Giacomo Puccini | Tosca
Tue, Oct. 15, 2024, 7.30 pm - 10.00 pm
Cast
Musikalische Leitung
Giampaolo Bisanti
Musical Direction
Giampaolo Bisanti
Birthplace:
Milan, Italy
Studies:
Conducting, clarinet, piano and composition at the Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi in Milan, graduating with honors
Prizes:
Winner of the Dimitri Mitropoulos International Music Competition in Athens, 1998
Repertoire:
Mainly Italian repertoire, from Bellini, Donizetti to Verdi and Puccini and Verismo, first conducted Wagner opera (Der Fliegender Holländer) at Teatro Petruzzelli Bari (2018)
Career stages:
General Music Director of Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari/Italy 2017-2022), from September 2022 General Music Director of Opéra Royal de Wallonie Luettich
Stages:
Wiener Staatsoper, Staatsoper Hamburg, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Festival Peralada, Opéra Bastille Paris, Les Chorégies d'Orange,, Opernhaus Zürich, Stadttheater Basel, Opéra de Lausanne, New National Theatre Tokyo, Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Teatro La Fenice, Teatro Comunale Bologna, Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari, Seattle Opera, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra RAI Torino, Philharmonie de Strasbourg, Russian Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra della Toscana, Haydn Orchestra Bozen Bolzano, et al.
Find further information about Giampaolo Bisanti here.
Performances
Chorleitung
Christian Günther
Associate Chorus Master
Christian Günther
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.
Performances
Floria Tosca
Carmen Giannattasio
Soprano
Carmen Giannattasio
Birthplace:
Avellino, Italy
Prizes:
First Prize and the Audience Award at Placido Domingo’s Operalia (2002), winner of the Gramophone Opera Award (2011)
Important parts:
Mimì (La Bohème), Violetta (La Traviata), Leonora (Il Trovatore), Norina (Don Pasquale), Liú (Turandot), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Desdemona (Otello), Norma (Norma), Madama Cortese (Il Viaggio a Reims), Nedda (Pagliacci), Amelia Grimaldi (Simon Boccanegra), Floria Tosca (Tosca), et al.
Stages:
Scottish Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Metropolitan Opera, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Teatro alla Scala, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Bayerische Staatsoper, Teatro La Fenice, De Nederlandse Opera, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
David McVicar, Lee Blakeley, Giuliano Montaldo, Francesco Micheli, Franco Zeffirelli, Patrice Caurier, Lorenzo Mariani, Federico Tiezzi, Damiano Michieletto, Götz Friedrich, Robert DeSimone, Pier Luigi Pier'Alli, Moshe Leiser, David Pountney, Àlex Ollé, Jürgen Rose, Willy Decker, Philipp Stölzl, Philipp M. Krenn, Alfonso Signorini, Daniele Abbado, Boris Stetka, Leo Muscato, Roland Schwab, Jean-Louis Grinda, Shawna Lucey, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Franco Zeffirelli, Diego Matheuz, James Conlon, Andrea Battistoni, Daniele Callegari, Speranza Scappucci, Leo Hussain, Nathalie Stutzmann, Omer Meir Wellber, Daniel Oren, Marco Armiliato, Zubin Mehta, Alberto Veronesi, Vegard Nilsen, Stefano Ranzani, Nicola Luisotti, Ivan Repušić, Myung-Whun Chung, Paolo Carignani, Nicholas Carter, William Spaulding, Antonio Pappano, Maurizio Benini, Juraj Valčuha, Donald Runnicles, Gianluca Marcianò, Stefano Montanari, Daniele Rustioni, Bertrand de Billy, Paolo Arrivabeni, Jader Bignamini, Riccardo Chailly, Daniel Barenboim, et al.
Performances
Mario Cavaradossi
Young Woo Kim
Tenor
Young Woo Kim
Birthplace:
Seoul, South Korea
Studies:
Batchelor’s Degree Classical Voice, Master’s Degree Classical Voice: Chugye University for the Arts;
Irish Academy of Music, Dublin: Advanced Certificate in Performance
Prizes:
First Prize, JoongAng Music Concours, South Korea; First Prize, UNESCO Opera Competition, Italy.
Important parts:
Fenton (Falstaff), Don José (Carmen), title role Faust, Erik (Der fliegende Holländer), Radamès (Aida), Cavaradossi (Tosca), Bacchus (Ariadne auf Naxos)
Stages:
Teatro Filarmonica, Verona; Oper Köln, Staastoper Hamburg; Garsington Festival, UK; Australian Opera
Cooperations with conductors:
Johannes Fritzsch, François-Xavier Roth, Julia Jones, Guiseppe Finzi, Sesto Quatrini, Andrés Orozco-Estrada
Performances
Baron Scarpia
Ambrogio Maestri
Baritone
Ambrogio Maestri
Birthplace:
Pavia, Italy
Studies:
Singing and piano in Pavia, Italy
Important parts:
Falstaff (Falstaff), Lago (Otello), Renato (Un ballo in maschera), Don Carlo di Vargas (La forza del destino), Giorgio Belmont (La Traviata), Conte di Luna (Il trovatore), Amonasro (Aida), Rolando (La Battaglia di Legnano), Simon Boccanegra (Simon Boccanegra), Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Nabucco (Nabucco), Dulcamara (L'Elisir d'Amore), Baron Scarpia (Tosca), Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana), Tonio (Pagliacci), et al.
