Johann Sebastian Bach: WEIHNACHTSORATORIUM

Conductor: Julius Zeman

Soprano: Alina Wunderlin

Alto: Anita Monserrat

Tenor: Manuel Günther

Bass: Michael Nagl

Orchestra and Chorus of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

Erl’s well-loved tradition of heralding the winter season with Bach’s Christmas Oratorio will con-tinue in 2026. Our soloists are a group of young singers already making their way on the international scene, and they will be performing under the baton of Julyus Zeman, a young con-ductor whose career is really hitting its stride.

Team

Julius Zeman Conductor

Julius Zeman, a native of Vienna, graduated with honors from the Mozarteum University in Salzburg, where he studied conducting, piano, and organ. He was engaged at the Saarländisches Staatstheater in Saarbrücken from 2023 to 2026, where he conducted a wide-ranging repertoire, from Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Aida, Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet as well as Kálmán's Duchess of Chicago up to Holst's Savitri and Schoenberg's Erwartung. With Die Zauberflöte he made a guest appearance at the Bern Opera. Anatevka He has conducted at the Grand Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg and at the Theater im Pfalzbau in Ludwigshafen. He has performed with the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg and led world premieres with the œnm. Austrian Ensemble for New Music and the NAMES Ensemble. He also performs regularly as an organist, harpsichordist, art song accompanist, and chamber musician.

Alina Wunderlin Soprano

Alina Wunderlin, a coloratura soprano born in Frankfurt, performs on opera and concert stages with an extensive repertoire spanning a wide range of styles. She studied voice and vocal pedagogy at the Mannheim University of Music under Rudolf Piernay and Snežana Stamenković. In 2025, she made her debut at the Theater an der Wien as Adele (Die Fledermaus). She made a guest appearance as the Queen of the Night (Die Zauberflöte) at the Oslo Opera, the Semperoper in Dresden, and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. As Dorinda (Orlando) She performed at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, as well as at the Palacio de Las Artes Reina Sofía in Valencia and the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. Other engagements took her to Glyndebourne, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Stuttgart, Baden-Baden, Vienna, and Zurich, among other places.

Anita Monserrat Alto

British mezzo-soprano Anita Monserrat is a prize winner at several international competitions. She studied at the University of Cambridge, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. In 2023, she was a member of the Salzburg Festival’s Young Singers Project, where she returned in 2026 to sing the role of Mercédès (Carmen) returned. From 2024 to 2026, she was a member of the Vienna State Opera’s Opera Studio, where she performed roles such as Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Lola (Cavalleria rusticana) and Kate Pinkerton (Madama Butterfly) sang. Concert highlights include, among others, St. John Passion at the Barbican Center in London, Messiah at the London Handel Festival and at the Vienna Musikverein, Vivaldi's Gloria with the Academy of Ancient Music, the gala Opera Arias to mark the opening of the Vienna State Opera's 2025/26 season and a gala concert at Carnegie Hall in New York.

Manuel Günther Tenor

Tenor Manuel Günther began his career at the International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera and as a member of the ensemble at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. As a participant in the Young Singers Project, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2012, where he will return in 2023 as Basilio (The Marriage of Figaro). With his wide-ranging repertoire as an opera and concert singer, he has made guest appearances at venues including the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Komische Oper Berlin, the Semperoper Dresden, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Zurich Opera House, the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Teatr Wielki in Warsaw, the Theater an der Wien, the Salzburg and Bregenz Festivals, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music.

Michael Nagl Bass

Bass Michael Nagl was born in Vienna, where he earned a degree in voice from the University of Music and Performing Arts in 2016. Starting in the 2016–17 season, he was a member of the Opera Studio at the Stuttgart State Opera before joining the company’s ensemble for the 2018–19 season. His roles there include Masetto and Leporello (Don Giovanni), Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), monk (Don Carlo), Basilio in (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Ferrando (Il trovatore) and Hermit (Der Freischütz). In 2022, he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival as Papageno (Die Zauberflöte). His engagements have taken him to venues including the Theater an der Wien, the Glyndebourne Festival, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Vienna State Opera, the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Opéra National de Paris, the Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, the Vienna Musikverein, and the Bregenz Festival.

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.