Le nozze di Figaro

The French baritone Stéphane Degout completed his studies at the Conservatory of Lyon, where he was also a member of the opera studio. Following his debut as Papageno ("Die Zauberflöte") at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, he received invitations to the Opéra National, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and the Opéra Comique in Paris, to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, La Monnaie in Brussels, Theater an der Wien, Teatro alla Scala, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, the Bavarian State Opera, the Dutch National Opera, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Zurich Opera House, as well as to the festivals in Salzburg, Glyndebourne, Edinburgh, and Aix-en-Provence. His opera repertoire includes roles such as Oreste ("Iphigénie en Tauride"), Wolfram ("Tannhäuser"), Rodrigue ("Don Carlos"), Valentin ("Faust"), Golaud ("Pelléas et Mélisande"), Comte ("Le nozze di Figaro"), as well as the title roles in Ambroise Thomas’ "Hamlet", Monteverdi’s "Orfeo", "Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria", Tchaikovsky’s "Eugene Onegin", and Alban Berg’s "Wozzeck". In addition, he has performed in numerous song recitals and concerts with pianists such as Alain Planès, Simon Lepper, Cédric Tiberghien, and Martha Argerich, as well as with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Riccardo Muti, the Los Angeles Philharmonic under Esa-Pekka Salonen, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Orchestre National de Montpellier. In 2012, he was named "Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres", received awards at the Victoires de la Musique Classique, and in 2022, the Opera Award. His recordings include songs by Debussy, Ravel, and Fauré for Harmonia Mundi, as well as the award-winning CD "Enfers" with Ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon.

The Trinidad-born soprano Jeanine De Bique studied voice and piano at the renowned Manhattan School of Music in New York. Her wide-ranging repertoire includes roles such as Télaïre ("Castor et Pollux"), Ilia ("Idomeneo"), Violetta ("La traviata"), the title roles in "Alcina" and "L’incoronazione di Poppea", Donna Anna ("Don Giovanni"), Susanna ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Annio ("La clemenza di Tito"), Micaëla ("Carmen"), Agathe ("Der Freischütz"), Helena ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream"), and La Folie ("Platée"). Guest engagements have taken her to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden and the Konzerthaus Berlin, Theater an der Wien, the Opéra National de Paris, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the San Francisco Opera, New York’s Carnegie Hall, and the Houston Grand Opera, as well as to the BBC Proms and the Salzburg Festival. At the Zurich Opera House, she sang Isabel in George Benjamin’s "Lessons in Love and Violence" in 2023. She has worked with ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Vienna and Rotterdam Philharmonics, the Pittsburgh Symphony, the London Symphony, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and with conductors including Gustavo Dudamel, Herbert Blomstedt, Lorin Maazel, Iván Fischer, Simon Rattle, Manfred Honeck, William Christie, Raphaël Pichon, and Marin Alsop. Her first solo album "Mirrors" with Ensemble Concerto Köln received the Opus Klassik, the Diapason d’or, and the Edison Award in the classical category in 2022, was Gramophone Magazine’s Editor’s Choice, and was praised by Fono Forum. Jeanine De Bique was appointed Youth Ambassador for Peace by the National UNESCO Commission of Trinidad and Tobago.

Andrew Moore, an American bass-baritone from New Jersey, received his training at Rutgers University (Mason Gross School of the Arts) and at the renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In 2019, he reached the New England Region Finals of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, where he was awarded the Susan Eastman Encouragement Award. Further important artistic milestones included the Merola Opera Program in San Francisco as well as the Santa Fe Opera, where he appeared as an Apprentice Singer in "La bohème", "Così fan tutte", and "Jenůfa". From 2020 to 2022, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. He was subsequently engaged in the company ensemble, which he has belonged to since the 2022/23 season. There, he has appeared as Figaro ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Paolo Albiani ("Simon Boccanegra"), Don Fernando ("Fidelio"), De Brétigny ("Manon"), Marullo ("Rigoletto"), Paris ("Roméo et Juliette"), Marchese d’Obigny ("La traviata"), Pritschitsch ("Die lustige Witwe"), Johann ("Werther"), and Fix ("In 80 Tagen um die Welt"). His recent international engagements include his debut with the Warsaw Philharmonic as bass soloist in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 as well as his Salzburg debut as Marchese d’Obigny ("La traviata"). In summer 2026, he will appear at the Salzburg Festival as Johann ("Werther"). His repertoire also includes roles such as Leporello ("Don Giovanni"), Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte"), and Rocco ("Fidelio").

