Wagner Tristan und Isolde - Act II

Coming from an artistic Swiss family, Philippe Jordan’s career has taken him to all the world’s major opera houses, festivals and orchestras, and he is regarded as one of the most established and important conductors of our time. He has been Music Director of the Wiener Staatsoper since September 2020. In the 2024/25 season, he leads new productions of Don Carlo and Tannhäuser, as well as revivals of the Mozart/Da Ponte Cycle and Der Ring des Nibelungen. Also in 2024/25 season, he conducts Parsifal at the Staatsoper unter den Linden in Berlin, and returns to the Salzburger Festspiele to revive Macbeth. From 2001 to 2004 he was principal conductor of the Graz Opera and the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra, during which period he also debuted at several of the world’s leading opera houses and festivals, including at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Teatro alla Scala, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Wiener Staatsoper, and the festivals of Aix-en-Provence, Glyndebourne and Salzburg. From 2006-2010 he returned to the Staatsoper unter den Linden as principal guest conductor. In 2012 he debuted at the Bayreuth Festival with Parsifal. He was musical director of the Opéra national de Paris between 2009 and 2021, where he conducted numerous premieres and revivals. From 2014 to 2020 he served as principal conductor of the Wiener Symphoniker. As a symphonic conductor, Philippe Jordan has worked the world’s most famous orchestras, including the Berliner, Münchner and Wiener Philharmoniker, the London Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestras of Rome, Paris, Amsterdam, Boston, Seattle, St. Louis, Dallas, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Washington, Minnesota, Montreal, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

Following his studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Andreas Schager started his career singing operetta and lyrical roles in operas by Mozart before switching to the Heldentenor roles in works by Wagner and Strauss. In summer 2009, he made his highly regarded debut at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl as David in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. His appearances as Siegfried (Götterdämmerung) at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, at the BBC Proms 2013 in London and the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, each under the baton of Daniel Barenboim, resulted in his international breakthrough. Andreas Schager has now established himself as the leading Heldentenor performing at the most renowned houses and festivals worldwide including the Metropolitan Opera New York, Opéra-Bastille Paris, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera Munich, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro alla Scala, Teatro Real Madrid, as well as the Bayreuth Festival, where he has worked with conductors such as Philippe Jordan, Daniel Barenboim, Christian Thielemann, Valery Gergiev, Simone Young, Daniele Gatti, Franz Welser-Möst, and Riccardo Chailly. Past highlights include the leading roles in Fidelio, Tristan und Isolde, Parsifal, Siegfried, and Götterdämmerung at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Götterdämmerung at the Semperoper Dresden, Tannhäuser at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Tristan, Daphne and Der Freischütz at the Vienna State Opera, Parsifal and Tristan at the Opéra-Bastille, the Ring Cycle in Hamburg and for his Metropolitan Opera debut, as well as Parsifal and Tristan at the Bayreuth Festival. In addition to his outstanding operatic success, Andreas Schager is also very active as a concert singer.

German soprano Anja Kampe is one of today’s leading singers. Her portrayals of significant roles have set the standard for other performers, including her Brünnhilde in the new Ring des Nibelungen (Dmitri Tcherniakov/Christian Thielemann) at the Berlin State Opera, Kundry (Parsifal) at the Vienna State Opera and Opéra de Paris, Sieglinde (Die Walküre) at the Bayreuth Festival, Isolde at the Berlin and Munich State Operas, Brünnhilde (Die Walküre) at the Salzburg Easter Festival or most recently Marie (Wozzeck) at the Vienna State Opera. Anja Kampe opened the 2024/25 season as Isolde at the San Francisco Opera. She then appeared as Brünnhilde in concert performances of Die Walküre with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Simone Young. The Hamburg State Opera will present the soprano in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos in a new production of the opera directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Following a concert performance as Isolde with the Dresden Philharmonic under Pablo Heras-Casado, Anja Kampe will portray Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Semperoper Dresden. She will return to the Vienna State Opera in no fewer than three of the most important roles of her repertoire: Kundry, Ortrud and Brünnhilde, before ending the season as Ortrud in Munich. Her major engagements of the past seasons include her role debut as Marie at Vienna State Opera, her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Senta in The Flying Dutchman, La fanciulla del West with Antonio Pappano, Tristan und Isolde with Daniel Barenboim at the Berlin State Opera, Parsifal conducted by Philippe Jordan at the Opéra de Paris, Sieglinde at the Bayreuth Festival and in Munich under Kirill Petrenko.

