Cardillac

Since graduating from the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, bass-baritone Gábor Bretz has performed regularly at the Hungarian State Opera, where he sings the major roles of his repertoire. His highlights also include Don Quichotte (Paris Opéra, Bregenz Festival), Heinrich der Vogler in Lohengrin (Staatsoper Unter den Linden, La Monnaie/De Munt, London’s Covent Garden), Grigoris in Martinů’s Greek Passion (Salzburg Festival), Jochanaan (Salzburg Festival, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence), Don Pizarro (Theater an der Wien, Opéra Comique in Paris), Scarpia (Theater an der Wien, Teatro Comunale di Bologna), Escamillo (Metropolitan Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Bavarian State Opera, among others), Sarastro (La Monnaie/De Munt), Ferrando in Il trovatore (Royal Opera House, Covent Garden), Philip II in Don Carlos (Hamburg State Opera), and the four villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann (La Monnaie). He has appeared as Bluebeard with the Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, and Concertgebouw Orchestra. In 2024–2025, he returned to Brussels as the Wanderer in Pierre Audi’s new production of Siegfried conducted by A. Altınoglu, after portraying Wotan there in Castellucci’s new productions of Das Rheingold and Die Walküre. Other projects this season include the Water Spirit in Tcherniakov’s new production of Rusalka at Teatro San Carlo, Mundruczó’s new production of Salome in Geneva, as well as Gurnemanz, Philip II, Méphistophélès, and the title role in Bluebeard’s Castle at the Hungarian State Opera. Gábor Bretz is a professor of singing at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest.

Anett Fritsch, born in Saxony, studied at the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy University of Music in Leipzig. In 2001, she won first prize at the Johann Sebastian Bach Competition Leipzig, as well as the international competition of the Kammeroper Schloss Rheinsberg in 2006 and 2007. From 2009 to 2015, she was a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf/Duisburg. She celebrated her international breakthrough in 2011 with her debut at the Glyndebourne Festival as Almirena in Handel’s „Rinaldo“, as well as performing Merione in Gluck’s „Telemaco“ at the Theater an der Wien. Important engagements later included Fiordiligi („Così fan tutte“) at Teatro Real Madrid – a production that was also presented at Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels and during the Vienna Festival Weeks – a European tour of „Le nozze di Figaro“ as Cherubino with René Jacobs and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, her debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2014 as Donna Elvira in „Don Giovanni“, to which she returned in 2015 and 2016 as Contessa. She made her debut at the Bavarian State Opera Munich as Susanna. In 2024/25, she gave her house and role debut at the Stuttgart State Opera as Idamante in Bastian Kraft’s new production of „Idomeneo“, and her role debut at La Monnaie in Brussels as Gutrune in Pierre Audi’s new production of Wagner’s „Götterdämmerung“, where she had already appeared in the previous season as Freia in Romeo Castellucci’s new production of „Das Rheingold“. She also returned as Hannah Glawari („Die lustige Witwe“) and Frau Fluth („Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor“) to the Vienna Volksoper. Furthermore, she performed with Giovanni Antonini and the ensemble Il Giardino Armonico in Handel’s „Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno“ at the Wratislavia Cantans Festival and as Contessa in Mozart’s „Le nozze di Figaro“ at Casino Basel, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, before appearing at the Rheingau Festival with the hr-Sinfonieorchester under Alain Altinoglu in Gounod’s „Cäcilienmesse“. To conclude the season, she appeared as Demoiselle Cagliari in Johann Strauss’ „Wiener Blut“ at the Schönbrunn Palace Theatre.

The native of Halle began his career as a trumpeter, most recently as principal trumpet with the Berlin Symphoniker. His vocal training took him to the International Opera Studio of the Zurich Opera House, whose ensemble he subsequently belonged to for almost a decade. From 2018 to 2020, he was a permanent ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera and remains connected to the house as a guest to this day. A central focus of his artistry lies in the character tenor repertoire – with particular emphasis on roles in works by Wagner, Strauss, Mozart, and contemporary composers. Numerous new productions and role debuts have taken him, among other places, to Amsterdam, Geneva, Lyon, Antwerp, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, and Paris, as well as to the Bregenz Festival, the Glyndebourne Festival, and repeatedly to the Salzburg Festival. As Mime, Michael Laurenz has been seen, among others, with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi in concert performances of „Das Rheingold“ and „Siegfried“. Collaborations with conductors such as Philippe Jordan, Christian Thielemann, Thomas Guggeis, Cornelius Meister, Franz Welser-Möst, and Marc Minkowski have shaped his artistic work, as has a close relationship with directors who regularly cast him in complex stage roles. These include roles such as Josef K. in Gottfried von Einem’s „Der Prozess“, Cauchon in Walter Braunfels’ „Jeanne d’Arc“, Orsino in Goldschmidt’s „Beatrice Cenci“, and Erich in HK Gruber’s „Geschichten aus dem Wienerwald“. In the 2025/26 season, he will appear at the Vienna State Opera as Wenzel („Die verkaufte Braut“) and the Witch („Hänsel und Gretel“), at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden as the Dancing Master („Ariadne auf Naxos“) and Pedrillo („Die Entführung aus dem Serail“).