The French-American soprano Sandra Hamaoui studied at the Conservatory in San Francisco and at the Juilliard School in New York. She is a prizewinner of numerous competitions; among others, she was a semifinalist at the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions and won first prize at the New England Regional Finals, the West Bay Opera League Competition, and the Mary Trueman Vocal Competition. Whilst still a student, she sang the title role in Gounod’s "Roméo et Juliette" with the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute as well as Adina in "L’elisir d’amore" with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music at the Kennedy Center. In the 2017/18 season, she was a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where she sang, among others, Ninetta in "Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen" and Pamina in "Die Zauberflöte". As a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House, she appeared, among others, as Susanna in "Le nozze di Figaro", Gilda in "Rigoletto", Nanetta in "Falstaff", Gretel in "Hänsel und Gretel", and Lisette in "La rondine". Her recent engagements include the title role in "Roméo et Juliette" with the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Leïla in "Les pêcheurs de perles" at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, as well as the opening of the 2024/25 season at the Hamburg State Opera with the leading role in "Trionfi" under Kent Nagano.

The Canadian-Macedonian mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska studied voice with Helga Tucker in Toronto and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. From 2019 to 2022, she was a BBC New Generation Artist. During this time, she won the International Vocal Competition in ’s-Hertogenbosch and the prestigious Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, as well as prizes at the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the Young Classical Artists Trust. From 2020 to 2022, she was part of the International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin and returned there as Octavian ("Der Rosenkavalier"), Stéphano ("Roméo et Juliette"), and La Muse/Nicklausse ("Les Contes d’Hoffmann"). At the Linbury Theatre of the Royal Opera House, she made her role debut as Frau in George Benjamin’s "Picture a Day Like This" and later sang the role at the Opéra du Rhin in Strasbourg. In concert, she has performed in Mozart’s "Coronation Mass" at the Salzburg Festival, "Céphale et Procris" on tour with Ensemble A Nocte Temporis, Mendelssohn’s "Elijah" with the Munich Radio Orchestra, Stravinsky’s "Pulcinella" with the Musikcollegium Winterthur under Barbara Hannigan, and Ravel’s "Chansons Madécasses" with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under George Benjamin. In the art song repertoire, she has worked with Martha Argerich, András Schiff, and guitarist Sean Shibe. In 2025/26, she will perform Boulez’ "Le Marteau sans maître" with the Ensemble Intercontemporain at the Gulbenkian Fundação and give a recital at Wigmore Hall with Hikaru Kanki. At the Zurich Opera House, she will make her debut as Cherubino ("Le nozze di Figaro") and at the Komische Oper Berlin in the title role of Olga Neuwirth’s "Orlando."

Liliana Nikiteanu studied at the Conservatory in Bucharest. She received her first permanent engagement in 1986 at the Musiktheater Galati. She has won numerous awards, and in 2000, Opernwelt named her "Best Young Singer of the Year." Her repertoire includes over 80 roles, which she has performed in Zurich, where she has been an ensemble member since 1991, as well as in other opera houses, including Octavian ("Der Rosenkavalier") at the Bastille, the Vienna and Hamburg State Operas, Ježibaba ("Rusalka") in Montreal, Sesto ("La clemenza di Tito") in Dresden, Rosina ("Il barbiere di Siviglia") in Vienna and Munich, Dorabella ("Così fan tutte") in Dresden, Munich, Salzburg, and Aix-en-Provence, Fjodor ("Boris Godunow") in Salzburg, Margarethe ("La damnation de Faust") in Brussels, and Dulcinée ("Don Quichotte") at Theater an der Wien. In Zurich, she has performed all Mozart roles of her fach as well as roles such as Ljubascha ("Die Zarenbraut"), Nurse (Dukas’ "Ariane et Barbe-Bleue"), and Fricka ("Das Rheingold"). As a concert singer, her repertoire ranges from Bach to Berio. In Bamberg, she sang Berenice by Haydn under Adam Fischer, in Paris Berlioz’ "Les nuits d’été" under Heinz Holliger, in Copenhagen Verdi’s Requiem, and in Tel Aviv and Haifa Bruckner’s Te Deum under Zubin Mehta. Conductors who have shaped her include Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Claudio Abbado, Fabio Luisi, Franz Welser-Möst, John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs, and Philippe Jordan. Most recently, in Zurich, she has performed roles including Tisbe ("La Cenerentola"), Praškowia ("Die lustige Witwe"), Mama ("Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig"), Sir Pumpkin ("In 80 Tagen um die Welt"), as well as in the music-theater evening created for her, "Wie du warst! Wie du bist!"

