Montag, 24. Mai 2010

Cast (Wotan-Fricka-Siegmund/Siegfried-Sieglinde)

Greer Grimsley - Wotan
This American bass baritone is considered one of the most important Wagner performers in his field. He gained international attention with his rendition of Escamillo in Peter Brooks’ production of “The Tragedy of Carmen,” which he has sung in many of the world’s opera houses, including his debut at the Festival Du Mondi in Spoleto as well as the Teatro Communale in Bologna. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Captain Balstrode in Benjamin Britten’s “Peter Grimes” and has also sung Escamillo in “Carmen,” Jochanaan in “Salome,” Scarpia in “Tosca,” Telramund in “Lohengrin” and Amfortas in “Parsifal” at the same venue. At the Deutsche Oper Berlin he has sung the title role in “Der fliegende Holländer,” the role of Wotan in “Ring des Nibelungen” and Jochanaan in “Salome.” Other performances have taken him to Copenhagen, Prague (including as Kurwenal in “Tristan und Isolde”), Mexico City, Nancy, Oviedo (Mephistopheles in “Faust”) and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he debuted as Don Pizarro in “Fidelio” under the musical direction of Kurt Masur as part of the Lincoln Center Festival.
Recently he has performed in the title role of Verdi’s “Macbeth” in Vancouver, the title role in “Der fliegende Holländer” in Lithuania, the High Priest in “Samson and Delilah” in San Diego, Claggart in Benjamin Britten’s “Billy Budd” in Pittsburgh, Rigoletto in San Francisco and Siegfried the Wanderer in Venice.

Dalia Schaechter – Fricka

Israeli mezzosoprano Dalia Schaechter has been a member of the Ensemble of the Cologne Opera since 1995. Her first engagement in Europe was at the Opera Studio of the Vienna Staatsoper. She debuted at New York’s Carnegie Hall in “Elektra” in 1991. In Israel she sang the part of Margret in Alban Bergs “Wozzeck” under Daniel Barenboim. In 1992 she debuted at the Salzburg Osterfestspiele under Sir Georg Solti in Richard Strauss’ “Die Frau ohne Schatten.” She also guest performed at the Deutsche Oper Berlin (Amneris in “Aida”), the Deutsche Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin ( “Die Brautwahl” by Ferrucio Busoni, Margret in Berg’s “Wozzeck”), at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris and as one of the Valkyries at the Bayreuth Festival. At the Cologne Opera she has sung roles including Santuzza in “Cavalleria rusticana,” Amneris in “Aida,” Suzuki in “Madame Butterfly,” in Nono’s “Intolleranza,” Fata Morgana in Prokofiev’s “Love for Three Oranges,” Buryja in “Jenůfa,” Kabanicha in “Kat’a Kabanova,” Dulcinée in “Don Quichotte,” Agaue in “The Bassarids,” Kundry in “Parsifal,” Fricka, Waltraute and 1st Norn in “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” Ortrud in “Lohengrin,” Venus in “Tannhäuser,” Brangäne in “Tristan und Isolde,” Prinzessin Eboli in “Don Carlo,” Preziosilla in “La forza del destino” and Ulrica in “Un ballo in maschera.” Together with actor Bert Oberdorfer she brought out the program “A Liedele in Jiddisch,” a very popular “Klezmer evening with chicken soup.” Dalia Schaechter sang the part of Clairon in Strauss’ “Capriccio” at the Edinburgh Festival. In the 2007/2008 season she was honored by the Cologne City Council with the title of “Chamber Singer.”

Lance Ryan - Siegmund/Siegfried

Anglo-Canadian “heldentenor” Lance Ryan studied with teachers such as Carlo Bergonzi, Iris Adami Coradetti and Gianni Raimondi. He won the first prize at the major international competition As.Li.Co 2002 and was a winner of the Ottavio Ziino 2003 international singer competition. The young singer debuted in Germany in the role of Othello at the Stadttheater Münster, followed by his 2005 debut as Siegmund in “Die Walküre” in Karlsruhe. As a new permanent ensemble member at the Badische Staatstheater Karlsruhe he sang Calaf in “Turandot,” before taking on the role of Siegfried in the new Karlsruhe productions of “Siegfried” and “Götterdämmerung.” There he has also sung the title role of Verdi’s “Othello” and the role of the emperor in “Die Frau ohne Schatten.” Lance Ryan’s repertoire also includes the lead tenor roles in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann,” “Werther,” “Carmen,” “I Pagliacci,” “Cavalleria Rusticana,” “Il Trovatore,” “Norma,” “Le Villi,” “Aida,” “Tosca” and “Madame Butterfly.” The young tenor has also sung in many important theaters in Italy, including the opera houses in Cagliari, Brescia, Cremona, Pavia, Como, Livorno, Pisa, Lucca and Fiesole. Recently he enjoyed triumphal success in Rome as Turiddu in “Cavalleria rusticana.” He has also appeared at the Santa Barbara Opera House and has performed in many concerts in Italy, Germany and Canada. Guest appearances have taken him to Stuttgart, Dresden, Vienna and other opera venues. At the Salzburg Osterfestspiele he was a great success as Siegfried under the musical direction of Simon Rattle.

Astrid Weber - Sieglinde

Soprano Astrid Weber took her first voice lessons at 16, as well as dancing lessons. She studied English and Romance Literature at Kassel University, and in 1991 received her first engagement at the Vienna Operetta Theater. In 1993 she sang at the Opera Studio of the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, and two years later signed on with the Erfurt Theater. Since the 2000/2001 she has had guest appearances with the Erfurt Theater and the Augsburg Theater. As a guest performer in Chemnitz in 2002 and as an ensemble performer there from 2003 to 2005, Astrid Weber gained accolades for her performances as Chrysothemis in “Elektra,” Rosalinde in “Die Fledermaus,” the Marschallin in “Der Rosenkavalier,” Agathe in “Der Freischütz,,” Senta in “Der fliegende Holländer,” Arabella in Strauss’ Opera of the same name, Sieglinde in “Die Walküre” and Gutrune in “Götterdämmerung.” In addition, she performed in Franz Liszt’s “Legend of Saint Elisabeth” at the Teatro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, as well as playing Sieglinde in a concert performance of Act 1 of “Die Walküre” in Madrid, playing the part of Grete at a guest performance of the Staatsoper Berlin with Schreker’s opera “Der ferne Klang” in Seville in the version of Peter Mussbach, and again Senta in “Der Fliegende Holländer” in Essen. In June 2006 she debuted in Chemnitz as Elsa in “Lohengrin” and in October 2007 as Manon in Puccini’s opera “Manon Lescaut.” She was a guest performer with the Frankfurt Opera in 2008 as the Infanta in Zemlinsky’s “Der Zwerg” in Sevilla. In October 2008 she performed in China as a guest performer with the Deutsche Oper Berlin in “Tannhäuser” and “Der Rosenkavalier.”

Robert Carson (Director)

In the course of Robert Carsen’s international career, he has been rewarded with many critics’ prizes and awards. He has worked with New York Metropolitan Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra Paris and the Vienna State Opera, as well as the opera houses in Geneva, Zurich, Munich, Antwerp and Houston, and also at the Festival of Aix-en-Provence. This list of remarkable experiences in all the major opera houses in the world, in collaboration with stage and costume designer Patrick Kinmonth, the performance of Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Cologne Opera House has already brought a sensational experience to the audiences.
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Mittwoch, 19. Mai 2010

Markus Stenz (Conductor)

Markus Stenz is the General Music Director of the City of Cologne and Gürzenich-Kapellmeister and Principal Guest Conductor of the Hallé Orchestra.

Studied at the School of Music in Cologne under Volker Wangenheim and at Tanglewood with Leonard Bernstein and Seiji Ozawa, Markus Stenz has held the positions of Artistic Director of the Montepulciano Festival (1989 – 1995), Principal Conductor of the London Sinfonietta (1994 – 1998) – one of the most renowned ensembles for contemporary music. As Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (1998 – 2004) Markus Stenz broadened his repertoire and established his career as an international conductor.

Markus Stenz has held the position of Principal Conductor of the Gürzenich Orchestra (Gürzenich-Kapellmeister) since 2003. He visited China with the orchestra in early 2008 and conducted their first ever BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall in August 2008.

Markus Stenz made his debut as an opera conductor at La Fenice in Venice in a production of Hans Werner Henze’s Elegy for Young Lovers. He has since conducted many world premieres and first performances including Henze’s Das Verratene Meer in Berlin, Venus und Adonis at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich and L’Upupa at the 2003 Salzburg Festival. Markus Stenz has appeared at many of the world’s major opera houses and international festivals including La Scala in Milan, La Monnaie in Brussels, English National Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, San Francisco Opera, Stuttgart Opera, Frankfurt Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, Edinburgh International Festival and Salzburg Festival.

His notable performances in Cologne have included Wagner’s Ring, Lohengrin, Tannhäuser and Tristan und Isolde as well as Janacek’s Jenufa and Katya Kabanova. New productions in the 2009/10 season include Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Eötvös’ Love and other Demons. The Opera of Cologne will open the season 2010/11 with Wagner’s Ring des Nibelungen in Shanghai as part of the cultural programme of the EXPO 2010 and with Mozart’s Don Giovanni the ensemble is invited to the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing. In Cologne Markus Stenz will conduct new productions of Richard Strauss’ Elektra and Alban Berg’s Wozzeck.

In the 2009/10 season Markus Stenz made his highly successful debut at the Chicago Lyric Opera in a production of Katya Kabanova featuring Karita Mattila.

Markus Stenz conducts many of the world’s leading orchestras including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Gewandhaus Orchestra Leipzig, Berlin Philharmonic, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Vienna Symphony and the Symphony Orchestras of the Bayerische Rundfunk, the HR, the WDR and the NDR. In the United States these have included the Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra and Dallas, Houston and Seattle Symphony Orchestras.

In December 2009 he returned to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducting Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Markus Stenz will conduct works by Gustav Mahler in the 2009/2010 season with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Hallé Orchestra and the Gürzenich Orchestra.

The label OehmsClassics is currently recording a complete cycle of Gustav Mahler's symphonies with Markus Stenz and the Gürzenich Orchestra plus the song cycle „Des Knaben Wunderhorn“ with Christiane Oelze (soprano) and Michael Volle (baritone). The cycle will be published as hybrid SACD. The first release of this cycle, Mahler's 5th Symphony, has been listed in the German Record Critics’ Award in November 2009. Single CDs will be released until the completion of the cycle in 2012.

Since October 2005 concerts of the Gürzenich Orchestra are recorded live on their own label “GO live!” and made available within 5 minutes of the end of the concert for purchase by members of the audience. An edited version of the 3 subscription concerts is available for download from the iTunes Music Store. Amongst the many works available are Beethoven’s Symphonies nos. 5 and 7, Mozart’s C Minor Mass, Mahler’s Symphonies nos. 5, 6 and 7 and Bruckner’s Symphonies nos. 5 and 8.


www.markusstenz.com