Further information
Michail Glinka | Ruslan und Ljudmila
Sat, Dec. 13, 2025, 7.00 pm - 10.30 pm
Cast
Musikalische Leitung
Ben Glassberg
Musical Direction
Ben Glassberg
Birthplace:
London, United Kingdom
Studies:
Music Degree, University of Cambridge
Masters Degree in Conducting, Royal Academy of Music
Prizes:
Winner of the Grand Prix at the 55th Besançon Young Conductors Competition 2017
Repertoire:
Donizetti "L’elisir d’amore", Offenbach "Mesdames de la Halle", Beethoven "Fidelio", Händel "Messiah", Puccini "Madama Butterfly", Verdi "La traviata", Donizetti "Don Pasquale", Mozart/Da Ponte trilogy, Britten "The Turn of The Screw"
Career stages:
Music Director, Volksoper Wien
Music Director, Opéra de Rouen Normandie (since the 2020/21 season)
Principal Conductor of the Glyndebourne Tour (2019-2021)
Stages:
Glyndebourne Festival, La Monnaie, English National Opera, et al.
Cooperation with orchestras:
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra and Detroit Symphony Orchestra, et al.
Find further information about Ben Glassberg here.
Performances
photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Chorleitung
Alice Meregaglia
Choir direction
Alice Meregaglia
Biography will be published shortly.
Performances
Ljudmila
Gabriela Legun
Soprano
Gabriela Legun
Biography will be published shortly.
Find further information about Gabriela Legun here.
Performances
photo: Zbigniew Malak
Ruslan
Ilia Kazakov
Bass
Ilia Kazakov
Biography will be published shortly.
Find further information about Ilia Kazakov here.
Performances
photo: Kristina Klein
Farlaf
Giorgi Manoshvili
Bass
Giorgi Manoshvili
Birthplace:
Telavi, Georgia
Studies:
Vano Sarajishvili State Conservatory in Tbilisi (Georgia)
Important parts:
Lord Sidney (Journey to Reims), Colline (La bohème), Caliban (The Tempest), Gremin in (Evgeni Onegin), Mustafà (L'italiana in Algeri), Timur (Turandot), Attila (Attila),
Stages:
UNESCO Headquarters, Paris (France), Taichun National Theatre, Taichung (Taiwan), Berliner Philharmonie, Berlin, National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing, Barbican Centre, London, Port River Festival, Dublin, P. I Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Moscow, Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, Teatro delle Muse, Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Teatro Regio in Parma
Cooperations with directors:
Claus Guth, Stefano Poda
Cooperations with conductors:
Antonio Pappano, Michele Mariotti, Marco Armiliato, Lahav Shani, Roberto Abbado, Henrik Nánási
Performances
photo: Martynas Aleksa
Bajan / Finn
Nicky Spence
Tenor
Nicky Spence
Biography will be published shortly.
Find further information about Nicky Spence here.
Performances
photo: Ki Price
Ratmir
Artem Krutko
Naina
Kristina Stanek
Mezzo-soprano
Kristina Stanek
Birthplace:
Krefeld, Germany
Studies:
Master studies with distinction at the Royal Academy of Music, London
Prizes:
Best young singer at the European Music Festival in Rome, Italy; 1st prize at the Mozart Competition in Prague, Czech Republic; 1st prize at the Rotary Music Competition, Germany
Relation to the Hamburg State Opera:
Ensemble member of the Hamburg State Opera since season 2020/21
Important parts:
Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Prinzessin Eboli (Don Carlos), Azucena (Il trovatore), Carmen (Carmen), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), 2. Norn (Götterdämmerung), Maddalena (Rigoletto), et al.
Stages:
Staatsoper Hamburg, Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe, Theater Basel, et al.
Cooperation with directors:
Hans Neuenfels, Dmitri Tcherniakov, Michael Thalheimer, Lydia Steier, Yuval Sharon, David Bösch, Sebastian Baumgarten, Barbara Frey, et al.
Cooperation with conductors:
Kent Nagano, Christian Thielemann, Marco Armiliato, Philipp Jordan, Antonello Manacorda, Marek Janowski, Ivor Bolton, Marc Albrecht, Giampaolo Bisanti, Axel Kober, Jonathan Darlington, Erik Nielsen, Kristiina Poska, Joana Mallwitz, Titus Engel, Christopher Moulds, Gianluca Capuano, Jonathan Stockhammer, David Parry, Christian Curnyn, Michele Spotti, Thomas Guggeis, et al.
Find further information about Kristina Stanek here.
Performances
- Luisa Miller
- Bühne frei!
- Eugene Onegin
- Eugen Onegin (concerted)
- Il trovatore
- Falstaff
- Ruslan und Ljudmila
- Monster´s Paradise
photo: Felix Grünschloß
Gorislawa
Natalia Tanasii
Soprano
Natalia Tanasii
Birthplace:
Moldova
Studies:
Zurich International Opera Studio, the Jerwood Young Artist at Glyndebourne Festival Opera, the young ensemble of the Norwegian National Opera
Prizes:
2nd Prize winner of the Neue Stimmen competition
Important parts:
Micaela (Carmen), Fifth Maid (Elektra), Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Tatyana (Eugene Onegin), Mimi (La bohème), et al.
Stages:
Opernhaus Zurich, La Monnaie, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, Opéra de Lausanne, Garsington Opera, Oper Frankfurt, Salzburg Festival, Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Den Norske Opera & Ballet, Teatro Arriaga in Bilbao, et al.
Cooperations with directors:
Calixto Bieito, Laurent Pelly, Lotte de Beer
Performances
photo: A. Lurkovski
Swetosar
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
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
- 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
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
- 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
