Latest news with #HamburgStateOpera
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Hamburg Ballet's Artistic Director Leaves After Just 10 Months
The Hamburg Ballet's last director, John Neumeier, led the company for 51 years, transforming it from a provincial troupe into an internationally respected house. His successor, Demis Volpi, lasted just 10 months. On Tuesday, Hamburg State Opera said in a news release that its board and Volpi had agreed to terminate his contract at the ballet four years early. The announcement followed weeks of crisis at the company after it emerged that five principal dancers had resigned, and that more than half of the company's dancers had sent a letter to a local lawmaker to complain of a 'toxic working environment' under Volpi. In Tuesday's release, Volpi said that 'despite intensive efforts,' he could no longer realize his artistic vision and had agreed to depart 'in the interests of all involved.' Volpi, an Argentine choreographer who previously led the Ballet am Rhein in Düsseldorf, did not respond to a request for an interview, and a spokeswoman for Hamburg Ballet said it would not comment further. It was not immediately clear what Volpi's departure would mean for the company's coming season, which Volpi had announced in March and is to include the premiere of Alexei Ratmansky's 'Wonderland,' based on Lewis Carroll's novels. Nor is it clear how the company will handle productions of Volpi's work. A new version of Volpi's 'Surrogate Cities' is scheduled to premiere in July. And Volpi's 'Demian,' based on the novel by Hermann Hesse, is scheduled to be performed in December. The crisis at Hamburg Ballet began in early May when German newspapers widely reported dancers' complaints about its artistic direction under Volpi, as well as accusations that he was insufficiently present during rehearsals. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Artistic head of Hamburg Ballet let go amid work culture complaints
Demis Volpi, a German-Argentinian choreographer, is to step down as artistic director of the world-renowned Hamburg Ballet Company following massive criticism from the ensemble over a "toxic work environment." Volpi's contract will be prematurely terminated following mutual agreement and the 39-year-old is set to leave the company at the end of the season, the local cultural authority in the northern German city said on Tuesday. As part of the agreement, Volpi is set to stop working at the ballet immediately, it said. Volpi, who succeeded the company's founder John Neumeier, a 86-year-old American, a year ago, has been the subject of widespread criticism, including from the company's dancers. In a letter to Hamburg's culture minister, 36 dancers - more than half of the company - accused him of creating a "toxic work environment" as well as a lack of competence. Seventeen former and current dancers at the Dusseldorf-based Ballett am Rhein, where Volpi worked previously, also sent complaints to the Hamburg minister. In response, management at the Hamburg State Opera, which includes the ballet company, launched a risk assessment to question all ensemble members anonymously about their work situation. "My vision - both in artistic terms and with regard to a contemporary structure that enables open and responsible collaboration within a ballet company - could no longer be realized under the current conditions at the Hamburg Ballet, despite intensive efforts," Volpi said. "In the interests of all those involved, we have therefore agreed to end my directorship by mutual consent." Following Volpi's departure, efforts are under way to find an interim artistic director to lead the company until the conclusion of the 2025/26 season.
Korea Herald
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Chin Unsuk's second opera premiers in Hamburg
Korean composer's 'Die dunkle Seite des Mondes' draws inspiration from life and work of physicist Wolfgang Pauli "Die dunkle Seite des Mondes,' the second opera by South Korean composer Unsuk Chin, premiered Sunday at the Hamburg State Opera in Germany under the baton of Kent Nagano. For her second opera, multiple award-winning composer Chin drew inspiration from the life and work of physicist Wolfgang Pauli — pioneer of quantum physics, Nobel Prize laureate and, for a time, a professor in Hamburg — and from his relationship with the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. "Die dunkle Seite des Mondes,' or "The Dark Side of the Moon" in English, is directed by the theater collective Dead Center, which incorporates multimedia elements, including video projections and choreographed movements, to enhance the narrative's exploration of consciousness and identity. 'Die dunkle Seite des Mondes' was commissioned by the Hamburg State Opera, with support from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, which awarded Chin the 2024 International Ernst von Siemens Music Prize, a prestigious award that honors a composer, performer or musicologist who has made a distinguished contribution to the world of music. "Die dunkle Seite des Mondes" is Chin's second opera following 'Alice in Wonderland,' which premiered in 2007 at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. The opera is scheduled to be staged four more times between May 21 and June 5.
