Monster's Paradise

The French-Cypriot soprano Sarah Aristidou is the first singer ever to be awarded the Belmont Prize for Contemporary Music (2022). She also received the Luitpold Prize for outstanding achievements at the Kissinger Sommer festival (2021) and was twice nominated as "Best Newcomer" for the Opernwelt Award. She had her breakthrough in 2018 as Shoko in the world premiere of Thomas Larcher’s Das Jagdgewehr, a co-production with the Bregenz Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival. Other highlights include her debut at the Bavarian State Opera (Toshio Hosokawa’s Hanjo), Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Frankfurt Opera, and Semperoper Dresden, as well as Ismene (Mozart’s Mitridate) in Copenhagen, Malmö, and Berlin. The singer has initiated several contemporary compositions, including Aribert Reimann’s Cinq fragments lyriques and Robin Ticciati’s and Jörg Widmann’s Labyrinth IV with the Boulez Ensemble and Daniel Barenboim. She appeared at the Salzburg Festival in Morton Feldman’s Neither and with the Berlin Philharmonic in Edgard Varèse’s Offrandes under François-Xavier Roth. In concert, she has sung Brahms’s Ein deutsches Requiem (Lahti Symphony Orchestra / Masaaki Suzuki), Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater (Gürzenich Orchestra / Roth), Orff’s Carmina Burana (WDR Symphony Orchestra / Cristian Măcelaru), and Bach’s St John Passion (Gürzenich Orchestra / Roth). In 2021, she released her debut album ÆTHER on Alpha Classics, which was nominated for a BBC Music Magazine Award. Her second album, Enigma, released in November 2023, was recently awarded the German Record Critics’ Award (Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik).

The Belgian soprano Sarah Defrise was named Young Musician of the Year in 2022 by the Belgian Press Association. She studied singing at the Royal Conservatory of Brussels and at the École normale de musique de Paris, having previously studied Romance languages and acting. Early on, she made a name for herself in the field of contemporary music. Her debut in 2021 at La Monnaie in Brussels as the Teenager in "Is this the end?" by Jean-Luc Fafchamps marked the beginning of her international career. In the 2021/22 season, she sang The Girl in Péter Eötvös’s "Sleepless" at the Staatsoper Berlin and at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. There, as well as at the Nouvel Opéra Fribourg, she also appeared in Eötvös’s "The Golden Dragon", and in Fribourg additionally as Mélisande in Nicholas Stücklin’s opera of the same name. She made her debut at Teatro Real Madrid as Zdenka in Strauss’s "Arabella". At La Monnaie, she appeared in Fafchamps’s trilogy "Here’s the Woman" and as Naomi in Bernard Foccroulle’s opera "Cassandra", which was revived in Berlin in 2025. Further engagements took her as Zerlina ("Don Giovanni") to the Opéra Royal de Wallonie, as the Virgin in Schumann’s "Paradise and the Peri" to the Theater an der Wien, and as Suzanne in Offenbach’s "Robinson Crusoe" to the Komische Oper Berlin. In concert, she performed in Górecki’s 3rd Symphony with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Liège and appeared at the Ligeti 100 Festival in Budapest in 2023. With her solo program "I Hate New Music!", Sarah Defrise recently performed at the Nouvel Opéra de Fribourg, at La Monnaie, and at the Théâtre des Martyrs in Brussels. Her discography includes the solo album "For Cathy", a tribute to the singer Cathy Berberian.

Kristina Stanek is originally from Krefeld and studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Since the 2020/21 season, she has been a member of the ensemble at the Staatsoper Hamburg; previously, she was part of the ensembles at Theater Basel, Staatstheater Karlsruhe, and Theater Trier. Her repertoire includes roles such as Princess Eboli (Don Carlos), Azucena (Il trovatore), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), Carmen, Second Norn (Götterdämmerung), Concepción (L'Heure espagnole), Maddalena (Rigoletto), Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), as well as Soprano 4 in Luigi Nono’s Al gran sole carico d'amore, Mary Shelley in Michael Wertmüller’s Diodati. Unendlich, and Veronica Quaife in The Fly by Howard Shore. Guest engagements have taken her to the Staatsoper Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Staatsoper Stuttgart, the Ruhrtriennale, and the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, among others. Recent highlights include her house debut as Carmen at the Staatsoper Stuttgart, her role debut as Azucena at the Staatsoper Hamburg, as well as a return as Azucena in Stuttgart. At the beginning of the 2024/25 season, she made her debut as Brangäne at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. This season, she also sings Azucena and Federica (Luisa Miller) at the Staatsoper Hamburg and will debut as Kundry (Parsifal) at the Glyndebourne Festival.

Georg Nigl was born in Vienna. He was a boy soprano with the Vienna Boys’ Choir and later studied voice with Hilde Zadek. Guest engagements have taken him to the Staatsoper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Vienna State Opera, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, Théâtre de La Monnaie in Brussels, and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, as well as to the Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence Festivals, the Ruhrtriennale, and the Wiener Festwochen. His repertoire includes roles such as Papageno (The Magic Flute), Don Alfonso (Così fan tutte), Nekrotzar (Le Grand Macabre), and the title roles in Le nozze di Figaro, L’Orfeo, Wozzeck, Jakob Lenz, Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria, and Manfred Trojahn’s Orest. Georg Nigl has earned particular recognition not only as a soloist in numerous world premieres, but also as a driving force behind new compositions and publications, including works by Friedrich Cerha, Pascal Dusapin, Georg Friedrich Haas, Wolfgang Mitterer, Olga Neuwirth, and Wolfgang Rihm. In 2015, he was named Singer of the Year by Opernwelt magazine. Highlights of recent seasons include the world premiere of Beat Furrer’s Violetter Schnee at the Staatsoper Berlin and a concert performance of Wolfgang Rihm’s Jakob Lenz at the Salzburg Festival. In the 2024/25 season, he will appear as Clov (Kurtág’s Fin de partie), as Ulisse and Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) at the Vienna State Opera, in the title role of Gordon Kampe’s Despot at the Hamburg State Opera, as Eisenstein and Don Alfonso at the Bavarian State Opera, and as Klingsor (Parsifal) at the Tirol Festival in Erl.

Robin Adams wurde in England geboren und studierte Gesang, Klavier und Violoncello in England und Wien. 2011 debütierte er an der Mailänder Scala als Valmont in der Uraufführung des Zweipersonenstücks Quartett von Luca Francesconi. Die Produktion wurde seitdem u.a. bei den Wiener Festwochen, am Royal Opera House London, am Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona, in der Cité de la Musique in Paris, beim Holland Festival Amsterdam, an der Opéra de Lille, am Opernhaus Dortmund und der Casa de Música in Porto gezeigt. Als Ensemblemitglied am Stadttheater Bern war er u.a. als Don Giovanni, Eugen Onegin, Kurwenal (Tristan und Isolde), Nick Shadow (The Rake’s Progress), Conte d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Balstrode (Peter Grimes), Ford (Falstaff) und als Papageno zu erleben. Am Landestheater Linz trat er als Dandini in La cenerentola, als Wolfram in Tannhäuser und als Guglielmo in Così fan tutte auf. Am Theater Basel war er als Oronte in Charpentiers Médée, am Theater Augsburg als Wozzeck und am Theater Freiburg als Prior Walter in Angels in America zu erleben. Am Théâtre du Châtelet Paris sang er in Henzes Die Bassariden, an der Staatsoper Stuttgart die Titelfigur in Henzes Der Prinz von Homburg. Als Interpret von zeitgenössischer Musik wirkte er am La Monnaie Brüssel in The Lighthouse von Peter Maxwell Davies sowie in Triumph of Spirit over Matter von Wim Henderickx mit, in Boesmans Winter’s Tale am Liceu Barcelona sowie in Leonce and Lena von Christian Henking am Theater Bern. Als Konzertsänger interpretierte er u. a. Zemlinskys Lyrische Symphonie mit dem Moscow Symphony Orchestra und Bachs Magnificat mit dem English Chamber Orchestra am Barbican in London.

Ruben Drole, bass-baritone, comes from Winterthur and studied at the Zurich University of the Arts. In 2004, he was accepted into the International Opera Studio (IOS) and in 2005 into the ensemble of the Zurich Opera House, where he appeared, among others, as Lucio Cinna (J.C. Bach’s Lucio Silla), Haly (L’italiana in Algeri), Argante (Rinaldo), Wurm (Luisa Miller) and as Papageno in the “Zauberflöte” conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. As Papageno, he also made his debut at the Semperoper Dresden in 2015. Further projects with Harnoncourt included Kezal (“Die verkaufte Braut”) and Haydn’s “Schöpfung” at the Styriarte Graz, Beethoven’s “Christus am Ölberg” in Vienna and Lucerne, a Japan tour (Mozart’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah) as well as 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 performed as Guglielmo (“Così fan tutte”), Figaro (“Le nozze di Figaro”) and Leporello. He performed the same roles under Welser-Möst with the Cleveland Orchestra. At the 2012 Salzburg Festival, he sang Achilla (“Giulio Cesare”) and appeared there in 2013 in Haydn’s “Il ritorno di Tobia” and in Walter Braunfels’ “Scenes from the Life of Saint Joan.” In Zurich, he sang roles such as Papageno (“Die Zauberflöte”), Alaskawolfjoe (“Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny”), Soldier (“Die Geschichte vom Soldaten”), Odysseus (“Die Odyssee”), Antonio (“Le nozze di Figaro”) as well as Duchess/Caterpillar in “Alice im Wunderland.” Recently, he was also seen in America and in the ballet evening “Nachtträume.”