This week a new production of Beethoven’s masterpiece Fidelio premieres at Staatsoper Hamburg by Artistic Director, Georges Delnon, and conducted by General Music Director, Kent Nagano; this marks the second new production for Maestro Nagano in Hamburg this season following Achim Freyer’s new Parsifal in September. Featuring Christopher Ventris as Florestan in his debut for the house, Fidelio opens on 28 January with a live broadcast on NDR Kultur, followed by subsequent performances in February, April and May. 

Christopher Ventris’ 2017/18 season kicked off with a huge success in Zürich as Jimmy Mahoney in Sebastian Baumgartner’s new production of Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny under Fabio Luisi, where he was hailed as having ​“dramatic mastery of the role” (Oper Aktuell) and making ​“the haunting night song a highlight of the opera” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung). Next for Christopher is a string of returns to Wiener Staatsoper as Parsifal, Lohengrin and Siegmund (Die Walküre), under Semyon Bychkov, Sebastian Weigle and Adam Fischer respectively, as well as performances as Max in Weber’s Der Freischütz at the Hyogo Performing Arts Center to close the season.