Singer

Under the face of the wandering moon, spirit and body quarrel in all their greatness and wretchedness until the blood of two bodies flows. Strauss remains close to Wilde's re-creation of the biblical material, which leads Salome from her mother's tool to autonomy. It is she who, in her unfulfilled desire for the liberatingly different, the body of the prophet Jochanaan, seeks revenge and demands his head - a price the male-dominated society around Herod is willing to pay for their dance. Now that Salome holds his severed head in her hands, she can kiss Jochanaan, possess him if not alive, then dead. As if under a burning glass, Strauss pours Oscar Wilde's demonic dramaturgy into sound like an eruption of the psyche, accompanying his protagonist from her failed escape from the decadence of her existence to her death.

EPSG:4326

Salome

Staatsoper Hamburg

The International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera presents a varied programme. The seven singers introduce themselves with solo arias and demonstrate their skills in selected opera scenes. The concert marks the end of a special anniversary season: the studio has been training the stars of tomorrow at the State Opera for 30 years. Today’s opera stars such as Olga Peretyatko, Christiane Karg or Christoph Pohl and Alexander Tsymbalyuk have emerged from this programme. The latest cohort also combines outstanding voices and captivating stage presence. Selected from thousands of young talents, they are among the best of their generation. They can regularly be seen on the big stage in performances at the opera house on Dammtorstraße.

International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

Inspired by his romantic love for Mathilde Wesendonck, Richard Wagner created one of the most beautiful operas in music history. This season, the Hamburg State Opera revives its legendary production by Ruth Berghaus of 1988.

Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde)

Violetta is the most sought-after courtesan of the Parisian demimonde. However, her encounter with Alfredo makes her pleasure-seeking life seem questionable: they fall in love and try to build a life for themselves, far from the fast pleasures of the city. Her past, however, catches up with Violetta. Alfredo’s father persuades her that a separation is the only way to restore his family honour. Alfredo, unaware of the true reasons for her decision, insults Violetta in public. When they are finally reunited, Violetta has run out of time.

La Traviata

California in 1850: hundreds of thousands have fallen for the gold rush – and some of them also for the barkeeper Minnie, at whose saloon various fortune seekers meet every evening. Among them is Sheriff Jack Rance. Minnie, however, falls in love with the stranger Dick Johnson. It soon turns out that Johnson is a wanted robber: the sheriff wants to see him hang and have Minnie to himself. A round of poker is to decide about Dick’s life: is there yet another trump up Minnie’s sleeve?

La Fanciulla del West (The Girl of the West)

Never one to miss an opportunity to make fun of others, the hunchback jester Rigoletto is employed by the Duke of Mantua. His only joy in life is his daughter Gilda. When Rigoletto must witness how she falls for the calculated vows of love of the unscrupulous Duke, he is out for revenge: he hires the contract killer Sparafucile to murder the seducer. Gilda, however, sacrifices herself for her lover. Rigoletto realises that he has driven his daughter to death and destroyed his own life.

Rigoletto

Young Tatyana falls in love with Eugene Onegin, and confesses her love for him, against all convention. When he pretends that marriage is not for him, she weds Prince Gremin in haste. After many years, Tatyana and Onegin meet again, but their belated confession of mutual love cannot bring them back together.

Eugene Onegin

The poet E. T. A. Hoffmann as the protagonist of his own fantastic tales: In his encounter with three women - Olympia, Antonia, and Giulietta - he searches in vain for love for love and for himself. Will he draw the strength for art from his failure in life? art from his failures in life? Or will he fail in himself, even in alcohol? Like in a kaleidoscope, ever new constellations and shimmering colors constellations and shimmering colors German romanticism and French esprit.

Les Contes d'Hoffmann

"The success was tremendous and unprecedented! Critics, artists, amateurs and music lovers were intoxicated ... The auditorium roared apart, loudly proclaiming the new miracle." Thus a report on the premiere in 1821 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Der Freischütz struck a chord with the times, every barrel organ played the "Jungfernkranz", every street singer performed it, as Heine reports. Weber had discovered the material in an old ghost book. The story of the hunter Max, who devotes himself to the devil in order to win his bride, touches on people's primal fears. The forest, the epitome of the "German soul", becomes a battleground between good and evil. Weber's music depicts the plight and despair of the people with gripping emotionality; the hope of a happy ending is evoked with fervor. Romantic drama and folk play in one, Der Freischütz is set somewhere between dream and nightmare, fascinating to this day.

Der Freischütz

The war is over, and tragedy takes its course: the mother and her lover murder the father upon his return. The daughter hides her brother, keeping him safe. – Every day, Elektra thinks of her murdered father, plotting blood-stained celebrations of victory and waiting for the moment when her brother, reared as an avenger, returns. Under one roof with her father’s murderers, thirst for blood and revenge collide with the future plans of her younger sister, who longs for marriage and children, a life in harmony and bliss. The mother is governed by another delusion: “It is not a word, it is not pain, it does not pinch me or strangle me, … and yet it is so terrible that my soul wishes it had been hanged, and every part of my body cries out for death.” Sacrifice is meant to bring relief.

Elektra

Scarpia, Rome’s chief of police, desires Tosca. Since her lover, the painter Cavaradossi, is among the government’s political enemies, Scarpia has him imprisoned. He orders Cavaradossi’s execution and hopes to force Tosca into granting him one night with her, in exchange for Cavaradossi’s release. She, however, thwarts his plans…

Tosca

Visit the Fondazione Mascarade Opera for an opera recital of the most loved arias and duets from the classical and belcanto repertoire of Rossini, Donizetti, Mozart inspired by the bloom of spring.

Firenze È Come Un Albero Fiorito

Fondazione Mascarade Opera

The war is over, and tragedy takes its course: the mother and her lover murder the father upon his return. The daughter hides her brother, keeping him safe. – Every day, Elektra thinks of her murdered father, plotting blood-stained celebrations of victory and waiting for the moment when her brother, reared as an avenger, returns...

Hamburg State Opera

Nagasaki, Japan, ca. 1900: Pinkerton, a lieutenant in the American navy, has fallen in love with Cio-Cio-San, also known as “Butterfly”. The Japanese ritual marriage ceremony is merely a farce to him – and shortly thereafter, Pinkerton’s “plaything” is alone again, with their child. Three years later, he returns to Japan, but not because of Butterfly...

Madama Butterfly

"The success was tremendous and unprecedented! Critics, artists, amateurs and music lovers were intoxicated ... The auditorium roared apart, loudly proclaiming the new miracle." Thus a report on the premiere in 1821 at the Berlin Schauspielhaus. Der Freischütz struck a chord with the times, every barrel organ played the "Jungfernkranz", every street singer performed it, as Heine reports.

The Marksman

How do I become what I am not? Between appearance and reality, director Tatjana Gürbaca searches for the melancholic undertones in Gioachino Rossini's masterful comedy. Behind some comic masquerades lies the desire to escape one's role, behind some triumphant vocal acrobatics the fear of missing out on life. Can there ever be a winner in the pursuit of happiness? A masterpiece for all time.

Baritone

William Desbiens

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 13, 2024 - Jan 1, 2026

Tosca · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 14 - May 8, 2026

Elektra · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 16 - May 9, 2026

Madama Butterfly · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 23 - May 3, 2026

The Marksman · Staatsoper Hamburg

May 17 - Jun 17, 2026

The Barber of Seville · Staatsoper Hamburg

Past events

5 - 12 Oct, 2025

Salome · Staatsoper Hamburg

Jul 4, 2025

International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera · Elbphilharmonie

Future and recently performed repertoire

Sacristan in Tosca by Puccini

Staatsoper Hamburg

The Captain of the Henchmen in The Tales of Hoffmann by Offenbach

Staatsoper Hamburg

Happy in La Fanciulla del West by Puccini

Staatsoper Hamburg

Kilian in Der Freischütz by Weber

Staatsoper Hamburg

2. Nazarener in Salome by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

Old Servant in Elektra by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

A helmsman in Tristan und Isolde by Wagner

Staatsoper Hamburg

The Marquis of Obigny in La traviata by Verdi

Staatsoper Hamburg

A Court Usher in Rigoletto by Verdi

Staatsoper Hamburg

Prince Yamadori in Madama Butterfly by Puccini

Staatsoper Hamburg

Fiorello in The Barber of Seville by Rossini

Staatsoper Hamburg

Old Servant in Elektra by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

network in Eugene Onegin by Tchaikovsky

Staatsoper Hamburg

Kilian in The Marksman by Weber

Staatsoper Hamburg

About

William Desbiens hasn't added a bio