In this interview, Thomas Hampson relates his thoughts on the current crisis, his wide-ranging interests, and what he thinks comes next for the world.
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Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the world’s special young singers,” Emily D’Angelo has continued her meteoric rise to firmly establish herself as one of the most exciting and critically acclaimed artists of her generation. Described as “wondrous and powerful” by the New York Times for her recent US recital debut, the mezzo-soprano is the first and only vocalist to have been presented with the Leonard Bernstein Award from the Schleswig Holstein Festival.  A 2020 Lincoln Center Emerging Artist, one of Canada's "Top 30 Under 30" Classical Musicians, and WQXR NYC Public Radio’s "40 Under 40" singers to watch, D'Angelo made her professional operatic debut aged 21, as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro at the Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi. For this performance, broadcast nationwide on Italy’s RAI network, she was awarded the 2016 Monini Prize.
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Through his uniquely compelling performances, Rolando Villazón has firmly established himself as one of the music world’s most critically acclaimed and beloved stars and as one of the leading artistic voices of our day. He is heralded as “the most charming of today’s divos” (The Times) with “a wonderfully virile voice…grandezza, elegance and power” (Süddeutsche Zeitung). In his third decade as a performer, Rolando Villazón’s versatility remains peerless. In addition to operatic superstardom, he maintains successful careers as a stage director, novelist, artistic director and TV/radio personality. In the 2025-26 season, Rolando Villazón returns to the Vienna State Opera for his house debut as Pelléas in Marco Arturo Marelli’s production of Pelléas et Mélisande, conducted by Alain Altinoglu. The tenor then takes his portrayal of Eisenstein in Johann Strauss’ Die Fledermaus to the Bayerische Staatsoper Munich for performances conducted by Zubin Mehta. A season highlight is his directorial debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera, staging a new production of La sonnambula. Further, Villazón directs new productions of Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte for the Salzburg Mozart Week Festival and Rossini’s L’Italiana in Algeri in a return to the Deutsche Oper Berlin.
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Olga Peretyatko is one of the most sought-after sopranos in the world. She achieved her international breakthrough in 2007 when she won second prize at Plácido Domingo's Operalia competition. Since then, she has appeared at leading opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, Covent Garden, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera, the Berlin State Opera, the Teatro Real Madrid, the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona, and the Opéra Bastille Paris, and has performed at renowned festivals in Salzburg, Baden-Baden, Aix-en-Provence, and Pesaro. In 2025, she was awarded the European Culture Prize for her outstanding artistic work. The 2025/26 season begins with Olga Peretyatko performing as Giulia in Rossini’s lively comedy La scala di seta at the Zurich Opera House. Later, she appears there as Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen. A special highlight of the season is the world premiere of Medusa, a new opera by British composer Iain Bell at La Monnaie in Brussels. Directed by Lydia Steier, the production presents the mythological Medusa as a complex female character for the first time. Olga Peretyatko sings the title role, with Michiel Delanghe conducting.
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"One cannot overpraise Lindsey’s ability to characterize strongly while retaining beauty of tone when the music calls for such.” (San Francisco Classical Voice) One of the most compelling artists of her generation, mezzo-soprano Kate Lindsey is a regular guest on the world’s most celebrated stages, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Salzburg Festival, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Festival Aix-en-Provence, the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, and the Bavarian State Opera. In 2025/26, Kate Lindsey continues to dazzle audiences in wide variety of role debuts and new productions. Lindsey commences her season with a highly anticipated debut as Mélisande in Pelléas et Mélisande at the Vienna State Opera conducted by Alain Altinoglu. At the Hamburg State Opera, she appears in Tobias Kratzer’s Women's love and death where she sings Schumann’s Frauenliebe und leben under the musical direction of Karina Canellakis. Lindsey further takes on the title role in Gluck’s Iphigénie en Tauride at the Washington Concert opera and returns the Munich State Opera as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro.
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Mexican tenor Javier Camarena is the preeminent bel canto specialist of his generation. Praised for his burnished tone, gleaming high notes, flawless coloratura and veracious portrayals, he regularly appears in leading roles alongside today’s foremost stars at the world’s top opera houses.
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“Only one lyric tenor on the scene today has the honeyed tone and ingratiating style to make comparisons to Pavarotti and Gigli seem serious, and it is Calleja, the man from Malta.” (New Yorker) Blessed with a golden-age voice that routinely inspires comparisons to “legendary singers from earlier eras: Jussi Björling, Beniamino Gigli, even Enrico Caruso” (AP), Joseph Calleja is well-established as one of the most acclaimed and sought-after tenors today. His expansive discography and frequent appearances on the world’s leading opera and concert stages prompted NPR to hail him as “arguably today’s finest lyric tenor”.
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Piotr Beczała is one of the most sought-after artists and a constant guest in the world’s leading opera houses. The Polish-born tenor is acclaimed not only for the beauty of his voice, but also for his ardent commitment to each character he portrays. In addition to his operatic work, he has performed much of the classical vocal canon with the world’s most distinguished orchestras and conductors. Numerous outstanding engagements await Piotr Beczała in the 2025/26 season: Following his role debut as Andrea Chénier in a concert performance at the Salzburg Festival in August 2025, he makes his staged debut as Andrea Chénier at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He can also be seen as Radames in Aida at the Opéra National de Paris and as the Prince in Rusalka and Don José in Carmen at the Vienna State Opera. Other highlights of the season include his signature role as Lohengrin in a new production with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under the musical direction of Joana Mallwitz at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden. At the Bavarian State Opera, Beczała sings both Manrico in Il trovatore and the title role in Faust. Further engagements take him to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin as Cavaradossi (Tosca), to the Opera de Las Palmas as Andrea Chénier and to the Teatro Real Madrid as Manrico (Il trovatore). Beczała's concert season includes recitals in Santa Monica, Klagenfurt, Graz, Barcelona and Grafenegg as well as concert appearances in Baden-Baden, Linz, Bayreuth and Santander.
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French mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez is one of the most prominent rising stars of the opera world. After graduating from the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, the young mezzo-soprano made her debut at the Opéra Bastille in Michael Haneke’s 2013 version of Don Giovanni (Zerlina) under the direction of Philippe Jordan. Ever since, she has been frequently invited to sing in many of the most renowned opera houses in the world. Nominated “Révélation Lyrique” at the “Victoires de la Musique 2011”, Gaëlle Arquez released her highly anticipated debut recording “Ardente Flamme” for Deutsche Grammophon in 2017.
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