Andrea Sanguineti studierte Klavier und Komposition am Konservatorium in Genua, Dirigieren an der Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Wien sowie am Mailänder Konservatorium Giuseppe Verdi. Anschliessend wurde er als Korrepetitor an die Opéra national du Rhin nach Strassburg engagiert. Sein Debüt gab er am Pult des Staatsorchesters Hannover und war seitdem mit Neuproduktionen, Wiederaufnahmen und Konzerten in vielen Städten verpflichtet, u.a. an der Oper Köln, Deutschen Oper am Rhein, Oper Leipzig, Aalto Theater Essen, Teatro Nacional Sao Carlos in Lissabon, Oper Graz, Oper Chemnitz, Landestheater Innsbruck, Teatro Massimo Bellini Catania, Teatro Carlo Felice Genova sowie beim Radio Symphonie Orchester Wien und beim Bejing Music Festival in China. Er war bis Ende der Spielzeit 2018 Generalmusikdirektor der Neuen Lausitzer Philharmonie und des Theaters Görlitz, wo er in seiner 5-jährigen Tätigkeit zahlreiche Premieren und Konzertserien dirigierte. Sein Repertoire reicht von den italienischen Belcanto-Opern über Verdi und Puccini bis zu den deutschen Musikdramen, darunter Tannhäuser, Der Fliegende Holländer und Tristan und Isolde. Dabei hat er mit renommierten KünstlerInnen gearbeitet, u.a. mit Maria Agresta, Annette Dasch, Bryan Hymel, Michael Spyres, Quinn Kelsey, Lucio Gallo, Franco Farina, Fabio Armiliato und Alexander Vinogradov. Er ist ebenso auf der Konzertbühne zuhause und hat sich ein breitgefächertes Repertoire von den Sinfonien von Beethoven bis Brahms über Messiaens Turangalîla-Sinfonie, Skrjabins Prométhée. Le Poème du feu oder das Concerto for Orchestra «Marco Polo» von Tan Dun erarbeitet.
Giuseppe Verdi
Melodrama in three acts
Libretto by Francesco Maria Piave
after Victor Hugo
From 26. April 2025 until 15. May 2025
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Duration :
2 H. 40 Min. Inkl. Pause after 1st act after approx. 1 H. -
Language:
In Italian with German and English surtitles. -
More information:
Introduction 45 min before the performance.
Andrea Sanguineti
Tatjana Gürbaca
Tatjana Gürbaca studied directing at the Hanns Eisler School of Music in her hometown of Berlin and complemented her training through masterclasses, especially with Ruth Berghaus. She was a finalist at the international Ring Award Graz. Her productions range from Baroque works such as "Dido and Aeneas" in Baden-Baden to contemporary music theatre pieces such as Dallapiccola’s "Il prigioniero" (Volksoper Vienna) and Philippe Hersant’s "Le moine noir" (world premiere at Leipzig Opera). She also directed a Tchaikovsky cycle at the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp. Further engagements took her to the State Opera and Deutsche Oper Berlin, Bühnen Bern, Novosibirsk Opera, Oslo Opera, Graz Opera, and the Lucerne Festival, among others. From 2011 to 2014, she was Opera Director at the Staatstheater Mainz, where she directed productions including "The Bartered Bride", Salvatore Sciarrino’s "Macbeth", "Un ballo in maschera", and Scarlatti’s "Il primo omicidio". In 2013, she was named "Director of the Year" by the magazine Opernwelt for her production of "Parsifal" at the Vlaamse Opera Antwerp. She created a three-part "Ring" project and "Alcina" at Theater an der Wien, "Lohengrin" and "Der Freischütz" in Essen, Korngold’s "Die tote Stadt" at Cologne Opera, "Das schlaue Füchslein" at Theater Bremen, "Così fan tutte" at the National Theatre in Prague, "Káťa Kabanová" at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, "Jenůfa" in Geneva, "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" at the Dutch National Opera, as well as "Ulisse", "La Juive", and "Written on Skin" in Frankfurt. In Zurich, she has directed productions including "Rigoletto", "Die Zauberflöte", "Werther", "Le Grand Macabre", "Lucia di Lammermoor", and in 2025 the world premiere of Beat Furrer’s "Das grosse Feuer".
Klaus Grünberg
Klaus Grünberg comes from Hamburg, studied stage design with Erich Wonder in Vienna, and has since worked as a freelance stage and lighting designer at theatres and opera houses throughout Europe as well as in Kuwait and Buenos Aires. For many years, he has collaborated with the composer and director Heiner Goebbels as well as with Tatjana Gürbaca and Barrie Kosky, including from 2009 to 2011 with Kosky on the "Ring des Nibelungen" at the Hanover State Opera. His recent productions include "Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny", the Berlin evening "... und mit morgen könnt ihr mich!", and Philip Glass’s "Echnaton" at the Komische Oper Berlin, "Ulisse", "La Juive", and "Written on Skin" at Frankfurt Opera, "Simon Boccanegra" at the Aalto Musiktheater Essen, "Rusalka" at the Hanover State Opera, "L’incoronazione di Poppea" at Theater Bremen, Gogol’s "Revisor" at the Burgtheater Vienna, "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" at the National Theatre Mannheim, Rimsky-Korsakov’s "The Night Before Christmas" at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, as well as Chekhov’s "Three Sisters" at the Berliner Ensemble. His work has also been presented at the Ruhrtriennale and the Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen, at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, and at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music. In 1999, he opened the MOMOLMA (museum of more or less modern art) in Hamburg. At the Zurich Opera House, he designed the stage and lighting for productions including "Rigoletto", "Aida", "Die Zauberflöte", "Macbeth", "Werther", "Lucia di Lammermoor", and "Die lustige Witwe".
Silke Willrett
Silke Willrett studied stage and costume design with Jürgen Rose and art history in Stuttgart. In 1999, she completed her state examination in art history. In 2003, she founded the independent theatre group "Fliegen ab Stuttgart" with Tanja Richter and Marc Weeger; the group received the Baden-Württemberg Theatre Prize in the same year. Together with Marc Weeger, she was nominated several times by Deutsche Bühne and Opernwelt as "Best Stage and Costume Designer". She also works as a set and costume designer for film productions. The film "Das Mass der Dinge" was nominated for the First Steps Award in 2005 and by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2006. Among her artistic collaborators are Andrea Breth, Christof Nel, as well as Monique Wagemakers and Jan Essinger. She has worked with Tatjana Gürbaca at Theater Bremen, Staatstheater Mainz, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Vlaamse Opera Antwerp, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Teatro Arriaga Bilbao, Aalto Theater Essen, and the Grand Théâtre de Genève, among others. Her recent costume designs include "Il trittico" at the Vienna State Opera, "Ulisse", "La Juive", and "Written on Skin" at Frankfurt Opera, as well as "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" at the Dutch National Opera. She has served on several juries for scholarships and awards, including from 2021 to 2024 for the FAUST Prize. She is a member of the Szenografie-Bund and the German Academy of Performing Arts, as well as a member of the group "Linienscharen". At the Zurich Opera House, she designed the costumes for "Rigoletto", "Aida", "Die Zauberflöte", "Werther", "Lucia di Lammermoor", and "Das grosse Feuer" directed by Tatjana Gürbaca.
Carl-Christian Andresen
Carl-Christian Andresen studied textile and fashion design at the University of Applied Sciences in Hamburg and then moved to Paris for four years. There he worked, among others, for Chloé, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac and John Galliano. In 2006 he returned to Germany and shifted to theatre and opera as an artistic costume assistant. He has had a long-standing collaboration with Silke Willrett since 2008. Carl-Christian Andresen has worked on productions at, among others, the Thalia Theater Hamburg, the Hamburg State Opera, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Dutch National Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, the Vienna State Opera, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, La Monnaie in Brussels, the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, the Aalto Theater in Essen and the Teatro Mayor in Bogotá. He created his own costume designs for, among others, "Le nozze di Figaro" at the Landestheater Detmold, "Le journal de Nijinsky" at the Grand Théâtre Bordeaux, "Dangerous Liaisons" at the Lübeck University of Music, "Der Vetter aus Dingsda" at Theater Ulm and "Dinorah" at Theater Görlitz. For Thierry Tidrow’s opera "Persona" at the Staatstheater Darmstadt he created both the stage and costume design in 2023. He also designs for various short films, feature films and commercials, including "My Circumcision" (awarded the Max Ophüls Prize 2013 for "Best Short Film") and the music video "Fräulein Sommer", which received the UNICATO Award for "Best Music Video" in 2014. In 2024 he designed, together with Silke Willrett, the costumes for the German premiere of Louise Bertin’s opera "Fausto" at the Aalto Musiktheater Essen (directed by Tatjana Gürbaca).
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.
Claus Spahn
Claus Spahn was chief dramaturge at the Zurich Opera House during Andreas Homoki’s tenure as artistic director. There, he supervised music theater projects by Wolfgang Rihm, Helmut Lachenmann, George Benjamin, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, and world premieres by Heinz Holliger, Christian Jost, and Stefan Wirth. As a production dramaturge, he worked with directors such as Sebastian Baumgarten, Herbert Fritsch, Jan Philipp Gloger, Tatjana Gürbaca, Andreas Homoki, Barrie Kosky, Nadja Loschky, David Marton, and Evgeni Titov. He also shares a close artistic partnership with the choreographer and former director of Zurich Ballet, Christian Spuck. For him, Spahn was involved in the development of the productions “Anna Karenina,” “Nussknacker und Mausekönig,” and “Monteverdi” in Zurich, he also wrote libretti for the ballets “Orlando” based on Virginia Woolf (world premiere in 2021 at the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet) and “Bovary” based on Gustave Flaubert (world premiere in 2023 at the Berlin State Ballet). Additionally, he is the librettist of the chamber opera “The Dream of You” by Swiss composer Xavier Dayer, which premiered in 2017 at the Zurich Opera House. Before joining the Zurich Opera House, Claus Spahn was the arts editor for 14 years at the German weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT, where he was responsible for the music section. From 1990 to 1997, he worked as a freelance music journalist mainly for the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Bavarian Broadcasting. Claus Spahn was born in Germany, studied classical guitar in Freiburg im Breisgau, and completed training at the German School of Journalism in Munich.
Cast
Giovanna Ena Pongrac
Liparit Avetisyan
The tenor Liparit Avetisyan, born in Yerevan, Armenia, studied at the conservatory there as well as at the Moscow Conservatory. In 2016 he made his debut at the Cologne Opera as Fenton in "Falstaff". Engagements followed at the Semperoper Dresden, the Hamburg State Opera, the Deutsche Oper and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, Opernhaus Zürich, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Den Norske Opera in Oslo, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Seattle Opera and Opera Australia. He attracted particular attention as Des Grieux (Massenet’s "Manon"), for which he received the "Golden Mask" theatre award in 2017. His further repertoire includes roles such as Alfredo Germont ("La traviata"), Rodolfo ("La bohème"), Nemorino ("L’elisir d’amore"), Count Almaviva ("Il barbiere di Siviglia"), Duke of Mantua ("Rigoletto"), Don Ottavio ("Don Giovanni") and the title role in "Faust". In 2022 he made his debut as Vaudémont ("Iolanta") with the Berlin Philharmonic under Kirill Petrenko. Together with the Armenian State Philharmonic, he has appeared as the Duke of Mantua, Rodolfo and Count Almaviva, and has sung the tenor parts in the Verdi and Mozart Requiems as well as in Mahler’s "Das Lied von der Erde". Further concert engagements have taken him to Russia, Estonia, France, Germany and the USA. In 2020 Liparit Avetisyan appeared as Cassio alongside Jonas Kaufmann in the Sony Classical recording of "Otello", which received an Opus Klassik award. In 2025 he released his first solo album, "Beloved Arias".
Quinn Kelsey
Quinn Kelsey stammt aus Hawaii. 2005 vertrat er die USA bei der «BBC Singer of the World Competition» in Cardiff und ist inzwischen ein gefragter Gast an Häusern wie der Metropolitan Opera, der San Francisco Opera, der L yric Opera of Chicago, dem Royal Opera House, Covent Garden und dem Opernhaus Zürich vor allem für das Verdi-, Puccini- und französische Repertoire. 2015 wurde er mit dem Beverly Sills Award der Metropolitan Opera ausgezeichnet. Er sang u.a. Conte di Luna in Verdis Il trovatore in San Francisco und in Dresden, in Das schlaue Füchslein in Florenz, als Sharpless in Madama Butterfly an der New York City Opera, als Amonasro in Aida bei den Bregenzer Festspielen, als Ezio in Verdis Attila in San Francisco sowie als Paolo in Simon Boccanegra in Rom. In der Titelrolle von Verdis Rigoletto war Quinn Kelsey in Zürich, London (ENO), Frankfurt, San Francisco, an der Opéra National de Paris und an der Wiener Staatsoper zu erleben und als Giorgio Germont (La traviata) gastierte er in Seoul, Chicago, San Francisco, am ROH London sowie in Zürich. Er war u.a. als Peter (Hänsel und Gretel), Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor), Giorgio Germont und als Rigoletto an der Met, mit seinem Rollendebüt als Posa (Don Carlo) an der Washington National Opera, als Miller (Luisa Miller) in Chicago, als Duke of Nottingham (Roberto Devereux) an der Los Angeles Opera, als Scarpia (Tosca) beim 2021 Summer Festival in Cincinnati und als Conte di Luna (Il trovatore) am Opernhaus Zürich zu erleben. Jüngst debütierte er u.a. als Simon Boccanegra an der Opera Philadelphia und sang Graf Anckarström (Un ballo in maschera) an der Met.
Brenda Rae
Die amerikanische Sopranistin Brenda Rae studierte an der University of Wisconsin-Madison und an der Juilliard School of Music in New York. Als Ensemblemitglied der Oper Frankfurt erarbeitete sie sich ein breitgefächertes Repertoire, darunter Elvira (I puritani), Violetta (La traviata), Lucia di Lammermoor, Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) und Gilda (Rigoletto). Als Zerbinetta (Ariadne auf Naxos) gab sie zudem ihre Hausdebüts an den Staatsopern in Berlin, Hamburg und München. An der English National Opera debütierte sie als Lulu in Bergs gleichnamiger Oper, an der Opéra national de Paris als Anne Trulove (The Rake’s Progress) und beim Glyndebourne Festival als Armida (Rinaldo). Ihr US-Debüt gab sie 2013 als Violetta beim Santa Fe Opera Festival und ist seitdem mit mehreren Rollen zurückgekehrt, darunter als Zerbinetta und Ophelia (Brett Deans Hamlet) an die Metropolitan Opera in New York. Ihre langjährige Zusammenarbeit mit Harry Bicket führte sie an die Lyric Opera of Chicago sowie auf Tournee mit The English Concert in London, Paris und New York. Auf der Konzertbühne ist sie bei der Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg und in der Wigmore Hall regelmässig zu Gast. In den vergangenen Spielzeiten gab sie ihre Debüts als Königin der Nacht am Royal Opera House Covent Garden sowie bei den Salzburger Festspielen und sang die Titelrolle von Partenope unter Ivor Bolton am Teatro Real de Madrid. Zu ihren jüngsten Höhepunkten zählt zudem eine Neuproduktion von Semele unter Gianluca Capuano an der Bayerischen Staatsoper.
Brent Michael Smith
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. In 2021, he was a finalist at the Queen Sonja International Music Competition and a semifinalist at the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in 2020, and he won prizes at several other international singing competitions. He also received scholarships from the Loren L. Zachary Society and the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition in Miami. In the United States, he sang roles including 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. In 2020/21, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. Since then, he has been a member of the ensemble and has appeared there in roles including Sparafucile ("Rigoletto"), Raimondo ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Prince Gremin ("Eugene Onegin"), Frère Laurent ("Roméo et Juliette"), Fafner ("Das Rheingold"), and Angelotti ("Tosca").
Elena Maximova
Elena Maximova studierte in Moskau und war ab 2000 als Solistin an der Stanislawski-Oper in Moskau engagiert. Am Sydney Opera House und an der Wiener Staatsoper hat sie einen Residenzvertrag. In Wien debütierte sie 2012 als Carmen und sang dort bisher unter anderem Maddalena (Rigoletto), Olga (Eugen Onegin), Suzuki (Madame Butterfly), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Marfa (Chowanschtschina), Eboli (Don Carlo), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Isabella (L’italiana in Algeri), Angelina (La Cenerentola), Polina (Pique Dame), Blanche (Der Spieler) und Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus). Als Carmen war sie am Royal Opera House London, an der Semperoper Dresden, an der Bayerischen Staatsoper, in Tel Aviv und am New National Theatre in Tokyo zu erleben. In letzter Zeit sang sie zudem Olga an der Met in New York, Maddalena an der Opéra National in Paris, Orlofsky an der Scala in Mailand, La Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims) am Bolshoi Theater in Moskau und Charlotte (Werther) an der Oper in Sydney. Elena Maximova ist auch im Konzertbereich sehr gefragt und arbeitete mit zahlreichen russischen Orchestern zusammen, darunter das Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, The National Philharmonic Russia, das Hermitage Chamber Orchestra und das St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra. Sie sang Verdis Requiem mit dem Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana unter Lorin Maazel im Palau de les Arts in Valencia, mit dem Montréal and Choeur Saint-Laurent Symphonic Orchestra unter Kent Nagano beim Lanaudière Festival in Kanada, in Orvieto mit Zubin Mehta und in Zürich mit David Zinman.
Stanislav Vorobyov
Stanislav Vorobyov is from Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was a member of the International Opera Studio and has been a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House since the 2018/19 season. Here, he has appeared in roles including Colline ("La bohème"), Alidoro ("La Cenerentola"), the High Priest ("Nabucco"), Reinmar von Zweter ("Tannhäuser"), Zaretsky ("Eugene Onegin"), Angelotti ("Tosca"), the Fifth Jew and First Nazarene ("Salome"), Lord Rochefort ("Anna Bolena"), Dottor Grenvil ("La traviata"), Crébillon ("La rondine"), Zuniga ("Carmen"), Roberto ("I vespri siciliani"), Roucher ("Andrea Chénier"), Marchese Calatrava ("La forza del destino"), Tom ("Un ballo in maschera"), as well as Faust ("Der feurige Engel") and Méphistophélès ("La Damnation de Faust"). Guest engagements have taken him to the Bregenz Festival as Don Basilio in "Il barbiere di Siviglia", Uncle Bonzo in "Madama Butterfly", and Il capitano/L’ispettore in Giordano’s "Siberia", to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and Luxembourg as Nourabad in "Les Pêcheurs de perles", to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as Ombra di Nino in "Semiramide", and in 2024 as Colline in "La bohème" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and the ROHM Theatre Kyōto.
Andrew Moore
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").
Daniel Norman
English tenor Daniel Norman began his musical career as a boy soprano at Lichfield Cathedral and as a chorister at New College, Oxford. He initially studied engineering before continuing his vocal training, among other places, at Tanglewood and studying art song at the Britten-Pears School. Subsequently, he was a member of the opera studio at the Royal Academy of Music London. His special dedication to art song has led him to perform in venues such as Wigmore Hall, Kings Place in London, and the Oxford Lieder Festival. In opera, Daniel Norman has appeared at opera houses including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, English National Opera, Nederlandse Reisopera, Opera Boston, Opéra National de Paris, Bavarian State Opera Munich, New Israeli Opera, Scottish Opera Glasgow, Arena di Verona, and the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. His repertoire ranges from early Baroque to contemporary works, with a particular focus on the music of Benjamin Britten. A solo CD featuring Britten’s "Winter Words" and "Who Are These Children" has been released. Recently, he made his debut with "Nixon in China" at the Hannover State Opera and appeared at the Zurich Opera House in "Barkouf," Sondheim’s "Sweeney Todd," as well as in "Der Rosenkavalier" and Massenet’s "Manon."
Samson Setu
Samson Setu, Bariton, begann seine Ausbildung in Neuseeland, wo er Mitglied des Dame Kiri Te Kanawa Programme for Young Singers war, und studierte am Royal College of Music in London. Ab 2020 war er Mitglied im Lindeman Young Artist Program der Metropolitan Opera New York, wo er in Don Carlo einen der Flämischen Deputierten sang. Er war Finalist bei der Dame Malvina Major Aria Competition und der IFAC Handa Australia Singing Competition. An der New Zealand Opera war er in Gilbert and Sullivans Trial By Jury als Usher zu hören. Seit der Spielzeit 2023/24 ist er Mitglied des Internationalen Opernstudios am Opernhaus Zürich.
Maria Stella Maurizi
Maria Stella Maurizi began her studies at the Rossini Conservatory in Pesaro. She won first prize at both the 2020 International Competition “Young Musicians – Città di Treviso” and the 75th Competition for Young Opera Singers “European Community” at the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto. In 2021, she performed as Cio-Cio-San (Madama Butterfly) in Spoleto and Perugia; in 2022, she appeared in the European premiere of Philip Glass’s The Passion of Ramakrishna with the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer, sang Micaëla (Marius Constant’s Tragédie de Carmen) in Spoleto, and Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) in Spoleto and Perugia. That same year, she received the “Premio Nazionale delle Arti” from the Italian government. In 2023, she won prizes at the Concorso Lirico Internazionale “Anita Cerquetti” and the Concorso Lirico Internazionale Riccardo Zandonai. Since the 2023/24 season, she has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera House, where she has performed, among other roles, as Helena (A Midsummer Night’s Dream).
Sylwia Salamońska-Bączyk
Sylwia Salamońska-Bączyk, soprano, studied with Wojciech Maciejowski in Poznań. She also attended masterclasses with, among others, Olga Pasiecznik, Izabela Kłosińska, Mariusz Kwiecień, Hedwig Fassbender, and Edith Wiens, as well as with vocal coaches and pianists Sofia Muñoz, Maciej Pikulski, Katelan Tran Terrell, and Michał Biel. During her studies, she sang roles such as Lauretta ("Gianni Schicchi") and Zosia (Stanisław Moniuszko’s "Die Geister"). In the 2023/24 season, she was part of the Opera Academy Young Talent Development Programme at the National Opera in Warsaw, where she made her debut as the First Attendant of Dirce in Cherubini’s "Medea" and sang Papagena in Mozart’s "The Magic Flute." Since the 2024/25 season, she has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zürich Opera House, where she has performed roles including Nick in Penderbeyne’s "Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig," in Dove’s "Around the World in 80 Days," Najade ("Ariadne auf Naxos"), and the Boy in Mendelssohn’s "Elijah." This season, she will perform roles including the Dew Fairy ("Hänsel und Gretel") and Shepherd ("Tannhäuser").
Steffan Lloyd Owen
Baritone Steffan Lloyd Owen is from Wales and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He received numerous singing awards, including the W. Towyn Roberts Scholarship Prize, the Blue Riband Osborne Roberts Memorial Prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary Prize. In 2025, he won the Josep Palet Singing Competition and was a finalist at the Paris Opera Competition. He sang Sciarrone and the Jailer in a semi-staged "Tosca" alongside Sir Bryn Terfel and Kristine Opolais at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, Escamillo ("La tragédie de Carmen") at the Buxton International Festival, and Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte") at the Welsh National Opera. Concert highlights included Beethoven’s Mass in C major and "Choral Fantasy" with the BBC National Orchestra, Chorus of Wales, and the orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. Since the 2024/25 season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio, where he has sung, among other roles, the title role in "Gianni Schicchi".
Photos «Rigoletto»
