Staatsoper Hamburg - Stück-Besetzung: Giuseppe Verdi

Musikalische Leitung

Finnegan Downie Dear

Chorleitung

Christian Günther

Falstaff

Christopher Purves

Ford

Simon Keenlyside

Bariton

Simon Keenlyside

Birthplace:
London, UK

Studies:
Zoology at Cambridge University and vocal training at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester

Prizes / Honours:
Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2018), Appointment as Austrian Kammersänger at the Wiener Staatsoper (2017), Best Opera Recording (Grammy Awards 2014), Music DVD Recording of the Year (Echo Klassik Awards 2014), Solo Vocal Award ( Gramophone Awards 2012), Musical America’s Vocalist of the Year Award (2011), Male Singer of the Year (ECHO Klassik Award 2007), Outstanding Achievement in Opera (Olivier Award 2006), Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) (2003), et al.

Important parts:
Il Conte d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Prospero (The Tempest), Posa (Don Carlo), Germont Père (La Traviata), Papageno (Die Zauberflöte), Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Eugen Onegin (Eugen Onegin), Pelléas (Pelléas et Mélisande), Wozzeck (Wozzeck), Billy Budd (Billy Budd), Hamlet (Hamlet), Macbeth (Macbeth), Rigoletto (Rigoletto), Marcello (La bohème) sowie Brittens War Requiem, Mendelssohns Elijah, Mahlers Des Knaben Wunderhorn, et al.

Stages:
Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Deutsche Oper Berlin, La Scala, Salzburger Festspiele, New National Theatre Tokyo sowie Engagements in Luxemburg, Paris, Bratislava, Vancouver, Quebec, Washington DC, Atlanta, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Straßburg, Amsterdam, London, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
David Bösch, Marco Arturo Marelli, Frederic Wake-Walker, Johannes Erath, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Franz Welser-Möst, Ryan Wigglesworth, Gianandrea Noseda, Paul McCreesh, Sir Simon Rattle, Edward Gardner, Claudio Abbado, Christian Thielemann, Ricardo Chailly, Richard Hickox, Charles Mackerras, René Jacobs, et al.

Performances

Falstaff

photo: Robert Workman

Fenton

Seungwoo Simon Yang

Tenor

Seungwoo Simon Yang

Birthplace:
Gwangyang, South Korea

Studies:
Singing at Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg with Prof. Carolyn Grace James

Master class:
Bo Skovhus, Eytan Pessen, Lioba Braun, Brigitte Eisenfeld, Gregory Kunde, Chris Merritt, Piotr Beczala, Dorothea Röschmann, Kwangchul Youn, Olga Peretyatko, Ralph Strehle, Harald Stamm, et al.

Prizes:
1st Prize Elise Meyer Competition (2020), 1st Prize of the Mozart Singing Competition (2020), Special Prize and 2nd Prize of the Maritim Music Award (2019), 2nd Prize of the Maritim Music Award (2018), 1st Prize of the Korean Singing Competition (2015), 1st Prize of the Korea Talent Award (2015), 1st Prize of the Ehwa & Kyunghyang Competition (2014), 1st Prize Shin Young-Ok Voice Competition (2014), 1st Prize of the Shinhan Music Award (2014)

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 from 2020/21 to 2023/24

Important parts:
Lord Arturo Bucklaw (Lucia di Lammermoor), Pong (Turandot), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Beppe (Pagliacci), Jaquino (Fidelio), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Pilade (Oreste), Nemorino (L'Elisir d'amore), Rodolfo (La Bohème), et al.

Stages:
Hamburg State Opera, Zurich Opera, Salzburg Festival

Cooperation with directors:
Guy Montavon, Yona Kim, Sascha Alexander Todtner, Amélie Niermeyer

Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Stefano Ranzani, Roberto Rizzi-Brignoli, Francesco Ivan Ciampa, Daniele Callegari, Giampaolo Bisanti, Leonardo Sini, Matteo Beltrarmi, Paolo Arrivabini, Giacomo Sagripanti, et al.

Performances

photo: Johannes Xaver Zepplin

Dr. Cajus

Jürgen Sacher

Tenor

Jürgen Sacher

Birthplace:
Augsburg, Germany

Studies:
Church music and music education at the Leopold-Mozart Konservatorium in Augsburg, vocal studies with Leonore Kirschstein

Prizes:
Scholarship of the Richard Wagner Verband, Promotion Prize of the Hamburgische Staatsoper, appointment as Hamburger Kammersänger (2017)

Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Staatsoper Hamburg since 1991/92

Important parts:
Mime (Siegfried), Mime/Loge (Das Rheingold), Herodes (Salome), Knusperhexe (Hänsel und Gretel), Hauptmann/Andres (Wozzeck), Monostatos/1. Geharnischter (Die Zauberflöte), Maler/Prinz/Marquis/Kammerdiener (Lulu), Dr. Cajus (Falstaff), Tichon (Katja Kabanova), Truffaldino (Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen), Valzacchi (Der Rosenkavalier), David (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), Junger Mann (Moses und Aron), Steuermann (Der fliegende Holländer), Peter Iwanow (Zar und Zimmermann), Pedrillo (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Walther von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser), Goro (Madame Butterfly), Graf Elemer (Arabella), Raoul de St. Brioche (Die lustige Witwe), Novagerio (Palestrina), Orontes (Flavius Bertaridus), Asasello (Der Meister und Margarita), Tanzmeister (Ariadne auf Naxos), Graf von Kent (Lear), Reverend Adams (Peter Grimes), L´Aumonier (Dialogues des Carmélites), Aegisth (Elektra), Fedotik (Tri Sestri), Sylvester von Schaumburg (Mathis der Maler), et al.

Stages:
Hamburgische Staatsoper, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, La Monnaie, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Königliche Oper von Kopenhagen, Teatro alla Scala, Salzburger Festspiele, Theater an der Wien, Budapester Staatsoper, Theatro Municipal de São Paulo, Wagner Festival Budapest, Theater Dortmund, Staatstheater Braunschweig, Staatsoper Budapest, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Harry Kupfer, Willy Decker, Claus Guth, Mario Martone, Achim Freyer, Géza M. Tóth, Livia Sabag, Roger Vontobel, Stefan Herheim, Karoline Gruber, Vincent Boussard, Jochen Biganzoli, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Adam Fischer, Bertrand de Billy, Claudio Abbado, Kent Nagano, Semyon Bychkov, Horst Stein, Christian Thielemann, Ingo Metzmacher, Michael Boder, Kirill Petrenko, Simone Young, Daniel Barenboim, et al.

Performances

photo: Martina Cyman

Bardolfo

Daniel Kluge

Pistola

Tigran Martirossian

Bass

Tigran Martirossian

Birthplace:
Yerevan, Armenia

Studies:
Musical studies at the Gnessin State Academy of Music with Prof. Artur Eizen and Prof. Pavel Lisitsian

Prizes:
Prize winner of nine international singing competitions, inter alia, second prize in the “Neue Stimmen” Competition in Gütersloh (1997), second prize in the 2nd International Singing Competition in Shizuoka (2000), first prize in the Ondina Otta Competition in Marburg (1999)

Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2005/06

Important parts:
Ramfis (Aida), König René (Jolanthe), Salieri (Mozart und Salieri), Fiesco (Simon Boccanegra), Dulcamara (L’Elisir d’Amore), Figaro (Le Nozze di Figaro), Sulpice (La Fille du Régiment), Colline (La Bohème), Basilio (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Selim (Il Turco in Italia), Banco (Macbeth), Pagano (I Lombardi alla prima Crociata), Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), Dossifei (Chowanschtschina), Fasolt (Das Rheingold), Rodolfo (La Sonnambula), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor) Don Magnifico (La Cenerentola), Philippe II (Don Carlos), Méphistophélès (Faust), Fürst Galizky (Fürst Igor), Ein Eremit (Der Freischütz), Doktor (Wozzeck), Oroveso (Norma) , Pimen (Boris Godunov), et al.

Stages:
Novaya Opera Theatre of Moscow, Bolshoi Theatre, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Bayerische Staatsoper, Wiener Staatsoper, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Salzburg Festival, Theater an der Wien, Bregenz Festival, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra Bastille, St. Galler Festspiele, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Achim Freyer, Yona Kim, Jochen Biganzoli, David Alden, Andreas Homoki, Vincent Boussard, Stefan Herheim, Florentine Klepper, Francesca Zambella, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Sir Colin Davis, Zubin Mehta, James Levine, Mstislav Rostropovich, Carlo Rizzi, Simone Young, Plácido Domingo, Kent Nagano, Sylvain Cambreling, Valery Gergiev, Michel Plasson, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Michael Tilson-Thomas, Daniel Oren, Mark Wigglesworth, Philippe Jordan, Daniele Callegari, Riccardo Frizza, et al.

Find further information about Tigran Martirossian here.

Performances

Alice Ford

Danielle de Niese

Nannetta

Elbenita Kajtazi

Mrs. Quickly

Anna Kissjudit

Meg Page

Kady Evanyshyn

Mezzo-Soprano

Kady Evanyshyn

Birthplace:
Winnipeg, Canada

Studies:
Bachelor and Master of Music, The Juilliard School

Awards/Competitions:
First Prize of the New Orleans District and Second Prize of the Gulf Coast Region at the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition (2023), Award from the Gerda Lissner Lieder/Song Competition (2017/18), Winner of the John Erskine Prize at The Juilliard School (2017) and the Tudor Bowl at the Winnipeg Music Festival (2015)

Masterclasses:
Lioba Braun, Brigitte Fassbänder, Elena Garanča, Thomas Hampson, Malcom Martineau, Anne Sofie von Otter, Bo Skovhus, Emmanuel Villaume, and others

Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2022/2023 season
Was member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2019/20 to 2022/23

Important parts:
Annio (La clemenza di Tito), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Charlotte (Werther), Hänsel (Hänsel und Gretel), Siébel (Faust), Zweite Dame (Die Zauberflöte), Mercédès (Carmen), Meg Page (Falstaff), Tisbé (La Cenerentola), Second Woman (Dido and Aeneas), Fjodor (Boris Godunov), Frau Reich (Die Lustigen Weiber von Windsor), Phèdre (Hippolyte et Aricie), and others

Stages:
Opernhaus Zürich, Bregenzer Festspiele, Carnegie Hall, Opéra Royal de Versailles, Opera Holland Park, Verbier Festival, Aspen Music Festival

Song:
World Premiere of “Drei Grabschriften” (Stefano Gervasoni), Performances of “Animus II” (Druckman), “Folk Songs” (Berio) and “Liebeslieder Walzer” (Brahms), Competitor of the 2019 Wigmore Hall/Independent Opera Song Competition

Cooperation with Directors:
Edward Berkeley, Frank Castorf, Georges Delnon, James Darrah, Axel Ransich, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Jana Vetten, Stephen Wadsworth

Cooperation with Conductors:
Nicolas André, Paolo Arrivabeni, Giampaolo Bisanti, Daniele Callegari, William Christie, Jane Glover, Alexander Joel, Francesco Lanzillotta, Claire Levacher, Jeffrey Milarsky, Evelino Pidò, Teddy Poll, Avi Stein, Stephen Stubbs

Find further information about Kady Evanyshyn here.

Performances

photo: Brinkhoff/Mögenburg

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

photo: Foto: Felix Broede

Chor

Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper