Un ballo in Maschera

Tenor Stephen Costello is from Philadelphia and studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts. In 2007, at the age of 26, he made his debut at the opening of the Metropolitan Opera season in New York. In 2009, he won the Richard Tucker Award. Since then, he has performed at the world’s leading opera houses and festivals, including the Royal Opera in London, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, the Gran Teatre del Liceu, the Semperoper Dresden, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Hamburg State Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Washington National Opera, the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, the Arena di Verona, as well as the Salzburg and Bregenz Festivals and the Glyndebourne Festival. His recent engagements include Pinkerton ("Madama Butterfly") at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Rodolfo ("La bohème"), the Duke of Mantua ("Rigoletto"), and Greenhorn ("Moby Dick") at the Metropolitan Opera, the title role in "Don Carlo" at the Bavarian State Opera and Dallas Opera, as well as his role debut as Edward Fairfax Vere ("Billy Budd") at the Teatro Colón. In concert, he has performed Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with Michael Tilson Thomas and the Houston Symphony Orchestra, gave a gala concert with Kristine Opolais in Mexico, and appeared in recitals with pianist Anthony Manoli. At the Zurich Opera House, he appeared as Roméo ("Roméo et Juliette") and in the title roles of "Roberto Devereux" and "Don Carlo".

Baritone Dalibor Jenis studied voice at the Conservatory in Bratislava and at the Accademia Lirica Osimo. In 1990, he won three prizes at the Belvedere Singing Competition in Vienna and became a member of the ensemble at the Slovak National Theatre the following year. His repertoire includes the major baritone roles in the operas of Bellini, Rossini, Mozart, and Verdi. He has sung Nabucco at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Arena di Verona, in Bratislava, and at the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Rigoletto at the Sydney Opera House, Leipzig Opera, Stuttgart State Opera, and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and the title role in "Macbeth" at the Zurich Opera House, the Teatro Regio di Torino, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris. At La Scala in Milan, he portrayed Paolo Albiani ("Simon Boccanegra"), at the Vienna State Opera Iago ("Otello"), at the Deutsche Oper Berlin Alfio and Tonio ("Cavalleria rusticana" and "Pagliacci"), at the Opera in Bratislava Giorgio Germont ("La traviata"), at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow Lescaut ("Manon Lescaut"), and at the Bavarian State Opera Marcello ("La bohème"), Enrico ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Eugene Onegin, and most recently Rigoletto. He also sang the title role in the Japanese premiere of Busoni’s "Doktor Faust" in Tokyo and took part in the premiere of Offenbach’s "Die Rheinnixen" at the Festival de Radio France. Numerous recordings featuring Dalibor Jenis are available, including "Gianni Schicchi", "Christoph Columbus", "Edgar", "Marion Delmore", as well as the DVD recording of "Il barbiere di Siviglia" from the Paris Bastille Opera.

Russian soprano Elena Stikhina studied at the Moscow Conservatory and at the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Singing Centre. She made her debut as Salome at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, where she later became a member of the ensemble. In 2016, she won, among other distinctions, the Culturarte Prize at the Operalia Competition. She is regularly invited to perform at renowned venues including the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra national de Paris, the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Salzburg Festival, and the Royal Opera House in London. Her recent engagements include the title role in "Tosca" at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Vienna State Opera, and the Opéra de Paris. In addition, she sang the title role in Tchaikovsky’s "The Maid of Orleans" in Amsterdam, Salome at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, in Geneva, and at La Scala in Milan, Cio-Cio-San ("Madama Butterfly") at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Senta ("Der fliegende Holländer") and Elisabetta ("Don Carlo") at the Vienna State Opera, as well as Aida at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Bavarian State Opera, and the Salzburg Festival, where she had made her debut in 2019 in the title role of Cherubini’s "Médée". At the Zurich Opera House, she appeared among others as Salome and Manon Lescaut.

Russian mezzo-soprano Yulia Matochkina received her training at the Glazunov Conservatory in Petrozavodsk. From 2009 to 2015, she was a member of the Opera Academy of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. She subsequently became a permanent ensemble member there and won the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Guest engagements have taken her to venues including the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera in London, the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, the Opéra national de Paris, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Los Angeles Opera, as well as the festivals in Edinburgh, Verbier, Baden-Baden, and Salzburg. Her repertoire includes roles such as Amneris ("Aida"), Eboli ("Don Carlo"), Brangäne ("Tristan und Isolde"), Venus ("Tannhäuser"), Dalila ("Samson et Dalila"), Didon ("Les Troyens"), Azucena ("Il trovatore"), Olga ("Eugene Onegin"), Santuzza ("Cavalleria rusticana"), Marfa ("Khovanshchina"), and the title role in "Carmen". Her recent engagements include Venus, Azucena, Ulrica ("Un ballo in maschera"), Eboli, and Santuzza at the Bavarian State Opera, Federica ("Luisa Miller") and Ortrud ("Lohengrin") in Moscow and at the Hamburg State Opera, Amneris at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, as well as Azucena at the Royal Opera in London.

