July 13th, 2019 - Audi Klassik Open Air "A summer night's dream"

Through innovative concert performances and adventurous musical theatre, conductor Christoph Altstaedt aims to expand audiences of both opera and classical music. His programmes span from early music on period instruments, to contemporary music and even hip hop.

Following on from their hugely successful Stravinsky project #sacrelektro last season, Christoph and the Junge Norddeutsche Philharmonie bring their new project #Petruschka #Etruschka to the Berlin Konzerthaus as part of their Stravinsky Festival, in a brilliant collaboration with composer and live electronic artist Joe Snape. Later in the season they take this project to the Elbphilharmonie.

This season, he returned to Glyndebourne to conduct La traviata on tour having previously conducted Die Entführung aus dem Serail for them as his debut in 2015, an opera he has since conducted at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and for Opera Zürich. He also maintains an ongoing relationship with Opera North for whom has conducted highly acclaimed productions of Hänsel und Gretel and Don Giovanni. He has also conducted Così fan tutte for Finnish National Opera and Julia Hölscher’s production of Die Zauberflöte for Theater Basel.

Equally successful in both the operatic and orchestral fields, Christoph Altstaedt started his professional life as Kapellmeister for Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, a position he held between 2010 and 2014  where he conducted a variety of productions including La bohème, Carmen, Così fan tutte, Le nozze di Figaro, Hänsel und Gretel, La traviata, Luisa Miller and Werther. He also has an ongoing relationship with the highly acclaimed ballet company ‘Ballett am Rhein’ directed by Martin Schläpfer.

He continues his string of success also in symphonic repertoire, where ongoing relationships have taken him to Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (his next collaborations with them include a Messiah at the Royal Albert Hall and subscription concerts in 19/20 season), Staatskapelle Weimar, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, as well as debuts with Toronto Symphony, Philharmonia Orchestra, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR amongst others.  “Altstaedt brilliantly laid out this tense music, shaping the sound expertly”, John Teraud, The Star, June 2018, Toronto

From 2004 to 2011 he was the director of the Young Klangforum Mitte Europa, an orchestra consisting of music students from Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany. Under the auspices of the Presidents Weizsäcker, Havel and Wałęsa, the orchestra performed at historically significant venues such as Terezín and Kreisau / Krzyżowa and has won several awards for its efforts to promote international understanding, including the Praemium Imperiale and the Marion Dönhoff Prize.

Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, Nino Machaidze is one of today’s most brilliant artists, having made important international debuts at such theaters as the Royal Opera House – Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera, Opera National de Paris, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Berlin State Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Teatro Real in Madrid, Vienna State Opera, Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, Arena di Verona and Los Angeles Opera. The soprano began the 2018/19 season as the title role in Lusia Miller at the Hamburg State Opera, after which she sang Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Dutch National Opera. She will soon debut as the title role in Manon at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, after which she will appear in the same role at the Wiener Staatsoper and return to the Salzburg Festival as Luisa Miller.

In the 2017/18 season, Machaidze made several significant debuts: her debut as Nedda in Pagliacci at the Grand-Théâtre de Genève, her role and house debut as Mathilde in Guillaume Tell at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo, her debut as Rosina in Il Barbiere di Siviglia at the Arenia di Verona, and her debut at Opernhaus Zürich as the title role in Luisa Miller. Machaidze began the season singing Leïla in The Pearl Fishers at the Los Angeles Opera and later appeared as Violetta in La traviata at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples. She also appeared in Seoul as Violetta and Mimi in La boheme and sang Juliette in Romeo et Juliette in Karlsruhe.

Engagements from the 2016/17 season included Mimiat the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Juliette at the Royal Opera House of Muscat, Desdemona in Otello at the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, the title role in Thaïs at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Contessa di Folleville in Il viaggio a Reims at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen, and Gilda in Rigoletto for her debut at the San Francisco Opera. She also returned to the Rossini Festival in Pesaro for Le siège de Corinthe.

A graduate of the Accademia del Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Machaidze appeared at La Scala as Marie in Donizetti’s La Fille du Regiment in 2007. These performances, followed by her debut at the Teatro dell’Opera di Roma in the same role, were what launched her international career. In the summer of 2008, Machaidze made a sensational debut at the Salzburg Festival as Juliette in the new production of Romeo et Juliette, opposite Rolando Villazon.

Nino Machaidze began the 2011/12 season with her debut at Staatsoper Hamburg as Gilda. During the course of the season, she also appeared in Hamburg as the title role in Lucia di Lammermoor and Adina in L’elisir d’amore. She returned to the Los Angeles Opera as Juliette in Romeo et Juliette and then to the Metropolitan Opera to star in the revival of La Fille du Regiment. In January of 2012, Machaidze made her French operatic debut at Opera National de Paris in Rigoletto,awork she also performed in Las Palmas. In the summer of 2012, she appeared as Musetta in a new production of La boheme at the Salzburg Festival, where her colleagues included Anna Netrebko and Peter Beczala.

Machaidze’s engagements for the 2013/14 season included Adina in L’elisir d’amore at the Teatro Real de Madrid and Wiener Staatsoper, Donna Fiorilla at the Bavarian State Opera, Leïla in Les Pecheurs de perles at the Teatro Regio di Parma and Teatro Comunale di Modena, and the title role in Thaïs at the Los Angeles Opera. In the 2012/13 season, she sang her first Thaïsat the Teatro de la Maestranza in Seville, opposite Placido Domingo. She then sang Fiorilla in Il turco in Italia at the Gran Tetaro del Liceu, Juliette at the Wiener Staatsoper and Theatre Royale de La Monnaie, and Gilda with Opera di Genova.

Machaidze’s engagements for the 2015/16 season included Ines in L’Africaine at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Gilda at the Theatre du Capitole in Toulouse, Desdemona in Rossini’s Otello at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, the title rolex in Luisa Miller at the Hamburg State Opera, Violetta in La traviata at the Arena di Verona, and her debut as Mimi at the Los Angeles Opera under Gustavo Dudamel. In the 2014/15 season, she sang Violetta in La traviata at the Los Angeles Opera and Hamburg State Opera, La Contessa di Folleville in Il viaggio a Reims at the Dutch National Opera, Micaëla in Carmen at the Teatro alla Scala, Luisa Millerat the Hamburg State Opera, Donna Fiorilla in Il turco in Italia at the Teatro Regio di Torino, and Ninetta in La gazza ladra at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro.