2023 programs archive

“Lozakovich is a serious artist and demands to be taken seriously; he already plays like one of the greats or, better said, like one of the great players of the past. His tone … resonates with the Romantic warmth of such forebears as Christian Ferras or Jascha Heifetz.”

Hamburger Abendblatt, August 2019

Violinist Daniel Lozakovich’s majestic music-making has left critics and audiences spellbound. “Perfect mastery. An exceptional talent,” observed Le Figaro after a performance in Verbier Festival, while the Boston Globe praised the “poise, tonal purity, and technique to spare” of his debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Andris Nelsons at the Tanglewood Festival in July 2017.

Daniel was born in Stockholm in 2001 and began playing the violin when he was almost seven. He made his solo debut two years later with the Moscow Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and Vladimir Spivakov in Moscow. Since the first performance Daniel has a major influence by Vladimir Spivakov and playes Daniel collaborates with some of the world’s eminent conductors, including Ádám Fischer, Semyon Bychkov, Neeme Järvi,  Esa Pekka Salonen, Andris Nelsons, Robin Ticciati, Marc Albrecht, Klaus Mäkelä, Vasily Petrenko, Tugan Sokhiev, Giancarlo Guerrero, Nathalie Stutzman, Leonard Slatkin and Lorenzo Viotti.

Daniel has a close collaboration with Valery Gergiev, with whom he maintains a strong artistic partnership since their first collaboration during the New Year’s concert 2015 at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall in Moscow. Returning to the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra to perform the Beethoven Violin Concerto in the closing concert of the XV Moscow Easter Festival and later at the Stars of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, at the Festival de Saint-Denis, also the Baltic Sea Festival in Stockholm’s Berwaldhallen, the Rotterdam Gergiev Festival and at the Septembre Musical Montreux Festival with Prokofiev concerto No 2. Daniel opened the Münchner Philharmoniker festival, MPHIL 360°, alongside Valery Gergiev and the Münchner Philharmoniker with Mozart’s Concerto No. 5 and has since been reinvited with a series of performances in the 2019/20 season, in Munich and in Amsterdam, with the Beethoven Concerto.

 "THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE CONCERT AT THE MARIINSKY THEATRE IN JUNE WAS BEETHOVEN’S VIOLIN CONCERTO PERFORMED BY THE CHERUBIC 15-YEAR-OLD PRODIGY DANIEL LOZAKOVITJ. “YOU HAVEN’T HEARD OF HIM, BUT YOU WILL,” GERGIEV SAID."

John Thornhill, FinancialTimes, October 2016

He signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon in June 2016, soon after his 15th birthday. The deal made him the youngest member of DG’s family of artists. It also reinforced his status as a one-in-a-million virtuoso blessed with an entrancing range of expression and musicianship. Lozakovich’s first recording for Deutsche Grammophon, with the Kammerorchester des Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks, was released in June 2018 and featured Bach’s two concerti for violin and orchestra (BWV 1041 and 1042), and the Partita No. 2 in D minor (BWV 1004) for solo violin. The outstanding success of this debut album was marked in the music charts, the album reaching number 1 on the French Amazon overall charts and number 1 in the classical album charts in Germany

“None but the Lonely Heart”, Lozakovich’s second album for the Yellow Label, was released in October 2019. Dedicated to the music of Tchaikovsky, it includes the Violin Concerto, recorded live with the National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia and Vladimir Spivakov, the Méditation for violin and orchestra and arrangements of two vocal works, Lensky’s Aria from Eugene Onegin and the song from which the album takes its name: the Romance, Op.6 No.6, “None but the lonely heart”.

Lozakovich performs with such orchestras as the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchester der Komischen Oper Berlin, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and many more.

Recent highlights include New York debut at the Mostly Mozart Festival with Louis Langrée, as well as tours to Japan and Asia with Valery Gergiev and a Japan tour with the hr-Sinfonieorchester Frankfurt under the baton of Andrés Orozco-Estrada.

A remarkable 2019/20 season sees Lozakovich return to the Boston Symphony Orchestra in their subscription series with Andris Nelsons, the Orchestre National de France with Neeme Järvi, debuting with the Cleveland Orchestra with Klaus Mäkelä, St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra with Yuri Temirkanov, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London with Vasily Petrenko, a tour with the Orchestre de Paris with Christoph Eschenbach and an invitation by Esa-Pekka Salonen to the subscription series of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

A highly-regarded recitalist, he has made appearances at Les Grandes Voix – Les Grands Solistes in Salle Gaveau, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Salle Gaveau, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie and Mariinsky Theatre.

A regular at international music festivals, including the Verbier Festival, the Riga Jurmala Music Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, the Progetto Martha Argerich in Lugano, Sommets musicaux de Gstaad, Gergiev Festival Rotterdam, Baltic Sea Festival, White Nights Festival, Festival de Pâques – Aix-en-Provence, Tanglewood Music Festival, Blossom Music Festival, Pacific Music Festival, Corinthian Summer Music Festival in Austria, Colmar Festival, Festival de Saint-Denis and many more.

As a chamber musician, he has collaborated with such artists as Emanuel Ax, Ivry Gitlis, Sergei Babayan, Martin Fröst, Renaud Capuçon, Alexander Romanovsky, Maxim Vengerov, Shlomo Mintz and Denis Matsuev.

Awarded many prizes including 1st prize at the 2016 Vladimir Spivakov International Violin Competition and “The Young Artist of the Year 2017” award at the Festival of the Nations, “Premio Batuta” in Mexico, and the “Excelentia Award” under the honorary presidency of Queen Sofia of Spain.

Lozakovich studies at the Karlsruhe University of Music with Professor Josef Rissin since 2012, and from 2015 has been mentored by Eduard Wulfson in Geneva. Daniel had also studied with Mikhail Kazinik, Natalja Beshulya and Gerhard Schulz.

Daniel Lozakovich plays the “ex-Baron Rothschild” Stradivari on generous loan on behalf of the owner by Reuning & Son, Boston, and Eduard Wulfson, and plays the Stradivarius “Le Reynier” (1727), generously loaned by LVMH.

Gábor Káli

After replacing Iván Fischer upon the maestro’s request in April 2019 with prestigious Budapest Festival Orchestra, earning rave reviews and standing ovations in major cities and venues such as Budapest, Hamburg ElbPhilharmonie and Paris and Luxembourg Philharmonies, Hungarian Gábor Káli positioned himself as one of the most promising young conductors.

In 2019/2020, he is invited to conduct Mozart’s Magic FLute at Dresden’s Semperoper upon Christian Thielemann's invitation. This follows Káli’s 2018 huge success at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, conducting Verdi’s Rigoletto. In summer 2019 he performs at Salzburg Festival with ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna. A live recording of the concert will be released in Summer 2020 from the Salzburger Festspiele. The same year is accepted invitations by Orchestre du Capitole de Toulouse in France and Polish National Radio Symphony.

In the coming seasons, his intense opera experience leads him to make his debut in prestigious Bayerische and Hamburg Staatsopers. Other coming highlights establish himself as a powerful leader of symphonic formations, with first invitations to major orchestras such as French Orchestre de Paris and Orchestre National de Lille, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Philharmonie Zuidnederland, Slovak Philharmonic and Borusan Istanbul Philharmonic orchestras. He is also invited back to the RSO Vienna to conduct in the Musikverein in Summer 2021.

Past performances include invitations to Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, Cologne Chamber Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra on tour, Irish Chamber Orchestra

As a very versatile and capable musician, Gábor Káli is also highly committed to contemporary repertoire, regularly conducting new music and premiering various works across the globe. He is in particular greatly appreciated and sought-after for his deep knowledge of Bartók’s works which led him to conduct Budapest Festival Orchestra on tour.

Gábor Káli was awarded the prestigious Nestlé and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award in 2018. In the same year he also won first prize at the inaugural Hong Kong International Conducting Competition.

In 2015, he took up the position of First Kapellmeister and Deputy Music Director of the Nürnberg Staatstheater, conducting Berg’s Wozzeck, Puccini’s La Bohème, Janacek’s From the House of the Dead, Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, Strauss’ Arabella and Verdi’s Otello. 

He studied piano and conducting at the Franz Liszt Music Academy in Budapest. He joined the Dirigentenforum of the Deutsche Musikrat, where he attended masterclasses with Kurt Masur, Colin Metters and Sian Edwards. He also took part in courses with Péter Eötvös, Bernhard Haitink, David Zinman and the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich.

Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra

The Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, one of the country’s leading symphonic orchestras, will celebrate its centenary in the spring of 2023.

Following the eras marked by the leadership of János Ferencsik and Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi, a new chapter in the history of the orchestra began in 1997, when Zoltán Kocsis was named chief music director. Over the course of the next two decades, the orchestra performed not only the classics, but also important works previously missing from the repertoire and, with the versatility worthy of a renewed national symphonic ensemble, introducing its audience to the Hungarian music of the recent past and today. During the period after Kocsis’s death, from March 2017 to August 2020, the post of music director was held by the Liszt Award-winning Zsolt Hamar, who had contributed to the orchestra for many years as first permanent conductor while also pursuing a serious international career.

Since the fall of 2022 and the start of the ensemble’s jubilee season, the musicians have been guided by their new chief music director, György Vashegyi.

Vashegyi has taught at the Liszt Academy since 1992, currently serving as an associate professor and director of the Early Music Departmental Group founded under his leadership in 2010. In recognition of his work, he received the Liszt Award in 2008 and the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit, Civil Division in 2015. In 2021, the French state awarded him the honorary title of Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Over the past decades, the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra has given nearly 330 foreign concerts while touring in some 40 countries. During Kocsis’s tenure, they performed at such renowned venues and festivals as New York’s Avery Fisher Hall, Tokyo’s Suntory Hall, Birmingham’s Symphony Hall, the Megaron in Athens, Bucharest’s Enescu Festival, the Colmar and Canary Islands festivals and Bogotá’s Beethoven Festival; In 2011, on the occasion of the Liszt bicentenary year, they played at the Bozar Centre in Brussels and at the Vatican, at a concert held in honour of Pope Benedict XVI. The ensemble pays regular visits to France, Japan, Germany, Romania, Spain, Slovakia and Slovenia, among other countries. In recent years, they have performed in Bogotá, Istanbul, South Korea, China and Switzerland.

In January 2023, they will tour Japan again under the leadership of Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi.

Choreographers:
György Ágfalvi, Máté Farkas, Dezső Fitos, Enikő Kocsis

Music by:
Balázs Cserta, Zoltán Dulai, László Kelemen

Editor, choreographer:
Zsolt Juhász
Gyula Harangozó Prize winner

Music Director:
István Pál “Szalonna”
Liszt Ferenc Prize-winning, Merited artist

Choreographer- director:
Gábor Mihályi
Kossuth and Gyula Harangozó Prize-winning, Deserving and Distinguished Artist

Director of the Hungarian State Folk Ensemble

Director of the event:

János Mucsi

Gyula Harangozó Prize-winning, Meritorious Artist

Theatre Olympics closing event.

An unusual performance in the trees of Margaret Island around the open-air stage. Audiences are immersed in the magical world of the Midsummer night to discover the mystery of the forest. The rays of light reveal the beauty of nature and the trees, enveloping their bodies in the mist that envelops them. Figures of different arts populate the magical night.
Teatro Potlach's performance is the closing ceremony of the Theatre Olympics and is a collaboration between Aesop Studio and Quiet Ensemble (Italy), the Budapest Circus, the Budapest Puppet Theatre, the Music Academy, the Hungarian National Dance Ensemble, the Gyula Sárközi Company, and the Madách School of Dance.
On the Night of the Museums on Margaret Island, we will throw ourselves together and sacrifice on the altar of art, calling on the muses to help us. Budapest is awake on this night! Citizens, theatregoers, , leisure-seekers and all adventure-seekers of all ages can travel and discover the challenging, unrepeatable wonder of the Day and Night equality.

The wonder is where you are!

Valentina Turcu is a classically trained ballet soloist and choreographer who is today one of the most esteemed and prominent artists in Slovenia and neighbouring countries. Her creations extend beyond choreography and stage movement design for operas, dramas, concerts, and ballet evenings in terms of genre and style, ranging from multi-award-winning full-length ballets to contemporary one-acts and choreographic miniatures. Her oeuvre, with over 130 created or co-created ballets, drama and opera productions, testifies not only to her epochal creative potential but also to her versatile and exceptionally flexible theatrical intuition, which has recently been confirmed in her highly successful directing of drama performances.

Valentina was born in Zagreb and discovered her deep passion for theatre and dance art very early on, mainly guided by her parents, internationally renowned ballet soloists, Marin Turcu and Maja Srbljenović Turcu. Her inexhaustible desire for perfection and new challenges in terms of developing her own movement virtuosity led her to the prestigious Béjart Ballet in Lausanne, where, under the watchful mentorship of the legendary choreographer and ballet master Maurice Béjart, she developed her unique choreographic handwriting and dance expressiveness, performing in numerous Béjart choreographies.

After returning to Slovenia, she quickly established herself as one of the most technically refined and expressive dancers, first confirming her talent in Clug's choreographic debut Tango, and then in other solo roles in classical and neoclassical ballet and contemporary dance, leaving a deep impression on critics and audiences in Slovenia and abroad. In 2007, she created her choreographic debut La Callas for the Maribor Ballet, dedicated to the icon of opera art, thus drawing attention to her unique approach to the integration of different artistic forms. In the following years, she achieved even greater international recognition with her psychologically profound and aesthetically polished choreographies, such as Carmen (HNK Split, 2011), Bolero (HNK Split, 2011).

Her great artistic breakthrough happened in 2013 with the authorial choreography of the drama ballet Romeo and Juliet (to the music of Sergei Prokofiev), which she created for the Maribor Ballet and for which she received the prestigious Pie and Pina Mlakar Award. As the expert jury of the Slovenian Ballet Artists Association noted, "Valentina Turcu has set a new benchmark in the quality and expression of contemporary classical ballet." In the following two years, the ballet Romeo and Juliet enjoyed great success at the Latvian National Theatre in Riga (2014), at the Opera Metz Métropole (2015) and at National Opera in Cluj-Napoca (2023).

Other major successes undoubtedly include the drama ballets Anna Karenina (HNK Zagreb, 2014), Dangerous Liaisons (2014, coproduction of the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, Ljubljana Festival and SNG Maribor), and Eugene Onegin (SNG Maribor, 2016). In April 2017, Valentina Turcu created a new production of the ballet thriller Carmen for the Augsburg Ballet. Later that year, she collaborated with renowned choreographer Julio Arozarena on the production of the ballet Don Giovanni for the Latvian National Ballet in Riga, with an adaptation of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's musical score.

One of her recent successes in the genre of dramatic ballet is Death in Venice (a co-production of HNK Zagreb and SNG Maribor, 2018), based on the eponymous novella by Thomas Mann and set to the music of one of the greatest symphonists of fin de siècle, Gustav Mahler. Another notable production is the ballet Lady of the Camellias (set to the music of Franz Schubert in the orchestration and arrangement of Andrej Puškarev), which premiered on March 6, 2020 at the Janáček Theatre in Brno. According to the critics of the professional magazine Dance Europe Magazine, the performance was ranked among the top five ballets premiered in 2020. In 2022, she created the ballet Madame Bovary for the Ballet of HNK Zagreb and the Ballet of SNG Maribor.

Valentina Turcu has received numerous prestigious awards for her artistic achievements, including the Pie and Pina Mlakar Award, the Croatian Drama Artists Award for the best performance and choreography in 2019 for her directorial debut A Streetcar Named Desire (produced by HNK Varaždin), which was performed at the prestigious Gavella Evenings Drama Festival, the Prešeren Fund Award (2018), the Glazer Charter (2017), the Orlando Award (2016) presented by the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, the "Latvijas Gāze" Award for the ballet Romeo and Juliet, which was declared the best theatre production of the 2014/2015 season in Latvia, and she was also nominated for the Kyoto Prize for innovations in dance theatre that address all of humanity with their values and positions. In 2023, Valentina Turcu was awarded the Gabriela Taub Darvaș Award for her outstanding achievements in choreographic art in Romania.

JULIET - Catarina de Meneses
ROMEO - Tamás Darai
MERCUTIO - Andrea Schiffano
TYBALT - Sytze Jan Luske
BENVOGLIO - Yuya Omaki
PARIS - Lucio Mouttone
LADY CAPULETTI - Tanja Baronik
LORD CAPULETTI - Sergiu Moga
LADY MONTECHI - Evgenija Koškina
LORD MONTECHI - Tiberiu Marta
NANNY - Helena Klasič
COURTESAN- Branka Popovici / Olesja Hartmann Marin
COLUMBINE - Asami Nakashima
HARLEQUINS- Tomaž Golub, Mateo Magallotti, Aleksandar Trenevski
FRIAR LORENZZO - Marin Turcu

THE CAPULETTI FAMILY
Asami Nakashima, Hristina Stoycheva, Monja Obrul, Beatrice Bartolomei, Tea Bajc
Cristian Popovici, Davide Buffone, Tomaž Golub, Christopher Thompson

THE MONTECHI FAMILY
Ema Perić, Ines Uroševič, Mina Radaković, Satomi Netsu
Alexandru Pilca, Mircea Golescu, Matteo Magallotti, Aleksandar Trenevski

Tamás Darai was born in Budapest, Hungary. He studied at the Hungarian Dance Academy (BA) and participated in competitions in Lausanne, Istanbul and Beijing, and in summer intensives in North Carolina and Houston.

Tamás joined the Ballet of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb in 2012 under the direction of Irena Pasaric, where he became a first soloist. He left the company to join Ballett Augsburg in 2015.
He danced in choreographies by William Forsythe, Nacho Duato, Marco Goecke, Hans van Manen, Uwe Scholtz, Valentina Turcu and Cayetano Soto, among others, and worked on creations with Pascal Touzeau, Edward Clug, Dominique Dumais, Leo Mujic, Mauro de Candia, Ronald Savkovic and Riccardo De Nigris. His title roles were Franz in Coppelia, Prince in Nutcracker, Vronsky in Anna Karenina, Don Jose in Carmen, and Faust.

He joined the Dresden Frankfurt Dance Company in June 2017. There he worked and created with Jacopo Godani and learned his method of contemporary movement. Tamás danced in many of Godani’s pieces such as High Breed, Moto Perpetuo, Echoes from a Restless Soul, Metamorphers, Post Genoma and he was involved in the creation of Extinction of a Minor Species, Unit in Reaction, Al di La, From Now On, Ultimatum, Alter Ego, Stormo, Satelliting. He also did improvisation-based artistic installations with the company in Senckenberg Naturmuseum in Frankfurt, in the Frankfurter Kunstverein and in the Museum of Contemporary

Art in Belgrade. Tamás performed with the company in theaters such as Teatro Real in Madrid, Stanislavsky Theater in Moscow, Tel Aviv Opera and they performed in festivals in Montpellier, Reggio Emilia, Barcelona, Sevilla, Zaragoza, Kuopio, Winterthur and Ludwigsburg.
He performed in galas as a guest artist in Japan, Spain, Germany and Croatia.
Since 2020 he is a freelance artist. He started to teach workshops and give ballet classes, and in 2021 became a Master’s Degree student at the Hungarian Dance Academy.

Ionut Dinita began dancing at the early age of 7. He studied at the Floria Capsali Academy in Bucharest where he graduated in 2016 and joined the National Opera Ballet House in Bucharest.
From 2017 to 2021, he danced as a soloist at the Ballet of Slovene National Theatre Maribor, and since 2021, he is a soloist at the National Opera in Bucharest.

With the Maribor Ballet Ionut Dinita frequently toured throughout Europe and on two exhilarating tours in Latin America, mesmerising audiences with his exceptional talent, graceful movements and captivating stage presence. Ionut's ability to connect with diverse audiences across continents solidified his reputation as a truly versatile and acclaimed ballet principal dancer.

His repertoire includes roles such as Siegfried in Swan Lake, Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Charming in Cinderella, James and the Prince in The Nutcracker, Romeo in Romeo and Juliet He has also danced with Sergei Polunin in “Fraudulent Smile” and other productions by Polunin Ink.

Final program Budapest

Nadine Sierra, Soprano
Francesco Demuro, Tenor
Pablo Mielgo, Conductor

I part
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Le nozze di Figaro Overture 5´

Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848)
Don Pasquale
“Quel guardo il cavaliere…So anch’io la virtù magica”. Norina 7´

Lucia di Lammermoor
“Lucia perdona. Verranno a te”. Edgardo - Norina 10´

Gaetano Donizetti (1797 - 1848)
Elisir d’ amore
“Furtiva Lagrima”. Nemorino 5´

Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
Romeo et Juliette
”Ah, je veux vivre”. Juliette 6´

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
Rigoletto
“La donna e mobile”. Duque de Mantua 4´

Traviata
“È strano..ah forse lui…sempre libera”. Violetta 8´

Pausa

2 Part
Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
Forza del Destino Overture 9´
“Parigi o cara”. Alfredo and Violetta 5´

Franz Léhar (1870-1948)
Die lustige Witwe
“Vilja-Lied”. Hanna Glawari 5´

Eduardo di Capua (1865-1917)
“O sole Mío” 5´

Consuelo Velázquez (1916-2005)
“Bésame Mucho” 4´

Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990)
West Side Story
“I feel pretty” 5´

Giacomo Puccini (1797 - 1848)
Turandot
“Nessun Dorma”. Calaf 5´

Bis

Giuseppe Verdi (1813 - 1901)
Traviata
“Brindisi” 5´

SOPRANO

"Her voice with its pure, incisive and delicate timbre radiates tenderness in the middle
register, while she floats her golden high register to the limits of audibility ." - Le Monde
Praised for her vocal beauty, seamless technique, and abundant musicality, Nadine
Sierra is being hailed as one of the most promising, young talents in opera today. She
was named the Richard Tucker Award Winner in 2017 and was awarded the 2018
Beverly Sills Artist Award by the Metropolitan Opera. Having made a string of successful
debuts at the Met, Teatro alla Scala, Opéra national de Paris, and Staatsoper Berlin, she
has become a fixture at many of the top houses around the world. In 2018, Deutsche
Grammophon/Universal Music labels released her debut album, There’s a Place for Us,
followed by a second album, Made For Opera, in 2022.
 
In the 2022/23 season, Sierra appear as Violetta (La traviata) at Metropolitan Opera
and Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Gilda (Rigoletto) at Teatro di San Carlo and at the
Staatsoper Berlin, Manon at Gran Teatre del Liceu. Moreover, she makes her role debuts
as Amina (La sonnambula) and Liù (Turandot) at Teatro Real. On the concert platform,
she sings Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Ein
deutsches Requiem at the Metropolitan Opera, as well as concerts and recitals in San
Francisco, Prague and Paris.
Sierra’s most recent seasons included the roles of Violetta at Maggio Musicale
Fiorentino, Lucia at Metropolitan Opera, Bavarian State Opera, Teatro di San Carlo and
Gran Teatre del Liceu, Gilda at Paris Opera and Teatro alla Scala, Adina (L'elisir
d'amore) at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) and Gilda under
the baton of Daniel Barenboim at the Staatsoper Berlin, where she also appeared as
Nannetta (Falstaff) and Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier); Susanna and Gilda at the
Metropolitan Opera, Manon and Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) at the Opéra national de
Bordeaux. Concert appearances included appearances with Berliner Philharmoniker
under the baton of Gustavo Dudamel, Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick
Nézet-Séguin; Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia with Antonio
Pappano. She also performed in recital at Palm Beach Opera, Grand Théâtre de Genève
and in Kansas City (Harriman-Jewell Series), and she joined Andrea Bocelli in a tour
across the States.
Other notable engagements from past seasons include the title role in Lucia di
Lammermoor at Teatro La Fenice, Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Flavia (Eliogabalo), Pamina
(Die Zauberflöte) and Norina (Don Pasquale) at Opéra National de Paris, Zerlina and
Ilia (Idomeneo) at the Metropolitan Opera, Juliette, Lucia, Musetta, Pamina and
Contessa at San Francisco Opera. In 2016, she and Leo Nucci made headlines after her
house debut in Rigoletto at Teatro alla Scala when, on opening night, they were
prompted by the audience to encore the duet, breaking a La Scala tradition dating back
to Toscanini. Among many of her concert appearances ranging from Carnegie Hall,
Arena di Verona, Musikverein in Vienna, Tanglewood and Ravinia music festivals, Dallas
Opera, Park Avenue Armory in NYCm, the soprano also had the privilege and honor of
performing twice at the U.S. Supreme Court for the Honorable Justices.
Throughout Ms. Sierra’s young career, she has taken home several awards and is the
youngest winner to date for both the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition and
the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, as recounted by Nick Romeo in his
book Driven: Six Incredible Musical Journeys (2011), a chapter of which is devoted to
Sierra’s Grand Finals triumph. She also took home first prizes in 2010 at the George

London Competition, Gerda Lissner International Competition, and Loren Zachary
Competition, and was a recipient of a Richard Tucker Music Foundation Study Grant. In
2013, she placed first at the Neue Stimmen, Caballé, and Veronica Dunne International
Singing Competitions, and won a Richard Tucker Music Foundation Career Grant.
Ms. Sierra fell in love with opera at a young age, after watching a VHS of La bohème,
and began voice lessons at the age of six in her home state of Florida. Although she
made her professional debut as a teenager with the Palm Beach Opera, she decided to
continue studying, and received her bachelor’s degree from Mannes College the New
School for Music. Following graduation, she went on to participate in the Adler
Fellowship Program at the San Francisco Opera, forming a lasting relationship with the
company.
She has been featured in Vogue, Nylon, Bon Appetite, Opera News, on the cover of
Classical Singer magazine, and numerous international TV and print media. She
maintains an active presence on social media, where she interacts with her followers by
answering messages, comments and questions on a daily basis.

SOPRANO

With her magnetic charm, acclaimed operatic and solo performances worldwide, and a critically lauded discography, South African soprano Pretty Yende has quickly become one of the brightest stars of the classical music world.
Since making her professional operatic debut at the Latvian National Theatre in Riga as Micaela in Carmen, she has been seen at nearly all of the major theaters of the world, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Opéra National de Paris, Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Opernhaus Zürich and Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Vienna Staatsoper as well as many major concert venues.

This season, Pretty Yende returns to the Paris Opera to star in Romeo et Juliette and The Magic Flute. She makes her San Francisco Opera house debut as Violetta Valerie in Verdi’s La Traviata in the new production by Shawna Lucey. Later on she will return to Wiener Staatsoper to star in the title role in Massenet’s Manon, and as Marie in La fille du regiment. Pretty reprises the role of Michaela in Carmen at the Staatsoper Berlin. At the Staatsoper Hamburg she is making her role debut as Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and returns to all four heroines Olympia/Antonia/Giulietta/Stella in Offenbach’s Le Contes d’Hoffmann.
On the concert stage, Pretty Yende makes her return with the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Carnegie Hall and Kimmel Cemter performing Mahler's Symphony No. 4 under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. This season, Ms. Yende will also make multiple recital appearances, including in Kansas, Princeton, Geneva, Naples, Gstaad, Vienna, Festival Auvers-sur-Oise. Pretty will also join Nadine Sierra in a uniquely special series of concerts around Europe.

Last season, Ms. Yende returned to Wiener Staatsoper to star as her signature role of Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata and as Elvira in Bellini’s I Puritani. She reprised Violetta at the Royal Opera House and performed the role of Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale. At the Teatro di San Carlo, Ms. Yende sang Violetta in Ferzan Özpetek’s production, and delivered a recital with pianist Michele D’Elia. Additionally, she made her debut as Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta, and Stella in Offenbach’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía.
On the concert stage, Pretty Yende made her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra performing songs by Richard Strauss under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. She joined a star-studded roster for Washington National Opera’s “Come Home: A Celebration of Return” concert, and she performed two concerts with the Parisian Frivolities, first at the Théâtre Impérial de Compiègne and then at Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. She perform selected arias with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra in Czechia. At the Wiener Konzerthaus, she joined soprano Nadine Sierra for a concert with the Slowakische Philharmonie and conductor Riccardo Frizza.

In 2020/21 Ms. Yende made her successful house debut at the Wiener Staatsoper as Adina in L’elisir d’amore and later sang Violetta in Simon Stone’s acclaimed production of La Traviata. She reprised Violetta several times: at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Patrick Bannwart’s production; at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in David McVicar’s production; and at Teatro Massimo di Palermo, marking her much-anticipated house debut. Ms. Yende returned to the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées to star as Amina in Bellini’s La sonnambula, featuring a new production by Rolando Villazón.
Yende made her highly anticipated house debut at Teatro di San Carlo performing in a special Mozart and Bel canto Gala concert led by Giacomo Sagripanti. She also performed in the Metropolitan Opera’s “New Year’s Eve Gala Live in Concert,” streamed live from the Parktheater in Augsburg, Germany. Ms. Yende shared the stage with tenor Benjamin Bernheim for a recital with the Orchestre de chambre de Paris, led by Sascha Goetzel. Additionally, she returned to Paris for the annual “Concert de Paris” to celebrate Bastille Day.
In the 2019/20 season, Ms. Yende returned to Paris for two highly anticipated role debuts: Violetta in a new production of La Traviata by Simon Stone, and the title role in Manon, featuring a new production by Vincent Huguet. On the concert stage, Ms. Yende embarked on a solo recital tour, making stops at Oper Frankfurt, the Opernhaus Zürich, Smetana Hall in Prague, and the Barbican in London, and Carnegie Hall in New York.
Ms. Yende began the 2018/19 season with her return to Barcelona as Elvira in I Puritani. She returned to The Metropolitan Opera as Marie in La fille du Regiment, and sang her first Leïla in Les Pêcheurs de Perles, receiving critical acclaim from the New York Times: “In the role of Leïla, suppressed erotic longing is sublimated into pure vocalism lavishly ornamented with arabesques and grace notes.” Shortly thereafter, she appeared at the Opéra national de Paris as Norina in Don Pasquale, portrayed her first Amina in La sonnambula at Opernhaus Zürich, and returned to the Bayerische Staatsoper to sing the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor and as Adina in L’elisir d’amore.

Her rise into the global stage includes highlights from her acclaimed Metropolitan Opera debut, stepping in as the Countess Adele in Le Comte Ory;
her role and house debut as Marie in La fille du Régiment at the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville;
debuts at Opéra national de Paris as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia,
the Gran Teatre del Liceu as Norina in Don Pasquale,
with the Los Angeles Opera as Micaëla in Carmen,
at Staatsoper Hamburg as Fiorilla in Il Turco in Italia,
and her debut at the Theater an der Wien as Countess Adèle.

Additional highlights include Rosina, Adina, the title role of Lucia di Lammermoor, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette, Elvira in I Puritani, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Met; Adina at the Royal Opera House; Lucia at the Opéra national de Paris and Deutsche Oper Berlin; Adina at the Staatsoper Berlin; Pamina at the Grand Théâtre de Genève; Elvira at Opernhaus Zürich; Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at Los Angeles Opera; Countess Adèle and Musetta in La Bohème at Teatro alla Scala; her role debut as Teresa in Benvenuto Cellini in Paris; and Lucia di Lammermoor in concert at the Cape Town Opera.

Highlights on the concert stage include her Carnegie Hall recital debut with pianist Kamal Khan, with the New York Times acclaiming: “A gracefulness that can seem decidedly divine seems to radiate from Ms. Yende.” She later returned to Carnegie Hall to join the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra for a performance of Mozart’s Exsultate Jubilate and Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Ms. Yende has presented concerts in Switzerland, Spain, Austria, Johannesburg, South Africa, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and Prague.
In 2016, she released her debut album “A Journey” for Sony Classical which won several awards including 2017 International Opera Award – Best Recording (Solo Recital) as well as an Echo award for best newcomer at the Echo Klassik Awards 2017 as well as a first for an opera singer in her home country being awarded International Achiever Award at the South African Metro FM Awards. She appeared as the musical guest on several television shows including “The Late Show” with Steven Colbert, “The Wendy Williams Show,” and “Good Morning America.” She released her second solo album titled “Dreams” one year later on Sony Classical, which won her the Readers’ Choice Award at the 2018 International Opera Awards, with Opera Now raving: “South African Yende has a delicious instrument, with a youthful quiver of passion to it, and a wonderfully secure technique.”
A 2011 graduate of the Young Artists Accademia of the Teatro alla Scala, Yende made her debut with the company in 2010 as Berenice in Rossini’s L’Occasione fa il Ladro. In 2010, she became the first artist in the history of the Belvedere competition to win top prize in every category, and went on to win First Prize in the Operalia Competition in 2011.
Other prestigious awards include an Award from the South African government ‘The Order of Ikhamanga in Silver’ for her excellent achievement and international acclaim in the field of world of opera and serving as a role model to aspiring young musicians and more recently being a recipient of the Italian Knighthood, ‘Ordine Stella d’Italia’, for her work in building extraordinary relations between Italy and other countries, making her the youngest South African ever awarded this accolade.

conductor - Chief Conductor of the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears

Pablo Mielgo, a conductor from Madrid, is a true world citizen with an entrepreneurial spirit and the missionto make music accessible to everyone: the agile chief of the Orquestra Simfònica de les Illes Balears (OSIB)and the Symphony of the Americas (SOTA) was immediately engaged by orchestras around the world afterhis studies at the Royal Conservatory of his hometown, the Reina Sofia School and the London GuildhallSchool of Music. Moreover, he created a network of numerous musical friendships between Berlin and Qatar,Lucerne and Los Angeles, with renowned musicians, who are now enriching the OSIB and SOTA concertprograms.Pablo Mielgo has assisted conductors such as James Conlon, Jesus Lopez Cobos, Daniel Barenboim andClaudio Abbado. He regularly conducts on the great stages of Europe such as the Wiener Musikverein, theUSA such as Carnegie Hall New York, Latin America and the Middle East. In close artistic collaboration, theMadrilenian works with orchestras such as the Simon Bolívar Symphony, the Arena di Verona and the QatarPhilharmonic as well as with artists such as Juan Diego Florez, the Labeque sisters, Pierre-Laurent Aimard,Emmanuel Pahud, Midori, Khatia Buniatishvili, Julian Rachlin or Radovan Vlatkovic.Since 2005 he has been the musical and artistic director of the SaludArte Foundation, which aims to bringabout social change through music. Pablo Mielgo launched several musical events with great internationalacclaim including the Festival España-Venezuela, the International Music Festival of Madrid “Madrid mesuena”, the tour of the Ibero-American Youth Orchestra through Spain and the USA, IberOpera as well as“Live, connecting the world through music”.

He collaborated with institutions such as the Teatro Real Madrid, the Miami New World Symphony, ElSistema in Venezuela and the Florida Grand Opera, National Ballet and orchestra of China among others.Pablo Mielgo is especially dedicated to the promotion of young talents. Since 2011 the coartistic director ofthe Medellin Philharmonic Academy strives to give young musicians access to musical education regardlessof parental income. Furthermore, the conductor has founded three youth orchestras since 2003: thePresjovem Youth Orchestra bringing together the best young Spanish musicians, the Iberoamerican YouthOrchestra and the Harmonia Symphony Orchestra. In cooperation with Sir Colin Davis.As chief conductor of the OSIB since 2014, and of the SOTA since 2020, he has promoted both orchestra’sdevelopment in several aspects successfully on the basis of his international experience: Pablo Mielgo hasimproved the quality of the orchestra and its programs, increased ticket sales and developed his network withguest performances, youth programs and first-rate artists.

Tenor

After his debut in 2007 in Parma with Luisa Miller, Francesco Demuro has established himself as a frequent guest on the most important opera houses worlwide, having appeared with Royal Opera House, Metropolitan Opera, Opéra National de Paris, Teatro alla Scala, Berlin State Opera, Opera di Roma, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real, La Fenice, Gran Teatre del Liceu, Teatro di San Carlo, Bavarian State Opera, Arena di Verona, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, to name but a few.

His repertoire includes leading roles in La Traviata, Rigoletto, La Bohème, Lucia di Lammermoor, Falstaff, L'Elisir d'Amore, Les Pêcheurs de Perles, Roberto Devereux, Maria Stuarda, I Puritani, Roméo et Juliette, Faust, Don Pasquale, Così fan tutte, Werther, Faust, Linda di Chamounix, La Sonnambula.

In concert, he appeared with Berliner Philharmoniker, Berlin Staatskapelle, Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala, Accademia di Santa Cecilia, NDR Leipzig, Hungarian National Philharmonic, Houston Symphony,  in a repertoire including, among others, Verdi Requiem, Mozart Requiem, Petite Messe Solennelle, Beethoven's Ninth.

Season 2022/23 sees him appear Opéra de Paris (I Capuleti e i Montecchi, Roméo et Juliette), Teatro Real (La sonnambula), Vienna State Opera (L'elisir d'amore), Hamburg State Opera (La traviata), Greek National Opera (Werther), Staatsoper Berlin (Rigoletto). 

Upcoming plans in season 2023/24 include Norma at Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, La bohème at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, Maria Stuarda at Teatro di San Carlo, Médée at Teatro Real, Beatrice di Tenda at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Bellini in Catania.

Born in Porto Torres, Sardinia, he studied at the Conservatory in Sassari, before enrolling himself as a private student at the Conservatory in Cagliari, where he received lessons by soprano Elisabetta Scanu.

Attila, king of the Huns: John Relyea
Odabella, the daughter of the king of Aquileia: Szilvia Rálik
 General Ezio: Zsolt Haja
Foresto, knight in Aquileia: Boldizsár László
Pope Leo I.:  Géza Gábor
Uldino, slave of Attila:  Barna Bartos

Huns; people of Aquileia; soldiers and people roman;

Choir: The Choir of The Hungarian State Opera

Libretto:
Temistocle Solera, after Zacharias Werner’s
Attila, König der Hunnen

Conductor: Martin Rajna
Director of the choir: Gábor Csíki

Choreographer: János Feledi

Costume design: Kentaur
Lighting and visual design: János „Madár” Madarász
Creatif consultant: Kata Dobó

Director: András Aczél

Producer, artistic director: Teodóra Bán

John Relyea is one of today's finest basses.

“John Relyea has one of those voices that seem to come from a couple of hundred meters underground. Speaking the Prologue to Bartók’s Bluebeard´s Castle, Relyea had us gasping, so volcanic did it sound”.

Classical Source - Peter Hatfield

John Relyea has appeared on many of the world’s great operatic stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera (where he is an alumnus of the Merola Opera Program and a former Adler Fellow), Lyric Opera of Chicago, Royal Opera House-Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Teatro alla Scala, Rome, Naples, Bayerische Staatsoper, Vienna State Opera, Dresden, Madrid, Barcelona, the Mariinsky Theater, and the Canadian Opera Company. His roles have spanned a vast range of repertoire, including the title roles of Attila, Don Quichotte, and Aleko; Figaro in Le Nozze di Figaro and Bluebeard in Bartok’s Bluebeard’s Castle.

Other roles include Zaccaria in Nabucco, Bertram in Meyerbeer’s Robert le Diable, Pagano in I Lombardi alla prima crociata, Raimondo in Lucia di Lammermoor, Colline in La Bohème, Don Alfonso in Lucrezia Borgia, Don Basilio in Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Alidoro in La Cenerentola, Giorgio in I Puritani, Enrico in Anna Bolena, Banquo in Macbeth, Garibaldo in Rodelinda, Méphistopélès in both Faust and Le Damnation de Faust, the Four Villians in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Marke in Tristan and Isolde, King Phillip in Don Carlo, Caspar in Der Freischütz, Nick Shadow in The Rake’s Progress, Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia, The Water Sprite in Rusalka and King Renè in Iolanta. In concert, he has performed with major orchestras including the Berlin Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, NDR, London Symphony, Chicago, Boston, Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestra, as well as Atlanta, Dallas, and San Francisco Symphony.

Mr. Relyea has been seen on the stage of the Metropolitan opera in over 240 performances since his debut as Alidoro in Rossini's La Cenerentola in 2000.  

Recently he returned to the Paris Opera for Bluebeard’s Castle, and to the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma as Claggart in Billy Budd, his debut at the Teatro di San Carlo as Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra, concerts with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, and Sydney Symphony,  in Oslo for Billy Budd, Nabucco (concert version) with NTR in Amsterdam, concerts with Orchestra Sinfonica della Rai and Les Huguenots at the Semper Oper in Dresden, Bluebeard’s Castle in concert at the London Philharmonic Orchestra, new production of Hamlet by Australian composer Brett Dean at MET.

In recital, he has been presented at Weill Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, the Wigmore Hall in London, the University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, and the University of Chicago Presents series.

The many conductors with whom Mr. Relyea has worked with include Harry Bicket, Pierre Boulez, Sir Colin Davis, Christoph von Dohnányi, Gustavo Dudamel, Allan Gilbert, Christoph Eschenbach, Valery Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Mariss Jansons, James Levine, Lorin Maazel, Sir Charles Mackerras, Sir Neville Marriner, Zubin Mehta, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Sir Simon Rattle, Donald Runnicles, Esa-Pekka Salonen.

He has appeared at the Tanglewood, Ravinia, Salzburg, Edinburgh, Lucerne, and Mostly Mozart festivals, Glyndebourne and at the BBC Proms.

He also remains in high demand throughout the concert world where he appears regularly with orchestras such as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Symphony, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, NDR Hamburg, and the Berlin Philharmonic.  

2022 Saw John Relyea's triumphant and critically acclaimed return to the Metropolitan Opera as the Inquisitor in Don Carlos, as the Ghost/Gravedigger in the North American premiere of Brett Dean's Hamlett, Boris Timofeyitch in Lady MacBeth of Mtsensk, and Sparafucile in Rigoletto

Future engagements:   Die Walkyrie at Teatro San Carlo, La Damnation de Faust in concert with St. Louis Symphony, Don Carlo at Royal Opera House.

His recordings include Verdi Requiem (LSO Live) Idomeneo and Clemenza di Tito with Sir Charles Mackerras and the Scottish Symphony Orchestra (EMI), Mahler Symphony 8 with Sir Simon Rattle and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (EMI), and the Metropolitan Opera’s DVD productions of Don Giovanni, I Puritani, Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (Deutsche Grammophon) Macbeth and Rusalka (Metropolitan Opera HD Live Series).

Mr. Relyea is the winner of the 2009 Beverly Sills Award and the 2003 Richard Tucker Award.