Edward Gardner / Conductor
Stuart Skelton / Parsifal
Ricarda Merbeth / Kundry
Johan Reuter / Amfortas
Brindley Sherratt / Gurnemanz
Ólafur Sigurdarson / Klingsor
Reinhard Hagen / Titurel
Eirik Grøtvedt / First Grail Knight
Changdai Park / Second Grail Knight
Ingeborg Gillebo / First Esquire & Fifth Flowermaiden
Monika Jägerova / Second Esquire & Voice from Above
John Olsen / Third Esquire
Erlend Tvinnereim / Fourth Esquire
Agnieszka Adamczak / First Flowermaiden
Lydia Hoen Tjore / Second Flowermaiden
Olivera Tičević / Third Flowermaiden
Emily Pogorelc / Fourth Flowermaiden
Margrethe Fredheim / Sixth Flowermaiden
Edward Gardner / Conductor
Edward Gardner is Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, a position he will relinquish at the end of the 2023/24 season. From August 2024 Edward will undertake the Music Directorship of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet, commencing the role of Artistic Advisor in February 2022.
Please see artist's website for further information.
Photo: Benjamin Ealovega
Stuart Skelton / Parsifal
Stuart Skelton is one of the finest heldentenors on the stage today, critically acclaimed for his outstanding musicianship, tonal beauty, and intensely dramatic portrayals. His repertoire encompasses many of opera’s most challenging roles, from Wagner’s Parsifal, Tristan, Lohengrin, Erik, and Siegmund to Beethoven’s Florestan, and Saint-Saëns’ Samson to Britten’s Peter Grimes.
Performances of the 2022-23 season include the title role of Tristan und Isolde for a debut at Teatro San Carlo under the baton of Constantin Trinks and in a return to the Bayerische Staatsoper led by Juraj Valcuha. A varied international concert schedule includes Act Two of Tristan und Isolde with Susanna Mälkki leading the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Act One of Die Walküre with Jaap van Zweden and the Concertbegouworkest, the title role in concert performances of Parsifal with Edward Gardner leading the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and the world premiere of Iain Bell’s Beowulf, commissioned for the tenor, in performances at The Barbican Centre with the BBC Symphony Orchestra led by Martyn Brabbins.
Please see artist's website for further information.
Artist portrait: Sim Canetty-Clarke
Photo from Parsifal rehearsal: Lars Svenkerud
Ricarda Merbeth / Kundry
German soprano RICARDA MERBETH is one of the leading singers in her field, and is in demand worldwide as a Wagner and Strauss interpreter.
Since 2006 Ricarda Merbeth has been freelancing and regularly takes the major parts of her fach such as Elektra, Sieglinde (Walküre), Helena (Egyptian Helena), Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos), Marietta (Die tote Stadt), Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier), Senta (The flying duchman), Leonore (Fidelio), Emilia Marty (The Makropulos Affair), Ortrud (Lohengrin), Marie (Wozzeck), Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Goneril (Lear), Elisabeth and Venus (Tannhäuser), Brünnhilde (Siegfried, Walküre, Götterdämmerung). She guests at the internationally most important opera houses such as Hamburg State Opera, Bavarian State Opera Munich, La Scala Milan, Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Tokyo, Opera National de Paris, Teatro Real Madrid, Dutch Natinal Opera, and the opera houses of Toulouse, Marseille, Barcelona, Helsinki, Stockholm, Zurich, Sydney, Vienna and New York and works with renowned conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-whun Chung, Daniele Gatti, Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Philippe Jordan, Fabio Luisi, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Seiji Ozawa, Donald Runnicles, Pinchas Steinberg, Christian Thielemann, Constantin Trinks.
In November 2018 she made her successful debut as Elektra in Patrice Chéreau's legendary production at La Scala in Milan and also sang the role several times at the Staatsoper Berlin.
Other important engagements in her career include Brünnhilde (Siegfried) and the Marschallin (Der Rosenkavalier) in Tokyo, Isolde in Turin and Amsterdam, Leonore (Fidelio) at the Vienna State Opera and the New National Theatre Tokyo, the title roles in Elektra and Die Ägyptische Helena at La Scala Milan, the title role in Turandot at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, in Marseille and Brussels, Brünnhilde (Ring) in Madrid as well as all Brünnhildes in concert performances at the Opera Bastille Paris.
Future engagements will take Ricarda Merbeth back to the Vienna State Opera, where she has been invited to sing all Brünnhildes (Ring). She will also perfrom all the Brünnhildes at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Further highlights of the 2022/23 season are her debuts as Ortrud (Lohengrin) and Kundry (Parsifal).
Please see artist's website for further information.
Artist portrait: Mirko Joerg Kellner
Photo from Parsifal rehearsal: Lars Svenkerud
Johan Reuter / Amfortas
JOHAN REUTER studied at the Royal Academy of Music and the Academy of the Royal Theatre in his hometown of Copenhagen. He frequented masterclasses of Ernst Haefliger, Anthony Rolfe-Johnson and Richard Trimborn. Since 1996 he has been a soloist of the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, where he sings a large repertoire.
This season Johan made his much anticipated return to the Opéra National de Paris, after almost two decades absence, collaborating once again with artist William Kentridge - this time in Wozzeck. This summer he will be starring in the Everest of a baritone role in a new production of Wagner's Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg as Han Sach at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. Johan will be part of the exciting line-up to celebrate the Centennial of San Francisco Opera, making his first appearance in the West Coast with Die Frau ohne Schatten.
Please see artists's website for further information.
Artist portrait: Dario Acosta
Photo from Parsifal rehearsal: Lars Svenkerud
Brindley Sherratt / Gurnemanz
The British Bass BRINDLEY SHERRATT is one of the most respected singers in the world of Opera.
He was born into a family of strong singers but initially studied trumpet at the Royal Academy of Music. After winning several opera competitions which he entered “for experience” he went on to study singing full time.
He is now enjoying a busy international career.
«This performance was dominated by bass Brindley Sherratt, a world class Gurnemanz, who brought a natural gravity of tone to the role together with dignity and a feeling for the character’s inner calm», Financial Times
Ólafur Sigurdarson / Klingsor
Reinhard Hagen / Titurel
Eirik Grøtvedt / First Grail Knight
Please see artists's website for further information.
Photo: Erik Berg, The Norwegian Opera & Ballet
Ingeborg Gillebo / First Esquire & Fifth Flowermaiden
From Manhattan to Baden-Baden, INGEBORG GILLEBO is in demand for her mezzo-soprano voice of rare brightness and lustre. She has appeared at some of the world’s greatest operatic institutions including the Bayreuth Festival and the Metropolitan Opera.
Please see artists's website for further information.
Photo: Kolonihaven
Monika Jägerova / Second Esquire & Voice from Above
MONIKA JÄGEROVÁ studied singing with Pavla Zumrová. She debuted on the Czech opera stage in 2017 in the role of Mrs. Quickly (Falstaff) at the Silesian Theater in Opava, where she then introduced herself as Kohout (Cunning Little Vixen) and Háta (The Bartered Bride).
In the 2018/2019 season, she made her debut at the Moravian-Silesian National Theater in Ostrava in the roles of Princess (Suor Angelica), and Zita (Gianni Schicchi) as well as The Old Slovak Woman (Destiny). She debuted as Bradamante in Händel's Alcina in National Theater Brno with Collegium 1704 and Václav Luks. At the Teatro Verdi in Trieste, in the role of Mrs. Baggot she participated in the international performance of Britten's opera The Little Sweep (2016) and performed the alto part in the stage oratorio Stabat Mater by Valentina Shuklina (2017).
Please see artist's website for further information.
Photo: Martina Gajdacova
John Olsen / Third Esquire
The Danish tenor John Olsen trained as a teacher at Haslev Seminarium 2002-2007. 2012 he started taking private singing lessons – and later also attended master classes in Copenhagen.
Season 2018/19 he sang Piangi in the musical Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber at Det ny teater in Copenhagen, and 2019 he was Dr. Høyer in Børresen’s one act Den kongelige gæst (The Royal Guest) at Copenhagen Opera Festival and at Opera of Funen.
Season 2019/20 John Olsen joined Theater Chemnitz in Germany as 2. Priester/1. Geharnischer in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) by Mozart, and was rehearsal cover for both the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin – and for Siegmund in Die Walküre.
Autumn 2020 Olsen visited Bergen National Opera for the first time to sing the role as Malcolm in Verdi's Macbeth, but due to the Covid-19-situation, this production was cancelled short time before the premiere.
Among others John appeared in the role as Mølleren, in the opera Sovedrikken by Danish composer C. E. F. Weyse, as soloist in a big Wagner concert in Denmark, later on as The Despair in Antikrist (Antichrist) by the Danish composer Rued Langgaard, in Copenhagen as well as in Glasgow.
And returning to Theater Chemnitz he will sing Siegmund in Die Walküre, and Max in Carl Maria von Weber’s Der Freischütz (The Marksman).
Erlend Tvinnereim / Fourth Esquire
The Norwegian tenor ERLEND TVINNEREIM has appeared in opera houses such as Grand Théâtre de Genève, Staatsoper Hamburg, Theater Basel, Theater St Gallen and Bergen National Opera.
He is also a much sought after concert singer with a repertoire including a large number of masses, oratorios and song cycles for lyric tenor.
Agnieszka Adamczak / First Flowermaiden
AGNIESZKA ADAMCZAK graduated with honours from Poznań Music Academy in solo singing classes conducted by prof. Katarzyna Rymarczyk.
She has improved her vocal skills at courses of Renata Scotto, Francisco Araiza, Kaludi Kaludov, Ion Buzea and Helena Łazarska.
Lydia Hoen Tjore / Second Flowermaiden
Norwegian soprano LYDIA HOEN TJORE graduated from The Royal Opera Academy at The Royal Danish Opera as one of the youngest in the history of the academy.
From August 2018 until June 2020, she was a part of the soloist ensemble at The Norwegian National Opera & Ballett as a young artist. There, Lydia made her debut as Zerlina in DON GIOVANNI. Other roles with The Norwegian National Opera & Ballett includes Suor Genovieffa in SUOR ANGELICA, Belinda in DIDO AND AENEAS and 1. Dame in THE MAGIC FLUTE, Adina in L’ELISIR D’AMORE and Micaëla in CARMEN.
Please see artist's website for further information.
Photo: Mirco Palazzi
Olivera Tičević / Third Flowermaiden
Soprano OLIVERA TIČEVIĆ was born in Bijelo Polje in Montenegro. After singing studies in Belgrade, she received Master and Soloist diploma training in Switzerland at Bern University of Arts. During her studies she received the Tschumi-Award for her performance of Ligeti's «Mysteries of the Macabre» (2019).
Tičević also has a Master's degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.
Her international career was initiated by the two awards she received from Austria Barock Academie in Vienna 2011 and 2013: She was then engaged as a singer in the project Queen Christina of Sweden, the European. This project gave her the possibility to develop as an artist, and she was able to perform for a large audience – from Vienna to Tokyo.
Some of her opera roles has been Pamina in Mozart's Magic Flute at the opera in Zürich 2016-2017, and Musetta in Puccini's La bohème. She has sung Musetta several times at the Art Academy in Belgrade, at Oslo Operafestival/Opera til folket, and then also in Podgorica in Montenegro in the co-production with Festival Puccini Torre del Lago and The National Theatre of Montenegro.
Autumn 2018 she had her debut in the Bern Theatre (Konzert Theater Bern) as Morgana in Handel’s Alcina, and in May 2021 she returned in the role as Morgana, when Die Freitagsakademie from Bern visited Wiener Konzerthaus.
Olivera Tičević also sang Violetta in Verdi's La Traviata at Oslo Operafestival autumn 2021.
Emily Pogorelc / Fourth Flowermaiden
Young American soprano EMILY POGORELC has been praised for her “big, soaring voice with wonderfully agile coloratura and zinging high notes” (Chicago on the Aisle).
In her 2022/23 season, she makes role debuts as Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Soeur Constance in Dialogues des Carmelites and Xenia in Boris Gudonov as an ensemble member of the Bayerische Staatsoper. She also appears as Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel and the Vierte Magd in Elektra led by Maestro Vladimir Jurowski.
As a guest, she debuts as Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Florentine Opera in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Hirt in Tännhäuser at the Salzburg Osterfestspiele and as Amina in Semperoper Dresden’s new production of La Sonnambula. In concert and recital, she debuts at Mozartwoche 2023 with Alejandro Posada and the Orquesta Iberacademy Medellín in a unique program of Mozart arias, she performs a recital with Chris Reynolds at VocalArts DC in the Kennedy Center and as a Blumenmädchen in Parsifal with Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic. She also appears in gala concerts around world with Rolando Villázon.
In 2022, Ms. Pogorelc became an Associate Artist with the The Mozartists in London and she returns to record their third volume in their acclaimed ‘Sturm und Drang’ series. This will recording will feature her in arias by Schweitzer and Paisiello.
Please see artist's website for further information.
Photo: Kyle Flubacker
Margrethe Fredheim / Sixth Flowermaiden
Norwegian soprano MARGRETHE FREDHEIM won the First Prize in The Lauritz Melchior International Singing Competition in Aalborg, October 2020, a competition focusing solely on the Wagner repertoire.
In February 2020 she made her Wagner debut as Elsa in Lohengrin at Theater Erfurt. Her performance as Elsa made an impression and she was later invited to sing excerpts from Lohengrin at a Radio Gala at Theater Chemnitz.
Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, many performances have been cancelled, also Margrethe`s long anticipated Royal Opera House debut. (5. Magd – Elektra)