German bass Georg Zeppenfeld perfected his skills in concert and operatic singing at the prestigious music conservatories in Detmold and Cologne, training notably under the guidance of Hans Sotin. Following his initial engagements in Münster and Bonn, he was recruited by the Semperoper Dresden in 2001, an opera house that to this day remains his artistic home. In addition to his exceptional performances in Dresden, he has performed at major European and American opera houses, as well as at the most prestigious concert venues worldwide. His repertoire encompasses notable roles from both the Italian and German traditions. In addition to the major Wagnerian bass roles, he excels in portraying characters such as Rocco (Fidelio), Kaspar (Der Freischütz), Raimondo (Lucia di Lammermoor), Zaccaria (Nabucco), Banco (Macbeth), Sparafucile (Rigoletto), King Philip II (Don Carlo), Gremin (Eugene Onegin), the Water Goblin (Rusalka), Arkel (Pelléas et Mélisande) or Pimen (Boris Godunov). One of his pivotal roles is Sarastro in The Magic Flute, a character he portrayed under the baton of Claudio Abbado in Baden-Baden. This role not only won him acclaim at the Semperoper Dresden but also at the San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival (under Nikolaus Harnoncourt), the Royal Opera House in London, the Zurich Opera, and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. His remarkable debut as Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2019, conducted by Christian Thielemann, marked a milestone in his career. Since 2010, he has been a regular guest at the Bayreuth Festival.

Ekaterina Gubanova studied at the Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She regularly performs at the major international opera houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House in London, the Opéra de Paris, the State Operas in Vienna, Munich and Berlin, the Teatro Real in Madrid, as well as the Bayreuth Festival. A recent highlight of her career was her highly acclaimed debut as Kundry (Parsifal) in Vienna. One of her most important roles is Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde), but her extensive repertoire also includes Mère Marie (Dialogues des carmélites), Fricka (Die Walküre), Waltraute (Götterdämmerung), Eboli (Don Carlos), Amneris (Aida), Adalgisa (Norma), Judith (Bluebeard’s Castle), Venus (Tannhäuser), Marguerite (La Damnation de Faust), Ortrud (Lohengrin) and the Foreign Princess (Rusalka), to name but a few. Ekaterina Gubanova is also a sought-after concert singer. She works regularly with renowned orchestras and conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Kent Nagano, Semion Bychkov, Philippe Jordan and Nathalie Stutzmann.

Neal Cooper’s recent and future engagements include Tristan (Tristan und Isolde) at the Opera Vlaanderen, Melot (Tristan und Isolde) at the Teatro Real in Madrid, Melot and Erster Gralsritter (Parsifal) at the Opéra national de Paris, Aegisth (Elektra) with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Tannhäuser (title role) with the Saffron Opera Group and Siegfried (title role) at the Grimeborn Opera Festival. Previous engagements include Melot at the Glyndebourne Festival, Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Real in Madrid, Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Müpa in Budapest, Kennedy Center in Washington DC, Metropolitan Opera in New York and BBC Proms, and cover of Siegmund (Die Walküre), Erik (Der fliegende Holländer) at the Metropolitan Opera and of the title role in Peter Grimes at the Royal Opera House. Further recent engagements include Eisslinger (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg) at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Tristan’s title role at the Melbourne Opera, Gralsritter/Knappe (Parsifal) in Baden Baden and with the Berliner Philharmoniker (Sir Simon Rattle). Neal made his Royal Opera House debut as Thibault (Les Vêpres siciliennes), and returned there for Melot. Concert appearances include the title role in extracts from Siegfried in the Wagner 200 Celebrations at the Royal Festival Hall in London. He was born in South London and studied German literature at Durham University and singing at the Paris Conservatoire. After several years working in France, he returned to Britain to train as a dramatic tenor, studying at the National Opera Studio.