THE ART OF Sonya Yoncheva
Sopran
Sonya Yoncheva
Soprano
Birthplace:
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Studies:
graduated with performance degrees in piano and voice in Plovdiv, Bulgaria with Nelly Koitcheva, master’s degree in voice at the Conservatory of Geneva with Danielle Borst; alumna of William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix
Prizes:
Opus Klassik in the category "Singer of the Year" (2021), Readers’ Award of The International Opera Awards (2019), “Artist of the Year” of medici.tv (2017), “Newcomer of the Year” in the category singer at the ECHO Klassik Awards (2015), 1st prize at Plácido Domingo's Operalia (2010, Milan), Special Prize of the Les Amis du Festival for her performance of Fiordiligi in “Così fan tutte” at the Academy of Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (2007), et al.
Important parts:
Tosca (Tosca), Manon Lescaut (Manon Lescaut), Ciò-Ciò-San (Madama Butterfly), Violetta Valéry (La Traviata), Norma (Norma), Imogene (II pirata), Mimì (La Bohème), Médée (Médée), Fedora (Fedora), Maddalena di Coigny (Andrea Chénier), Desdemona (Otello), Iolanta (Iolanta), Élisabeth de Valois (Don Carlos), Luisa Miller (Luisa Miller), Poppea (Die Krönung der Poppea), Stephana (Sibirien), Iris (Iris), Antonia (Les contes d'Hoffmann), Thaïs (Thaïs), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Marguerite (Faust), Tatjana (Eugen Onegin), Alcina (Alcina), Dido (Dido und Aeneas), Kleopatra (Julius Caesar), Poppea (Agrippina)
Stages:
Metropolitan Opera New York, Royal Opera House, Teatro alla Scala, Bayerische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Wiener Staatsoper, Opéra de Paris, Semperoper Dresden, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Teatro Real de Madrid, Opernhaus Zürich, Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, ABAO Bilbao Opera, Arena di Verona, Salzburger Festspiele, Münchner Opernfestspiele, Théâtre du Capitole Toulouse, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Victoria Hall in Genf, Maggio Musicale Florenz, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Hungarian State Opera House, Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Teatro del Bicentenario in Guanajuato (Mexiko), Théâtre des Champs-Élysées Paris, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Glyndebourne Festival, Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles, Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Bunka Kaikan Tokyo, Berliner Philharmonie, Palau de la Música in Barcelona, Griechische Nationaloper Athen, Chorégies d'Orange, et al.
More about Sonya Yoncheva
photo: Victor Santiago / SY11
Tenor
Riccardo Massi
Tenor
Riccardo Massi quickly established himself as one of the most in-demand Italian tenors internationally, garnering great success playing the heroes of Puccini and Verdi. A specialist in the art of the use of ancient and medieval weapons, before embarking on a career as an opera singer, he enjoyed a flourishing career as a Stuntman; He has participated in various films including Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York," ABC's miniseries "Empire," and HBO's series "Rome."
Riccardo Massi perfected his vocal technique under the guidance of David Holst. In 2007 He was invited to join theAccademia della Scala; 2009 was the year of his operatic debut in Salerno as Radamès in Aida under the baton of Maestro Daniel Oren.
In 2012 Massi made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the role of Radames in. Aida, which he also sang at the Houston Grand Opera in 2013. In the same year he debuted in the role of Enzo Grimaldi in La Gioconda in concert form at the Concertgebeouw in Amsterdam with soprano Eva Maria Westbroek and conducted by Maestro Bruno Bartoletti, and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Staatsoper in Berlin in Tosca.
Notable engagements include his debut in the role of Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut at the Bol'šoj Theatre in Moscow and in a new production at the Staatsoper Berlin, his debut at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden as Cavaradossi in 2014 under the musical direction of Placido Domingo, a role he reprised at Covent Garden in the 2015/2016 and 2017/2018 seasons, his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Radamès in 2012, a role he reprised at the Met in 2017, his debut at the New National Theatre in Tokyo as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly, his debut in the role of Andrea Chénier at the Royal Swedish Opera, Tosca at the Sydney Opera House and the Semperoper in Dresden, Turandot at the Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour(Opera Australia), the Bregenz Festival and theZurich Opera, his debut in the role of Rodolfo in Luisa Miller in Melbourne(Opera Australia), Don Alvaro in the La forza del destino at the Sydney Opera House, Milio in Zazà Leoncavallo's at London's Barbican Hall (recorded for Opera Rara), the Messa da Requiem Verdi's at Geneva's Grand Théâtre, Un ballo in maschera at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, Aida at the Teatro Regio in Turin, Don José in Carmen at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Pollione in Norma at the Baths of Caracalla, his debut as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Norwegian National Opera, Manrico ne Il trovatore in Toronto and Calaf in Turandot alongside Nina Stemme at the Royal Swedish Opera. He also participated in 2014 in a gala concert together with renowned soprano Anna Netrebko at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysees.
Engagements in the 2017/2018 season include Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Hamburg Staatsoper, Palm Beach Opera and with the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Ansan and Seoul, the debut at the Hamburg Staatsoper in the Requiem Mass Verdi's Don José in Carmen Los Angeles Opera debut, Radames in a new production of Aida at the Sydney Opera House, Hong Kong Opera and Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, as well as Des Grieux in Manon Lescaut at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow.
The Marche tenor's 2019/2020 season engagements include a return to the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Calaf in Turandot, Manrico in Il trovatore at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Cavaradossi at the Semperoper in Dresden and Radamès in a new production of Aida and a gala concert at the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg
In the 2018/2019 season, he made his debut in the role of Gabriele Adorno in Simon Boccanegra at the Marseille Opera, sang Manrico in Il trovatore at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Riccardo in Un ballo in maschera at the Bolshoi in Moscow, Pinkerton in a gala performance of Madama Butterfly at the Nationaltheater in Mannheim and at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Cavaradossi in Tosca at the Washington National Opera and the Semperoper in Dresden, and Pollione in Norma at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.
In the 2021/2022 season, he debuted Don Carlo at the Semperoper in Dresden, Tosca at the Royal Oper house in London, participated in the AIDS Gala at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, and made his debut at the Carlo Felice theater in Genoa with Puccini's Manon Lescaut .He returned to Hamburg with Aida and made his debut at the Wiesbaden festival with Don Carlo.
More about Riccardo Massi
photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Musikalische Leitung
Leonardo Sini
Musical Direction
Birthplace:
Sassari, Italy
Studies:
Musical studies (“L. Canepa” Conservatroy of Music, Royal Academy of Music London)
Masterclasses:
Conducting with Sian Edwards, Daniele Gatti at the Conservatory of Amsterdam, Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena
Prizes:
Winner International Conducting Competition "Maestro Solti" 2017
Repertoire:
La Traviata, Don Carlos, Aida, Un Ballo in maschera, Rigoletto, Alzira, Gianni Schicchi, Le Villi, Gianni Schicchi, La Bohème, Turandot, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Elisir d'amore, Adriana Lecouvreur, et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Hamburg, Opernhaus Zuerich, Opéra Bastille de Paris,, Hungarian State Opera, ,Teatro Carlo Felice Genova, Teatro Petruzzelli, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Florence, Opera Australia Sydney, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonie Bremen, Southbank Sonfonia, Hungarian State Opera Orchestra, the Győri Philharmonic Orchestra, Pannon Philharmonic Orchestra, et al.
More about Leonardo Sini
photo: Laila Pozzo
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
