Czech Philharmonic • Daniel Harding

Born to a family of confectioners in Bavaria, Christiane Karg studied singing at the Salzburg Mozarteum and at the International Opera Studio in Hamburg before joining the ensemble of the Frankfurt Opera. An outstanding recitalist and concert artist, in 2018 she was awarded the prestigious ‘Brahms Prize’.

She has received tremendous accolades for her interpretations of Mélisande, Blanche, Pamina, Susanna, Fiordiligi, Countess, Sophie, Zdenka and Micaëla, amongst others and has worked with conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin or Mariss Jansons.

A renowned recitalist, she has appeared at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Edinburgh International Festival, and is a regular guest at the Schwarzenberg Schubertiade, Salzburg Mozarteum, Vienna Musikverein, and London’s Wigmore Hall.

Christiane Karg has garnered numerous awards for her recordings and received the Diapason d’Or, Choc de Classica, Gramophone Editor’s Choice and BBC Music Choice for her solo recital disc, featuring Lieder by Gustav Mahler in 2020.

Swedish soprano Johanna Wallroth was thrust into the limelight when she took First Prize at the prestigious Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in 2019. She subsequently joined the Opernstudio of Wiener Staatsoper for two seasons and was the recipient of the coveted Birgit Nilsson Scholarship in 2021.

Initially training as a dancer at the Royal Swedish Ballet School, Wallroth focused her principal study on voice and went on to graduate from Vienna’s Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (MDW). After her operatic debut as Barbarina (Le Nozze di Figaro), she performed in various roles of a wide repertoire in Stockholm, Moscow or Vienna.

Already with an enviable experience on the concert platform, she has collaborated with renowned orchestras, such as Stockholm Philharmonic or Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and was named the Classical Artist in Residence for the 2022/2023 season by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra.

The young award-winning Austrian mezzo-soprano Patricia Nolz is one of the most promising artists of her generation. In autumn 2020 she was highly acclaimed for her debut as Cherubino in a new production of Mozartʼs Le Nozze di Figaro at the Theater an der Wien. After two years in the Opera Studio of the Vienna State Opera, she joins the opera ensemble from the 2022/2023 season where she appears in roles such as Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Cherubino (Le Nozze di Figaro), La Musica & La Speranza in Monteverdiʼs LʼOrfeo, as Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia, performing in Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy too), Wellgunde (Rheingold & Götterdämmerung) and Page (Salome).

Patricia Nolz has performed in numerous concerts and is an accomplished Lied singer. Recent and future highlights included Beethovenʼs IX Symphony with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Mozart & Haydn arias with the Concentus Musicus and Stefan Gottfried, Purcellʼs Fairy Queen and Bachʼs St. John Passion at the Vienna Musikverein or Brahms evening as part of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival.

Andrew Staples is considered one of the most versatile tenors of his generation, appearing regularly with Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, with the Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, London Symphony Orchestra.

He made his debut at the Royal Opera House with Fidelio (Jacquino), returning with Katya Kabanova (Tichon) and Salome (Narraboth). His recent and future performances include, Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde (Chamber Orchestra of Europe), Britten: Peter Grimes (Teatro La Fenice), Turn of the Screw (Budapest Festival Orchestra), Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius (Royal Scottish National Orchestra), Haydn: The Creation (Scottish Chamber Orchestra), Berlioz: Roméo et Juliette (Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France), Handel: Jephtha (Komische Oper Berlin), Mozart: Idomeneo (Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin).

His creative output includes concert and opera singing, directing opera, filmmaking and photography.

British bass-baritone Ashley Riches read English at the University of Cambridge where he was a member of the King’s College Choir under Stephen Cleobury and later studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. A former Jette Parker Young Artist, he has performed at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, later at the English National Opera, Potsdamer Winteroper or in Tokyo, appearing at the Glyndebourne and Grange festivals too.

Highlights on the concert platform include performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra with Sir Simon Rattle, and also with Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Carnegie Hall.