Rebeca Olvera is from Mexico. She studied at the Conservatorio Nacional de Música in Mexico City and was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House from 2005 to 2007. She subsequently became a permanent ensemble member here and sang roles including Adina ("L’elisir d’amore"), Norina ("Don Pasquale"), Berenice ("L’occasione fa il ladro"), Giulia ("La scala di seta"), Rosina (Paisiello’s "Il barbiere di Siviglia"), Blonde ("Die Entführung aus dem Serail"), Madame Herz ("Der Schauspieldirektor"), Dorinda ("Orlando"), Isolier ("Le comte Ory"), Adalgisa ("Norma"), and Zaida ("Il turco in Italia"). In doing so, she worked with conductors such as Ralf Weikert, William Christie, Marc Minkowski, Nello Santi, Adam Fischer, Fabio Luisi, Diego Fasolis, Franz Welser-Möst, Emmanuelle Haïm, and Alessandro De Marchi. She gave concerts with José Carreras in South America and Europe (including the Carreras Gala 2007 on ARD) and with Plácido Domingo in Mexico. She sang Adalgisa alongside Cecilia Bartoli at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the Edinburgh Festival, and the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Isolier at the Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Clorinda ("La Cenerentola") at the Vienna State Opera, and Contessa di Folleville ("Il viaggio a Reims") at the Royal Danish Opera. She also appeared as Berta ("Il barbiere di Siviglia") and in the gala concert "Carmencita & Friends" at the Salzburg Festival. In Zurich, she was most recently heard as Despina ("Così fan tutte"), Musetta ("La bohème"), Frasquita ("Carmen"), Mi ("Das Land des Lächelns"), Stasi ("Die Csárdásfürstin"), and Waldvöglein ("Siegfried").

Baritone Steffan Lloyd Owen is from Wales and studied at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. He received numerous singing awards, including the W. Towyn Roberts Scholarship Prize, the Blue Riband Osborne Roberts Memorial Prize at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, and the Kathleen Ferrier Bursary Prize. In 2025, he won the Josep Palet Singing Competition and was a finalist at the Paris Opera Competition. He sang Sciarrone and the Jailer in a semi-staged "Tosca" alongside Sir Bryn Terfel and Kristine Opolais at the Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod, Escamillo ("La tragédie de Carmen") at the Buxton International Festival, and Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte") at the Welsh National Opera. Concert highlights included Beethoven’s Mass in C major and "Choral Fantasy" with the BBC National Orchestra, Chorus of Wales, and the orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. Since the 2024/25 season, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio, where he has sung, among other roles, the title role in "Gianni Schicchi".

Brent Michael Smith is from the United States. He studied voice at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia and at the University of Northern Iowa, as well as piano at Hope College in Michigan. In 2021, he was a finalist at the Queen Sonja International Music Competition and a semifinalist at the Metropolitan Opera Council Auditions in 2020, and he won prizes at several other international singing competitions. He also received scholarships from the Loren L. Zachary Society and the Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition in Miami. In the United States, he sang roles including Zuniga ("Carmen"), Friedrich Bhaer (Mark Adamo’s "Little Women"), and Ashby ("La fanciulla del West") at Michigan Opera, Antonio ("Le nozze di Figaro") at Toledo Opera, Ariodante ("Xerxes") at the Glimmerglass Festival, Lakai ("Ariadne auf Naxos") at the Santa Fe Opera, as well as Celio (Prokofiev’s "The Love for Three Oranges") and Peter Quince ("A Midsummer Night’s Dream") at Opera Philadelphia. In 2020/21, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. Since then, he has been a member of the ensemble and has appeared there in roles including Sparafucile ("Rigoletto"), Raimondo ("Lucia di Lammermoor"), Prince Gremin ("Eugene Onegin"), Frère Laurent ("Roméo et Juliette"), Fafner ("Das Rheingold"), and Angelotti ("Tosca").

Stanislav Vorobyov is from Russia and studied at the Moscow Conservatory. He was a member of the International Opera Studio and has been a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House since the 2018/19 season. Here, he has appeared in roles including Colline ("La bohème"), Alidoro ("La Cenerentola"), the High Priest ("Nabucco"), Reinmar von Zweter ("Tannhäuser"), Zaretsky ("Eugene Onegin"), Angelotti ("Tosca"), the Fifth Jew and First Nazarene ("Salome"), Lord Rochefort ("Anna Bolena"), Dottor Grenvil ("La traviata"), Crébillon ("La rondine"), Zuniga ("Carmen"), Roberto ("I vespri siciliani"), Roucher ("Andrea Chénier"), Marchese Calatrava ("La forza del destino"), Tom ("Un ballo in maschera"), as well as Faust ("Der feurige Engel") and Méphistophélès ("La Damnation de Faust"). Guest engagements have taken him to the Bregenz Festival as Don Basilio in "Il barbiere di Siviglia", Uncle Bonzo in "Madama Butterfly", and Il capitano/L’ispettore in Giordano’s "Siberia", to Opera Ballet Vlaanderen and Luxembourg as Nourabad in "Les Pêcheurs de perles", to the Concertgebouw Amsterdam as Ombra di Nino in "Semiramide", and in 2024 as Colline in "La bohème" at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theatre and the ROHM Theatre Kyōto.

Martin Zysset was born and raised in Solothurn. He trained in clarinet while simultaneously pursuing vocal studies, which he complemented with masterclasses with Ernst Haefliger and Edith Mathis. In 1990/91, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House and at the same time a scholarship recipient from the Migros Cooperative Union as well as a prizewinner in the Pro Arte Lyrica Competition in Lausanne. Since 1992, he has been a regular guest at the Summer Festival in Selzach. He has been permanently engaged at the Zurich Opera House since 1991. Here, he has developed a broad repertoire of both buffo and dramatic roles, including Pedrillo, Monostatos, Spoletta, Incredibile ("Andrea Chénier"), Jaquino, Kudryash ("Káťa Kabanová"), Alfred ("Die Fledermaus"), Tamino, Tybalt, Dancaïro, Arturo, Knusperhexe, Brighella, as well as the male lead in Udo Zimmermann’s "Weiße Rose." He performed Simplicius in the operetta of the same name by Johann Strauss, which was also released on CD and DVD. Guest appearances have taken him across Europe, to Shanghai, and with "The Magic Flute," "Le nozze di Figaro," "Fidelio," and "Tannhäuser" to San Diego. For the Bayerischer Rundfunk, he recorded the Lehár operetta "Paganini." In Zurich, he has most recently sung roles including Don Basilio ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Tschekalinski ("Pique Dame"), Triquet ("Eugene Onegin"), the Chief Eunuch ("The Land of Smiles"), Goro ("Madama Butterfly"), Spoletta ("Tosca"), Dormont ("La scala di seta"), the White Minister ("Le Grand Macabre"), the Devil/Narrator ("The Soldier’s Tale"), the Third Jew ("Salome"), Schmidt ("Werther"), Feri ("Die Csárdásfürstin"), and Don Curzio ("Le nozze di Figaro").

Samuel Wallace is from Brazil, where he studied singing with Lício Bruno. In 2024, he received a scholarship from the Mozarteum Brasileiro and subsequently participated in Rolf Beck’s International Choir Academy in Lübeck. During this time, he gave concerts in Germany as well as at the Philharmonie de Paris under Raphaël Pichon. His operatic repertoire includes roles such as Tamino ("The Magic Flute") and the title role in Guilherme Bernstein’s opera "Serafim und der Ort, an dem man nicht stirbt." In 2024, he performed Dorvil in Rossini’s "La scala di seta" and participated in the Gala Lírica of the 13th Tenor Meeting of Brazil at the Teatro Amazonas in Manaus. He was a semifinalist at the Paris Opera Competition, a finalist at the Maria Callas Competition, and a prizewinner in the Joaquina Lapinha and Natércia Lopes singing competitions. Since 2025/26, he has been a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House.

Pietro Cono Genova is originally from Italy. He completed his training at the Teatro Massimo Bellini in Catania and moved to Switzerland in 2013 to work with the Cinevox Junior Company. After six years as a soloist, contemporary dance teacher, and assistant with the company, he began working as a freelancer on various dance projects in Switzerland and across Europe. Most recently, he danced with the new company Cie La Ronde, directed by Cathy Marston and Ihsan Rustem. Pietro Cono Genova is currently working with the Zurich Opera House and the Theater im Kornhaus Baden.