Fabio Luisi hails from Genoa. He is the general music director of the Opernhaus Zürich, the principal conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, and music director designate of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, a post he will take up in 2020. From 2011-2017, Fabio Luisi was principal conductor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and from 2005-2013 principal conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker, as well as general music director of the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Sächsische Staatsoper (2007-2010), artistic director and principal conductor of the MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig (1999-2007), and music director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (1997-2002). With the latter, he made numerous CD recordings (Poulenc, Respighi, Mahler, Liszt, a recording of the complete symphonic works of Arthur Honegger, and Verdi’s Jérusalem und Alzira). He is music director of the Festival della Valle d’Itria in Martina Franca (Apulia) and has appeared as guest conductor with numerous renowned ensembles, including the Philadelphia Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, the NHK Tokio, the Münchener Philharmoniker, the Filarmonica della Scala, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orkest Amsterdam, and the Saito Kinen Orchestra, as well as with various prominent opera orchestras. He appeared at the Salzburg Festival with performances of Richard Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae und Die Ägyptische Helena. His most important appearances at the Opernhaus Zürich include, among others, the new productions of three Bellini operas, as well as Rigoletto, Fidelio, Wozzeck and Verdi’s Messa da Requiem. Important CD recordings include Verdi’s Aroldo, Bellini’s I puritani and I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and the complete symphonies of Robert Schumann, as well as the symphonies and the oratorio Das Buch mit sieben Siegeln by Franz Schmidt, the largely forgotten Austrian composer. In addition, he has recorded various symphonic poems by Richard Strauss, and a lauded reading of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 3 with the Staatskapelle Dresden. His recordings of Siegfried and Götterdämmerung with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra won Grammy awards. He received the Premio Franco Abbiati, the coveted Italian critics’ prize, in 2013, and in 2014 won the Grifo d’Oro from the city of Genoa. He was awarded the Anton Bruckner Ring by the Wiener Symphoniker, and is a Cavalier of the Italian Republic. The «Philharmonia Records» recording label, founded by the Philharmonia Zürich in 2015, has issued CD recordings of works by Berlioz, Wagner, Verdi, Rachmaninoff, Bruckner, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Frank Martin under Fabio Luisi’s musical director, as well as DVD records of Rigoletto (stage direction: Tatjana Gürbaca), Wozzeck (stage direction: Andreas Homoki), I Capuleti e i Montecchi (stage direction: Christof Loy), the Messa da Requiem (stage direction /choreography: Christian Spuck), and Das Land des Lächelns (stage direction: Andreas Homoki).
From 5. July 2025 until 10. July 2025
Fabio Luisi
Janko Kastelic
Janko Kastelic ist ein kanadisch-slowenischer Dirigent, Chorleiter, Pianist und Organist. Er begann seine musikalische Ausbildung in Kanada am Royal/Western Conservatory of Music und der St. Michael’s Choir School. Er hat einen Abschluss in Dirigieren, Komposition und Musiktheorie von der Universität Toronto und setzte sein Studium an der Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Wien fort. Seit 2017 ist er Chordirektor am Opernhaus Zürich. Er war einer der Kapellmeister der Wiener Hofmusikkapelle, Studienleiter des JET-Programms für junge Sänger am Theater an der Wien und Assistent bei den Bayreuther Festspielen sowie Gastchordirektor an der Hamburgischen Staatsoper. Zu den Positionen, die er im Lauf seiner Karriere bekleidet hat, gehört auch die Stelle des Generalmusikdirektors und Operndirektors am Slowenischen Nationaltheater Maribor, des Zweiten Chordirektors an der Wiener Staatsoper sowie des Korrepetitors an der Opéra National de Paris. Er war Assistenzprofessor an der Universität Ljubljana und Mentor an der Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien. Seine künstlerischen Leistungen sind dokumentiert auf mehreren Live-Aufnahmen, darunter Tschaikowskis Pique Dame und Schönbergs Moses und Aron. Er arrangierte und dirigierte auch Werke für die Feierlichkeiten zum Mozartjahr 2006. Zu seinen Arbeiten beim Klangbogen-Festival in Wien gehört die europäische Erstaufführung von Blochs Macbeth. Janko Kastelic ist auch ein engagierter Pädagoge, der sich der Förderung der nächsten Generation von Musikerinnen und Musikern verschrieben hat.
Cast
mit Sänger:innen aus dem Ensemble des Opernhauses Zürich
Camilla Nylund
Camilla Nylund, im finnischen Vaasa geboren, gehört zu den international gefragtesten lyrisch-dramatischen Sopranistinnen. Sie studierte am Salzburger Mozarteum, war 1995-1999 Ensemblemitglied der Staatsoper Hannover und gehörte 1999-2001 dem Ensemble der Sächsischen Staatsoper in Dresden an. 2008 wurde sie zur Sächsischen Kammersängerin ernannt, 2019 zur Wiener Kammersängerin. 2022 erhielt sie den Europäischen Kulturpreis und wurde mit dem Lotte-Lehmann-Gedächtnisring ausgezeichnet. Gastengagements führten sie u.a. an die Mailänder Scala, die Met, die Staatsopern in Wien, Hamburg, München und Berlin, an das New National Theatre in Tokio, die Nederlandse Opera, das ROH, die Opéra Bastille, nach Bayreuth und zu den Salzburger Festspielen. Zu ihren wichtigsten Partien gehören Wagners Elisabeth (Tannhäuser), Elsa (Lohengrin), Eva (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) und Senta (Der fliegende Holländer) sowie Strauss’ Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Arabella, Salome, Gräfin (Capriccio), Kaiserin (Frau ohne Schatten), Ariadne und Chrysothemis (Elektra). An der Wiener Staatsoper sang sie Marietta/Marie (Die tote Stadt), in Bayreuth Elisabeth, Elsa, Sieglinde und Eva sowie Marie (Wozzeck) an der Deutschen Oper am Rhein. 2021 gab sie an der Berliner Staatsoper ihr Rollendebüt als Jenůfa. Als Konzertsängerin war sie u.a. im Konzerthaus und der Philharmonie Berlin zu hören, im Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Musikverein und Konzerthaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, an den BBC Proms und im KKL Luzern. Am Opernhaus Zürich gab sie zuletzt ihre Rollendebüts als Isolde und Brünnhilde (Walküre und Siegfried), zuvor war sie hier bereits als Senta im Fliegenden Holländer zu hören.
Klaus Florian Vogt
Klaus Florian Vogt is one of the outstanding Wagner tenors of our time. His repertoire primarily includes dramatic roles such as Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, Parsifal, Stolzing, and Siegmund, but also Florestan (Fidelio) and Hoffmann (Les Contes d’Hoffmann). In addition, he performs lyric-dramatic roles such as Andrej (Khovanshchina), the Prince (Rusalka), and Faust (La Damnation de Faust). Originally from northern Germany, Klaus Florian Vogt studied at the University of Music and Theatre in Lübeck. In 1997/98, he was engaged at the Landestheater Flensburg and was a member of the Semperoper Dresden ensemble from 1998 to 2003. Since then, he has been a regular guest at all the major opera houses around the world, as well as at the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals. In 2005, he made his Japan debut as Hoffmann in Tokyo, followed by his American debut as Lohengrin at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2006. In 2007, he sang for the first time at La Scala in Milan (as Lohengrin) and later returned there as Florestan. That same year, he made his debut at the Bayreuth Festival as Walther von Stolzing (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg), and from 2011 to 2015 he appeared there as Lohengrin in Hans Neuenfels’ production, in 2016 as Parsifal, and from 2017 to 2021 as Stolzing in Barrie Kosky’s new production of Die Meistersinger. In 2022, he returned to the festival as Siegmund in the new Ring and as Lohengrin. He also participated in concerts at the Festspielhaus conducted by Andris Nelsons. In Zurich, he was most recently heard as Siegfried and Lohengrin, as well as in a lieder recital. In 2012, he received the ECHO Klassik award as Artist of the Year. In 2019, the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg awarded him the title of “Hamburger Kammersänger.”
Bryn Terfel
Bryn Terfel, a bass-baritone from Wales, won the Lieder Prize at the International Singing Competition Cardiff in 1989. Since then, he has performed at all the world’s major opera houses. His roles include Méphistophélès in Faust, the title role and Leporello in Don Giovanni, Jochanaan in Salome, the title role in Gianni Schicchi, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Wolfram in Tannhäuser, and Balstrode in Peter Grimes. He also sang in the critically acclaimed production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at Welsh National Opera, Wotan in the Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Sweeney Todd at the English National Opera. His recent performances include Don Basilio in The Barber of Seville at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Balstrode at the Vienna State Opera and the Royal Opera House, the Dutchman at Grange Park Opera, Falstaff at the Zurich Opera and the Bavarian State Opera, Scarpia at the Zurich Opera and the Opéra National de Paris, Don Pasquale at the Royal Opera House, and Boris Godunov at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Royal Opera House. He is also a versatile concert singer, having performed at the BBC Proms, given lieder recitals in all the world’s major cities, and directed his own festival in Faenol, North Wales, for nine years. His discography includes operas by Mozart, Wagner, and Strauss, as well as over fifteen solo albums, and he has been awarded the Grammy, the Classical Brit, and the Gramophone Award. In 2003, he was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for his musical achievements, received the Queen’s Medal for Music in 2006, was knighted in 2017, honored with the title of “Austrian Kammersänger” for his services to the Vienna State Opera, and received a European Cultural Prize at the Tonhalle Zurich in 2022. He was a recipient of the Shakespeare Prize from the Alfred Toepfer Foundation and was awarded the “Freedom of the City of London” in 2015.