Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly

Elena Guseva, Cio-Cio San
Ida Aldrian, Suzuki
Claire Gascoin, Kate Pinkerton
Robert Watson, Pinkerton
Simone Piazzola, Sharpless
N.N., Goro
Mateusz Ługowski, Il Principe Yamadori
Tigran Martirossian, Lo zio Bonzo
Chorsolist, Yakusidè
Grzegorz Pelutis, Il Commissario Imperiale

Alexander Joel, conductor
Christian Günther, choir director
Anna Bergamo, language coach

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper

Peter Eötvös: Sleepless

Tetiana Miyus, Alida
Mario Lerchenberger, Asle
Mareike Jankowski, Mother
Anna Brull, Midwife
Iris Vermillion, Old Woman
Tetiana Zhuravel, Girl
Neven Crnić, Innkeeper
Daeho Kim, Man in black
Martin Fournier, Jeweler

Vassilis Christopoulos, Musical Director
Georgi Mladenov, Choirmaster
Philipp M. Krenn, Production
Heike Vollmer, Stage design

Nikolaus Habjan, text, puppet making and puppeteer
Simon Meusburger, staging

Habjan's solo performance of the life story of Friedrich Zawrel, tortured in Nazi Austria by the "expert" prison doctor who officially met him again in the later Republic and locked him away once more, is ingenious puppetry for a story that no other genre could have handled so coherently. With sparingly dosed film inserts and linguistically and playfully sovereign handling of the angular loudmouth characters, it became grandiose documentary and emotional theatre in mutual embrace, which was awarded the Nestroy Prize.

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

Regula Mühlemann, soprano
Matthias Rexroth, altus
Ludovic Tézier, baritone

Kazuki Yamada, conductor
Orchestre National de France
Chœur de Radio France
Maîtrise de Radio France

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Don Giovanni KV 527

Matteo D'Apolito, Don Giovanni
Filippo Romano, Leporello Marco
Julian Prégardien, Don Ottavio
Raffaella Lupinacci, Danna Elvira
Luca Failla, Masetto Giovanni
Georgia Tryfona, Zerlina
Alessandro Ravasio, Commendatore

Massimo Raccanelli, Musical Director
Gianmaria Aliverta, Director
Frau Musika orchestra
Coro Andrea Palladio, Choirmaster: Enrico Zanovello

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, KV 620

David Steffens, Sarastro, Sprecher
Charles Sy, Tamino
Beate Ritter, Königin der Nacht
Natasha Te Rupe Wilson, Pamina
Catriona Smith, Erste Dame
Shannon Keegan, Zweite Dame
Stine Marie Fischer, Dritte Dame
Björn Bürger, Papageno
Lucia Tumminelli, Papagena
Elmar Gilbertsson, Monostatos
Moritz Kallenberg, Erster Geharnischter
Andrew Bogard, Zweiter Geharnischter

condutor
Barrie Kosky, Suzanne Andrade, directors
Esther Bialas, stage and costumes
Diego Leetz, light
Paul Barritt, animation
Bernhard Moncado, choir
Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Staatsopernchor Stuttgart

Leonard Bernstein: Candide

Matthew Newlin, Candide
Nikola Hillebrand, Cunegonde
James Newby Maximilian
Ben McAteer, Dr. Pangloss
Helene Schneidermann, Old Lady
Vincent Glander, Voltaire
Mark Milhofer, Captain/Governor/Vanderdendur

ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien
Arnold Schoenberg Chor (choir director: Erwin Ortner)
Marin Alsop, conductor
Lydia Steier, staging
Momme Hinrichs, stage and video
Ursula Kudrna, costumes
Elana Siberski, light
Kai Weßler, dramaturgy

Giacomo Puccini: Il trittico

Lucas Meachem, Gianni Schicchi
Elbenita Kajtazi, Lauretta
Katja Pieweck, Zita
Oleksiy Palchykov, Rinuccío
Jürgen Sacher, Gherardo
Hellen Kwon, Nella
David Minseok Kang, Betto di Signa
Tigran Martirossian, Simone
Alexey Bogdanchikov, Marco
Ida Aldrian, La Ciesca
Han Kim, Maestro Spinelloccio
Mateusz Ługowski, Ser Amantio di Nicolao
Lucas Meachem, Michele
Stefano La Colla, Luigi

Alexander Joel, conductor

Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg
Chor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper
Alsterspatzen – Kinder- und Jugendchor der Hamburgischen Staatsoper

Carl Orff: Carmina Burana

Regula Mühlemann, soprano
Matthias Rexroth, altus
Ludovic Tézier, baritone

Kazuki Yamada, conductor
Orchestre National de France
Chœur de Radio France
Maîtrise de Radio France

Thomas Quasthoff, recitation
Lea Hausmann, violin
Samuel Shepherd, cello
Mengjie Han, piano

History often reduces wars to a collection of statistics. It is easy to forget that behind every number, every flag, every battle, there is a person who is someone's child, parent, spouse, or lover. During World War I, pen and paper was often all that many had to keep in touch with their far-flung loved ones.

Based on these field letters, of which an incredible 30 billion were sent on the German side alone, Quasthoff and the Amatis Trio trace the humanity in wartime and the personal struggle of the people behind the statistics.