23.02.2025

NIKOLA HILLEBRAND returns to the Hamburg State Opera in Mozart's Mitridate, re di Ponto

With Mitridate, the 14-year-old Mozart composed his first full-length opera seria according to all the rules of the time and at the same time a work in which his humanistic flair already shines through. In the arias, he gives the ensemble of singers ample opportunity to explore the depths of the human soul and display their vocal virtuosity. Preserving the essence of this historical operatic genre, but at the same time reinterpreting its form, the aim is to create something in which the orchestra is integrated both visually and in terms of content. In this way, the fate of the characters can be experienced directly through visible music-making.

The role of Aspasia, the reluctant and morally defiant fiancée of King Mitridate, is one of the most technically and emotionally demanding among the cast, requiring vocal agility, dramatic depth, and emotional range; qualities for which Hillebrand has received notable acclaim in similarly challenging roles, hailed, for example by Gramophone Magazine as “the real deal” with a coloratura with its “sparkling top notes that cascade effortlessly”.

We wish Nikola Hillebrand another successful fifth production this season and further exciting projects still to come.

Cast:

Robert Murray, Mitridate
Nikola Hillebrand, Aspasia
Olivia Boen, Sifare
Adriana Bignani Lesca, Farnace
Seungwoo Simon Yang, Marcio
Kady Evanyshyn, Arbate

Adam Fischer, musical direction
Birgit Kajtna-Wönig, staging
Marie-Luise Otto, stage and costumes
Bernd Gallasch, lighting
Mara Wild, video
Michael Sangkuhl, dramaturgy
Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra