Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart | Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
Musikalische Leitung
Leo Hussain
Musical Direction
Repertoire:
L’Italiana in Londra, Wozzeck, Lakmé, Der Waffenschmied, Carmen, Thaïs, Die Zauberflöte, Salome, Die Tote Stadt, Oedipe, Capriccio, The Rape of Lucretia, Gurrelieder, et al.
Career stages:
Music Director at Opera de Rouen (2014)
Music Director at Salzburg Landestheater (2009 – 2014)
Stages:
Oper Frankfurt, Théâtre du Capitole de Toulouse, Teatro Real, Theater an der Wien, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Gothenburg Opera, Norwegian National Opera, San Francisco Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, English National Opera, Bavarian state opera, Berlin state opera, Salzburg Festival, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Hamburger Symphoniker, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Mozartfest Würzburg, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, DSO Berlin, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Prague Philharmonia, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, West Australian symphony Orchestra, Tasmanian symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, et al.
photo: Pia Clodi
Chor
Eberhard Friedrich
Choir Director
Birthplace:
Darmstadt, Germany
Studies:
Studies with Helmuth Rilling in Frankfurt am Main
Prizes:
Under his direction, the Bayreuther Festspielchor was awarded the International Opera Award for Best Choir of the Year in 2014. Under his direction, the choir of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden was named Choir of the Year in 2004 and received the European Cultural Award (2009). Eberhard Friedrich also received a Grammy for his recording of "Tannhäuser" at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden with Daniel Barenboim (2003)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Choir director of the Hamburg State Opera since 2013/14
Career stages:
Choir director of the Festspielchor / Bayreuther Festspiele (since 2000), choir director of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (1998 to 2013), assistant at the Bayreuther Festspiele (since 1993), choir director at the Theater der Stadt Koblenz (1986 to 1991) as well as at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (1991 to 1998)
Cooperation with choirs:
MDR-Rundfunkchor, Amsterdam Opera Choir, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Philharmonischer Chor Prag, Chor des Niederländischen Rundfunks, Rundfunkchor Berlin, Rias Kammerchor, Bayerischer Rundfunkchor, Chöre des Westminster Choir College, et al.
photo: Enrico Nawrath
Leitung Hamburger Alsterspatzen
Luiz de Godoy
Musical Direction
Birthplace:
Mogi das Cruzes, Brasil
Studies:
Piano at Universidade de São Paulo (Bachelor) and at Escola Superior de Artes Aplicadas (Master), Erasmus stay with focus on piano and conducting at Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, Diploma course conducting at Universität für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Wien (with honors)
Prizes:
Würdigungspreis der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien (2019), Scholarship from UNESCO, the European Union and the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, Erwin-Ortner-Preis zur Förderung der Chormusik (2016)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Leader Alsterspatzen since 2019/20
Repertoire:
Focus on choral symphonic repertoire (spiritual and secular oratorios; in particular Wiener Klassik and Deutsche Romantik), special relationship to performance practices of old and new music
Career stages:
conductor of the Wiener Sängerknaben (2016–2019), choir director of Chorakademie des Wiener Staatsopernchores (2016–2018), assistent of the artistic director of the Wiener Singakademie at the Wiener Konzerthaus (2015–2019), musical director of Opera Studio at Sommerfestival „ Música nas Montanhas“ in Poços de Caldas, Brasilien (2010–2012), corepeater of opera projekts at Theatro Municipal de São Paulo (2005–2009)
Stages:
Esplanade Singapur, Peking National Opera, Seoul Lotte Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Taiwan National Theater, Teatro Real Madrid, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Tokyo Opera City Hall, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wiener Musikverein; Carinthischer Sommer, Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Grafenegg Festival, Schleswig-Holstein Festival
Cooperations with orchestras (as conductor):
Camerata Schulz, ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Orquestra de la Armada de Chile, Orquestra Juvenil da Bahia, Polish Baltic Filharmonic, Schubert-Akademie Wien, Youth-Orchestra Singapur et al.
cooperations (choral rehearsal / assistance):
Berliner Philharmoniker, Les Sciècles, Mariinsky-Theaterorchester Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Symphoniker et al.
Cooperations with artists:
Gustavo Dudamel, Valery Gergiev, Ton Koopman, Sir Simon Rattle, Simone Young, Franz Welser-Möst
photo: Fernanda Nigro
Sarastro
Alexander Roslavets
Bass
Birthplace:
Brest, Belarus
Studies:
Rimsky-Korsakov Staatskonservatorium in St. Petersburg bei Professor Nikolai Okhotnikov (2009-2014), Young Artist Programme Bolschoi-Theater in Moskau (2014-2016)
Master classes:
With Elena Obraztsova, Edda Moser, Dmitry Vdovin, Evgeny Nesterenko, Irina Bogacheva, Lubov Orfenova, Neil Shicoff, Bernd Weikl, Carol Vaness, John Fisher
Prizes:
Third prize in the first International Music Competition in Harbin (2018), third and special prize in the Queen Sonja International Music Competition (2017), second prize in the second International Opera Singing Competition of Portofino (2017), special prize in the 36th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition (2017), grand prix and audience prize in the second International Eva Marton singing competition in Budapest (2016), second prize in the sixth Galina Vishnevskaya International Opera Singers Competition (2016), grand prix in the Special Foundation Of The President Of Belarus Supporting Talented Youth (2016), first prize in the seventh International Competition of Opera Singers in Saint-Petersburg (2015), diploma in the 10th Elena Obraztsova International Competition Of Young Opera Singers (2015), special prize in the first International Christmas Vocal Competition in Minsk (2014), grand prix in the 42nd Russian National Vocal Graduates Competition in St. Petersburg (2014)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2016/17
Important parts:
Malyuta Skuratov (Die Zarenbraut), Mephistopheles (Faust), König Dodon (Der goldene Hahn), Colline (La Bohème), Bartolo (Le Nozze de Figaro), Commenadatore, Masetto (Don Giovanni), Brander (La Damnation de Faust), Il Conte di Monterone (Rigoletto), 5.Jude (Salome), Lodovico (Otello), Il Sagrestano und Cesare Angelotti (Tosca), Raimondo Bidebent (Lucia di Lammermoor), Peter Quince (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Lo zio Bonzo (Madama Butterfly), Don Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Fafner (Das Rheingold), Fafner (Siegfried), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), King René (Iolanta), Banco (Macbeth), Prince Gremin (Eugen Onegin), Daland (Der Fliegende Holländer), Vodnik (Rusalka), Dulcamara (L’Elisir d’Amore), Ali Baba (Ali Baba), et al.
Stages:
Mikhailovsky Theater, Bolschoi Theater, Tschaikowsky-Konzertsaal in Moskau, Bolschoi Theater in Weißrussland, St. Petersburger Philharmonie benannt nach Schostakowitsch, Ungarische Staatsoper, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Teatro alla Scala, Metropolitan Opera, Glyndebourne Festival, Berliner Philharmoniker, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Rimas Tuminas, Calixto Bieito, Tito Capobianco, Paul Curran, Stanislav Gaudasinsky, Peter Stein, Alexey Stepaniuk, Achim Freyer, Liliana Cavani, Mariusz Trelinski, Melly Still, Jan Bosse, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Adam Fischer, Robin Ticciati, Henrik Nanasi, Vladimir Jurowski, Ainars Rubikis, Daniele Rustioni, Tugan Sokhiev, Fabio Mastrangelo, Anton Grishanin, Michal Klauza, Gregor Bühl, Kent Nagano, Paolo Carignani, Renato Palumbo, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Yves Abel, Stefano Ranzani, Carlo Rizzari, Christof Prick, Nathan Brock, Sergei Stadler, Yuri Simonov, Michail Jurowski, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Alexander Anisimov, et al.
photo: Martin Paulsson
Tamino
David Fischer
Tenor
David Fischer has been a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein ensemble since 2019, where he made his debut in 2024 as Lensky in Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin. Other roles at his home opera house include Tamino in Mozart's Magic Flute, Alfred in J. Strauss' Fledermaus, Steuermann in Wagner's Flying Dutchman, Peppe in Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, Malcolm in Verdi's Macbeth, Tybalt in Gounod's Roméo et Juliette and Harlequin in Ullmann's Emperor of Atlantis. The role of Tamino has already taken David Fischer to the Salzburg Festival, the Semperoper Dresden and the Leipzig Opera - he also sang Piquillo in Offenbach's Périchole at the Theater an der Wien in 2023.
In the concert repertoire, David Fischer will sing again at the Salzburg Festival in 2024 - this time Bach's St. Matthew Passion with the Utopia Orchestra under Teodor Currentzis. Other concerts include Bach's Christmas Oratorio in the Kreuzkirche Dresden, Haydn's Nelson Mass under Ádám Fischer in the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, Bach's St. Matthew Passion in Madrid and Barcelona under Christoph Prégardien, a Bach program in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Mozart's C minor Mass in and around Paris, including in the Philharmonie and the Palace of Versailles.
In the past, David Fischer has worked with conductors such as René Jacobs, Philippe Herreweghe, Sylvain Cambreling, Howard Arman, Axel Kober, Joana Mallwitz, Will Humburg, Frieder Bernius, Jordan de Souza and Andreas Reize and has toured Asia and Europe with orchestras such as the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, the Freiburger Barockorchester, the Koninklijk Concertgebouworkest and the B'Rock Orchestra, has toured Asia and Europe, performed at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Kunstpalast Budapest, the Hamburg Michel (with the Hamburg Ballet), the NFM Breslau, the NDR and the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and immortalized his work in recordings of Mendelssohn's Walpurgisnacht, published by Carus and Bach's St. John Passion, to be published by Rondeau.
David Fischer works closely with his Finnish Lied partner Pauliina Tukiainen, with whom he has given recitals at the Swiss Festival classique des Haudères, in Geneva and at the Bonn Schumann Festival. In 2022, the Lied duo made their debut at the Schaffhausen Master Concerts with Schubert's song cycle Die schöne Müllerin.
photo: Christian-Palm
Pamina
Adriana González
Soprano
Place of birth:
Guatemala
Studies:
Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, graduated as a music teacher and Bachelor of Arts in 2012
Awards:
First Prize and Zarzuela Prize at Operalia 2019, First Prize at the “Otto Edelmann Singing Competition” in Vienna, Second Prize, Audience Prize at the “Francisco Viñas International Singing Contest” at the Liceu Barcelona, Prize of the Teatro Real in Madrid, Prize of the Associació d'Amics de l'Ópera in Sabadell, Prize of the International OpernWerkstatt, Prix Lyrique 2017 du Cercle Carpeaux, among others.
Important roles:
Suor Angelica (Suor Angelica), Liù (Turandot), Mimì (La Bohème), Antonia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Micaela (Carmen), Juliette (Roméo et Juliette), Contessa Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Corinna (Il viaggio a Reims), Lia (Debussy's L'Enfant Prodigue), among others. a.
Stages:
Salzburg Festival, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Real de Madrid, Oper Frankfurt, Staatsoper Berlin, Deutscheoper Berlin, Opéra de Toulon, Grand Théâtre du Genève, Dutsch National Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Opéra National de Lorraine, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Opéra Nancy, among others.
Collaboration with conductors:
Marco Armiliato, Lorenzo Viotti, Simone Young, Michele Spotti, Domingo Hindoyan, Fabien Gabel, Raphaël Pichon, Hervé Niquet, Iñaki Encina Oyón, among others.
Collaborations with directors:
Rafael Villalobos, Bob Wilson, Damiano Micheletto, Calixto Bieito
photo: Marine Cessat-Bégler
Sprecher
David Minseok Kang
Bass
Origin:
Korea
Studies:
Kyunghee University in Seoul with Alfred Kim, Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart Master class Oper with Ulrike Sonntag (2018-2022)
Master classes:
With Jenny Anvelt, Bo Skovhus, Kwangchul Youn, Margreet Honig, Gundula Schneider
Important parts:
Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Colline (La Bohème), Dr. Grenvil (La Traviata), Gremin (Eugen Onegin), Reinmar von Zweter (Tannhäuser), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), Colline (La Bohème), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Stuttgart, Ettlinger Schlossfestspiele, Theater Kiel, Oper Zürich
Relation to the State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio from 2019/2020 to 2021/2022
Ensemble member since 2022/2023
Cooperations with directors:
Blanka Radoczy, Solvejg Bauer, Bernd Schmitt
Cooperations with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Nicolas Andre, Matteo Beltrami, Paolo Arrivabeni, Giampaolo Bisanti, Francesco Ivan Ciampa
photo: Brinkhoff/Mögenburg
Priester
Mziwamadoda Sipho Nodlayiya
Tenor
Birthplace:
Cape Town, South Africa
Studies:
Postgraduate Diploma in Opera Performance (2023), Diploma in Opera Performance (2021)
Master class:
Martin Hundelt – Johannesburg International Mozart festival (2024)
Levy Sekagapane - Opera UCT Masterclass Series (2023)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2024/25
Important parts:
Camille, Count de Rosillon (The Merry Widow), Hendrik Cesars (Sara Baartman), Cochenille (Le Conte d’Hoffmann, Bertrando (L’inganno felice), Ernesto (don Pasquale)
Stages:
Artscape Opera House, Pam Golding/Baxter Theatre
Cooperation with directors:
Steven Stead, Matthew Wild, Claudia Blersch, Christine Nolte, Janice Honeyman, Zenobia Kloppers
Cooperation with conductors:
Jeremy Silver, Kamal Khan, Richard Cock, Jochen Rieder
photo: Jörn Kipping
Königin der Nacht
Aleksandra Olczyk
Soprano
Prizes:
Australian Music Industry Helpmann Music Award - Best Female Performer 2019, Polish Music Industry Award - Koryfeusz Muzyki Polskiej 2020
Important parts:
Königin der Nacht (Die Zauberflöte), Gilda (Rigoletto), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Violetta (La traviata) et al.
Stages:
Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House, Opéra national de Paris, Staatsoper Berlin, Teatro Real Madrid, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Semperoper Dresden, Glyndebourne Festival, Hamburg Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Polish National Opera, Opéra de Lille, Finnish National Opera, Festivals of Perth and Adelaide in Australia, Volksoper Wien, Polish National Opera, Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, et al.
photo: Karpati&Zarewicz
Erste Dame
Wendy Bryn Harmer
Soprano
Birthplace:
Roseville, CA
Studies:
Bachelor of Fine Arts, The Boston Conservatory
Prizes:
Teatro alla Scala Award, Hans Gabor Belvedere Competition
Richard Tucker Career Grant, Richard Tucker Music Foundation
Sara Tucker Study Grant, Richard Tucker Music Foundation
First Prize, Jensen Foundation Vocal Competition
Important parts:
Leonore (Fidelio); Title role (Turandot); Brünnhilde, Sieglinde (Die Walküre), Chrysothemis (Elektra); Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos); Senta (Die fliegende Holländer), Miss Jessel (Turn of the Screw); Eglantine (Euryanthe); Adalgisa (Norma); Fata Morgana (L’amour de trois oranges); Desdemona (Otello); Susan B. Anthony (The Mother of Us All)
Stages:
Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Santa Fe Opera, San Francisco Symphony, Tanglewood Music Festival, Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Bard Summerscape, Detroit Opera, Utah Opera, Lyric Opera of Kansas City, Palm Beach Opera, Boston Baroque, Opera Omaha
Cooperations with directors:
Christopher Alden, Laurie Feldman, Robert LePage, Peter McClintock, Kevin Murphy, Otto Schenk, Ivo van Howe
Cooperations with conductors:
Edo de Waart, Jane Glover, James Levine, Fabio Luisi, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Donald Runnicles
photo: Arielle Doneson
Zweite Dame
Claire Gascoin
Mezzosoprano
Birthplace:
France
Studies:
Bachelor’s degree at the Musikhochschule Leipzig, Master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna,
Prizes:
Kammeroper Rheinsberg (2015), Brahms competition (2014) Clara-
Schumann competition (2014), owner of a scholarship of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes
Master classes:
Claudia Visca, Krassimira Stoyanova
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2022/2023 season
Important parts:
Ottone (L’incoronazione di Poppea), Carmen (Carmen), Testo (Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda), Aschenputtel (Cenerentola), Annina (Romilda e Costanza), et al.
Stages:
Staatstheater Cottbus, Oper Krakau, Opéra de Lyon, Royal Opera House Muscat, Opera de Tenerife, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Michael Sturminger, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Stéphane Fuget, Antonino Fogliani, et al.
photo: Jörn Kipping
Dritte Dame
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.
photo: Christoph Ziegler
Papageno
Benjamin Appl
Baritone
Birthplace:
Regensburg, Germany
Studies:
Hochschule für Musik und Theater München
Prizes:
Gramophone Young Artist of the Year (2016), Echo Rising Star (2015-16), Wigmore Hall, Emerging Artist (2015-16), German Schubert Society's German Schubert Prize (2012), et al.
Important parts:
Il Conte d'Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Owen Wingrave, Aeneas (Dido and Aeneas), Dr. Falke (Die Fledermaus), Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos), Minister (Wiener Blut), Schaunard (La Bohème), Baron Tusenbach (Tri Sestri), Leo (Das Leben am Rande der Milchstraße), et al.
Stages:
Dallas Opera, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Liceu Barcelona, Bregenzer Festspiele, Aldeburgh Festival, Opéra de Rouen, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Calixto Bieito, Katie Mitchell, Elijah Moshinsky, Peter Konwitschny, Rosamund Gilmore, Balázs Kovalik, Marcus Everding, Renate Ackermann, Kelly Robinson, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Marin Alsop, Ivor Bolton, Christian Thieleman, Karina Cannellakis, Klaus Makela, Alan Gilbert, Christian Curnyn, Thomas Dausgaard, Edward Gardner, Paavo Järvi, Bernard Labadie, Alessandro De Marchi, Andrew Manze, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Vasily Petrenko, Yutaka Sado, Jordi Savall, Paul McCreesh, and Duncan Ward, et al.
photo: © David Ruano
Monostatos
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
Papagena
Yeonjoo Katharina Jang
Soprano
Birthplace:
South Korea
Studies:
Bachelor's degree in singing at Seoul National University
Master's degree in opera singing at the Franz Liszt University of Music Weimar
Relation to the Staatsoper Hamburg:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera 2022/23 and 2023/24
Important parts:
Susanna/Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro), Queen of the Night/First Lady/Papagena (The Magic Flute), Giannetta (L'elisir d'amore), Gilda (Rigoletto), Olympia (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Thibault (Don Carlos), Ciboulette (Ciboulette), et al.
Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Deutsches Nationaltheater Weimar, Landestheater Neustrelitz, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Seollyeon Konwitschny-Lee, Sascha-Alexander Todtner, Vladislav Parapanov, Stephan Witzlinger, Roman Hovenbitzer, Christian Weise, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Stefan Lano, Paolo Arrivabeni, Mark Wigglesworth, Matteo Beltrami, Daniel Geiss, Leo Hussain, Louis Lohraseb, Nicolas Andre, Volker Krafft, Yoel Gamzou, et al.
photo: Sangdon Lee
Erster Geharnischter
Mziwamadoda Sipho Nodlayiya
Tenor
Birthplace:
Cape Town, South Africa
Studies:
Postgraduate Diploma in Opera Performance (2023), Diploma in Opera Performance (2021)
Master class:
Martin Hundelt – Johannesburg International Mozart festival (2024)
Levy Sekagapane - Opera UCT Masterclass Series (2023)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2024/25
Important parts:
Camille, Count de Rosillon (The Merry Widow), Hendrik Cesars (Sara Baartman), Cochenille (Le Conte d’Hoffmann, Bertrando (L’inganno felice), Ernesto (don Pasquale)
Stages:
Artscape Opera House, Pam Golding/Baxter Theatre
Cooperation with directors:
Steven Stead, Matthew Wild, Claudia Blersch, Christine Nolte, Janice Honeyman, Zenobia Kloppers
Cooperation with conductors:
Jeremy Silver, Kamal Khan, Richard Cock, Jochen Rieder
photo: Jörn Kipping
Zweiter Geharnischter
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
photo: Jörn Kipping
Drei Knaben
Solisten des Hamburger Knabenchores
Choir
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.
photo: Marcelo Hernandez
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.
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