Staatsoper Hamburg - Stück-Besetzung: Richard Strauss

Musikalische Leitung

Omer Meir Wellber

Musical Direction

Omer Meir Wellber

Omer Meir Wellber has established himself as one of our generation’s leading conductors of operatic and orchestral repertoire alike. He is Music Director of the Teatro Massimo Palermo and from a long association, he is also Music Director of the Raanana Symphonette in Israel. He begins his tenure of General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera as well as Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg in the season 2025/2026. Omer Meir Wellber regularly conducts the Gewandhausorchester zu Leipzig, the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin and the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, among others.

For the Teatro Massimo’s new season in Palermo, Omer Meir Wellber presented Bellini’s opera I Capuleti e i Montecchi in a production by Idan Cohen and he conducted Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde directed by Daniele Menghini. Highlights of recent seasons include new productions of Kaiserrequiem – his own creation with director Marco Gandini, which brings together Viktor Ullman's Der Kaiser von Atlantis with Mozart's Requiem –, Verdi's Les Vêpres siciliennes in a production by Emma Dante and Wagner's Parsifal in a production by Graham Vick. His innovative work at Teatro Massimo, including the January 2021 production Crepuscolo dei sogni, earned him the 2021 Special Award from Italy's Associazione Nazionale Critici Musicali (National Association of Music Critics).

During his time as Music Director of the Volksoper Vienna, which ended in December 2023 at his own request, Omer Meir Wellber conducted Tchaikovsky's Jolanthe and The Nutcracker, a new creation directed by Lotte de Beer and numerous revivals, such as La Traviata, Mozart's Zauberflöte and Richard Strauss' Salome (in a recreation of Luc Bondy's timeless 1992 production). Under the direction of Omer Meir Wellber, the Volksopernorchester has also made guest appearances at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt and increased its presence in Vienna at the Wiener Konzerthaus with a performance of Verdi's Messa da Requiem, among others. He will continue his relationship with the Volksoper Vienna in 2024/25 where he will conduct his two initially planned new productions: Ella Milch-Sheriff's commissioned composition, her new opera “Alma”, and his creation of the Kaiserrequiem with the Vienna State Ballet, directed and choreographed by Andreas Heise.

Guest performances in the 2023/24 season will see Omer Meir Wellber travel to Bremen with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, to Rome with the Rome Symphony Orchestra, to Leipzig with the Gewandhausorchester, to Prague with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, to Asia (Japan, Korea, Taiwan) with the Wiener Symphoniker, to Paris with the Orchestre National de France and to Hamburg with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra.

As Omer Meir Wellber was Music Director of the 2023 Toscanini Festival in Parma, Wellber presented a mixture of symphonic and chamber music concerts and took the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini to the Dresdner Musikfestspiele. During the first edition of the festival held in 2022, Wellber conducted a concert version of Puccini's rarely performed opera Les Willis.

Named portrait artist of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in 2022, Omer Meir Wellber appeared on the conductor’s podium and also played accordion, harpsichord and grand piano. Wellber presented 14 varied and unique concerts under the motto “Friendship”. In addition to classical orchestral concerts with the Festival Orchestra of the SHMF and the BBC Philharmonic, the program included chamber music and chanson evenings as well as a four-hand piano recital. True to the theme of “Friendship”, Omer Meir Wellber performed together with mandolinist Jacob Reuven, pianists Fazil Say and Daniel Ciobanu, violinist Veronica Eberle and clarinettist Alessio Vicario, among others.

The most recent CD recordings with Omer Meir Wellber were released in May 2022: The Mandolin Seasons with Jacob Reuven and the Sinfonietta Leipzig (musicians of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra) on the Hyperion label and Pop Songs with cellist Jan Vogler and the BBC Philharmonic on the Sony label. Previous releases include the first joint recording by Wellber and the BBC Philharmonic of works by Ben-Haim (Chandos), Tavener's No longer mourn for me with Steven Isserlis and the Philarmonia Orchestra (Hyperion), and DVD releases of Wagner's Parsifal (Unitel/C Major), Bellini's I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Naxos), Puccuni's Madama Butterfly (Opus Arte), Boito's Mefistofele (Unitel), Verdi's Aida (Bel Air Classique), and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (Unitel).