An accomplished recitalist, and former BBC New Generation Artist 2016–2018, Ashley has collaborated with pianists including Graham Johnson, Iain Burnside, Julius Drake, Joseph Middleton or Anna Tilbrook. His debut solo recital disc, A Musical Zoo, was released in 2021.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir is the most important and oldest professional mixed choir in the Czech Republic. During its long history, there has been a succession of the most important Czech choirmasters at its helm; since 2007, the chief choirmaster has been Lukáš Vasilek, and the second choirmaster is currently Lukáš Kozubík.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir performs mainly the oratorio and cantata repertoire in collaboration with the world most famous orchestras (the Berliner Philharmoniker, Czech Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden or Wiener Symphoniker, among others) led by such illustrious conductors as Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta, Fabio Luisi, Semyon Bychkov, Jiří Bělohlávek, and Jakub Hrůša. It also performs in opera as an ensemble-in-residence at the opera festival in Bregenz, Austria.

The choir is realising several projects of its own. Since 2011 it has been presenting an independent series of choral concerts in Prague, with its programming focused mainly on challenging, lesser-known works of the choral repertoire. Music education for young people is an integral part of the choir’s activities, with a Choral Academy for vocal students and a series of educational concerts for younger children.

Lukáš Vasilek studied conducting and musicology. Since 2007 he has been the chief choirmaster of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. Most of his artistic activity with the choir involves rehearsing and performing a cappella repertoire along with preparing the choir to perform in large-scale cantata, oratorio, and opera projects in collaboration with world-famous conductors and orchestras (Berlin Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic etc.).

Besides his work with the Prague Philharmonic Choir, he also engages in other performing activities mainly in cooperation with the Martinů Voices, which he founded in 2010. He is credited as a conductor or choirmaster on a large number of Prague Philharmonic Choir recordings made for important international labels (Decca Classics, Supraphon). In recent years, he has been devoting himself systematically to recording the choral music of Bohuslav Martinů. His recordings have won exceptional acclaim abroad, earning honours including awards from the prestigious journals Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Diapason. Vasilek has been teaching conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague since 2021.

Daniel Harding is the Music and Artistic Director of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. He was Music Director of the Orchestre de Paris from 2016–2019 and Principal Guest Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra from 2007–2017. He is honoured with the lifetime title of Conductor Laureate of the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, with whom he has worked for over 20 years. In 2020, he was named Conductor in Residence of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande for the 2021–2022 and 2022–2023 seasons. In 2024 he will take up the position of Music Director of the Youth Music Culture The Greater Bay Area (YMCG, China) for a five-year term. He is a regular visitor of the most prestigious opera houses, such as La Scala, Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, Bayerische Staatsoper or Wiener Staatsoper.

His Mahler and Orff recordings for Deutsche Grammophon with the Wiener Philharmoniker and Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks both received widespread critical acclaim. For Virgin/EMI he has recorded Mahler’s and Brahms’ symphonies; Billy Budd with London Symphony Orchestra (a winner of a Grammy Award for best opera recording); Don Giovanni and The Turn of the Screw with Mahler Chamber Orchestra (Choc de lʼAnnée 2002, the Grand Prix de lʼAcadémie Charles Cros and a Gramophone award); works by Lutosławski and Britten (Choc de LʼAnnée 1998). A regular collaborator with Harmonia Mundi, his latest recordings with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra include “The Wagner Project” with Matthias Goerne; Mahler Symphonies no. 5 & 9, Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem and a newly released Britten disc.

The 2022/2023 season sees Daniel embark on major tours with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; he also appears with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin and Baden-Baden. He makes debuts with the Cleveland Orchestra and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra as well as returning to the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Filarmonica della Scala, Dresden Staatskapelle and to the Wiener Staatsoper for Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci.

In 2002 Daniel was awarded the title Chevalier de lʼOrdre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. In 2012, he was elected a member of The Royal Swedish Academy of Music. In 2021, he was awarded a CBE in the New Year Honours. He is a qualified airline pilot.