Verdi’s majestic Requiem ^{Virée classique 2024}

Rafael Payare’s prodigious musicianship, technical brilliance and charismatic presence on the podium have made him one of the world’s most sought-after conductors. A graduate of the celebrated El Sistema music education program in Venezuela, Mr. Payare began his formal conducting studies in 2004 with José Antonio Abreu. Since winning the prestigious Malko International Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark in 2012, Maestro Payare’s career has advanced rapidly. Since 2015, he has served as Principal Conductor of the Castleton Festival, founded by his mentor the late Lorin Maazel. He was Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Ulster Orchestra from 2014 to 2019 and in 2019, took up the position of Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. In recent years, Rafael Payare has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious orchestras, including those of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Zurich, Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich, Chicago and Paris. He has also made important opera debuts at the Glyndebourne Festival, Stockholm’s Royal Swedish Opera, the Royal Danish Opera, and most recently at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In the 2022-2023 season, Payare became the ninth Music Director in the history of the OSM.

To consult:
rafaelpayare.com
Long biography

Upcoming seasons will be marked by milestones for Tunisian-Canadian mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb, including a debut at Opernhaus Zürich as Charlotte (Werther), the title role in Carmen at Glyndebourne Festival and with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Claire (Melancholia) with the Royal Swedish Opera, Dorabella (Così fan tutte) at Seiji Ozawa Music Academy, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Philadelphia Orchestra and returns to the the Bayerische Staatsoper and to the Metropolitan Opera.

Among numerous concert stage appearances, Rihab Chaieb has performed with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Kent Nagano and Johannes Debus. She has recorded Bach’s Mass in B minor and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 (on Deutsche Grammophon’s DG Stage) with Orchestre Métropolitain under Nézet-Séguin. She also reprised Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Nézet-Séguin and The Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.

Rihab Chaieb appeared in numerous productions at the Metropolitan Opera as a former member of the Lindemann Young Artist Program. She later returned to the Met singing Zerlina in Don Giovanni under Cornelius Meister.

Dovlet Nourgeldiev’s 2023/24 season began with role debuts as Grigorij and Dimitrij in a new production of Boris Godunov at Staatsoper Hamburg. Other roles in Hamburg this season are Steva (Jenůfa), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), and Frère Massée (Saint François d’Assise). He will also return to Bayerische Staatsoper for Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail). In concert Dovlet will sing Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony on tour in Spain with the Orchestre National de Lyon and will perform Shostakovich’s Thirteenth Symphony with Kent Nagano at Staatsoper Hamburg.

Recent highlights include Belmonte in a new production of Die Entführung aus dem Serail at Staatsoper Hamburg; Alfred in Die Fledermaus at the Opéra National de Lyon, made his role debut Steva in Jenůfa at Opéra de Rouen Normandie. Last season he sang Nemorino (L’elisir d’amore) at Opéra de Lausanne, performances of Alfredo (La traviata) in Dublin and Alfred (Die Fledermaus), Lensky (Eugene Onegin), and a successful role debut as Walther von der Vogelweide (Tannhäuser) at Hamburgische Staatsoper.

Bass Adam Palka has performed on prestigious opera stages around the world, including Teatro alla Scala, Staatsoper Berlin, Staatsoper Hamburg, Staatsoper Stuttgart, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Royal Opera House, Teatro Real in Madrid, Opéra national de Paris, Teatro Massimo di Palermo and Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf.

This season, Palka will perform Filippo II (Don Carlo), the title role in Boito’s Mefistofele and Oroveso (Norma) at the Staatsoper Stuttgart. He’ll also be singing Méphistophélès with the Canadian Opera Company. Other roles this season include Timur (Turandot) and Gremine (Eugene Onegin) at the Gran Teatredel Liceu; Méphistophélès (Faust, Gounod), Don Basilio (The Barber of Seville) and Vodnik (Rusalka) at the Wiener Staatsoper; Verdi’s Requiem with the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra; Count Walter (Luisa Miller) at the Staatsoper Hamburg. He will also be returning to the Royal Opera House as Timur.

Palka has also sung Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9^. with the Stuttgart Philharmonic and Verdi’s Requiem with the Philharmonie de Paris and the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse