Singer

“Don‘t you know the horrible dark place, don’t you know the evil one lives there?” Hastily, their parents set out for the woods to save Hansel and Gretel from the witch Rosina Leckermaul. As they feared, the children have got lost in the woods and found the gingerbread house. They cannot resist the sweet temptation – and fall straight into the trap of the witch, who likes children so much she could eat them up… literally.
As in most tales of the Brothers Grimm, in Engelbert Humperdinck’s setting of the fairytale all ends well: until that point, however, Humperdinck’s romantic music accompanies the children deep into the dark forest of legend. Here it invokes magical beings, calls on 14 angels to protect the siblings and allows the witch to ride her broomstick through the air.

Hansel and Gretel

Hamburg State Opera

"It is a simple and tremendous problem of life: that of fidelity", is how Hugo von Hofmannsthal described the core of their third opera together, Ariadne auf Naxos, in a letter to Richard Strauss. To live does not mean to persevere and hold on to what has been lost. If you want to live, you have to let go, forget, get over yourself - constantly transform yourself. This is what a young opera composer experiences in this work when he is confronted with the stubborn wishes of his patron; just like the protagonist of his opera, Ariadne, who, abandoned by her lover, Theseus, expects only death.

Ariadne on Naxos

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.

EPSG:4326

International Opera Studio of the Hamburg State Opera

Elbphilharmonie Hamburg

International Opera Studio

During times of historical upheaval, the victors are filled with euphoric jubilation while fear spreads on the side of the losers. When cheerfulness grips the figures in Mozart’s piece, it is the swan song, full of schadenfreude, of dying structures, ancient privileges and traditional manners – including those between man and woman. Mozart (and Beaumarchais) hold the balance on the threshold between eras – as artists en route to self-marketing, as portraitists of their times, by precisely rendering a society whose balance is shifting, making Almaviva a ridiculous figure. His class is losing political power, and he compensates for this loss by becoming a slave to his sexual desire. The wind is blowing from the past, giving wing to Walter Benjamin’s angel of history. It is a storm for the winners, and for the losers a mere melancholy breeze. The angel sees nothing but ruins.

Le Nozze di Figaro

Staatsoper Hamburg

In a dialog with musicologist Holger Noltze and non-fiction author Inge Kloepfer, Kent Nagano looks back on his successful time as General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and the Philharmonic State Orchestra. What role does opera play today in a democratic urban society and how can it bring people together as an institution and through its art?

„Muss denn in diesem Land immer alles politisch sein?“

LichtwarkTheater

"It is a simple and tremendous problem of life: that of fidelity", is how Hugo von Hofmannsthal described the core of their third opera together, Ariadne auf Naxos, in a letter to Richard Strauss. To live does not mean to persevere and hold on to what has been lost. If you want to live, you have to let go, forget, get over yourself - constantly transform yourself. This is what a young opera composer experiences in this work when he is confronted with the stubborn wishes of his patron; just like the protagonist of his opera, Ariadne, who, abandoned by her lover, Theseus, expects only death. But things turn out differently... Strauss and Hofmannsthal let the opposites collide: Tragedy and comedy, light music and grand opera, playfulness and seriousness. Thus, in the mirroring of art and life, between gaze and gaze, the unfathomable mystery of transformation takes place.

Ariadne auf Naxos

This opera is the world in a theatrical nutshell: it deals with growing older, with trials and tribulations, with intransparent decisions. One person searches for individuality, another is too lazy to do so. Others postulate that the community is the only adequate place for the individual. Power has either been legitimised by long tradition or usurped by new regimes. Values such as assimilation and loyalty are set against self-assertiveness and independence. There is loving and dreaming, cheating and trusting. Suicides are prevented, tests passed, adventures survived. Who is right? Who has been wronged? The world of the magic flute is opaque, and everyone is looking for a pathway: within it, into it or out of it. Who holds the reigns? Who can be trusted? Could it be music?

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute)

“Don‘t you know the horrible dark place, don’t you know the evil one lives there?” Hastily, their parents set out for the woods to save Hansel and Gretel from the witch Rosina Leckermaul. As they feared, the children have got lost in the woods and found the gingerbread house. They cannot resist the sweet temptation – and fall straight into the trap of the witch, who likes children so much she could eat them up… literally.

Hänsel und Gretel (Hansel and Gretel)

A voice, a room, a girl shortly before her 16th birthday. A pile of discarded dolls. Then voice messages from outside, the shrill laughs of a sitcom, the vacation posts of an avatar and the girl's attempt to be her, to become someone else, to disguise herself, to change. We enter a fluffy world where anything is possible. In which dolls come to life and the neighbor becomes a doll. In which flesh wants to become plastic and objects begin to speak. Dollhouse tells of the empowering power of cuteness and play. We become part of a search for belonging and identity, beyond normative (family) structures. "The light alarm clock simulates the first sunrise, flight mode off, first messages arrive" - the story begins.

Dollhouse

Opera Stabile Werk/Wirkbühne of the State 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. 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

The years between the death of Ivan the Terrible and the ascension of the Romanov family to the throne are known in Russia as the “Time of Troubles”. During this time, Boris Godunov strives to gain power with an iron determination. However, the ghosts of the past catch up with him and he dies a madman, abandoned and betrayed by everyone. In the meantime, the country sinks ever deeper into corruption, putsches and intrigue. A new “Time of Troubles” dawned during Modest Mussorgsky’s lifetime: the old order faltered and could not survive, everyone felt it. During a period of political upheaval and shaken by dramatic developments in his private life, Mussorgsky created a work about the arrogance of power and the eroticism of betrayal – as contradictory and fascinating as his personality itself.

Boris Godunov

Culture creates meaning and structure. The music theater project by Christopher Rüping, Omer Meir Wellber, and Malte Ubenauf demonstrates that it can even provide existential support. Here, for an extraterrestrial group, Mozart's music becomes a daily reminder and admonition of what it means to be and remain human. And what happens when it all falls silent. Thus, we rediscover Mozart's music in distant worlds.

The Great Silence

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...

Soprano

Marie Maidowski

Events

Upcoming events

Dec 21, 2024 - Jan 3, 2026

Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute) · Staatsoper Hamburg

Nov 30 - Dec 25, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Staatsoper Hamburg

Mar 15 - Apr 10, 2026

The Great Silence · Staatsoper Hamburg

Apr 14 - May 8, 2026

Elektra · Staatsoper Hamburg

Past events

Nov 30 - Dec 25, 2025

Hansel and Gretel · Staatsoper Hamburg

Nov 16 - Dec 4, 2025

Ariadne on Naxos · Staatsoper Hamburg

Future and recently performed repertoire

Echo in Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

carrier in Elektra by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

Papagena in Die Zauberflöte by Mozart

Staatsoper Hamburg

dew man in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Staatsoper Hamburg

Dew man in Hansel and Gretel by Humperdinck

Staatsoper Hamburg

Tow carrier in Elektra by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

Xenia in Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky

Staatsoper Hamburg

Barbara in Le nozze di Figaro by Mozart

Staatsoper Hamburg

girl / avatar in Dollhouse by Thomas

Staatsoper Hamburg

Echo in Ariadne on Naxos by Strauss

Staatsoper Hamburg

Singer in The Great Silence by Mozart

Staatsoper Hamburg

About

Marie Maidowski hasn't added a bio