Stages:
Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Verdi in Busseto, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Opéra national de Paris, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Arena di Verona, Puccini Festival Torre del Lago, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Opernhaus Zürich, Salzburger Festspiele, Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro Regio di Torino, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Dutch National Opera, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Verdi Centennial, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Giorgio Strehler, Franco Zeffirelli, Robert Carsen, Graham Vick, Peter Stein, Bob Wilson, Larent Pelly, Mario Martone, Hugo De Ana, Bartlett Sher, Ferzan Ozpetek, et al.
Cooperations with conductors:
Riccardo Muti, Zubin Mehta, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Oren, Fabio Luisi, Antonio Pappano, Jeffrey Tate, Nello Santi, Marcello Viotti, Marco Armiliato, Gianandrea Noseda, Renato Palumbo, Daniel Harding, et al.
Find further information about Ambrogio Maestri here.
Performances
Cesare Angelotti
Han Kim
Bass
Han Kim
Birthplace:
Pohang, South Korea
Studies:
Bachelor, Seoul National University with Kwangchul Youn; Master Vocal performance, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Christian Elsner; Soloist’s Diploma Vocal performance, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe with Christian Elsner
Master class:
with Ann Murray, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (2019), with David Selig, Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe (2019)
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2023/24 season
Was Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera 2021/22 and 2022/23
Important parts:
Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Leporello/Masetto (Don Giovanni), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Sprecher (Die Zauberflöte), Il conte Rodolfo (La sonambula), Don Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Don Fernando (Fidelio), Colline (La Bohème), Zuniga (Carmen)
Stages:
Theater Heidelberg
Cooperation with directors:
Sonja Trebes
Cooperation with conductors:
Dietger Holm
Performances
- Carmen
- Tosca
- Der Freischütz
- La Bohème
- Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
- Manon
- La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)
- Parsifal
photo: Johannes Xaver Zepplin
Sagrestano
Grzegorz Pelutis
Baritone
Grzegorz Pelutis
Birthplace:
Słupsk, Poland
Studies:
Bachelor and Masters at Academy of Art in Szczecin, both graduated with honours, Janusz Lewandowski’s singing class (2016-2021)
Master classes:
Opera Academy Young Talent Development Programme of the Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera In Warsaw (since 2021):
Consant tutelage by: Izabela Kłosińska, Olga Pasiecznik, Eytan Pessen, Matthias Rexroth, Michał Biel, Katelan Tran Terrell;
Guest masterclasses: Edith Wiens, Ewa Podleś, Mariusz Kwiecień, Maciej Pikulski, Hedwig Fassbender, Tobias Truniger, Adrian Kelly, Vesselina Kassarova, Fausto Nardi, Małgorzata Walewska
Prizes:
3rd prize and Juan Pons Prize at I International Juan Pons Singing Competition - Palma de Mallorca, Spain, June 2022
2nd prize winner at 1st Swiss International Music Competition – online, July 2021
2nd prize winner and special prize winner of the Director of the K. Namysłowski Symphony Orchestra in Zamość at 7th Krystyna Jamroz National Vocal Competition - Kielce/Busko-Zdrój, Poland, February 2022
3rd prize winner at 7th National Vocal Competition in Drezdenko, Poland, November 2021
3rd prize winner in"Opera Singers" category at"Prague Romansiada" competition, Prague 2017
Only Polish contestant of Plácido Domingo's Operalia 2022
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera since the season 2023/24
Important parts:
Chorąży “Ensign” (Hrabina - "The Countess"), Dudziarz (Halka), The Mayor “Burmistrz” (Szarlatan, czyli wskrzeszanie zmarłych - “Charlatan, or resurrection of the dead”), Escamillo (Carmen), Archiereios (King Roger), et al.
Stages:
Teatr Wielki – National Polish Opera, The Castle Opera in Szczecin, Polish Philharmonic "Sinfonia Baltica" named after Wojciech Kilar in Słupsk, Gorzów Philharmonic, Tadeusz Baird Philharmonic in Zielona Góra, Stanisław Moniuszko Philharmonic in Koszalin, Karol Szymanowski Philharmonic in Cracow, Various concerts across Europe, e. g. Berlin, Kaliningrad, Prague, Magdeburg, Warsaw, Varna
Cooperation with directors:
Mariusz Treliński, Barbara Wiśniewska, Rafał Matusz, Jitka Stokalska, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Jerzy Wołosiuk, Małgorzata Bornowska, Tadeusz Kozłowski, Michał Klauza, Agnieszka Franków-Żelazny, Stefan Plewniak, et al.
Performances
- Kannst du pfeifen, Johanna
- Tosca
- Jubiläumsgala: 30 Jahre Internationales Opernstudio
- La Bohème
- Ariadne auf Naxos
- Rigoletto
- La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)
- Konzert des Internationalen Opernstudios
photo: Jörn Kipping
Spoletta
Peter Galliard
Tenor
Peter Galliard
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.
Performances
- Carmen
- Tosca
- Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
- Mitridate, re di Ponto
- Eugene Onegin
- La Traviata
- Le Nozze di Figaro
photo: Martina Cyman
Sciarrone
Keith Klein
Bass-Baritone
Keith Klein
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
Find further information about Keith Klein here.
Performances
- Tosca
- Jubiläumsgala: 30 Jahre Internationales Opernstudio
- Dollhouse
- La Bohème
- Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
- Manon
- Eugene Onegin
- Rigoletto
- La Traviata
- Blubb blubb – abgetaucht!
- Le Nozze di Figaro
- Konzert des Internationalen Opernstudios
photo: Jörn Kipping
Un Carceriere
Chorsolist
Chorsolist
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.
Performances
photo: Niklas Marc Heinecke
Un Pastore
Solist des Hamburger Knabenchores
Choir
Solist des Hamburger Knabenchores
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.
Find further information about Solist des Hamburger Knabenchores here.
Performances
photo: Marcelo Hernandez
Kinderchor
Alsterspatzen – Kinder- und Jugendchor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
Alsterspatzen – Kinder- und Jugendchor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
Die Alsterspatzen bezaubern seit vielen Jahrzehnten als Lebkuchen- oder Straßenkinder, als Ministranten und Elfenchor. In der Spielzeit 2019/20 übernahm Luiz de Godoy die Leitung des Kinder- und Jugendchores der Hamburgischen Staatsoper. Die jungen Sängerinnen und Sänger stehen in Produktionen wie „Hänsel und Gretel“, „Carmen“ oder „La Bohème“ neben Ensemblemitgliedern und internationalen Gästen auf der großen Bühne der Staatsoper. Darüber hinaus sind sie mit dem Philharmonischen Staatsorchester unter anderem in der Elbphilharmonie und im Rahmen eigener Projekte in der opera stabile zu erleben.
Wir danken der Alster-Hof Melzner-Stiftung für die Unterstützung.
Find further information about Alsterspatzen – Kinder- und Jugendchor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper here.
Performances
- Rathausmarkt Open Air
- Trionfi
- Carmen
- Boris Godunov
- Tosca
- La Bohème
- Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)
- Frühlings Erwachen
photo: Niklas Marc Heinecke
Chor
Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
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.
Performances
- Rathausmarkt Open Air
- Hamburg Theatre Night
- Trionfi
- Carmen
- Tosca
- La clemenza di Tito
- Der Freischütz
- Luisa Miller
- La Bohème
- Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
- Der fliegende Holländer
- Manon
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann
- Eugene Onegin
- Don Pasquale
- Rigoletto
- Maria Stuarda
- La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)
- Il trovatore
- Falstaff
- La Traviata
- Parsifal
- Pique Dame
- Die dunkle Seite des Mondes
- Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)
- Così fan tutte
- Le Nozze di Figaro
photo: Niklas Marc Heinecke
Orchester
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Orchestra
Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
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.
Performances
- Rathausmarkt Open Air
- 1st Academy Concert - Program I
- 1st Academy Concert - Program II
- 1st Academy Concert - Program III
- 4th Academy Concert
- Trionfi
- Carmen
- The Times Are Racing
- 1st Philharmonic Concert
- Kannst du pfeifen, Johanna
- Boris Godunov
- Special chamber concert
- Tosca
- Jubiläumsgala: 30 Jahre Internationales Opernstudio
- La clemenza di Tito
- Orchesterprobenbesuch
- 2nd Philharmonic Concert
- Don Giovanni
- Jane Eyre
- 3rd Philharmonic Concert
- Elektra
- Der Freischütz
- Luisa Miller
- La Bohème
- Slow Burn
- 4th Philharmonic Concert
- Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)
- Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
- The Nutcracker
- New Year's Eve concert
- Der fliegende Holländer
- 5th Philharmonic Concert
- THE ART OF Lise Davidsen
- Die Kreide im Mund des Wolfs
- Ariadne auf Naxos
- Manon
- 6th Philharmonic Concert
- Les Contes d'Hoffmann
- Mitridate, re di Ponto
- Eugene Onegin
- 7th Philharmonic Concert
- PhiSch - das Staatsorchester hautnah...
- Don Pasquale
- Rigoletto
- Maria Stuarda
- La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)
- Il trovatore
- Falstaff
- 8th Philharmonic Concert
- La Traviata
- The Odyssey
- Parsifal
- Pique Dame
- Opening concert of the Hamburg International Music Festival
- Das Tagebuch der Anne Frank
- Romeo and Juliet
- Die dunkle Seite des Mondes
- Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)
- 9th Philharmonic Concert
- Salome
- National Youth Ballet
- Nijinsky
- Frühlings Erwachen
- Così fan tutte
- Le Nozze di Figaro
- 10th Philharmonic Concert
- Demian
- Nijinsky Gala L
photo: Foto: Felix Broede