The Budapest-born bass-baritone Miklós Sebestyén studied with László Polgár in Zurich and Josef Loibl in Munich. In 2010, he emerged as a prizewinner at the Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna and has since performed at opera houses such as the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Leipzig Opera, the Staatstheater Nürnberg, La Scala in Milan, the Royal Operas in Oslo and Copenhagen, Theater an der Wien, and the Bavarian State Opera. He made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 2012 as the King in Sonja Frisell’s production of "Aida," which was broadcast worldwide in cinemas. At the New York Met, he also sang Un Frate in "Don Carlo." Further engagements include Berlioz’ "Béatrice et Bénédict" directed by Kasper Holten in Vienna, his debut at the Wagner Festival in Budapest as Kothner in "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" under Ádám Fischer, and Tigellino in Arrigo Boito’s "Nerone" at the Bregenz Festival. His repertoire also includes Mozart roles such as Figaro, Leporello, Sarastro, and Don Alfonso, as well as roles like Enrico ("Anna Bolena"), Mustafa ("L’italiana in Algeri"), Ercole (Handel’s "Admeto"), Prince Gremin ("Eugene Onegin"), Colline ("La bohème"), Ferrando ("Il trovatore"), Sparafucile ("Rigoletto"), and Celio ("Die Liebe zu den drei Orangen"). He has worked with conductors such as Riccardo Chailly, Carlo Rizzi, Ádám Fischer, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, and Julia Jones, and has also established himself as a concert singer in oratorios by Haydn, Bach, Mozart, and Bartók. Upcoming engagements include Bartók’s "Duke Bluebeard’s Castle" with Jukka-Pekka Saraste in Copenhagen and a concert performance of Verdi’s "Simon Boccanegra" at Müpa in Budapest.

Nathan Haller is from Canada and studied voice at the Juilliard School in New York. In 2013, he participated in the International Meistersinger Academy in Neumarkt. From 2015 to 2017, he was a member of the OperAvenir Studio at Theater Basel, where he sang roles such as Tamino ("The Magic Flute"), Romeo ("Romeo and Juliet"), and Oronte ("Alcina"). In 2016, he appeared as Belmonte ("The Abduction from the Seraglio") at the Akko Opera Festival in Israel, and in 2017/18 as François in Leonard Bernstein’s "A Quiet Place" at Neue Oper Wien. Further engagements took him to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Vienna Volksoper, the Malmö Opera, and Deutsche Oper am Rhein. On the concert stage, he performed at the New York Festival of Song at Carnegie Hall and in Handel’s "La Resurrezione" with William Christie. He made his debut at the Zurich Opera House in 2018 in Schreker’s "Die Gezeichneten" and returned the following year as Albazar ("Il turco in Italia") as well as later in the title role of Mitterer’s "Tapferen Schneiderlein". Since the 2021/22 season, Nathan Haller has been a member of the Zurich Opera House ensemble. Here, he has recently sung roles including Mercure in Rameau’s "Platée", Gobin/Un giovane/Adolfo in Puccini’s "La rondine", Boni ("Die Csárdásfürstin"), Pong ("Turandot"), a Dance Master ("Ariadne auf Naxos"), as well as Andrès in "Les Contes d’Hoffmann", First Jew ("Salome"), Victorin ("Die tote Stadt"), Raoul de St. Brioche ("Die lustige Witwe"), Goro ("Madama Butterfly"), Valzacchi ("Der Rosenkavalier"), and Dr. Blind ("Die Fledermaus").

Martin Zysset was born and raised in Solothurn. He trained in clarinet while simultaneously pursuing vocal studies, which he complemented with masterclasses with Ernst Haefliger and Edith Mathis. In 1990/91, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House and at the same time a scholarship recipient from the Migros Cooperative Union as well as a prizewinner in the Pro Arte Lyrica Competition in Lausanne. Since 1992, he has been a regular guest at the Summer Festival in Selzach. He has been permanently engaged at the Zurich Opera House since 1991. Here, he has developed a broad repertoire of both buffo and dramatic roles, including Pedrillo, Monostatos, Spoletta, Incredibile ("Andrea Chénier"), Jaquino, Kudryash ("Káťa Kabanová"), Alfred ("Die Fledermaus"), Tamino, Tybalt, Dancaïro, Arturo, Knusperhexe, Brighella, as well as the male lead in Udo Zimmermann’s "Weiße Rose." He performed Simplicius in the operetta of the same name by Johann Strauss, which was also released on CD and DVD. Guest appearances have taken him across Europe, to Shanghai, and with "The Magic Flute," "Le nozze di Figaro," "Fidelio," and "Tannhäuser" to San Diego. For the Bayerischer Rundfunk, he recorded the Lehár operetta "Paganini." In Zurich, he has most recently sung roles including Don Basilio ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Tschekalinski ("Pique Dame"), Triquet ("Eugene Onegin"), the Chief Eunuch ("The Land of Smiles"), Goro ("Madama Butterfly"), Spoletta ("Tosca"), Dormont ("La scala di seta"), the White Minister ("Le Grand Macabre"), the Devil/Narrator ("The Soldier’s Tale"), the Third Jew ("Salome"), Schmidt ("Werther"), Feri ("Die Csárdásfürstin"), and Don Curzio ("Le nozze di Figaro").

