Cast

Conductor

Francesco Ivan Ciampa

Birthplace:
Avellino, Italy

Studies:
Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rom national and international schools and academies under the direction of artists such as Carlo Maria Giulini and Bruno Aprea

Prizes:
National Prize for the Arts (2010/2011) and first prize in the National Conducting Competition at the Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Università e della Ricerca (M.I.U.R.)

Career stages:
Assistant to Maestro Antonio Pappano and Maestro Daniel Oren, et al.

Stages:
Opéra Bastille, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro Colón, La Fenice, Teatro Regio (Turin) and Teatro San Carlo, et al. Further performances in Ancona, Attila, Bilbao, Salerno, Tel Aviv, Torre del Lago, Parma, Piacenza, Barcelona, Genoa, Monaco, Modena, Ravenna, Verona, Palermo, Tokyo, Las Palmas, Bilbao and Munich, et al.

Cooperation with orchestras:
Münchner Philharmoniker, Philharmonic Orchestra "A. Toscanini" (Parma), Orchestra Filarmonika Salernitana, Orchestra of the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester), Italian Youth Orchestra, Orchestra of the Opéra Bastille (Paris), Orchestra "I Pomeriggi Musicali", Orchester der Deutschen Oper Berlin, Orchestra Santa Cecilia "I Solisti di Napoli" and Valencia Symphony Orchestra, et al.

Performances

• Don Giovanni
• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)
• La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)

photo: Gianluca D'Argerio

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

• Carmen
• Tosca
• Don Giovanni
• Der Freischütz
• La Bohème
• Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
• Eugene Onegin
• Les Contes d'Hoffmann
• Eugen Onegin (concerted)
• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)
• La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)
• Il trovatore
• Falstaff
• La Traviata
• Pique Dame
• Die dunkle Seite des Mondes
• Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)
• Così fan tutte
• Der fliegende Holländer
• Monster´s Paradise

Baritone

Roberto Frontali

Birthplace:
Rome, Italy

Important parts:
Figaro (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Giorgio Germont (La Traviata), Ford (Falstaff), Falstaff (Falstaff), Jack Rance (La Fanciulla del West), Don Carlo (La Forza del Destino), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Rodrigo (Don Carlos), Conte di Luna (Il Trovatore), Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Jago (Otello), Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Michonnet (Adriana Lecouvreur), Simon (Simon Boccanegra), Alfio (Cavalleria rusticana), Tonio (Pagliacci), Gérard (Andrea Chénier), Scarpia (Tosca), Miller (Luisa Miller), Amonasro (Aida), Gokaud (Pelléas et Mélisande), Michele (Il Tabarro), Schicchi (Gianni Schicchi), Macbeth (Macbeth), Tell (Guillaume Tell), Renato (Un Ballo in Maschera), et al.

Stages:
Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Los Angeles Opera, Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Wiener Staatsoper, Theater an der Wien, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro Real in Madrid, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Damiano Michieletto, Franco Zeffirelli, Liliana Cavani, Graham Vick, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Daniele Gatti, Zubin Mehta, Myung Whun-Chung, et al.

Find further information about Roberto Frontali here.

Performances

• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)

Baritone

Kartal Karagedik

Birthplace:
Izmir, Turkey

Studies:
Singing in Izmir at the University of Istanbul, among others with Alper Kazancioglu and Prof. Güzin Gürel

Master classes:
With Giorgio Zancanaro, Paolo Ballarin, Barbara Frittoli, Luciana Serra and Alfonso Antoniozzi.

Prizes:
First Prize at the Debut Competition (2012), Third Prize and Critics' Award at the Ottavio Ziino Concorso Lirico Internazionale in Rome (2011), Second Prize at the Leyla Gencer Competition in Istanbul (2010), Second Prize at the Beniamino Gigli Competition in Rome (2009), "Best Male Singer" at the International Duchi d'Acquaviva Competition in Atri (2008), "Special Mention Prize" at the International Opera Competition in Como (2008), third prize at the Ferruccio Tagliavini Competition in Graz (2007), first prize at the Güzin Gürel Foundation Lieder Competition in Istanbul (2007)

Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2015/16

Important parts:
Renato (Un ballo in maschera), Rodrigo (Don Carlo), Germont (La Traviata), Simon Boccanegra (Simon Boccanegra), Onegin (Eugeny Onegin), Lescaut (Manon Lescaut), Marcello (La Bohème), Sharpless (Madama butterfly), Sonora (La Fanciulla del West), (Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Duca D'alba (Duca D'alba), Belcore (L'Elisir d'Amore), Riccardo (I Puritani), Il Conte d'Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Carlo Gérard (Andrea Chénier), Mischonnet (Adriana Lecouvreur), Dandini (La Cenerentola), Poeta ( Il Turco in Italia), Chorébe (Les Troyens), Escamillo (Carmen), Valentin (Faust), Ford (Falstaff), Malatesta (Don Pasquale), et al.

Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Opera Vlaanderen, Theater St. Gallen, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Puccini Festival at Torre del Lago, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Komische Oper Berlin, Theater Magdeburg, Theater Erfurt, Oper Leipzig, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Izmir State Opera, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Georges Delnon, Stefan Herheim, Kirsten Harms, Herbert Fritsch, Michael Thalheimer, Guy Montavon, Carlos Wagner, Stefano Poda, Robert Carsen, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Stefano Ranzani, Ottavio Dantone, Eliahu Inbal, Roberto Rizzi-Brignoli, Christoph Prick, Valerio Galli, Andriy Yurkevych, Yves Abel, John Storgårds, Anthony Bramal, Ulf Schirmer, Manlio Benzi, Joana Mallwitz, Peter Feranec, Modesta Pitrenas, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, et al.

Performances

• Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)
• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)
• Le Nozze di Figaro
• Meet the Artists
• La Traviata
• Pique Dame
• Madama Butterfly

photo: Kartal Karagedik

Tenor

Jack Swanson

Birthplace:
Stillwater, Minnesota, US

Studies:
Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance, University of Oklahoma
Masters of Music in Vocal Performance, Rice University

Prizes:
First place in Florida Grand Opera’sYoung Patroness Competition, The San Antonio Music Club Competition, The National Opera Association Competition and The Hal Leonard Art Song Competition. Richard Tucker Memorial award from the Santa Fe Opera, Sullivan Foundation Award

Important parts:
Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Fenton (Falstaff), Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Ferrando (Così Fan Tutte), Count Belfiore (Il Viaggio a Reims), Candide (Candide), et al.

Stages:
Lyric Opera of Chicago, Houston Grand Opera, Arena di Verona, Norwegian Opera, Rossini Opera Festival, Festival de Paris, Glyndebourne Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Vienna State Opera, et al.

Cooperations with directors:
Pier Luigi Pizzi, Francesca Zambello, David Hermann, Jetske Mijnssen, Renaud Doucet, et al.

Cooperations with conductors:
Myung-Whun Chung, Daniele Callegari, James Conlon, Patrick Summers, Speranza Scappucci, Itzhak Perlman, Christoph Eschenbach, et al.

Find further information about Jack Swanson here.

Performances

• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)

photo: Lily Lancaster

Soprano

Alexandra Oomens

Birthplace:
Australia

Studies:
Advanced Diploma of Opera, Masters of Arts (Hons),
Honorary DipRAM for outstanding performance (Royal Academy of Music),
BMus (Hons) from the Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney
Royal Academy Opera Programme, alumna of the Georg Solti Accademia and the Académie du Festival d’Aix-en-Provence

Important parts:
Musetta (La Bohème), Pamina (Die Zauberflote), Title Role of Cunning Little Vixen, Ann Trulove (The Rake’s Progress), Despina (Così fan tutte), Elsie Maynard (The Yeomen of the Guard), Frasquita (Carmen), Euridice (Orfeo ed Euridice), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Almirena (Rinaldo)

Stages:
Deutsche Oper Berlin, English National Opera, Opera North, Pinchgut Opera, Opera Australia, Clonter Opera, London Händel Festival, Royal Academy Opera, et al.

Find further information about Alexandra Oomens here.

Performances

• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)

photo: Julie Ewing

Baritone

Nicholas Mogg

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

Performances

• Carmen
• Boris Godunov
• Jubiläumsgala: 30 Jahre Internationales Opernstudio
• La Bohème
• Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)
• 2nd chamber concert
• Manon
• „Muss denn in diesem Land immer alles politisch sein?“
• Les Contes d'Hoffmann
• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)
• La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)
• Salome
• Così fan tutte
• Ariadne auf Naxos
• L'elisir d'amore
• La Traviata
• Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)

photo: linden.shots

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
• Die Kreide im Mund des Wolfs
• Ariadne auf Naxos
• Manon
• 6th Philharmonic Concert
• Ariadne auf Naxos (concerted)
• Les Contes d'Hoffmann
• Mitridate, re di Ponto
• Eugene Onegin
• Mitridate, re di Ponto (concerted)
• Eugen Onegin (concerted)
• 7th Philharmonic Concert
• PhiSch - das Staatsorchester hautnah...
• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)
• 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: Die Unsichtbaren
• Nijinsky
• Frühlings Erwachen
• Così fan tutte
• Le Nozze di Figaro
• 10th Philharmonic Concert
• Demian
• Nijinsky Gala L
• 1st Philharmonic Concert
• The Seagull
• HOUSE WARMING CONCERT
• Das Paradies und die Peri
• 3. Blaues Konzert
• Schulkonzert
• 2nd Philharmonic Concert
• Kids only #1: Erwachsene verboten
• Ruslan und Ljudmila
• Lady of the Camellias
• 3rd Philharmonic Concert
• Surrogate Cities
• L'elisir d'amore
• 4th Philharmonic Concert
• New Year's Eve concert
• 5th Philharmonic Concert
• Monster´s Paradise
• Kids only #2: Überall doch nirgends zuhause
• 6th Philharmonic Concert
• POINT OF NO RETURN
• The great silence
• Lohengrin
• 7th Philharmonic Concert
• Women's love and death
• Madama Butterfly
• 8th Philharmonic Concert
• Il barbiere di Siviglia
• Special concert music festival
• 9th Philharmonic Concert
• Kids only #3: Ich zieh aus!
• Wonderland
• 10th Philharmonic Concert
• Nijinsky Gala LI

photo: Foto: Felix Broede

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
• Eugen Onegin (concerted)
• Don Pasquale
• Don Pasquale (concerted)
• 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
• HOUSE WARMING CONCERT
• Das Paradies und die Peri
• Ruslan und Ljudmila
• L'elisir d'amore
• The great silence
• Lohengrin
• Madama Butterfly
• Il barbiere di Siviglia

photo: Niklas Marc Heinecke