Die lustige Witwe

Ruben Drole, bass-baritone, is from Winterthur and studied at the Zurich University of the Arts. In 2004, he joined the opera studio and in 2005 the ensemble of the Zurich Opera House, where he performed roles including Lucio Cinna (J.C. Bach’s "Lucio Silla"), Haly ("L’italiana in Algeri"), Argante ("Rinaldo"), Wurm ("Luisa Miller"), and Papageno in the production of "Die Zauberflöte" conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. As Papageno, he also made his debut at the Semperoper Dresden in 2015. Other projects with Harnoncourt included Kezal ("Die verkaufte Braut") and Haydn’s "Die Schöpfung" at Styriarte Graz, Beethoven’s "Christus am Ölberg" in Vienna and Lucerne, a Japan tour (Mozart’s "Requiem" and Handel’s "Messiah"), and Leporello ("Don Giovanni") at the Theater an der Wien. In the Zurich cycle of Mozart/Da Ponte operas directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf and conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, he appeared as Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte"), Figaro ("Le nozze di Figaro"), and Leporello, the same roles he performed under Welser-Möst with the Cleveland Orchestra. At the Salzburg Festival 2012, he sang Achilla ("Giulio Cesare") and appeared in 2013 in Haydn’s "Il ritorno di Tobia" and Walter Braunfels’ "Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna." In Zurich, he has performed roles including Papageno ("Die Zauberflöte"), Alaskawolfjoe ("Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny"), Soldier ("Die Geschichte vom Soldaten"), Odysseus ("Die Odyssee"), Duchess/Caterpillar in "Alice im Wunderland," and Frank ("Die Fledermaus"). He also recently appeared in the ballet evening "Nachtträume."

Soprano Serafina Starke made her operatic debut at the age of 13 as Flora in Britten’s "The Turn of the Screw." She began her vocal training at the University Mozarteum Salzburg and continued her studies at the Munich University of Music, where she completed her master’s degree in 2024. She has won several awards, including the Dostal Operetta Competition in 2022 and the International ARD Music Competition and the Federal Singing Competition in 2024. In the summer of 2022, she participated in the Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival, performing the Princess in "Der Teufel mit den drei goldenen Haaren." The following year, she returned to the festival as Barbarina in "Le nozze di Figaro." She has appeared in productions at, among others, the Bavarian State Opera, the Bregenz Festival, the Easter Festival Baden-Baden, and the International Handel Festival at the Opera Halle. In spring 2025, she made her debut at the Glyndebourne Opera Festival in Wagner’s "Parsifal." Since the 2024/25 season, she has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Berlin State Opera, where she has performed roles such as Frasquita in "Carmen" and Echo in "Ariadne auf Naxos." On the concert stage, Serafina Starke has sung the soprano solo in Verdi’s "Te Deum" at the Salzburg Festival. In the 2025/26 season, she will make her debut as Blonde in a new production of "Die Entführung aus dem Serail" and debut with the "St. John Passion" at the Zurich Opera House.

The Slovak tenor Pavol Breslik was a member of the ensemble of the Berlin State Opera from 2003 to 2006 and was named Young Singer of the Year by the magazine "Opernwelt" in 2005. Since 2006, he has been a regular guest at the major European opera houses. At the Vienna State Opera, he sang Lenski in "Eugen Onegin", Nemorino in "L’elisir d’amore", Don Ottavio in "Don Giovanni", and Alfredo in "La traviata". At the Bavarian State Opera, he made his debut as Gennaro in "Lucrezia Borgia" alongside Edita Gruberová, as well as Edgardo in "Lucia di Lammermoor" with Diana Damrau. At the Royal Opera House, he appeared as Lenski, Ferrando in "Così fan tutte", Don Ottavio, and Tamino in "Die Zauberflöte". At the National Theatre Prague, he made his debut as the Prince in "Rusalka". Further guest engagements have taken him to the Opéra national de Paris, the Liceu Barcelona, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Berlin State Opera, to the Salzburg Festival, to the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, to the Theater an der Wien, the Semperoper Dresden, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève. From 2012 to 2018, Pavol Breslik was a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House, where he sang, among others, Števa in "Jenůfa", Don Ottavio, Nadir in "Les pêcheurs de perles", Peter Quint in "The Turn of the Screw", and Leicester in "Maria Stuarda". In 2021, he was awarded the honorary title of Bavarian Kammersänger.

Diana Damrau is a regular guest on the stages of the world’s leading opera and concert houses. Her extensive repertoire lies in the lyric and coloratura fach and includes, among others, the title roles in "Lucia di Lammermoor" and "Manon" as well as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s "Die Zauberflöte". She regularly appears at the most important houses such as the Bavarian State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and Teatro alla Scala. Roles in Iain Bell’s "A Harlot’s Progress" and Lorin Maazel’s "1984" were composed especially for her. Diana Damrau has released numerous award-winning CD and DVD recordings. As a lieder interpreter, she regularly performs in renowned concert halls such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, and the Berlin Philharmonie. She maintains a close artistic partnership with Helmut Deutsch and Jonas Kaufmann, with whom she presented a successful lieder recital tour for the third time in spring and summer of 2025, including at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and the Salzburg Festival. Most recently, she sang the Marschallin in "Der Rosenkavalier" on stage at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and at the Zurich Opera House. She is a Bavarian Kammersängerin, recipient of the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art, as well as the Federal Cross of Merit. Since autumn 2024, she has been teaching as a principal voice instructor at the Zurich University of the Arts.

Andrew Owens, tenor, was born in Philadelphia and studied voice at the Oberlin Conservatory. He is the winner of several competitions, including the Zarzuela Prize at the Francisco Viñas Competition. He took part in the Young Singers Project of the Salzburg Festival and was a member of the Opera Studio of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. From 2012 to 2014 he was a member of the Young Ensemble of the Theater an der Wien, where he appeared at the Kammeroper in "La bohème", "La Cenerentola", "Fidelio", "Attila", "Mathis der Maler" and "La clemenza di Tito". Since then he has returned to the Theater an der Wien as Mads in Werner Egk's "Peer Gynt", as Snout in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream", as the 4th Jew in "Salome", and most recently in 2021 as Jacob Glock in "Der feurige Engel", and he appeared as a guest in the title role of "Don Carlos" at the Kammeroper Wien. Most recently he has also appeared as Arturo in "Lucia di Lammermoor" at Opera Philadelphia, as Don Ramiro in "La Cenerentola" at Irish National Opera, in Schumann’s "Scenes from Goethe’s Faust" with the Cleveland Orchestra, as Lukas in Haydn’s "The Seasons", in a concert performance of "Le Rossignol" at the Salzburg Festival, and as Aménophis in "Moïse et Pharaon" at the Rossini Opera Festival. Since 2021 Andrew Owens has been a member of the ensemble of Zurich Opera House and has sung here the 4th Jew, Telemachus ("Die Odyssee"), Peppe ("Pagliacci"), Van Ruijven ("Girl with a Pearl Earring"), Lord Arturo Bucklaw ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Gualtiero ("Il pirata"), Xaïloum ("Barkouf"), Lord Cecil ("Roberto Devereux"), as well as Guglielmo Antolstoinoloff ("Viva La Mamma") and Pylades ("Iphigénie en Tauride").

Samuel Wallace is from Brazil, where he studied singing with Lício Bruno. In 2024, he received a scholarship from the Mozarteum Brasileiro and subsequently participated in Rolf Beck’s International Choir Academy in Lübeck. During this time, he gave concerts in Germany as well as at the Philharmonie de Paris under Raphaël Pichon. His operatic repertoire includes roles such as Tamino ("The Magic Flute") and the title role in Guilherme Bernstein’s opera "Serafim und der Ort, an dem man nicht stirbt." In 2024, he performed Dorvil in Rossini’s "La scala di seta" and participated in the Gala Lírica of the 13th Tenor Meeting of Brazil at the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus. He was a semifinalist at the Paris Opera Competition, a finalist at the Maria Callas Competition, and a prizewinner in the Joaquina Lapinha and Natércia Lopes singing competitions. Since 2025/26, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House.

Thalia Cook-Hansen, soprano, is from the USA. After studying voice in the USA and Canada, she completed her master’s degree at the Dutch National Opera Academy. She also attended masterclasses with, among others, Elliot Madore, Floris Visser, and Lynne Dawson. In Amsterdam, she performed roles such as Nerina in Haydn’s "La fedeltà premiata," Fanny in Rossini’s "La cambiale di matrimonio," Bastienne in Mozart’s "Bastien et Bastienne," and Adele in "Die Fledermaus." She sang Barbarina ("Le nozze di Figaro") at the Estates Theatre in Prague, as well as the First Lady ("The Magic Flute") and Mademoiselle Silberklang ("Der Schauspieldirektor") in Toronto. Her repertoire also includes roles such as Bubikopf in Viktor Ullmann’s "Der Kaiser von Atlantis," Singer No. 1 in Conrad Susa’s "Transformations," Amore in Monteverdi’s "Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria," and the title role in Donizetti’s "Lucia di Lammermoor." Since the 2025/26 season, she has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera House.

Guram Margvelashvili is from Georgia. He completed his vocal studies in 2024 at the State Conservatory in Tbilisi. From 2019 to 2023, he was a member of the Tbilisi Opera Studio, where he performed roles such as the Priest and Papageno in "The Magic Flute," Valentin in Gounod’s "Faust," and the title roles in "Don Giovanni" and "Eugene Onegin." He also sang Belcore in Donizetti’s "L’elisir d’amore." Guram Margvelashvili has received several scholarships and was a finalist in the Giuseppe Di Stefano International Singing Competition in Sicily and the Tamar Iveri International Singing Competition in Georgia. Since the 2025/26 season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera House.

Barbara Grimm was born in Bern, where she also completed her acting training. In 1980, she received a scholarship from the Canton of Bern for six months in New York (singing and tap dance). This was followed by numerous engagements in Germany, including at the Theater Kaiserslautern, Theater Ulm, Theater Essen, Staatstheater Stuttgart, and Schauspiel Kiel. In 1986/87, she participated in the Musical Studio Munich (patronage: August Everding). From 2002 to 2021, she was a permanent ensemble member at TOBS (Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn), where she also worked as a director. Her major roles included Lady Milford ("Kabale und Liebe"), Queen Elizabeth ("Maria Stuart"), Ranevskaya ("The Cherry Orchard"), Maria Callas ("Masterclass"), the Old Lady ("The Visit"), Florence Foster Jenkins ("Souvenir"), and Patricia Highsmith ("Switzerland"). Barbara Grimm is also a lecturer in role work and improvisation and a voice artist for radio and TV. In 2021, she played Charlotte Tanner in the fourth season of the TV series "Wilder." In 2011, she received the Acting Award from the Canton of Solothurn.