Omer Meir Wellber made his literary debut with his first novel "Die vier Ohnmachten des Chaim Birkner", published by Berlin Verlag in autumn 2019. Originally written in Hebrew, the novel was published in Wellber’s native tongue by Keren (“ארבע פעמים התעלף חיים בירקנר”) in July 2023. Its critical acclaim has also seen the book’s publication in Italian by Sellerio Editore (2021), and in French by Éditions du sous-sol (2022). The novel tells the story of Chaim Birkner, a tired and broken man who is forced by his daughter to face life one last time.

"Die Angst, das Risiko und die Liebe - Momente mit Mozart" – the conductor’s first book – was published in spring 2017. Co-written with German author and journalist Inge Kloepfer, the book shares his personal understanding of the universal emotions addressed in the three Mozart/Da Ponte operas - Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, establishing him as a great voice of classical music.

Omer Meir Wellber has made several debuts in recent years: In 2023 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, among others. In August 2021, Wellber made his debut at the Bregenz Festival with works by Ives and Bruckner and Strauss's Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra with Ramón Ortega Quero (oboe) and the Wiener Symphoniker. He made his debut with the Munich Philharmonic in November 2019 with the world premiere of Ayal Adler, with the BBC Philharmonic with works by Mozart, Haydn, and Ben-Haim at the BBC Proms in July 2019, and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York with performances of Bizet's Carmen in October 2018. In summer 2018, he conducted the festival premiere of Puccini's Madama Butterfly (BlueRay Opus Arte, 2019) at the Glyndebourne Festival, where he debuted in 2014 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra's production of Eugene Onegin. In March 2017, he conducted the premiere of Giordano's Andrea Chenier at the Bavarian State Opera, where he had already conducted the new production of Mefistofele in 2015 (DVD Unitel, 2016). In November 2016, he conducted the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden in the world premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina's oratorio On Love and Hate.

Omer Meir Wellber's longstanding collaboration with the Semperoper Dresden culminated in his position as Principal Guest Conductor from 2018 to 2022, alongside his receipt of the Rudi Häussler Priz for contributions to the development of the opera house. As early as 2010 he conducted new productions and revivals of Aida, Ariadne auf Naxos, Daphne, the Da Ponte Trilogy, The Magic Flute, Grand Macabre, Guntram, Madama Butterfly, Nabucco, Rosenkavalier, Salome, and Tannhäuser. Symphony concerts with the Sächsische Staatskapelle were also part of the program.

During his time as Chief Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic, Omer Meir Wellber achieved highlights such as concerts at the BBC Proms, Bridgewater Hall, and guest concerts at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Wellber also hosted a conversation video series with the BBC named The Music Room: the first series focused on Beethoven’s 9 symphonies in 2020, before turning to Ben-Haim for a second installment (The Music Room: Discovering Ben-Haim).

Omer Meir Wellber served as the Music Director at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia from 2010 to 2014, leading both orchestral and operatic performances – one of the most remarkable, Eugene Onegin, was published on DVD by C Major. He conducted Verdi’s operatic masterpiece trifecta – Rigoletto (2011), La Traviata (2012) and Il Trovatore (2013) at the Vienna Festival.

From 2008 to 2010, Omer Meir Wellber assisted Daniel Barenboim at the Berliner Staatsoper Unter den Linden and at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, directing the Scala in a critically hailed performance of Verdi’s Aida at the Israeli Opera. In 2010, he also stepped in for Seiji Ozawa, conducting Strauss’ Salome at the Saito Kinen Festival in Matsumoto.

Omer Meir Wellber’s close ties to his native Israel are evident in his collaboration with the Raanana Symphonette Orchestra, of which he has been Music Director since 2009. The orchestra dedicates itself to developing traditions of Jewish music, promoting contemporary Israeli music, and curating music education projects which reach more than 70,000 children each year. For over a decade he was regular guest conductor at the Israeli Opera where he conducted performances of Verdi’s La Forza del Destino, Puccini’s Turandot and Madama Butterfly, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, Mozart’s The Magic Flute, Gounod’s Faust and Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen, among others. In 2007 he debuted with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and in 2016 led the orchestra in its residency at the Dresden Music Festival.

The conductor is a Good Will Ambassador for Save a Child’s Heart, an Israeli-based non-profit organization that provides critical cardiac medical healthcare. In addition, Omer Meir Wellber collaborates with various institutions through outreach programs and fosters the next generation of conducting students through educational lectures.

Born in Be’er Sheva in 1981, Omer Meir Wellber began studying the accordion and piano when he was five years old. He took composition lessons with Tania Taler from the age of nine before continuing under Michael Wolpe until 2004. After graduating from the Be’er Sheva Conservatory in 1999, he received a music scholarship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation which he used to study Conducting and Composition at the Jerusalem Music Academy from 2000-2008 with Eugene Zirlin and Mendi Rodan.

Omer Meir Wellber plays a custom-built accordion, model POLARIS, from the renowned Italian accordion manufacturer PIGINI.

Omer Meir Wellber is dressed by Giorgio Armani and Bulgari.

Find further information about Omer Meir Wellber here.

Performances

photo: (c) Hilde van Mas

Herodes

Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperrhacke

Herodias

Doris Soffel

Mezzo-soprano

Doris Soffel

Geburtsort:
Hechingen Hohenzollern

Studium:
erst Violine, dann Gesang bei Marianne Schech an der Münchener Hochschule für Musik

Auszeichnungen:
Kammersängerin und Trägerin des Königlichen schwedischen Nordsternordens

Wichtige Partien:
Kundry (Parsifal), Ortrud (Lohengrin), Fricka (Das Rheingold), Fricka (Die Walküre), Erda (Rheingold), Erda (Siegfried), Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Venus (Tannhäuser), Amme (Die Frau ohne Schatten), Herodias (Salome), Klytämnestra (Elektra), Octavian (Der Rosenkavalier), Komponist (Ariadne auf Naxos), Clairon (Capriccio), Amneris (Aida), Eboli (Don Carlo), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Preziosilla (Forza del destino), Ulrica (Un ballo in maschera), Isabella (L´italiana in Algeri), Angelina (La Cenerentola), Rossina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Sinaide (Mosé i Egitto), Elisabetta (Maria Stuarda), Adalgisa (Norma), Dorabella (Cosi fan tutte), Sesto (La clemenza di Tito), Orfeo (Orfeo ed Euridice), Prinz Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Carmen (Carmen), Charlotte (Werther), Marguerite (La Damnation de Faust), Geneviève (Pelléas et Mélisande), Mme de Croissy (Dialogues des Carmelites), Marfa (Chowanschtschina), Jezibaba (Rusalka), Kabanicha (Katia Kabanova), Gräfin (Pique Dame), Judit (Herzog Blaubarts Burg), Geschwitz (Lulu), Kassandra (Troades), Leokadja Begbik (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), u.a.

Bühnen:
Bayreuther Festspiele, Salzburger Festspiele, Münchner Opernfestspiele, Bregenzer Festspiele, Glyndebourne Festival und u. a. London, Edinburgh, Brüssel, Amsterdam, Paris, Montpellier, Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla, Oviedo, Lissabon, Mailand, Venedig, Parma, Genua, Bologna, Rom, Neapel, Palermo, Catania, Wien, Graz, Zürich, Genf, Basel, München, Stuttgart, Baden-Baden, Köln, Essen, Hamburg, Dresden, Leipzig, Berlin, Prag, Warschau, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, Göteborg, Kopenhagen, New York, Washington, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Montreal, Vancouver, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Peking, Shanghai, Hongkong

Zusammenarbeit mit Regisseuren:
Günther Rennert, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Götz Friedrich, Harry Kupfer, Nikolaus Lehnhoff, Peter Konwitschny, Christof Loy, Robert Carsen, Pierre Audi, Stefan Herheim, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Marco Marelli, Philipp Stölzl, Andreas Dresen, u.a.

Zusammenarbeit mit Dirigenten:
Wolfgang Sawallisch, Herbert von Karajan, Sergiu Celibidache, Sir Georg Solti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Richard Bonynge, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Christian Thielemann, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Hartmut Haenchen, Philippe Jordan, Daniele Gatti, Kent Nagano, u.a.

Find further information about Doris Soffel here.

Performances

photo: Boris Streubel

Salome

Ambur Braid

Jochanaan

Kyle Ketelsen

Birthplace:
Clinton, Iowa / USA

Studies:
University of Iowa and Indiana University

Prizes:
First Prize in several international vocal competitions, including Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, Richard Tucker Music Foundation (Career Grant), George London Foundation, Licia Albanese Puccini Foundation, Sullivan Foundation, Opera Index, MacAllister Awards, Maria Callas Award, Fort Worth Opera, National Opera Association, Connecticut Opera and Liederkranz Foundation

Important parts:
Escamillo (Carmen), Golaud (Pelléas et Mélisande), Il Conte Rodolfo (La Sonnambula), King of Scotland (Ariodante), Méphistophélès (La Damnation de Faust), Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress), Leporello und Masetto (Don Giovanni), Alidoro (La Cenerentola), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Basilio (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Zoroastro (Orlando), Enrico VIII (Anna Bolena), Mr. Flint (Billy Budd), Don Fernando (Fidelio), Cadmus (Semele), Don Quixote (Master Peter’s Puppet Show), Pharaon (Moïse et Pharaon). In addition, he sang Handel's Messiah, Rossini's Stabat Mater, Brahms' Deutsches Requiem, Beethoven's 9. Sinfonie, Berlioz' Lélio, de Fallas El Retablo del Maese Pedro, Kaija Saariahos Cinq reflets au l'Amour de loin, Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex, Stravinsky's Pulcinella, Mozart's Requiem, Haydn's Harmoniemesse, et al.

Stages:
Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, Metropolitan Opera, Dutch National Opera, Dallas Opera, Opéra National de Lyon, NHK Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Real Madrid, Bayerische Staatsoper, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Minnesota Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Houston Grand Opera, Chorégies d'Orange festival, Tanglewood Festival, Carnegie Hall, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, New York City Opera, Boston Lyric Opera, Opera Pacific, Glimmerglass Festival, Michigan Opera Theatre, De Nederlandse Opera, Madison Opera, Washington National Opera, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Teatro Carlo Felice, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Simon McBurney, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Lluís Pasqual, Bernard Labadie, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Louis Langrée, Harry Bicket, Gianandrea Noseda, Michael Tilson Thomas, Masaaki Suzuki, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Andrew Davis, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Pierre Boulez, Riccardo Muti, Itzhak Perlman, Franz Welser-Möst, et al.

Find further information about Kyle Ketelsen here.

Performances

photo: Lawrence Brownlee

Page

Aebh Kelly

Narraboth

Oleksiy Palchykov

Tenor

Oleksiy Palchykov

Birthplace:
Kiev, Ukraine

Studies:
At the Vocal Faculty of the Petro Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine, Atelier Lyrique of the Opéra National de Paris

Prizes:
Grand Prix of the XVI International Lydia Abramova Vocal Student’s Competition “Bella voce” in Moscow, special prize of the Jury at the International Vocal Competition “Debut” in Wiekersheim, Prix Lyrique du Carpeaux, Prix Lyrique de L'AROP, finalist of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.

Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since 2017/18

Important parts:
Lensky (Eugene Onegin), Alfredo (La Traviata), Fenton (Falstaff), Edgardo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Nemorino (L’Elisir d’Amore), Il Conte d’Almaviva (Il Barbiere di Siviglia), Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Ferrando (Così fan tutte), Tamino (Die Zauberflöte), Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail), Pylade (Iphigénie en Tauride), Paris (La belle Hélène), Lysander (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Male Chorus (The Rape of Lucretia), Cassio (Otello), Narraboth (Salome), Beppe (Pagliacci), Sinowi (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk), Lykow (The Tsar’s Bride), Gritsko (Sorochintsi Fair), Kudryash (Katia Kabanova), Alfred (Die Fledermaus), et al.

Stages:
The Lyon Opera house, Opera Bastille, Opera Garnier, Athénée-Théâtre, Opernhaus Zürich, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Edinburg International Festival, Garsington Festival, Bayerische Staatsoper, Komische Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Champs Elysees Theatre, National Opera of Monpellier, National Opera of Ukraine, M. Dzhalil Tatar Academic State Opera, Chaliapin Festival, Le Théâtre du Léman, Palazzo dei Congressi Lugano, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Andreas Homoki, Krzysztof Warlikowski, Barrie Kosky, Calixto Bieito, Willy Decker,
Renaud Doucet/André Barbe, Mariame Clement, William Kentridge, Christophe Perton, Àlex Ollé, Laurent Pelly, Olivier Py, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Nello Santi, Philippe Jordan, Kent Nagano, Visiliy Petrenko, Michael Schønwandt, Riccardo Frizza, Kazushi Ono, Paolo Carignani, Alessandro De Marchi, Daniele Callegari, Henrik Nánási, Vakclav Luks, et al.

Find further information about Oleksiy Palchykov here.

Performances

photo: Antonia Sievierova

1. Jude

James Kryshak

2. Jude

Colin Aikins

3. Jude

Daniel Kluge

4. Jude

Mziwamadoda Sipho Nodlayiya

5. Jude

Keith Klein

1. Nazarener

Nicholas Mogg

2. Nazarener

William Desbiens

1. Soldat

Hubert Kowalczyk

Bass

Hubert Kowalczyk

Birthplace:
Radom, Poland

Studies:
Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin with Prof. Martin Bruns and Prof. Dr. Michail Lanskoi; Istituto Superiore di Studi Musicali "Pietro Mascagni" in Livorno with Prof. Graziano Polidori; Young Talents Development Program - Opera Academy in Warsaw

Master class:
Lioba Braun, Helmut Deutsch, Brigitte Fassbaender, Tomasz Konieczny, Bogdan Makal, Olga Pasiecznik, Eytan Pessen, Rudolf Piernay, Matthias Rexroth, Harald Stamm, et al.

Important parts:
Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Collatinus (The Rape of Lucretia), Colline (La Bohème), Crespel (Les Contes d'Hoffmann), Haly (L'italiana in Algeri), Nourabad (Les Pêcheurs de perles), Oroveso (Norma), Pistola (Falstaff), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Zuniga (Carmen), et al.

Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since the 2021/22 season
Member of the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera from 2019/20 to 2021/22

Stages:
Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Zurich Opera House, Bregenz Festival, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatr Wielki - Opera Narodowa, Opera Rara Festival in Krakow, et al.

Cooperation with directors:
Calixto Bieito, David Bösch, Frank Castorf, Petra Deidda, Brigitte Fassbaender, Herbert Fritsch, Alexander Riemenschneider, Dmitri Tcherniakov, et al.

Cooperation with conductors:
Matteo Beltrami, Bertrand de Billy, Giampaolo Bisanti, Jonathan Brandani, Daniele Callegari, Paolo Carignani, Nicholas Carter, Vladimir Conta, Axel Kober, Volker Krafft, Carlo Montanaro, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Kent Nagano, Ivan Repušić, Sébastien Rouland, Robin Ticciati, Keri-Lynn Wilson, Lidiya Yankovskaya, et al.

Find further information about Hubert Kowalczyk here.

Performances

photo: Martina Cyman

Orchester

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg