Giacomo Puccini: SUOR ANGELICA | Hector Berlioz: CLÉOPÂTRE

Musical Direction: Edward Gardner

Direction: Deborah Warner
Set Design and Costumes: Antony McDonald
Lighting: Urs Schönebaum

Cléopâtre: Véronique Gens
Sister Angelica: Corinne Winters
The Princess: Alice Coote
The Abbess: Elena Zilio
The Monitress: Enkelejda Shkoza
The Mistress of the novices: Marta Pluda
Sister Genovieffa: Christina Gansch
Sister Osmina: Maria Knihnytska
Sister Dolcina: Anna Cavaliero
The nursing sister: Sayumi Kaneko
1. alms sister: Marianna Mappa
2. alms sister: Antonia Salzano
A novice: Chiara Polese
1. Lay sister: Tamar Otanadze
2. Lay sister: Vera Maria Bitter

Orchestra and Chorus of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl
Schule für Chorkunst München

Cléopâtre is a cantata by the 26-year-old Hector Berlioz, which he submitted to the Prix de Rome competition. It tells in the form of a monologue by Cleopatra the last minutes that remain to the Egyptian queen after taking the deadly poison. The scene is one of Berlioz's most impressive compositions. Similarly Suor Angelica it is characterised by a light transparency.

Suor Angelica is one of Giacomo Puccini's lesser-known operas and part of the Trittico, to which further Il tabarro and Gianni Schicchi belong. The plot is set in a Tuscan monastery in the 17th century and tells the story of the nun Angelica, who, blackmailed and harassed by the abbess, learns of her child's death and poisons herself out of grief. The music is untypically transparent and airy for Puccini.

Team

Edward Gardner Musical Direction

Edward Gardner zählt zu den herausragenden Dirigenten unserer Zeit. 1974 in Gloucester geboren, studierte er in Cambridge sowie an der Royal Academy of Music in London und begann seine Karriere beim Hallé Orchestra und der Glyndebourne Touring Opera. Von 2007 bis 2015 war er Musikdirektor der English National Opera und von 2015 bis 2024 Chefdirigent des Philharmonischen Orchesters Bergen. Seit 2021 ist er Chefdirigent des London Philharmonic Orchestra und seit 2024 Musikdirektor der Norwegischen Nationaloper in Oslo. Als Operndirigent gastierte er u. a. an der Metropolitan Opera New York, am Teatro alla Scala in Mailand, an der Chicago Lyric Opera, der Opéra national de Paris und am Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. Auch im Konzertbereich sehr gefragt, stand er am Pult zahlreicher renommierter Klangkörper, u. a. des Symphonieorchesters des Bayerischen Rundfunks, des Gewandhausorchesters Leipzig, der Wiener Symphoniker und des New York Philharmonic.

Deborah Warner Direction

Die international gefragte Theater- und Opernregisseurin Deborah Warner wurde 1959 in Oxford geboren. Sie studierte am Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London und gründete mit 21 Jahren ihre eigene Kompanie. Seither entwickelte sie Regiearbeiten für renommierte Opernhäuser, Theater und Festivals, u. a. The Turn of the Screw (Royal Opera House im Barbican, London), Fidelio (Teatro alla Scala in Mailand), La voix humaine (Opera North), Don Giovanni und Fidelio (Glyndebourne Festival), Billy Budd sowie Peter Grimes (Teatro Real in Madrid) und Wozzeck (Royal Opera House Covent Garden). Bei den Salzburger Festspielen waren ihre Inszenierungen der Shakespeare-Stücke Coriolan, Richard II. und Der Sturm zu sehen und bei den Wiener Festwochen jene der Opern Dido and Aeneas und La traviata. Eine langjährige künstlerische Partnerschaft verbindet sie mit der Schauspielerin Fiona Shaw. Sie erhielt zahlreiche Auszeichnungen, darunter den Laurence Olivier Award.

Antony McDonald Set Design and Costumes

Urs Schönebaum Lighting

Freelance lighting designer for theater, opera, dance, exhibitions, performances and installations. His work encompasses more than 200 productions at stages such as the Opera Bastille, Garnier, Le Chatelet, Paris; Metropolitan Opera, New York; Festivals d'Avignon and Aix en Provence; Salzburg Festival and Bayreuth Festival; Schaubühne Berlin; Teatro Real, Madrid; Sydney Opera House; La Scala, Milan, Claus Guth, Bavarian State Theater and at the Bavarian State Opera.

He works with directors such as Thomas Ostermeier, Michael Haneke, La Fura dels Baus, Pierre Audi, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Damien Jalet, Laurent Pelly, Sasha Waltz and William Kentridge. He has a long-standing collaboration with Robert Wilson. Additionally, he developed the lighting design for art projects by Vanessa Beecroft, Anselm Kiefer, Dan Graham, Soundwalk Collective, Taryn Simon and Marina Abramović.

Since 2012, he has also been working as a set designer and director. In 2012 and 2014, he directed and designed the operas "Jetzt"/"What Next?" and "Happy Happy" by Mathis Nitschke at the Opera National de Montpellier, in 2022 at the Stuttgart State Opera for the Walküre Project Act 2. He designed sets and lighting for the operas "Bomarzo" at the Teatro Real in Madrid, the opera cycle "Aus Licht" for the Holland Festival, "Apocalypse Arabe" at the Festival d'Aix en Provence, the "Klangwolke 22" in Linz, "Bastarda" for Opera La Monnaie in Brussels and "La Regenta" at the Matadero in Madrid.

Véronique Gens Cléopâtre

Corinne Winters Sister Angelica

Alice Coote The Princess

Elena Zilio The Abbess

Enkelejda Shkoza The Monitress

Marta Pluda The Mistress of the novices

Christina Gansch Sister Genovieffa

Maria Knihnytska Sister Osmina

Anna Cavaliero Sister Dolcina

Sayumi Kaneko The nursing sister

Marianna Mappa 1. alms sister

Antonia Salzano 2. alms sister

Chiara Polese A novice

Tamar Otanadze 1. Lay sister

Vera Maria Bitter 2. Lay sister

Orchestra and Chorus of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

Tiroler Festspiele Erl Orchestra

The music springs from the enthusiasm of a motivated and exceptionally well-prepared ensemble that has grown together over the years. The Tyrolean Festival Erl Orchestra was first formed in the summer of 1999—and today, musicians from 20 nations play together. Already in its first year, the ensemble achieved unprecedented success, which would go on to bring international recognition to the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Top young talents, musicians from major international orchestras, chamber music specialists, and lecturers come together annually in summer and winter—and since 2017, also in fall and spring—as part of the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Under the direction of festival founder Gustav Kuhn, the orchestra garnered rave reviews from international critics and cemented its reputation as one of the world’s finest Wagner orchestras. With the start of Jonas Kaufmann’s tenure as artistic director in September 2024, Asher Fisch—a conductor in high demand internationally in both opera and concert settings—has taken over the helm of the orchestra.

In addition to Richard Wagner’s ten major music dramas and operas by Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, and Rossini, the orchestra’s repertoire includes Beethoven’s symphonies and many other key works from the concert repertoire spanning the Baroque and Romantic periods, as well as contemporary works and world premieres.

Tiroler Festspiele Erl Choir

Founded in 2007, the choir serves as an equal musical partner to the festival orchestra. The focus is on meticulous attention to individual parts. As part of the festival, the singers work on a wide range of projects, from a cappella programs to concert and opera productions. Since the opening of the Festspielhaus Erl in 2012, the repertoire has placed additional emphasis on bel canto works and Verdi’s operas.

The development of a Baroque choral sound in the works of Bach and his contemporaries is also a key focus of the ensemble’s work; since 2009, it has maintained close ties with Capella Minsk, the State Academic Choir of the Republic of Belarus. Founded in 1940, this choral ensemble has made it its mission to preserve Belarusian folk music and to premiere works by modern and contemporary composers.

The choir is distinguished by its precise intonation, harmony, versatility, and dynamic sound—qualities that have formed the basis for numerous tours throughout Europe in recent years. Its repertoire includes requiems, masses, cantatas, and sacred works, as well as operas. After Lyudmila Yefimova spent many years developing and shaping the choir’s quality, Olga Yanum took over as the ensemble’s director following her death in 2018.

Schule für Chorkunst München

From the beginning, particular emphasis was placed on comprehensive musical training: voice training lessons, two choir rehearsals per week, ear training and music theory – all of this is standard curriculum at the Schule für Chorkunst München. Great importance has also always been attached to the following aspects: promoting musical memory, a great variety of musical works, developing vocal flexibility as well as expanding vocal range and continuous development of polyphonic and polyphonic singing. Since the founding of the Schule für Chorkunst, young singers have regularly participated in public concerts, festivals, choir tours and other projects. In 2018, the concert choir of the choir school participated with great success in the international "World Peace Choral Festival" in Vienna and performed together with the world-famous choir of the Vienna Boys' Choir. In 2021, children from the Schule für Chorkunst München participated in the Tiroler Festspiele – in Humperdinck's opera "Königskinder". Another larger project, already for the second time with the Bavarian State Opera, was the children's opera "Spring doch!", which premiered on December 9, 2022; seven performances followed after the successful premiere. In November 2022, the singers of the Schule für Chorkunst München participated in the Bavarian Choir Competition – with great success – and qualified for the Germany-wide Choir Competition.