Marie Lombard, soprano, studied at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and in Rennes with Stéphanie d’Oustrac. She furthered her training through masterclasses with Lisette Oropesa, Anne Sofie von Otter, Stéphane Degout, Inva Mula, Brigitte Fassbaender, and Mariella Devia. She is an alumna of the Opera Academy of Bordeaux and the Monte-Carlo Opera Academy and has won awards at the International Competition for Young Singers of the Grand Opéra d’Avignon, the Sumi Jo International Singing Competition, and the International Opera Competition of Marmande. Her roles to date include Inès ("La favorite"), the Princess ("L’Enfant et les sortilèges"), Belinda ("Dido and Aeneas"), Eurydice ("Orfeo ed Euridice"), Adèle ("Die Fledermaus"), Coraline (Adolphe Adam’s "Le toréador"), and the First Lady ("Die Zauberflöte"). Since the 2024/25 season, she has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. There, she has performed as Barbarina ("Le nozze di Figaro") and Contessa di Folleville ("Il viaggio a Reims") and sang in a benefit concert with Cecilia Bartoli. In the summer of 2026, she will perform Marzelline ("Fidelio") at the festival in Saint-Céré, France.

Maximilian Bell, bass, studied with Michail Lanskoi and Manfred Equiluz at the Music and Arts Private University of the City of Vienna. He furthered his training through masterclasses with Angelika Kirchschlager, Adrian Eröd, and Gerhard Kahry. The Austrian-born singer has already performed roles such as Spinelloccio ("Gianni Schicchi") and Norton ("La cambiale di matrimonio") at the Bregenz Festival, Osmin ("Die Entführung aus dem Serail") as part of the Vienna Philharmonic Summer Academy in Vienna and Graz, Snug ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream") at Theater Akzent in Vienna, the bass part in Bernstein’s "Mass" at the Wiener Musikverein, Rocco ("Fidelio") in a children’s production in Baden, Austria, Sarastro ("Die Zauberflöte") at the Vienna MuTh, and Bartolo ("Le nozze di Figaro") in a traveling theater production. Since the 2024/25 season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House.

Enrico Maria Cacciari studied piano at the conservatories of Bologna and Milan as well as chamber music in Fiesole with Dario De Rosa and Maureen Jones. As a pianist, harpsichordist, and organist, he has performed in numerous chamber music ensembles and orchestras, including the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra Mozart, and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. In 1997, he was engaged as a répétiteur at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and since 2000 he has held the same position at the Zurich Opera House. As a guest, he has worked at such renowned musical institutions as the Rossini Festival Pesaro, the Baden-Baden Festival House, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Edinburgh Festival, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Salzburg Festival, and the Lucerne Festival. In doing so, he collaborated with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Franz Welser-Möst, Nello Santi, and Marcello Viotti. He has given recitals with singers such as Elena Moşuc, Barbara Frittoli, Javier Camarena, Massimo Cavalletti, Carlo Colombara, and José Cura.

Claudius Herrmann received his musical training with Hans Adomeit in Mannheim and at the Lübeck Academy of Music under David Geringas. Since 1992, he has been principal cellist of the Zurich Opera Orchestra, where he has worked with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Georg Solti, Christoph von Dohnányi, Riccardo Chailly, Bernard Haitink, and Franz Welser-Möst. In 2013, he was invited to serve as principal cellist at the Bayreuth Festival. Before joining the Gringolts Quartet, Claudius Herrmann was a member of the Amati Quartet Zurich for 15 years, performing in major concert halls such as Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, Wigmore Hall, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Vienna Musikverein, and the Berlin Philharmonie. As a soloist, he has appeared with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the Stuttgart Philharmonic, the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra of Moscow, and the Zurich Opera Orchestra (in "Don Quixote"). In addition to more than 20 chamber music recordings, he has also released several CDs featuring cello sonatas by Brahms, Reinecke, and Herzogenberg.