzis, Andris Nelsons, et al.
Gastone
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
Il Barone Douphol
Nicholas Mogg
Baritone
Birthplace:
Manchester, United Kingdom
Studies:
International Opera Studio, Hamburg State Opera; National Opera Studio, London; Royal Academy of Music, London; Clare College, University Cambridge
Masterclass:
with Sir Simon Keenlyside, Christian Gerhaher, Malcolm Martineau, Brigitte Fassbaender, Gerald Finley, Sir Thomas Allen
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2022/23 season
Was Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2019/20 to 2022/23
Prizes:
Royal Over-Seas League Singers’ Section; Richard Lewis/Jean Shanks Award
Roles:
Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Ned Keene (Peter Grimes), Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Steward (Flight), Herr Peachum (Die Dreigroschenoper), Melisso (Alcina), Jupiter (Orphée aux Enfers), et al.
Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Wigmore Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, Het Concertgebouw, Festival Aix, Elbphilharmonie, Theater Lübeck
Cooperation with directors:
Keith Warner, Herbert Fritsch, Tim Albery, Orpha Phelan, Richard Jones
Cooperation with conductors:
Robin Ticciati, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Ton Koopman, Sir Roger Norrington, Yoel Gamzou, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Alan Gilbert, Kent Nagano
More about Nicholas Mogg
photo: linden.shots
Il Marchese d'Obigny
William Desbiens
Baritone
Birthplace:
Québec City, Canada
Studies:
Bachelor in voice. Mannes School of Music in New York
Prizes:
Finals at the Paris opera competition at the Palais Garnier
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from the season 2024/25
Important parts:
Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Schaunard (La Boheme), Conte almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Dandini (La cenerentola)
Stages:
Opéra de Québec, Teatro la fenice, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, Landestheater Linz, Palais Garnier
Cooperation with directors:
Robert Lepage, Fabricio Melano, Damon Nestor Ploumis, Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, Jean-Romain Vesperini, Guillermo
Cooperation with conductors:
Wyn Davis, Jonathan Santagada, Elias Grandy, Kens Lui, Claudio Novati, Thomas Rösner, Jorge Parodi
More about William Desbiens
photo: Marco Borrelli
Il Dottore Grenvil
Keith Klein
Bass-Baritone
Birthplace:
Overland Park, Kansas, United States of America
Studies:
Bachelors Degree in Vocal Performance, Eastman School of Music
Masters Degree in Vocal Performance, Florida State University
Prizes:
Laffont Competition Regional 3rd Place Winner, Metropolitan Opera, 2024
Laffont Competition District Winner, Metropolitan Opera, 2024
Barbara and Stanley Richman Memorial Award, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, 2022
NATS SouthEast Conference- Best College Male Florida State University, 2019
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2024/25
Important parts:
Dr. Grenville (La Traviata), Colline (La boheme), Sparafucille (Rigoletto), Angelotti (Tosca), Notary (Der Rosenkavalier) Dr. Podsnap (Awakenings)
Stages:
Santa Fe/Crosby Theatre, Opera Colorado/Ellie Caulkins Opera House, Florida Grand Opera/ Adrienne Arscht Theatre, Lyric Opera of Kansas City/Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, Opera Theatre of St. Louis/ Loretto-Hilton Center for the Performing Arts
Cooperation with directors:
James Robinson, Patricia Racette, Chia Patiño, Matthew Lata
Cooperation with conductors:
Patrick Summers, Roberto Kalb, Daniella Candillari, Benton Hess
More about Keith Klein
Giuseppe
Aaron Godfrey-Mayes
Tenor
Birthplace:
Mansfield, United Kingdom
Studies:
Mascarade Emerging Artist (2022-2023)
Mascarade Opera Studio (2021-2022)
Advanced Diploma, Royal Academy Opera
Master of Arts, Royal Academy of Music
Bachelor of Music, Royal Academy of Music
Master class:
Allan Clayton, Royal Academy of Music
Dennis O’Neill, Royal Academy of Music
Carmen Santoro, Mascarade Opera Studio
Ann Murray
Ian Partridge, Royal Academy of Music
Prizes:
1 st place, Royal Academy of Music Pavarotti Prize
3 rd place & Wil Keune Mozart Prize, Veronica Dunne International Singing Competition
1 st place, David Clover Festival of Singing Recital Prize
19 th century Italian opera prize, Mozart Singing Competition
Prize winner, Richard Lewis/Jean Shanks Award
1 st place, Nottinghamshire Masonic Music Association Bursary
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2023/24
Important parts:
Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Flute (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Alì (Adina), Albert Herring (Albert Herring), Triquet (Eugene Onegin)
Stages:
Teatro La Fenice, Garsington Opera, Nevill Holt Opera, Königliches Kurtheater Bad Wildbad, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Oliver Mears, Marie Lambert-Le Bihan, Noa Naamat, Douglas Boyd, Paul Curran, Federico Grazzini, Pedro Ribeiro, Jean-Romain Vesperini, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Philippe Herreweghe, Trevor Pinnock, Iain Ledingham, Luciano Acocella, Jonathan Santagada, Douglas Boyd, Sian Edwards, Peter Robinson, Matthew Scott Rogers, Nicholas Chalmers, Dionysis Grammenos, Tom Seligman, et al.
photo: Jörn Kipping
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
Chor
Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
The chorus members appear on stage at the Hamburg State Opera in a different role almost every night. From one day to the next, they might be sailors, pilgrims or conspirators, then courtiers, hunters, the deranged or the imprisoned. In the role of crusaders in I Lombardi alla prima Crociata they travel to Jerusalem, other nights they are invited to Madama Butterfly's marriage or acclaim Prince Igor. The ladies and gentlemen of the opera chorus demonstrate their artistic prowess, their flexibility, and their love of the stage in every performance.
With a membership around 70, the chorus of the Hamburg State Opera has been one of the world’s best opera choruses for many years. The varied repertoire – almost always in the original language – is multifaceted and includes baroque operas and dramatic operas, major works by Verdi and Wagner as well as contemporary pieces. At the start of the 2013/14 season, Eberhard Friedrich took over the post of Chorus Master.
photo: Niklas Marc Heinecke