Stanislav Vorobyov is a native of Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was a member of the International Opera Studio and has been part of the ensemble at Zurich Opera House since the 2018/19 season. In Zurich, he has appeared in roles such as Colline (“La bohème”), Alidoro (“La Cenerentola”), High Priest (“Nabucco”), Notary (“Der Rosenkavalier”), Reinmar von Zweter (“Tannhäuser”), Faust (“The Fiery Angel”), Zaretsky (“Eugene Onegin”), Cesare Angelotti (“Tosca”), Fifth Jew and First Nazarene (“Salome”), Lord Rochefort (“Anna Bolena”), Doctor Grenvil (“La traviata”), Crébillon (“La rondine”), and Zuniga (“Carmen”), as well as Roberto (“I vespri siciliani”), Roucher (“Andrea Chénier”), and the Police Commissioner (“Der Rosenkavalier”). He also sang Don Basilio (“Il barbiere di Siviglia”) at the Bregenz Festival, Nourabad (“Les Pêcheurs de perles”) at Opera Vlaanderen and in Luxembourg, and Ombra di Nino (“Semiramide”) at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. At the Bregenz Festival, he also appeared as Uncle Bonzo in “Madama Butterfly” and as Il capitano/L’ispettore in Umberto Giordano’s “Siberia.” In 2024, he was additionally heard as Colline (“La bohème”) at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and ROHM Theatre Kyoto.

The tenor Sebastian Kohlhepp was born in Limburg an der Lahn and studied with Hedwig Fassbender in Frankfurt. This was followed by permanent engagements at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe, the Vienna State Opera, and the Stuttgart Opera. Since the 2017/18 season, he has been working as a freelance artist. Among the most important milestones of recent years are his debut at Teatro alla Scala in Milan (Narraboth in "Salome"), the roles of Tamino ("The Magic Flute") and Belmonte ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") at the Vienna State Opera, Don Ottavio ("Don Giovanni") at Zurich Opera House, Ferrando ("Così fan tutte") in Munich and Amsterdam, role debuts as Flamand (Richard Strauss’s "Capriccio") at the Salzburg Festival and as Idomeneo at Cologne Opera, as well as David in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" at Teatro Real Madrid, the Salzburg Easter Festival, and the Semperoper Dresden. As a concert singer, he collaborates with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Staatskapelle Dresden, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre des Champs-Élysées, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, as well as with conductors such as Kirill Petrenko, Ivor Bolton, Sylvain Cambreling, Teodor Currentzis, Ádám Fischer, Pablo Heras-Casado, Philippe Herreweghe, Manfred Honeck, Kent Nagano, Andris Nelsons, François-Xavier Roth, Lorenzo Viotti, and Franz Welser-Möst. In the 2025/26 season, he will make his role and house debut as Loge in "Das Rheingold" at the Staatsoper Berlin under the direction of Christian Thielemann and will return to the Vienna State Opera as Belmonte.

Mezzo-soprano Dorottya Láng was born in Budapest and studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. From 2012 to 2014, she was a member of the ensemble at the Vienna Volksoper, then moved to the National Theatre Mannheim for the 2014/15 season, and from 2015 to 2018 belonged to the ensemble of the Hamburg State Opera. Since then, she has worked with conductors such as Adam Fischer, Marc Albrecht, Sakari Oramo, Ivan Fischer, Cornelius Meister, Kent Nagano, and Theodor Currentzis, as well as with orchestras including the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra, the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic State Orchestra Hamburg, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra. Her operatic repertoire includes roles such as the Composer ("Ariadne auf Naxos"), Octavian ("Der Rosenkavalier"), Venus ("Tannhäuser"), Brangäne ("Tristan und Isolde"), Hänsel ("Hänsel und Gretel"), Marguerite ("La damnation de Faust"), Waltraute ("Die Walküre"), and Adriano ("Rienzi"). She has appeared, among others, at the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo, the Savonlinna Opera Festival, the Ruhrtriennale, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, and at the Baden-Baden Festival Theatre with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko. Concerts have taken her to the BBC Proms, Budapest’s Palace of Arts, the Berlin Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Vienna Konzerthaus, and the International Song Festival in Oxford. Her most recent engagements include the alto part in Mahler’s "Das Lied von der Erde" with the Berlin Philharmonic, the Composer with the Nederlandse Reisopera, and Venus in Budapest.

The bass Brent Michael Smith is from the United States. He studied voice at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and at the University of Northern Iowa, as well as piano at Hope College in Michigan. He was a finalist in the Queen Sonja International Music Competition (2021) and a semifinalist in the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions (2020), and he has been a prizewinner at international singing competitions such as the Grand Rapids Opera Competition, the Giargiari Bel Canto Competition, the Opera Birmingham Competition, the Opera Index Competition, and the Concorso Lirico Internazionale di Portofino. He has also received scholarships from the Loren L. Zachary Society and the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition in Miami. In the United States, he has sung Zuniga ("Carmen"), Friedrich Bhaer (Mark Adamo’s "Little Women"), and Ashby ("La fanciulla del West") at Michigan Opera, Antonio ("Le nozze di Figaro") at Toledo Opera, Ariodante ("Xerxes") at the Glimmerglass Festival, Lakai ("Ariadne auf Naxos") at the Santa Fe Opera, as well as Celio (Prokofiev’s "The Love for Three Oranges") and Peter Quince ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream") at Opera Philadelphia. During the 2020/21 season, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House and joined the ensemble in the following season, 2021/22. Since then, he has appeared at the Zurich Opera House in roles such as Sparafucile ("Rigoletto"), Raimondo ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Prince Gremin ("Eugene Onegin"), Frère Laurent ("Roméo et Juliette"), Fafner ("Das Rheingold"), and Cesare Angelotti ("Tosca").