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Giacomo Puccini: SUOR ANGELICA | Hector Berlioz: CLÉOPÂTRE

Musical Direction: Edward Gardner
Direction: Deborah Warner
Set Design and Costumes: Antony McDonald
Lighting: Urs Schönebaum
Movement Coach: Lucy Burge
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: Zoe Hippius
2. alms sister: Antonia Salzano
A novice: Chiara Polese
1. Lay sister: Tamar Otanadze
2. Lay sister: Vera Maria Bitter
Actor: Maryam Abu Khaled, Sabeen Saeed Ritter
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.

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Team

Edward Gardner Musical Direction

Edward Gardner is one of the outstanding conductors of our time. Born in Gloucester in 1974, he studied at Cambridge and at the Royal Academy of Music in London, and began his career with the Hallé Orchestra and the Glyndebourne Touring Opera. From 2007 to 2015, he served as music director of the English National Opera, and from 2015 to 2024, he was principal conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Since 2021, he has been Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and since 2024, Music Director of the Norwegian National Opera in Oslo. As an opera conductor, he has made guest appearances at venues including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Chicago Lyric Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, and the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London. Highly sought-after in the concert world as well, he has conducted numerous renowned orchestras, including the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic.

Deborah Warner Direction

Deborah Warner, an internationally sought-after director, is from Oxford, studied in London, and founded her own company at the age of 21. Her directing credits include productions at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the English National Opera in London, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, and the Salzburg Festival. In recent years, she has focused on a long-term project staging Britten’s most significant operas, which have been performed in Madrid, London, Paris, and Rome and have won numerous awards. Since 2026, she has served as artistic director of the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. She has been appointed Commander of the British Empire and Commandeur de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

Antony McDonald Set Design and Costumes

Antony McDonald, a set designer, costume designer, and director from Liverpool, has created numerous set designs for opera, theater, and dance productions that have been staged at the most prestigious opera houses and festivals. He has worked for, among others, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, the Bergen National Opera, the Hyogo Performing Arts Center, the Greek National Opera in Athens, the Opéra national du Rhin, the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Bregenz Festival, and the Vienna State Opera. He has received numerous awards, including the title of Royal Designer for Industry from the Royal Society of Arts.

Urs Schönebaum Lighting

Urs Schönebaum has been working as a freelance lighting designer since 2000 on opera, theater, and dance productions, as well as on installations and performances. He has designed lighting for stage productions at venues including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London; the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; the Opéra national de Paris; the Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels; the Metropolitan Opera in New York; the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin; the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, and at the festivals in Salzburg, Avignon, Bayreuth, and Aix-en-Provence. At the Tyrolean Festival Erl in the winter of 2024/25, he created the lighting design for La Bohème.

Lucy Burge Movement Coach

Lucy Burge is from London. From 1970 to 1985, she was a principal dancer with the Rambert Dance Company. She performed as a guest artist with Rudolf Nureyev and created roles for choreographers such as Antony Tudor, Norman Morrice, and Glen Tetley. She created numerous choreographies for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the English National Opera in London. She also created choreographies for, among others, *Madama Butterfly* at the Bregenz Festival, *Parsifal* at the Opéra national de Paris, *Ariodante* at Lyric Opera of Chicago and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía in Valencia, *Lohengrin* and *Les Contes d’Hoffmann* at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, *La Gioconda* at the Salzburg Easter Festival, and *Wozzeck* at the New National Theatre in Tokyo.

Véronique Gens Cléopâtre

Véronique Gens, born in Orléans, is one of the most renowned sopranos. Widely acclaimed as an interpreter of Mozart and the French repertoire, she has expanded her stylistic range in recent years to include roles by Strauss and Janáček. She has performed on the world’s most prestigious stages, including the Opéra national de Paris, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Vienna State Opera, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and the Salzburg Festival. She also performs worldwide in orchestral concerts and recitals.

Corinne Winters Sister Angelica

The acclaimed American soprano Corinne Winters has sung over thirty leading roles at major opera houses worldwide, including Desdemona (Otello), Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Mélisande (Pelléas et Mélisande), Mimì (La Bohème), and Liù (Turandot). As Violetta Valéry (La traviata), she has captivated audiences at venues including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Opera Australia, the San Diego Opera, the Seattle Opera, the English National Opera, and the Hong Kong Opera. She made her Salzburg Festival debut in 2022 in the title role of Káťa Kabanová, a role she has also performed at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Seattle Opera, the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, at the Janáček Festival in Brno, the Stuttgart State Opera, and the Opéra de Lyon.

Alice Coote The Princess

English mezzo-soprano Alice Coote is in high demand both on the opera stage and in the concert hall. She performs regularly at major venues in Europe and the United States, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London; the Opéra national de Paris; the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Salzburg Festival, Wigmore Hall in London, as well as the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall in New York. In concert, she has performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, among others. Recitals play an important role in her artistic career.

Elena Zilio The Abbess

Mezzo-soprano Elena Zilio is from Bolzano. She has appeared as a guest artist at numerous international opera houses and festivals, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London; the Teatro alla Scala in Milan; the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma; the Teatro Real in Madrid; the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Opéra national de Paris, the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Zurich Opera House, and the Bregenz Festival. Her repertoire includes roles such as Miss Quickly (Falstaff), Madelon (Andrea Chénier), Hécube (Les troyens), Zita (Gianni Schicchi), Pippo (La gazza ladra), Orsini (Lucrezia Borgia), and Filipjewna (Eugene Onegin).

Enkelejda Shkoza The Monitress

Mezzo-soprano Enkelejda Shkoza was born in Tirana and studied in her hometown as well as in Milan. Her career has taken her to venues including the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Opéra national de Paris, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, the Vienna State Opera, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, and the Salzburg Festival. There she has appeared on stage as Angelina (La cenerentola), Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi), Azucena (Il trovatore), Eboli (Don Carlo), Amneris (Aida), Marguerite (La damnation de Faust), the title role in Carmen, Giulietta (Les contes d’Hoffmann), and Charlotte (Werther).

Marta Pluda The Mistress of the novices

Italian mezzo-soprano Marta Pluda was born in 1997. From 2016 to 2018, she was a member of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Academy. As part of the Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro, she made her debut at the Rossini Opera Festival as Marchesa Melibea (Il viaggio a Reims). In 2023, she made her debut at the Arena di Verona as Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) and returned there in 2024 as the Third Lady (The Magic Flute). She performed the role of Angelina (La cenerentola) on a tour of Italy as well as at the Staatstheater Augsburg; Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the Landestheater Linz and in Shanghai; Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at the Taranto Opera Festival, and Isabella (L’italiana in Algeri) and Ciesca (Gianni Schicchi) at the Wexford Festival Opera.

Christina Gansch Sister Genovieffa

Austrian soprano Christina Gansch studied at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg and at the Royal Academy of Music in London. As a participant in the 2015 Young Singers Project, she made her debut as Barbarina (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Salzburg Festival, to which she returned several times, most recently in 2023 as Lenio (Martinů’s The Greek Passion). During the 2016–17 season, she was a member of the ensemble at the Hamburg State Opera. Her career has taken her to venues including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, and the San Francisco Opera. Most recently, she made her debuts at the Royal Opera in Stockholm as Susanna (The Marriage of Figaro) and at the Zurich Opera House as Gretel (Hansel and Gretel).

Maria Knihnytska Sister Osmina

Soprano Maria Knihnytska was born in Ukraine in 1995. She studied at the A. V. Nezhdanova Odessa National Music Academy and was engaged as a soloist at the Dnipro Academic Opera and Ballet Theater. She subsequently continued her training at the Accademia del Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. Since then, she has appeared on stage there in several roles, including Tebaldo (Don Carlo), Carolina (Cimarosa’s *Il matrimonio segreto*), Prima Ancella (Cherubini’s *Médée*), Carmosina (Paisiello’s *Don Chisciotte della Mancia*), and Musetta (*La Bohème*). As part of a guest performance by the Academy of the Teatro di San Carlo, she performed at the Philharmonie de Paris. She sang the role of Adina (L’elisir d’amore) at the Kursaal in Donostia/San Sebastián.

Anna Cavaliero Sister Dolcina

British-Hungarian soprano Anna Cavaliero studied at Trinity College, Cambridge; the Royal College of Music in London; the Mozarteum University in Salzburg; the Atelier Lyrique at Opera Fuoco in Paris; and the opera studio at the Opéra de Lyon. She has been a member of the musical theater ensemble at the Mecklenburg State Theater since the 2024–25 season. In 2024, she made her debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in London, at the Linbury Studio Theatre as Madame Duval in Sarah Angliss’s *Giant*. Other appearances include the Governess (The Turn of the Screw) at the Ustinov Studio in Bath, Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Les Étoiles du Classique Festival in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Zerlina (Don Giovanni), and Belinda (Dido and Aeneas) at the Waterperry Opera Festival.

Sayumi Kaneko The nursing sister

Mezzo-soprano Sayumi Kaneko studied at the Tokyo College of Music and the Conservatorio Arrigo Boito di Parma, and graduated from the Accademia del Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. In 2024, she won first prize and special awards at the Città di Alcamo competition. In 2025, she made her debut as Fidalma (Il matrimonio segreto) at the Teatro di San Carlo and as Cendrillon at the Nissay Theatre in Tokyo. Her debuts in 2026 included the role of Romeo (I Capuleti e i Montecchi) at the Luglio Musicale Trapanese, as well as Alisa (Lucia di Lammermoor), Tisbe (La cenerentola), and Oberto (Alcina) at the Teatro di San Carlo. She also appeared as Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia) at the Luglio Musicale Trapanese, as well as Emilia (Otello) at the Teatro di Modena and the Teatro di Reggio Emilia, among other roles.

Zoe Hippius 1. alms sister

Soprano Zoe Hippius, originally from Russia, studied music at the Schnittke State Music Institute and the Gnessin Music Academy in Moscow, as well as at the Academy of Arts in Banská Bystrica, Slovakia. Until 2023, she was a member of the international opera studio at the Slovak National Theater in Bratislava, where she appeared in roles such as Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Frasquita (Carmen), among others. In addition, she sang, among other roles, the Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute) at the National Theater in Košice, Konstanze (The Abduction from the Seraglio) at the Arsana Festival in Ptuj, Xenia (Boris Godunov) at the Samara Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, and Musetta (La Bohème) and Gilda (Rigoletto) at the Teatro Morlacchi in Perugia.

Antonia Salzano 2. alms sister

The Neapolitan mezzo-soprano Antonia Salzano studied Renaissance and Baroque singing at the Conservatorio di Musica Santa Cecilia in Rome. As the winner of the 76th Vocal Competition at the Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto in 2021, she appeared on stage as Carmen (Peter Brooks’ *La tragédie de Carmen*), Grete (Fiorenzo Carpi and Alessandro Solbiati’s *La porta divisoria*), and Signora Guidotti (Nino Rota’s *I due timidi*). She portrayed Venus (Monteverdi’s *Il ballo delle ingrate*) at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza and Nerina (Martini’s *Don Chisciotte*) at the Teatro Comunale Pavarotti Freni in Modena. As a member of the Opera Academy at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples from 2023 to 2025, she sang Wowkle (La fanciulla del West) and Fidalma (Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto).

Chiara Polese A novice

Soprano Chiara Polese studied at the Conservatorio San Pietro a Majella in Naples. In 2018, she made her debuts at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, the Teatro Argentina in Rome, the Teatro G. B. Pergolesi in Jesi, the Teatro della Pergola in Florence, and the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa. From 2021 to 2023, she continued her training as a member of the Opera Academy at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, singing the roles of Violetta (La traviata), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Musetta (La Bohème), Magda (La rondine), Liù (Turandot), Agnese (Bellini’s *Beatrice di Tenda*), Lady Macbeth’s Maid (Macbeth), Anna Kennedy (Maria Stuarda), The Confidante (Elektra), and the Duchess (Paisiello’s Don Chisciotte della Mancia).

Tamar Otanadze 1. Lay sister

Soprano Tamar Otanadze was born in Tbilisi. She graduated from the State Conservatory in her hometown before continuing her studies at the Conservatorio di Musica Bruno Maderna – Giovanni Lettimi in Cesena. She made her debut at the Teatro Comunale Alessandro Bonci in Cesena in 2022 in the title role of *Suor Angelica*. In 2023, she participated in the *Giovani in Italia* program at the Teatro Pavarotti-Freni in Modena. Since 2024, she has been attending the Opera Academy of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. During the academy’s guest performance at the Louvre in Paris, she sang the role of the Contessa (Don Chisciotte della Mancia). At the Teatro di San Carlo, she appeared on stage as Elisetta (in Cimarosa’s *Il matrimonio segreto*) and as the Duchess (in Paisiello’s *Don Chisciotte della Mancia*).

Vera Maria Bitter 2. Lay sister

Vera Maria Bitter was born in Ansbach. She studied voice at the Franz Liszt University of Music in Weimar and opera at the Mozarteum University in Salzburg. During her studies, she mastered roles such as La Muse/Nicklausse (The Tales of Hoffmann), Hansel (Hansel and Gretel), Kate (Britten’s Owen Wingrave), and Nancy (Britten’s Albert Herring). The soprano’s engagements have included the role of Garcías (Don Quichotte) at the Bregenz Festival, the Second Squire and Flower Maiden (Parsifal) at the Landestheater Linz, as well as Marguerite (Boieldieu’s La dame blanche) and Marcellina (The Marriage of Figaro) at the Munich Chamber Opera. In addition to opera, she is active as a concert singer—particularly in the oratorio repertoire—and as a lieder interpreter.

Maryam Abu Khaled Actor

Maryam Abu Khaled was born in Nazareth in 1991. She completed her acting training at the Freedom Theater in Jenin (Palestine) and has worked in Palestine, Europe, and the United States. One of her projects was the documentary *Art/Violence*, which explores the 2011 murder of actor and Freedom Theater co-founder Juliano Mer-Khamis and won the CINEMA fairbindet Prize at the 2013 Berlinale. Since the 2016–17 season, she has been a member of the ensemble at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, where she has appeared in productions such as *Planet B* and *The Situation*, directed by Yael Ronen. The latter was invited to the 2016 Berliner Theatertreffen and was named Play of the Year by the magazine *Theater heute*.

Sabeen Saeed Ritter Actor

Actress and voice actress Sabeen Saeed Ritter is from Koblenz and has Asian roots. Her work includes roles in film, television, and theater. On television, she has appeared in the ZDF production *Familie Bundschuh – Unter Verschluss* and the ZDF series *Blutige Anfänger*, as well as in the SAT.1 series *Alles oder Nichts*. Her theater credits include performances at the Volksbühne am Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz and the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin. She gained international experience at the renowned Théâtre du Soleil in Paris, where she performed in *L’Écriture ou la vie* under the direction of Hiam Abbass and Jean-Baptiste Sastre. In addition to her work as an actress, she is active as a voice-over artist and dubbing actress.

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.