Ballet by John Neumeier | The Nutcracker
Marie
Lormaigne Bockmühl
Corps de Ballet
BORN
25.10.2001 in Cavite, Philippines. Filipina
EDUCATION
ACTS Manila
School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Kevin Haigen, Raymond Hilbert, Chelo Gemina, Jun Saagundo, Stacey Denhamm, Gigi Hyatt, Leslie Hughes, Anna Urban
ENGAGEMENT
National Youth Ballet in 2021
Hamburg Ballet since 2023
CREATION
The Invisibles (with the National Youth Ballet)
Joy in "Slow Burn" (Aszure Barton)
REPERTORY
Nausicaa in "Odyssey"
Marie and Der chinesische Vogel in "The Nutcracker"
and solo in
Adagio (Pina Bausch)
photo: Silvano Ballone
Drosselmeier
Alexandre Riabko
Character Dancer
BORN
20.2.78 in Kiev. Ukrainian
EDUCATION
Kiev Ballet School
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Vladimir Denisenko, Anatoli Nisnevich, Kevin Haigen
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet since 1996. Soloist in 1999, Principal in 2001, Character Dancer in 2022
CREATIONS
Arlequin in ‘Carnaval' and The Spirit of the rose in 'Le Spectre de la rose' in "Nijinsky"
Sascha in "Préludes CV"
Aschenbach's Concepts in "Death in Venice"
Pas de deux "For Elizabeth" (Osterkonzert 2004, Munich)
Vaslav Nijinsky in "Le Pavillon d'Armide"
creator spiritus in "Purgatorio"
The young Man in "Rennen hinter dem was flieht" (Stephan Thoss)
Gennaro in "Napoli" (August Bournonville / Lloyd Riggins)
and solos in
Yondering
Winter Ways from "Images from Bartók"
Messiah
Winterreise
For Elizabeth
Pizzicato Polka (New Year's Concert 2006, Vienna)
Nachtwanderung from "Songs of the Night"
Ghost Light
VIII (Christhopher Wheeldon)
Beautiful Freak (Marco Goecke)
Unerreichbare Orte (Jirí Bubenícek)
Wege (Yukichi Hattori)
You Never Know (Yaroslav Ivanenko)
Ouroboros (Yuka Oishi)
Ricochet (Sasha Riva)
From a "C-Utopia" (Lizhong Wang)
The Episodes of Absence (Miljana Vracaric)
REPERTORY
Theseus/Oberon, Philostrat/Puck, Demetrius and Bottom/Pyramus in "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
Sir Andrew in "VIVALDI or What You Will"
Drosselmeier, Günter and Fritz in "The Nutcracker"
The King and Count Alexander in "Illusions - like Swan Lake"
Vaslav Nijinsky in "Nijinsky"
Albert and Paesant-Pas de deux in "Giselle"
Mordred in "The Saga of King Arthur"
Aminta and Eros/Thyrsis/Orion in "Sylvia"
Armand Duval and Des Grieux in "Lady of the Camellias"
Peer's Aspects – Aggression and Vision in "Peer Gynt"
Orlando in "As You Like It"
Don Juan in "Don Juan"
Prince Désiré, Catalabutte and Blue Bird in "The Sleeping Beauty"
Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet"
The War in "Odyssey"
Wolferl in "Windows on MOZART"
Parzival in "Parzival – Episodes and Echo"
The Prince and A Bird in "A Cinderella Story"
Edvard/The Prince and The Sea Witch in "The Little Mermaid"
A Shepherd and an Angel in "Christmas Oratorio I-VI"
Jago in "Othello"
Joseph in "The Legend of Joseph"
Konstantin (Kostya) Gavrilovich Triplev in "The Seagull"
Hamlet (Pas de deux) in "Hamlet"
Orpheus in "Orpheus"
Contemplator of the Moon in "Seven Haiku of the Moon"
The Man (Vaslav Nijinsky) in "Le Pavillon d'Armide"
The Mentor (Arrigo Boito) in "Duse"
A Mushik in "Anna Karenina"
The Knight in "Light Beings" (Mats Ek)
Solor in "La Bayadère" (Natalia Makarova after Marius Petipa)
Colas in "La Fille mal gardée" (Frederick Ashton)
James in "La Sylphide" (Pierre Lacotte after Filippo Taglioni)
The Prodigal Son in "The Prodigal Son" (George Balanchine)
Man in Brown in "Dances at a Gathering" (Jerome Robbins)
Onegin in "Onegin" (John Cranko)
and solos in
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Vaslav
Spring and Fall
Bach Suite 2
Désir
Saint Matthew Passion
Shall we dance?
Getting Closer
Spring and Fall
Opus 100 – for Maurice
Rückert-Lieder
Requiem
Soldier Songs (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
Fourth Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Nocturnes
Remanso (Nacho Duato)
Forgotten Land (Jirí Kylián)
Triple Self (Petr Zuska)
Polyphonia (Christopher Wheeldon)
Thaïs Pas de deux (Frederic Ashton)
Glinka Pas de trois (George Balanchine)
Jewels – Emeralds/Rubies (George Balanchine)
Bella Figura (Jirí Kylián)
Thaïs (Kevin Haigen)
Not without my Head (Natalia Horecna)
Moments Movements Mendelssohn (Kevin Haigen)
Trio (Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui)
Liebeslieder Walzer (George Balanchine)
The thing with feathers (Demis Volpi)
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
GUESTING
Dresden, Prag, Dusseldorf, Munich (Easter Concert 2004), Japan (Ballet World Festival 2003 and 2006, Christmas Charity Gala 2008), Vienna (New Year's Concert 2006), Étoiles Gala 2008 and 2010 in Tokyo, Cremona, Verona, Macerata, Taormina (Alessandra Ferri and Friends), Italy (Roberto Bolle & Friends Galas, Alessandra Ferri's Farewell Gala and Silvia Azzoni & Friends Gala), Berlin (Malakov and Friends Gala), St. Petersburg (Open Dance Festival), Monte-Carlo (Ballets Russes Centennial Gala in Honor of HRH The Princess of Hanover), Tapei (International Ballet Gala 2009 and 2010), Australia and Manuel Legris Galas in Vienna and Tokyo. 2012 he was a guest with Alina Cojocaru in galas in London and Tokyo, with Yuan Yuan Tan in San Francisco. He danced Nijnsky as a guest in John Neumeier's ballet "Nijinsky" with the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto.
AWARDS
Finalist of the Prix de Lausanne
Dr. Wilhelm-Oberdörffer-Prize 2001
Les Étoiles de Ballet2000 Dance Award
Premio Roma 2014
Benois de la Danse 2016
Louise
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"
La Barbarina and Aschenbach's assistant, his mother and Tadzio's mother in "Death in Venice"
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
Epilogue
Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (George Balanchine)
Variations for Two Couples (Hans van Manen)
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
GUESTING
The Little Mermaid in "The Little Mermaid" with the National Ballet of China in Wuhan, China
AWARD
Dr.-Wilhelm-Oberdörffer Prize 2014
Günter
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
Epilogue
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"
Drosselmeier und 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"
Alexei Karenin and 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)
Variations for Two Couples (Hans van Manen)
The Times Are Racing (Justin Peck)
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
HE CHOREOGRAPHED
"Flash"
Premiere: Young Choreographers, Hamburg, 2017
AWARD
Scholarship from the "Pierino Ambrosoli Foundation" (2011-2013)
Dr. Wilhelm Oberdörffer-Prize 2019
Fritz
Francesco Cortese
Corps de Ballet
BORN
7.11.2002 in Schio (Vicenza). Italian
EDUCATION
Domus Danza (Schio)
The School of the Hamburg Ballet
MAIN TEACHERS
Kevin Haigen, Janusz Mazon, Stacey Denham, Christian Schön, Anna Urban, Enrica Marcucci, Laura Nardi
ENGAGEMENT
Hamburg Ballet 2021-2022
REPERTORY
Louis and Elmer in "Liliom"
Cupid's Blessing and a Thorn Creature in "The Sleeping Beauty" (new version 2021)
Benvolio in "Romeo and Juliet"
Fritz in "The Nutcracker"
A Manon Lescaut's Admirer in "Lady of the Camellias"
A Suitor / The War in "Odyssey"
Jaschu in "Death in Venice"
John Reed in "Jane Eyre" (Cathy Marston)
An Ally in "Slow Burn" (Aszure Barton)
and soli in
Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler
Préludes CV
Saint Matthew Passion
Blake Works V – The Barre Project (William Forsythe)
Conductor
David Briskin
Conductor
Music Director and Principal Conductor of The National Ballet of Canada since 2006, David Briskin is widely recognized as one of contemporary ballet’s most accomplished conductors.
Mr. Briskin lived and worked for 23 years as a conductor in New York City, working in opera, ballet and in concert. He conducted for seven years with American Ballet Theatre and was a seasonal conductor for New York City Ballet. He has also conducted for nearly all the major North American ballet companies as well as for The Juilliard School’s Dance Division for 12 years. Internationally, Mr. Briskin has appeared with The Royal Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet and The Royal Danish Ballet, where in 2021/22 he conducted productions of John Neumeier’s "Romeo and Juliet "and "La Sylphide" in Copenhagen and on tour throughout Denmark. He conducted the world premiere of "The Winter’s Tale" at Covent Garden in 2014 as well as productions in Toronto, New York and Washington DC. He is currently serving as Music Director for the Nureyev Legend and Legacy Gala Programme featuring dancers from the Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, English National Ballet and other international guests at the Drury Lane Theatre in London in September 2022. He will make his first appearance with Dutch National Ballet in 2023. Mr. Briskin has appeared with orchestras and opera companies in North America and abroad including the Pittsburgh, Detroit, Baltimore, Cincinnati Pops, Fort Worth, Indianapolis, Windsor and Shanghai Symphony Orchestras, as well as Calgary, Manitoba, Sarasota, Lake George Opera and Opera Carolina, among others.
photo: Karolina Kuras
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.
photo: Foto: Felix Broede