Season Announcement 2015/2016 in Hamburg (April 2015)
Kent Nagano, future General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, Georges Delnon, the future Intendant of the Hamburg State Opera, John Neumeier, Director and Chief Choreographer of the Hamburg Ballet, and Detlef Meierjohann, Managing Director of the Hamburg State Opera presented the 2015/2016 season in a press conference today. In keeping with the meaningful tradition of the three institutions, the new leadership team has set the goal of developing an individual and recognizable profile that spans the bridge between considered cultivation of traditional repertoire and a distinctive passion for new forms.
The Hamburg State Opera will open the season with Berlioz’s opera “Les Troyens”, with Michael Thalheimer giving his directorial debut and Kent Nagano raising his baton for the first time at the opera house. Alongside this production, the revitalized opera stabile will not only host Christoph Marthaler’s “Isoldes Abendbrot”, featuring the mezzosoprano Anne Sofie von Otter, but will also present the world premiere of “Weine night, singe” by Michael Wertmüller, directed by Jette Steckel.
Love and the experience of human agony are the overriding themes of both of the Hamburg Ballet’s premieres in the 2015/2016 season. John Neumeier will choreograph the story of the Italian actress Eleonore Duse and will also bring Messiaen’s symphony “Turangalîla” to the stage, conducted by Kent Nagano. Included in the season’s numerous repertoire productions is “A Cinderella Story” as well as the “Saint Matthew Passion”, set to J.S. Bach’s poignant music.
Hamburg’s new General Music Director Kent Nagano and the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra will start their first season together by paying homage to great composers of Hamburg. The 188th concert season will be characterised by classical composers such as Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Berlioz and Mahler together with works by contemporary artists such as Unsuk Chin, Toshio Hosokawa and Peter Ruzicka. Kent Nagano will conduct seven concert programmes, while guest conductors include Philippe Herreweghe and Lothar Zagrosek.
The season brochures for the three institutions can be viewed online under