Staatsoper Hamburg - Stück-Besetzung: Mixed Bill with works by Pina Bausch, Hans van Manen, Demis Volpi and Justin Peck

Ensemble

Hamburg Ballett

Hamburg is and has always been a city of dance, with the first ballet performances dating back as early as 1765. In 1963, the leading ensembles of the world, including the New York City Ballet and the London Royal Ballet, performed at the Hamburg State Opera. Just ten years later, a unique ballet history began in 1973 when the then 34-year-old John Neumeier was appointed as Ballet Director. For 51 years, Neumeier would lead the Hamburg company, later also as its Artistic Director, bringing it to worldwide acclaim and making it what it is today: the internationally renowned Hamburg Ballet. Beginning in August 2024, Demis Volpi will be taking over as the new Artistic Director of the 61-member ensemble.

The Hamburg Ballet is inseparably linked to the rich repertory of choreographies by John Neumeier, which often address literary, historical, or religious themes. The ensemble has gained fame far beyond the borders of the Hanseatic city through numerous guest performances, making it Germany’s flagship ballet company. In his first year as the Artistic Director, Demis Volpi will expand the repertoire by presenting works of Pina Bausch, Aszure Barton, William Forsythe and Justin Peck that have never yet been seen in Hamburg. Three of Volpi's own works will also be featured.

In the 2024/25 season, the Hamburg Ballet will present more than 80 performances on the stage of the Hamburg State Opera, in addition to guest appearances in Baden-Baden, Germany, and other European cities. The tradition of lecture demonstrations (Ballett-Werkstatt), providing the audience with fascinating insights into the creative and rehearsal work of a ballet ensemble, will continue under Demis Volpi. The current season marks the 50th anniversary of the dance festival "Hamburg Ballet Days" and, consequently, the 50th edition of the Nijinsky Gala, featuring celebrated stars from around the world alongside the Hamburg ensemble.

The School of the Hamburg Ballet, founded by John Neumeier in 1978, has become an integral part of the company and is housed in the Ballet Center in Hamburg Hamm, including its affiliated boarding school. A significant number of today's ensemble received their training at the ballet school.

Performances

Conductor

Vitali Alekseenok

Conductor

Vitali Alekseenok

Vitali Alekseenok fascinates with his pervading musicality and well-rounded interpretations, as well as his open and at the same time profound personality as one of the most exciting talents of the young generation of conductors.

He entered the spotlight of international attention in 2021 with first place at the Arturo Toscanini Conducting Competition in Parma, where he also received the Audience Award and the prize for the best performance of a Verdi opera, among other prizes.

After having been Kapellmeister since November 2022, Alekseenok became Chief Conductor at the beginning of the 2024/25 season.

He also gave his debut at the Teatro alla Scala with the world premiere of the opera "Il Piccolo Principe" in 2022/23, along with having concerts at the Beethoven Festival in Bonn, Rossini Festival in Pesaro, Ludwigsburg Festival, and with Klangforum Wien. In December 2022 Alekseenok was named the Principal Guest Conductor at Teatro Massimo Bellini.

In previous seasons he has conducted orchestras such as the MDR Radio Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, Orchestra of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Staatskapelle Weimar, Lucerne Festival Strings, Toscanini Orchestra in Parma, Kyiv Symphony Orchestra, among others.

As an opera conductor, Vitali Alekseenok conducted the first Ukrainian performance of Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde" at the National Opera of Ukraine in the Autumn of 2021. As an assistant and conductor, has also worked at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Graz Opera, Odessa National Opera House, Deutsches National Theater Weimar, and Opera Varna. In 2018 he conducted a new production of Mozart's opera "Don Giovanni" in the Ukrainian military region Severodonetsk as a part of the Music and Dialogue project.

Alekseenok is the founder and artistic director of the ensemble paradigme, which performs 20th and 21st-century works, as well as world premieres by currently active composers.

After his studies in St Petersburg (Prof. Alexander Alekseev) and Weimar (Prof. Nicolas Pasquet, Ekhart Wycik, Gunter Kahlert), Alekseenok took part in masterclasses with Bernard Haitink, Fabio Luisi, Jorma Panula, Ricardo Muti, among others. He has also worked with Vladimir Jurowski, Oksana Lyniv, Lothar Zagrosek, and Maurizio Barbaccini.

Vitali Alekseenok is active in various pedagogical fields, including conducting numerous youth orchestras in Germany, Italy, Poland and Ukraine and lecturing at the universities of Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt am Main.

He is the author of the book "The White Days of Minsk" (S. Fischer Frankfurt, 2021) and has written articles and essays for Tagesspiegel, Neue Rundschau Frankfurt, Religion & Gesellschaft Zürich, among others.

In June 2021 Alekseenok was appointed as the new Artistic Director of the Kharkiv Music Festival in Ukraine which has held numerous concerts in bomb shelters, subways, and hospitals in Kharkiv during the war.

Find further information about Vitali Alekseenok here.

Performances

photo: Elza Zhrerebchuk

Orchestra

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

Cast

Hamburg Ballett

Performances

Vitali Alekseenok

Performances

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg

Performances