Jakub Hrůša conducts Dvořák’s Stabat mater

Jakub Hrůša is renowned as a specialist in the music of his Czech homeland. Since his debut in 2018, he has also appeared in this capacity with the Berliner Philharmoniker: his interpretations of works by Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů and Kabeláč, were as profound as they were expressive, inspired and touching. Yet - as the conductor once remarked - Czech music takes up only a third of his repertoire. At his last appearance with the Berliner Philharmoniker in September 2021, the audience could also get to know Hrůša from another side - as conductor of the world premiere of Olga Neuwirth's Keyframes for a Hippogriff as well as Anton Bruckner's Fourth Symphony. Born in Brno in 1981 and educated at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts, Jakub Hrůša started his professional career as Artistic Director of the PKF - Prague Philharmonia, before becoming Chief Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra in 2016. A student of Jiří Bělohlávek, he is the designated Music Director of the Royal Opera Covent Garden and, in addition to his numerous international engagements, Principal Guest Conductor of both the Czech Philharmonic and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. Hrůša said in an interview that as a conductor in concert he must be prepared to use "his instincts, his gut feeling and his heart"; perhaps that is why he has become one of the leading conductors of his generation.

What David Butt Philip loves most about his job? “It sounds obvious, but it's the music. I'm obsessed with it, in all its forms, and have been since childhood. The childlike sense of wonder at the fact that I'm lucky enough to make a living through music has never gone away.” Since his stage debut in 2014 as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Bohème at the English National Opera, the tenor has become a firm favourite on international stages. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in no less than three roles, as Stolzing (“assured in his upper registers”) (Frankfurter Allgemeine) in Wagner's Meistersinger, as well as Laca (Jenůfa) and Don José (Carmen). Even when he was first engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York, he was immediately given two roles: as Grigori in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov and as Laertes in the American premiere of Brett Dean's Hamlet. Further role debuts, for example in the title role of Zemlinsky's Dwarf and Wagner's Lohengrin at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as Florestan in Fidelio at the Royal Opera House or as Bacchus in Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the Edinburgh Festival, have earned him major critical and public acclaim. David Butt Philip studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and completed the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden. Today he is a welcome guest all over the world - in the great opera houses as well as in leading international concert halls.

A newcomer with a dark timbre and great stage presence: Marvic Monreal recently made her debut at London's Royal Opera House, as one of the Rhinemaidens in Wagner's Ring of the Nibelung under the baton of Antonio Pappano. This was the fulfillment of a long-held dream of the artist. The award-winning Maltese mezzo-soprano has been supported by various scholarships, most notably the Malta Arts Scholarship, which funded her Masters studies at the Royal Academy of Music. From 2020 to 2022, Marvic Monreal was a member of the Frankfurt Opera Studio, where she appeared on stage as Martha (Jolanthe), Iseut de Blanches Mains (Le vin herbé), Lucia (La gazza ladra), and Deaconess (Król Roger), among others. She was invited as a guest artist to a concert of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by José Cura with Diana Damrau and sang excerpts from the Verdi Requiem alongside Joseph Calleja, Sondra Radvanovsky and Christian Van Horn. She also took on the alto solo in Mahler's Second Symphony with a “velvety voice” (Classical Source) in an evening conducted by Semyon Bychkov at the Royal Festival Hall. The mezzo-soprano has said in an interview that the most important thing in her profession is to have a good singing technique and to be well prepared mentally for every performance.

With his "rich, deep-toned and balanced" voice (The Times) and a distinctive stage presence, Matthew Rose made a name for himself early on at London's Royal Opera House - first as part of the Young Artist Program, then as a member of the ensemble. Today the British bass, who “sings with much nobility and beauty” (Financial Times), can be heard regularly at opera houses all over the world - in the great Mozart roles in his field as well as in roles such as Pimen (Boris Godunov), Baron Ochs (Der Rosenkavalier), Grand Inquisitor (Don Carlo) Wotan (Die Walküre) and King Marke (Tristan und Isolde). In 2006, Matthew Rose, who studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, made his acclaimed debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Bottom in Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, for which he won the John Christie Award. He subsequently sang the role at such houses as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra National de Lyon and Houston Grand Opera. He won a Grammy Award for his interpretation of Ratcliffe in a recording of the Britten opera Billy Budd. As a recitalist, Matthew Rose has made guest appearances at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, London's Wigmore Hall, and the Kennedy Center Washington, among other venues. With pianist Gary Matthewman he has released a critically acclaimed CD of Schubert's Winterreise.

She is an “outstanding actress as well as a singer of extraordinary grace and finesse” (New York Times): the American soprano Corinne Winters has appeared in over 25 leading roles at major opera houses around the world. It is easy to explain that she has a special predilection for the Czech repertoire: "My father is an Ashkenazi Jew, of Eastern European origin. And I fell in love with Russian music at a very early age. So Czech is not far away." For her particular passion, the singer learned Russian and Czech in order to always know what she was singing about: “Russian wasn't that hard. It's very melodic, and the words flow together, a bit like French. Czech is more complicated.” Corinne Winters studied at Peabody Conservatory and Towson University before becoming a resident artist at the prestigious Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia. She can currently be seen in her signature roles as Jenůfa and Katja Kabanowa in Leoš Janáček's eponymous operas at major opera houses: since her brilliant role debut as Katja in 2022 at the Salzburg Festival, the singer has been considered “vocally as well as dramatically” as the “perfect incarnation of the character” (Frankfurter Allgemeine). Her other career highlights include roles such as Blanche (Dialogues des Carmélites) and Micaëla (Carmen) as well as the title roles in Madama Butterfly, Jolanthe and Halka.