PAOLO ARRIVABENI RETURNS ON THE PODIUM OF THE STAATSOPER HAMBURG FOR VERDI’S RIGOLETTO

Author:

by OPERA Charm Team

November 17, 2023

Rigoletto goes on stage at the Staatsoper Hamburg on November 22nd, 25th, 28th & 30th, 2023.

The cast features Yngve Soberg in the title role, Siobhan Stagg (Gilda), Sergei Romanovsky (Duca di Mantova), Chao Deng (Il Conte Monterone), Liam James Karai (Il Conte di Ceprano), Yeonjoo Katharina Jang (La Contessa di Ceprano & Il Paggio della Duchessa), Mateusz Ługowski (Marullo), Florian Panzieri (Borsa), Soloman Howard (Sparafucile), Ida Aldrian (Maddalena), Jana Kurucová (Giovanna), Grzegorz Pelutis (Un Usciere di Corte), Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg & Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper.

One of the most in-demand Italian opera conductors of his generation, Paolo Arrivabeni, returns on the podium of the Staatsoper Hamburg with Giuseppe Verdi’s Rigoletto, in the production of Andreas Homoki.

Arrivabeni made his debut at the Staatsoper Hamburg in 2019 with Calixto Bieito’s production of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, followed by Nabucco in 2021, Luisa Miller in 2022, La Bohème, and Tosca in 2023. Arrivabeni remarks upon his arrival in Hamburg, «It was love at first sight, and it’s always a great pleasure for me to return to the beautiful Hamburg, in a theatre where the professional working environment mixes perfectly with a friendly atmosphere.»

Arrivabeni is a specialist in the Verdian repertory, having conducted 17 operas throughout his career. He conducted his first Rigoletto in Lausanne in 2005, and he went on to perform the opera at the Opera de Marseille, Deutsche Oper Berlin, and Opera Royal de Wallonie in Liegi, culminating on the podium of the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

«I really adore Rigoletto because, aside from being a masterpiece, its action takes place in Mantua, where I was born and started my education,» the conductor says of his unique bond with Verdi’s opera.

With an international career spanning nearly three decades, Arrivabeni is highly regarded by German opera houses and has conducted frequently at Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in München, Semperoper Dresden, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf and Staatsoper Hamburg. Over the years, he has also established himself as a regular guest at some of the most esteemed opera houses worldwide, including Wiener Staatsoper, Theatre a der Wien, Zurich Opernhaus, Grand Theatre de Geneve, Opéra de Lausanne, Opéra Bastille in Paris, Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Chorégies d’Orange, Théâtre du Capitole in Toulouse, Opera Municipal de Marseille, Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Teatro de La Maestranza in Seville, Opera in Oviedo, Teatro San Carlo in Naples, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Rossini Opera Festival, Sferisterio Opera Festival in Macerata, Festival Verdi in Parma, New National Theatre in Tokyo, Metropolitan Opera in New York, Santa Fe Opera, Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège, Die Königliche Oper in Copenhagen.

His Verdian repertoire features Nabucco, Rigoletto, La Traviata, Otello, Don Carlo (both Italian & French versions), I due Foscari, Attila, Macbeth, Luisa Miller, Il Trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, Un ballo in Maschera, La Forza del Destino, Aida, Falstaff and Messa da Requiem, among which he recorded La Traviata (DVD, 2009) & Falstaff (CD & DVD, 2009 with the staged at the Opera Royal De Wallonie in Liège with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera Royal de Wallonie, in Liege, and I due Foscari (CD & DVD, 2020) staged at the Festival Verdi at Teatro Regio di Parma with the Orchestra La Toscanini under the Dynamic label, as well as Otello (CD, 2011) released by Solo Voce in collaboration with the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera Royal de Wallonie, in Liege.

His 2023/2024 season began at the Deutsche Oper Berlin with Cavalleria Rusticana, I Pagliacci, and Tosca; it continued with his house debut, La Forza del Destino (concert form), at the Den Norsk Opera & Ballet (Oslo); it will culminate at the Opera de Marseille with Attila (concert form) and the Staatsoper Hamburg with Rigoletto. M° Arrivabeni’s engagements in 2024 include Verdi’s La Traviata at the Semperoper Dresden, Norma at the Staatsoper Hamburg, Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Un Ballo in Maschera at the Opera de Marseille.

DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE A L'OPÉRA DE PARIS

October 2024

OPERA CHARM TEAM

PREMIERE OF ‘DON CARLO’ AT WIENER STAATSOPER

September 2024

Opera Charm Team

Alice Lechner

Alice Lechner comes from a music-loving family. Her first encounter with the opera universe was at the tender age of six. The grandeur of the stage productions and costumes, the backstage chatter, and last, but definitely not least, the music left her in awe, beginning with Mozart’s Don Giovanni. The overall feeling that opera awakens in anyone who gets a glimpse into this part of artistic eternity, that each and every day passes the test of time, was what drew her to stay and be a part of this world. The Opera House of Brașov became her second home, and the people who worked there were her second family.

Since then, Alice has devoted her spare time to maximising her musical knowledge through instrumental studies, studying both piano and violin for a short time. In the following years, her number one passion stepped out of the limelight and graciously gave way to Law Studies.
Since 2018 she has been studying Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.

Her passion for opera, even if it is no longer her top professional priority in terms of career, it has most definitely become her priority during her free time. Wanting to experience the best of both worlds and extend her musical horizons, she regularly attends opera performances throughout Romania and abroad.
With OPERA Charm Magazine, Alice aims to nurture her creative side to help it flourish and bloom and to discover, alongside the magazine’s readers, the fascinatingly complex world of opera.

Currently, she is an LL.M. in Business Law at “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași.

Oana Zamfir

Oana Zamfir is a second year MA student at the “George Enescu” National University of Arts, at the Department of Musicology.

She studied violin for 12 years at the “Stefan Luchian” High School of Art in Botosani, later focusing on the theoretical aspects of music. In 2019 she completed her bachelor studies in Musicology as a student of the National Academy of Music “Gheorghe Dima” in Cluj-Napoca. Her research during 2018-2019 brought to the forefront elements of the archaic ritual within works of composers who activated during the communist period, giving her the opportunity to start a research internship at the “Carl von Ossietzky” University in Germany. In this context, she recorded conversations with members of the Sophie Drinker Institute in Bremen, and had access to documents directly from the Myriam Marbé archive.

Since 2019 she has been a teacher of Music Education and Theoretical Music Studies, making full use of interactive methods in the musical training of students and working, at the same time, with the children’s choir founded in the first year of her activity.

Her interests include pursuing a degree in interior design in 2020.

Alexandru Suciu

Alexandru Suciu inherited his passion for art growing up in a family of several generations of musicians. He began his musical studies at the “Augustin Bena” School of Music in Cluj, where he studied piano and guitar. Even though his main study direction was philological, his passion for music prevailed. He began his academical journey at the Faculty of Letters of the “Babeș-Bolyai” University, studying Comparative literature and English. He continued by studying Opera Singing at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy. He also graduated the Musical Education section, followed by Artistic Directing at the Musical Performing Arts department.

His multidisciplinary education opened the doors towards research, which is seen both through his participation in national and international conferences and symposia, such as the Salzburg Easter School PhD-forum, organized by the Salzburg Universität or the Silesian Meeting of Young Scholars, organized by the Institute of English at the University of Silesia, as well as the collaboration with Opera Charm Magazine.

During his student years, he won several prizes, including the Grand Prize at the “Paul Constantinescu” National Musical Interpretation Competition, the Romanian Composers and Musicologists’ Union Prize at the same competition, the First Prize and the Schubert Prize at the “Ada Ulubeanu” Competition.

He further developed his artistic skills by specializing in courses and masterclasses held by personalities such as Vittorio Terranova, Giuseppe Sabbatini, Marian Pop, Ines Salazar, Riccardo Zanellato, Paolo Bosisio, Valentina Farcaș and Manuel Lange in contexts such as the Internationale Sommerakademie für Operngesang Deutschlandsberg, Corso Internazionale di Canto Lirico I.M.C. Licata or the Europäische Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst Montepulciano. Besides his activity on-stage, he currently teaches Opera Singing Didactics, and Pedagogical Practice within the Department for Teacher Education and Training at the “Gheorghe Dima” National Music Academy.

Cristina Fieraru

Cristina is a 24 year-old Romanian soprano & a student at the National University of Music Bucharest, where she pursues the MA program in Vocal Performance.

She made her debut in Pamina from “Die Zauberflöte” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at only 19 years old at the Bucharest National Opera House, as a member of the Ludovic Spiess Experimental Opera Studio. Over the years she made her debut in roles such as Contessa d’Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Mimì & Musetta (La Bohème), Alice Ford (Falstaff), Erste Dame (Die Zauberflöte) in her university’s opera productions.
Her passion and experience extends in the field of choral music, too.

She has been part of our dream team since the fall of 2021. For a good period of time she took care of OPERA Charm’s social media and took you on the monthly journey through the history of opera through our Legends rubric – and a few times through the Theaters around the World rubric.

Her little soul rubric – from 2021 to present – is definitely the Conductors of the Future, where, every month, she gives you the chance to meet a young star of the world of conducting and, of course, to find out what’s the most charming feature of opera in these artists’ views.

BIANCA L. NICA

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua. At vero eos et accusam et justo duo dolores et ea rebum. Stet clita kasd gubergren, no sea takimata sanctus est Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur