Neue Philharmonie Westfalen

The Neue Philharmonie Westfalenwas formed in 1996, when two orchestras in the northern Ruhr region merged: the Westphalian Symphony Orchestra of Recklinghausen and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Gelsenkirchen. The orchestra is jointly financed by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the cities of Gelsenkirchen and Recklinghausen and the district of Unna. The Austrian conductor Johannes Wildner was general music director of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalenfrom 1997 to August 2007. He was followed in the summer of 2007 by Heiko Mathias Förster, who had previously conducted the symphony orchestras of Brandenburg and Munich.

The Neue Philharmonie Westfalenis one of the largest orchestras in the region, giving almost 300 performances at home and abroad each season. The 130-strong ensemble is able to cover the entire range of orchestral literature from the Baroque to present-day. Film and crossover concerts are also part of the ensemble’s programme. In addition to performing at the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen and at symphony concerts throughout the Ruhr region, the orchestra spends a good deal of its time working with children and young people.

The largest of the three orchestra administered by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalenpursues a policy of passing outstanding projects down to posterity by recording them. CDs released of works by Anton Bruckner, Johannes Brahms and Max Bruch conducted by Johannes Wildner have been followed by various recordings conducted by Heiko Mathias Förster that include Gustav Mahler’s First and Fifth symphonies, three CDs of works by the Strauss family and the “cool rhythm” CD together with the Berlin saxophone quartetclair-obscur.

In recent years, the orchestra has succeeded in making a name for itself far beyond the Ruhr region. The Neue Philharmonie Westfalenhas, for example, given acclaimed performances of the “Lord of the Rings” Symphony at places like Speyer Cathedral (a World Heritage site), the philharmonic halls of Cologne and Berlin, Die Glockein Bremen, the Franziskanerin Villingen, the Teatro Dante Alighieri Ravenna, the Teatro Comunale di Modena, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Musical Theater in Basel and the Kölnarena(now Lanxess Arena, Cologne). The orchestra performed Heiko Mathias Förster’s Wagner adaptation “Ring ohne Worte” (Ring without words) at the Great Festival Theatre in Salzburg in September 2009. The ensemble made its overseas debut quite early on, in the autumn of 2000, when it accepted an invitation to perform at the Beijing Festival.

Recently, the Neue Philharmonie Westfalenhas increasingly made a name for itself by touring with leading soloists. Concerts with Lucia Aliberti, Elina Garanca, Lang Lang, Herbie Hancock, Edita Gruberova and Vittorio Grigolo were followed in 2012 by a tour with Anna Netrebko, Ramón Vargas and Erwin Schrott in Münster, Mannheim and Wiesbaden.

Heiko Mathias Förster
General music director

As a student registered for piano studies, Mecklenburg-born Heiko Mathias Förster could have had no inkling that he would one day become the conductor of a large orchestra. He soon gave up the piano for conducting, however, and at the age of only twenty-three became principal conductor at the Brandenburg Theatre and later took over the Munich Symphony Orchestra.

Since the summer of 2007, Heiko Mathias Förster has been general music director of the Neue Philharmonie Westfalen, an orchestra that not only performs at symphony concerts but is also the opera orchestra of the Musiktheater im Revier in Gelsenkirchen.The operas he has conducted there include Verdi’s Otello, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Samson et Dalila and the German first performance of Isaac Albéniz’s Merlin. Förster also regularly conducts opera productions in Prague and Bratislava.

Förster is a favourite with opera stars. The singers he has worked with include Rolando Villazón, Elina Garanca and Angela Gheorghiu, and he also collaborated with the brilliant German humorist Vicco von Bülow alias Loriot in his project called “Der Ring an einem Abend” (the Ring in a single performance).

Heiko Mathias Förster makes regular guest appearances with orchestras all over the world. The Israel Symphony Orchestra, the Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin and the Prague Symphony Orchestra are among those he has conducted in recent years. Young concert-goers are also catered for: Förster regularly conducts concerts aimed especially at families and children.

Christian Nas wurde in Cluj, Rumänien geboren.Er absolvierte in seiner Heimatstadt die Musikhochschule.

Auf Einladung des Dirigenten Nikolaus Harnoncourt, erhielt Christian ein Stipendium, das ihm ermöglichte die Ausbildung an der Musikhochschule in Graz, Österreich fortzusetzen.

1997 wurde er 1. Solobratschist des Grazer Sinfonieorchesters.

Seit 1999 ist er Mitglied im Radio-Sinfonieorchesters Stuttgart des SWR.

Christian gastiert regelmäßig bei zahlreichen Festivals in Deutschland, Österreich, Rumänien, Japan und der Schweiz, darunter der Chiemgauer Musikfrühling, das SoNoRo Festival oder der Boswil Sommer.

The main focus of Marlis Petersen’s repertoire is the field of classical coloratura, however she has also made a name for herself as an interpreter of contemporary music. After studying at the Music Academy Stuttgart and with Sylvia Geszty, she supplemented her training in the specialized areas of opera, new music and dance. She started her career as a member of the ensemble at Städtische Bühnen Nuremberg, where she sang roles such as Ännchen, Blonde, Adele, Rosina, Lulu and Queen of the night. From 1998 to 2003 she was engaged at Deutsche Oper am Rhein Dusseldorf.

Marlis Petersen gave her debut at the Vienna State Opera with Lulu. This central role of her repertoire she also sang in Peter Konwitschny’s much admired staging in Hamburg, at the Chicago Lyric Opera und in a new production in Athens. In the meantime she is a regular guest at the most important opera houses worldwide, e.g. Opéra de Paris, Théâtre de la Monnaie Brussels, state operas of Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna, Theater an der Wien, Metropolitan Opera New York, Los Angeles Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera and at the Festivals of Salzburg and Aix-en-Provence.

Important roles of her repertoire are e.g. Lulu, Violetta (Traviata), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Adele and Rosalinde (Fledermaus), Marguerite (Les Huguenots), Manon, Thais and Elettra (Idomeneo).
Recently, she had a sensational success in a new Lulu production at Bavarian State Opera, which she repeated at the Metropolitan Opera New York as an extraordinary farewell from this role. Outstanding attention was also paid to her Traviata in the Peter Konwitschny production in Graz and Vienna.

Marlis Petersen participated in important world premieres such as Werner Henze’s Phaedra in Berlin and Brussels, Manfred Trojahn’s La grande magia at Semperoper Dresden and Aribert Reimann’s Medea at the Vienna State Opera.

In the concert field, the soprano has already worked with the greatest conductors worldwide such as Christoph Eschenbach, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Louis Langrée, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Ingo Metzmacher, Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle and Jeffrey and collaborated also with several specialists in the historical performance practice as René Jacobs, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Ton Koopman, Trevor Pinnock and Helmuth Rilling.

Marlis Petersen has worked with leading orchestras such as Wiener and Berliner Philharmoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Concertgebouw Orkest, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, Wiener Symphoniker, RAI Orchester Turin, the orchestra of the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Freiburger Barockorchester, Akademie für Alte Musik and Ensemble Modern Frankfurt.
In January 2017 she had the honour to participate at the opening festival of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg with a world creation of Jörg Widmann under the baton of Kent Nagano. And later in 2017 she made a very successful debut as Marietta in “Die Tote Stadt” in Warsaw.

In 2013, Marlis Petersen received the very first Austrian Music Theatre Award for her interpretation of the three female main roles in Les Contes d’Hoffmann at Theater an der Wien,  and by the magazine Opernwelt she was elected “Singer of the year” for the third time. During the season 2017/2018 Marlis Petersen gave recitals in Dubai, at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, the Mozart Week Salzburg, the Mozart Festival Würzburg, the Pierre Boulez Hall in Berlin and at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg. Further highlights are concerts of Beethoven’s “Leonore” in Brussels, Amsterdam, Athen, Baden-Baden, Cologne and Paris under the baton of René Jacobs and a tour with Beethoven’s “Christus am Ölberg” with the Concert Olympique and Jan Caeyers.

For the 2019/20 season, Marlis Petersen was awarded “Singer of the Year” for the fourth time by the magazine “opernwelt” for her interpretation of Marietta at the Bavarian State Opera and won the “Opus Klassik 2020”, also as Singer of the Year for the CD “INNENWELT” released by Solo Musica.

Discography

Schauspiel- und Gesangsstudium an der Hochschule für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Wien sowie bei Edith Nordegg, Charlotte Grubenmann und Kammersänger Walter Berry.
Theater- und Konzertengagements
Stadttheater Klagenfurt, Wiener Metropol, Théâtre de la Bastille, Paris, Schauspielhaus Wien, Renaissance-Theater Berlin, Theater in der Josefstadt, Wien (1993-2000), Wiener Lustspielhaus, Festspiele Reichenau, Seefestspiele Mörbisch, Herkulessaal, Carinthischer Sommer, Operndebüt: Titelrolle in der Kirchenoper “Franziskus“, GottfriedVonEinem-Tage, Schloss Amerang, KuKo Rosenheim, Literaturhaus Hamburg, Musikverein Wien, Prinzregententheater München

Nominierung Max-Ophüls-Preis für die Hauptrolle im Kinofilm “Fleischwolf“
Seit 2000 vermehrt Arbeit für das Fernsehen: u.a. Kommissar Rex, Schlosshotel Orth, Weißblaue Wintergeschichten, Ein Fall für Zwei sowie mit durchgehenden Rollen, in den RTL-Serien Der Clown, Bernds Hexe und als Michi Mohr in der ZDF-Produktion „Die Rosenheim-Cops“

Ständige Arbeit als Sprecher für den ORF, Soloprogramme, Liederabende und Lesungen Zusammenarbeit mit Otto Schenk, Fritz Muliar, Gerda Fröhlich, Dietmar Pflegerl, Heinz Marecek, Rosemarie Fendel, Houchang Allahyari, Sissy Löwinger, Werner Schneyder, Jörg Schneider, Gunter Krää, Walter Bannert, Werner Siebert, Erhard Riedlsperger, Cyprien Katsaris, Robert Holl, Duo Theiner & Breitner und den Münchner Symphonikern.

CDs: „Ewig dein Mozart“, „Weihnachten!“, “Der Nussknacker” und im Frühjahr 2017 „Tierisch!“

Born in Zurich, Switzerland, composer Flavio Motalla studied piano and composition with Boris Mersson and Gunhard Mattes. He later graduated from the University of Southern California’s advanced studies program in “Scoring for Motion Pictures and Television”, where he studied among others under tutorship of Elmer Bernstein, David Raksin and Leonard Rosenman.

His highly emotional and compelling compositions are rooted in the late romantic era, and are often compared to the works of Sibelius, Debussy and Rachmaninoff. However, with his love and passion for music in all its diversity, he never shies away of exploring new musical frontiers, incorporating more contemporary style elements from today’s rock/pop/electronica music, or engaging himself in projects off the beaten path.

Since his move to Los Angeles he has been working as a composer, arranger and orchestrator on dozens of films of any genre, style and budget. He has contributed to a multitude of projects ranging from smaller independent films (e.g. Naomi, Wonder Boys, The Shipping News) to big Hollywood productions (e.g. Spider-Man 3, Drag Me to Hell, Swordfish), and has collaborated with many top industry professionals.

Aside from his work in film, he also continues to write concert music. Up to now, his classical compositions include pieces for chamber and symphony orchestra, various string concertos, as well as the four vocalises for soprano and orchestra featured on this recording. He has been commissioned and written works for renowned soloists such as flutist Myriam-Hidber Dickinson, violist Karen Elaine, and most notably soprano Elena Moșuc.

His works have been performed internationally, among others by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Bucharest, the Vidin State Philharmonic Orchestra, the San Francisco Symphony, the International Chamber Orchestra of Washington DC, and the Hollywood Symphony Orchestra.

He currently works and resides in Los Angeles.

Romanian-Swiss soprano Elena Moșuc, born in Iași (Romania), studied at the Conservatory George Enescu in Iași and won already several international competitions even before graduating (e.g. the international music competition organised by the German Broadcasting Network ARD). She received many prestigious awards (e.g. Siola d’oro,Premio Zenatello di Verona), and was awarded the title Officer of the Arts by the Romanian president in 2005, in recognition of her significant contribution to the arts. In 2009, she earned her doctorate in music history with a thesis on the theme “Madness in the Italian opera in the first half of the 19th century”.

Since the beginning of her career, Elena Moșuc maintained a tight connection to the Zurich Opera House, from where she launched her international career. Frequent guest appearances have led her to some of the most famous opera houses and festivals all over Europe, USA, Japan, China, and South Korea (e.g. Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and the opera houses of Barcelona, Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, London, Rome, Venice, Verona, Amsterdam, as well as the Metropolitan Opera in New York). Over the course of her career, Elena Moșuc has established herself as one of the most versatile and expressive sopranos of our time. Signature performances include: the Queen of the Night, Gilda, Violetta Valéry, Lucia, Mimi, Marguerite, Donna Anna, Zerbinetta, Luisa Miller, Olympia, Antonia, Giulietta, Stella, Norma, Nedda, Lucrezia Borgia, Anna Bolena, and Maria Stuarda.

In addition to her opera performances, she also likes to lend her talent to other projects that spark her interest. One of them is called OPERFADO, where she interprets together with the great fado singer Gonçalo Salgueiro music from a variety of genres (e.g. opera, fado, and musical).

Her discography not only includes her solo albums Au jardin de mon coeur, Mozart Portrait and Notre amour (recently re-released as a three CD box set entitled A Portrait) and Donizetti Heroines by Sony Classical, but also various opera recordings on CD and DVD (incl. Rigoletto, Ariadne on Naxos, The Magic Flute). Forthcoming projects include the recording of a Verdi recital, a song cycle with orchestra Tragédie d’amour by Swiss composer Emile Jacques-Dalcroze and the complete recording of the opera La Rondine.

Adam Mital was born in Lucerne in 1979. Having repeatedly won national and international competitions, he today pursues a variety of concert activities as a soloist and chamber musician. His numerous competition successes include the second prize at the International Adam Cello Competition in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2009, second prize and Bach Prize at the international Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig in 2004, first prizes at the Concours Avant-Scènes Paris, the International Prague Spring Festival Competition and the Concours International de Douai Georges Prêtre. He also won first prizes at the Swiss Youth Music Competition and the Concours du Festival du Jura, and was awarded bursaries by Migros, the Friedl Wald Foundation, the Kiefer Hablitzel Foundation and the Yamaha Music Foundation.

Adam Mital’s concert activities have taken him to countries in Europe and overseas. He has given solo concerts and recitals at famous venues like the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Culture and Convention Centre in Lucerne, the Cité de la Musiqueand the Théâtre Mogador in Paris, the Martinu Hall in Prague and the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest. He has also performed at major music festivals like the Lucerne Festival, the Menuhin Festival and the SommetsMusicaux in Gstaad, the International Handel Festival in Halle, the Martinu Festival in Deauville, the Festival Internacional de Santanderand in concert series at the Philharmonic Hall in Bratislava and the Burghof in Lörrach. He has made numerous solo appearances with orchestras like the Basel Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestra della Radiotelevisione della Svizzera Italiana, the Neues Bachisches Collegium Musicum in Leipzig, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Ploiesti and chamber orchestras like the Folkwang Chamber Orchestra in Essen, the Slovak Sinfonietta in Zilina and the Lucerne Festival Strings at the Culture and Convention Centre during the Lucerne Festival in 2010. He has worked with conductors like Achim Fiedler, Ilarion Ionescu-Galati and Leos Svarovsky. He has made various radio and television recordings with stations like Bayerischer Rundfunk, Schweizer Radio DRS 2, Radio Espace2, MDR and Radio Classique France.

An impassioned chamber musician, Adam Mital devotes himself intensively to the cello and piano duo with his wife Olimpia Tolan, giving recitals regularly throughout Europe. He also performs in piano trios and other chamber groupings, and has played with personalities like Peter Frankl, Zakhar Bron, Hansjörg Schellenberger and Eric Le Sage. His interest and repertoire ranges from early Baroque works to the present and he has worked with contemporary composers like Richard Dubugnon, who dedicated Folia (2007), a piece for solo cello, to him.

Born into a family of musicians, he came in contact with piano and chamber-music literature at a very early age and began playing the cello at the age of seven. At the Basel Academy of Music, where he completed his teacher’s diploma, he studied the cello with Reinhard Latzko and chamber music with Gérard Wyss. He went on to study with Miklós Perényi at the Ferenc Liszt Music Academy in Budapest, with Philippe Muller at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (“Cycle de perfectionnement”) and with Frans Helmerson at the CologneHochschule für Musik, where he passed the concert examination in 2007. He also attended the courses of Mario Brunello, Boris Pergamenschikov and János Starker. Christophe Coin and Rainer Zipperling gave him important stimulus regarding historical performance practice.

With the “Benefitconcerts Mital-Tolan”, the society he formed in 2008, Adam Mital strives to connect the joy wonderful music brings with humanitarian projects and help for the needy.

Liv Migdal discovered her love of the violin at just three years of age. She is now considered one of the younger generation of outstanding violinists.Her charismatic stage presence, profound understanding of music and her natural, expressive and song-like style of play are appreciated by her listeners and performance partners in equal measure.

Liv Migdal started her studies as an eleven-year-old protégée at the Rostock College of Music and Drama under the tuition of Christiane Hutcap. She graduated with distinction there. She continued her musical training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, where she attended the master class of Igor Ozim and completed her master’s programme with distinction. In 2015, she was honoredinSalzburgwith the”Paul-Roczek Award” for her outstandingviolin play.

Having won numerous awards at international competitions and received scholarships from many renowned institutions, she now gives guest performances in leading concert halls worldwide, including the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Taipei Concert Hall, the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, the Herkulessaal in Munich, the Philharmonie in Essen, the Liederhalle in Stuttgart and the Konzerthaus in Berlin.
Liv Migdal has performed in many European countries, in Israel and in Asia. She regularly performs at major international festivals, including the Schumann Festival in Bonn, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the Sándor Végh Festival, the Ludwigsburg Festival, the Heidelberg Spring Festival and as a soloist with such renowned orchestras and conductors as Reinhard Goebel, Wojciech Rajski and Cornelius Meister.

Her much-celebrated debut concert at the Mozart Festival in Salzburg was followed by the release of her first CD, featuring sonatas by Beethoven, Debussy and Strauss, with her late father Marian Migdal at the piano. The recording received high acclaim in international reviews and won the Supersonic Award.
A further CD, again featuring the legendary pianist Marian Migdal, was released by Naxos in November 2015, presenting the first ever recording of works for violin and piano by the brothers Henryk and Józef Wieniawski. This recording too has already been internationally praised as a brilliant rendering of forgotten, but highly recommended music.
Liv Migdal has a number of radio and television recordings, performances at festivals and tours in Germany, Norway, Poland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Israel and the USA lined up for 2016/17. The violinist will perform her Jahreszeiten programme, comprising the “eight seasons” of Vivaldi and Piazzolla, at her debut in the Berlin Philharmonie in the autumn of 2016.

Alexander Maslov wurde 1985 in St. Petersburg geboren. Von 1992 bis 2003 studierte er unter L. Rudowa an einer Musikschule für sonderbegabte Kinder in St. Petersburg.

Von 2003 bis 2005 setzte er seine pianistische Ausbildung an der Musikhochschule Hannover unter Professor Krajnew fort. Seit 2005 studiert Alexander Maslov am Konservatorium St. Petersburg unter Professor Zajtschik.

Alexander Maslov hat bereits eine Reihe von Wettbewerben gewonnen, so den ersten Preis des Krajnew-Wettbewerbs in der Ukraine. 2007 wurde er mit dem zweiten Preis des Internationalen Klavierwettbewerbs “Anton G. Rubinstein” in Dresden ausgezeichnet. Er musiziert regelmäßig mit der Sankt Petersburger Philharmonie und war als Gastpianist in Deutschland, Frankreich, Österreich, Polen und der Schweiz.