General Music Director Kent Nagano receives Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (February 2024)

“Kent Nagano stands for classical music at the highest level and carries his enthusiasm far into society.”
Dr Carsten Brosda, Minister of Culture and Media Hamburg

Kent Nagano has been honoured by the Federal President with the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. Dr Carsten Brosda, Minister Culture and Media, presented him with the award today in the Tower Hall of the Town Hall.

“I feel deeply honoured to receive this high recognition from Germany and, indirectly, from the great culture it represents. If I have been able to contribute in any way to the extensive artistic tradition in this country, it is only because of the privilege of working closely with exceptional ensembles and institutions: such as the Hamburg State Opera and the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the Bavarian State Opera and the Bavarian State Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Dresden Festival Orchestra, Concerto Köln and many other great German cultural institutions and artists.”
Kent Nagano, Conductor and General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and Chief Conductor of the Philharmonic State Orchestra

Ehrung BVO Kent Nagano (c)Claudia Höhne, Bundesverdienstorden, Rathaus Hamburg, Turmsaal, 19.02.2024

More information can be found here.

Kent Nagano’s Honorary Memory of Maestro Seiji Ozawa (February 2024)

“With Maestro Seiji Ozawa’s passing the world has lost not only an exceptional artist, we have lost one of music’s greatest pioneers and ambassadors of his generation. Personally, I have lost a close mentor, trusted friend and perpetual source of inspiration. His legacy will live on through his tireless investment in the  young generation and the many cultural institutions he built during his lifetime. The music community has been deeply fortunate to have known such a formidable artist and we send a heartfelt note of condolence to the Ozawa family.”

– Kent Nagano, February 2024

Peter Grimes premiere with Kent Nagano in Hamburg (February 2024)

On Sunday, February 11, 2024, General Music Director Kent Nagano will conduct the premiere of Benjamin Britten’s opera Peter Grimes at the Hamburg State Opera.

In February, Kent Nagano will also devote himself to preparations for the premiere of “Die Walküre”, which will take place on March 9 at the Prague State Opera. “Die Walküre” will continue the Dresden Music Festival’s “The Wagner Cycles” project, in which “Die Walküre” will be performed in concert with the Dresden Festival Orchestra and Concerto Köln under the direction of Kent Nagano.

Sunday, February 11, 2024, Hamburg, State Opera                       Premiere
Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra
Benjamin Britten: Peter Grimes
Gregory Kunde (Peter Grimes)
Jennifer Holloway (Ellen Orford)
Katja Pieweck (Auntie)
Iain Paterson (Balstrode)
Kent Nagano (conductor)
Sabine Hartmansshenn (director)

Further performances:
February 14, 18 & 21, 2024

Further information can be found at staatsoper-hamburg.de

Kent Nagano’s first concerts in 2024 (January 2024)

Kent Nagano’s first concerts in 2024 will take him to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on January 13 for the Dutch premiere of Unsuk Chin’s Alaraph ‘Rite of the Heartbeat’ with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic. On January 18 & 19, Kent Nagano will conduct the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich with a world premiere of Bryce Dessner’s Piano Concerto and on January 28, Kent Nagano will return to Berlin to the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester (DSO), whose chief conductor he was and is now associated with as honorary conductor. The program includes Hildegard von Bingen’s Responsorium ‘O vis aeternitatis’, performed by singers from the Rundfunkchor Berlin, and Mahler’s 7th Symphony.

Salome premiere with Kent Nagano in Hamburg on ARTE Concert (November 2023)

On Sunday, 29 October 2023 at 6 p.m. (CET), General Music Director Kent Nagano will conduct the premiere of Richard Strauss’ opera Salome at the State Opera Hamburg.

ARTE will broadcast the premiere live and the stream will be available in Europe on ARTE Concert for 180 days afterwards. NDR will also broadcast the opera live on the radio starting at 6 p.m. (CET). Director Dmitri Tcherniakov, “Director of the Year 2023” chosen by the German magazine Opernwelt, directs the production.

The role of Salome is sung by Asmik Grigorian, “Singer of the Year 2023” (Opus Klassik), alongside Kyle Ketelsen in his role debut as Jochanaan, as well as John Daszak as Herod and Violeta Urmana as Herodias.

Further performances:

1, 4, 8, 12 & 15 November, 2023.

For more info, visit staatsoper-hamburg.de

The stream on ARTE Concert is available free of charge and without registration.

Kent Nagano with Modest P. Mussorgsky’s opera “Boris Godunov” at the Hamburg State Opera (September 2023)

This coming Saturday, 16 September, Kent Nagano will open the 2023/24 season of the Hamburg State Opera with Modest P. Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov in a new production by Frank Castorf.

“The years between the death of Ivan the Terrible and the ascension of the Romanov family to the throne are known in Russia as the “Time of Troubles”. During this time, Boris Godunov strives to gain power with an iron determination. However, the ghosts of the past catch up with him and he dies a madman, abandoned and betrayed by everyone. In the meantime, the country sinks ever deeper into corruption, putsches and intrigue. A new “Time of Troubles” dawned during Modest Mussorgsky’s lifetime: the old order faltered and could not survive, everyone felt it. During a period of political upheaval and shaken by dramatic developments in his private life, Mussorgsky created a work about the arrogance of power and the eroticism of betrayal – as contradictory and fascinating as his personality itself.”

More information can be found here.

16. September     Hamburg, Staatsoper      
Philharmonic State Orchestra Premiere
Mussorgski: Boris Godunov
Director: Frank Castorf
Set: Aleksandar Denić
Costumes: Adriana Braga Peretzki
Lighting: Rainer Casper
Video: Andreas Deinert, Severin Renke, Jens Crull, Maryvonne Riedelsheimer
Dramaturgy: Patric Seibert
Further performances: 20., 23., 26., 28. Sep, 4., 7. Okt