Stefan Soltesz - conductor

M° Soltesz was born in Hungary and he received his conducting training with Prof. Hans Swarowsky at the "Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst" in Vienna. His music studies included composition and concert piano. Mr. Soltesz began his conducting career in 1971 at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna. Engagements as coach and conductor of the Vienna State Opera (1973-83) and as guest conductor of the Opera of Graz (1979-81) followed. During the Salzburg Music Festivals (1978, 1979, and 1983), he also worked as Musical Assistant to Karl Böhm, Christoph von Dohnnyi and Herbert von Karajan. Stefan Soltesz was Permanent Conductor of the Hamburg State Opera (1983-85) and of the Deutsche Oper Berlin (1985-1997). Following a 5-year engagement as Music Director of the State Theater of Braunschweig, Germany (1988-1993), he took on the position of Music Director of the Flanders Opera of Antwerp/Ghent, Belgium (1992-1997). Since 1997, Stefan Soltesz is General/Artistic Director of the Aalto Music Theater in Essen, Germany (named "Opera House of the Year," by the 2008 critics' survey of the magazine, "Opernwelt"), and General Music Director of the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra ("Orchestra of the Year" 2003 and 2008).

Stefan Soltesz also guest conducts regularly at the Vienna State Opera, as well as at all major German opera houses, other guest appearances have taken him to the Paris Opera, Zurich Opera, Grand Théatre de Genève, Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, Teatro Bellini Catania, the Opera of Bilbao, Teatro Coln Buenos Aires, to the Washington and San Francisco Operas, Japan, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden London, as well as to the Festivals in Montpellier, Aix-en-Provence, Savonlinna (Finland) and Baden-Baden.
Plans include: Henze’s The Bassarids at the Opera in Rome; Die Zauberflöte (Staatsoper) and Die Zirkusprinzessin (Komische Oper) in Berlin; Die Fledermaus at the Wiener Staatsoper; Salome in Warsaw and Luxembourg; Mefistofele at the Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden;Eugene Onegin in Koln and Tristan und Isolde in Warsaw.

Angela Nisi - Soprano

Born in Brindisi, Angela Nisi made her debut as Micaëla in Carmen in Bassano del Grappa. She then performed Valtinoni’s Pinocchio in Turin; Lucia di Lammermoor (Lucia) and Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) in Bassano del Grappa; Oscar in Un ballo in maschera in Catania; Violetta in La Traviata at the Varna Summer Festival and in Essen; Giulietta in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno at the Reate Festival. Ms. Nisi recently sang Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at the Accademia Nazionale Santa Cecilia in Rome with Antonio Pappano; Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) in Bangkok; Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda (Clorinda) in Rome; Carmen (Micaëla) at the Cortona Mix Festival and in Florence with the Orchestra della Toscana; Mozart’s Requiem in Benevento; Rota’s Mysterium at the Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari; Fauré’s Requiem and Verdi’s Quattro Pezzi Sacri in Cagliari. Agela Nisi starred in the world première of Tutino’s Le Braci at the Martina Franca Festival.

Plans include: Haydn’s Die Schöpfung in Trieste under the baton of Gianluigi Gelmetti; La Traviata in Toulon; Don Pasquale in Rennes; a revival of Le Braci at the Opera di Firenze-Maggio Musicale Fiorentino; Florence Valtinoni’s Pinocchio in Bassano del Grappa.

Cristina Melis - Mezzo-soprano

Winner of the International Lyric Contest “Giacomo Lauri Volpi” and of the International Contest “Giuseppe Verdi” in Parma, Cristina Melis debuted as Azucena in Il Trovatore in Parma. In the past seasons she performed in Ravel’sL’Enfant et Sortileges under Yves Abel in Palermo; Carmen, Traviata, Gounod’sRoméo et Juliette and in a series of concerts at the Arena in Verona; Cenerentola(title role) and as Isabella in L’Italiana in Algeri at the Teatro Regio in Turin; Azucena in Il Trovatore and Amneris in Aida in Parma; El Amor Brujo in Cagliari; Eugene Onegin, Petite messe solennelleand Bruckner’s Te Deum in Bologna; Rossini’s Stabat Mater in Reggio Emilia; Cavalleria Rusticana at the Opera di Firenze; Luisa Miller in Liège; Verdi’s Requiem under the baton of Gianluigi Gelmetti in Rome and Taranto. Particularly interesting her collaboration with the Opernhaus in Kiel, where in the past seasons she was acclaimed in such productions as Il Trovatore, Madama Butterfly, Eugene Onegin, Nabucco and Rienzi. Plans include: Carmen (title role) and Rheingold (Fricka) at the Opernhaus in Kiel; Scarlatti’s Stabat Mater at the Festival Anima Mundi in Pisa; Madama Butterfly in Naples; Carmen (title role) and Rigoletto (Maddalena) at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna.