The great theatre of the world
The world is a stage, and on it one can find beggars and kings, the young and the old, villans and nobles, and everything in between. It is the most colourful of arrays devised by God, the Master of the Universe. The metaphor of the world as a stage is central to how humans in the Renaissance and Baroque Eras saw themselves, inasmuch as they constantly longed for a better world even while experiencing the pleasures of daily existence. The vocal group Teatro del mondo has given itself the task of reviving the music of those eras, allowing its expressive power and emotional depth to live once again.
The musicians in teatro del mondo first met and forged their musical identity in 2007 during the International Orfeo Project held at the Music University in Frankfurt am Main under the direction of Gabriel Garrido, one of the leading Monteverdi specialists of our time. Many critically acclaimed concerts followed, both at home and abroad.
Recent highlights include appearances and live broadcasts with the Rheingau Music Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Festival, The Vielklang Festival in Tübingen, the RheinVokal Festival in the Middle Rhine region, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, and the Young Euro Classic-Festival in Berlin. The group has also attracted much attention for their performances of a reconstruction of Bach’s Köthener Trauermusik for large performing forces at the Frankfurt Cathedral Concerts under Michael Schneider. The latter undertaking was realized in cooperation with Frankfurt’s La Stagione and the Frankfurt Concerts in the Kaisersaal in addition to the Irsee Festival. Another aspect of the ensemble’s work is their participation in performances of madrigal comedies set by Jürgen Tamchina and Stefan Bastian and accompanied by large continuo groups.
www.teatrodelmondo.de
- Andreas Küppers - conductor, lute-harpsichord, harpsichord, organ
Andreas Küppers studied piano and historical keyboard instruments at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, where his teachers included Wiebke Weidanz. He also worked with Jörg-Andreas Bötticher in Basel and Michael Behringer in Freiburg.
Küppers has performed with the Berlin Staatskapelle, the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the German Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra of Bremen, the Frankfurt Museum Orchestra, the Academy of Ancient Music in Berlin, The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, and the BRock Orchestra. Küppers has also been a regular assistant of Rene Jacobs in large-scale international Baroque opera productions.
Concert tours have taken him to Spain, France, Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania, Lithuania, and Switzerland. He has worked frequently with the Berlin State Opera, the Dortmund Theatre, the Vienna Theatre, the Frankfurt Opera, and the State Theatre in Wiesbaden as harpsichordist and musical assistant in opera productions. Andreas Küppers has taught at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts since 2006.
- Margit Übellacker - dulcimers
Margit Übellacker dedicates her artistic energy to reviving Baroque music in addition to works for various historical hammered dulcimers (pantaleon, salterio, and Dulcemelos) from the Medieval period. She gained important experience in these specialties while studying in Basel (Schola Cantorum Basiliensis), Linz, and München.
Übellacker is a co-founder of various ensembles including La Gioia Armonica, dulcian@dulcimer.org, and Dulce Melos. She is also involved in touring, concertizing, and recording (for radio, television, CD, and DVD) with L’Arpeggiata (under Christina Pluhar), Shield of Harmony (directed by singer Andreas Scholl), Les Passions De L’Ame, Musica Alta Ripa, and Musica Fiorita. In addition, Übellacker works with flautist Maurice Steger and gives duo concerts with lutanist Crawford Young and fortepianist Aline Zylberajch.
- Verena Gropper, soprano
Soprano Verena Gropper was born in Upper Swabia and pursued music education and German studies in Mannheim. She also studied historical vocal performance and Baroque violin in Graz, and continued working in these areas at the Music University in Frankfurt am Main with Henriette Meyer-Ravenstein (voice) and Michael Schneider (chamber music). At present, she is studying under Heidrun Kordes in Wiesbaden. She has also had lessons and masterclasses with Sibylla Rubens, Peter Kooij, Kai Wessel, Jill Feldman, and Monika Mauch.
Verena Gropper has performed as soloist and ensemble singer with Ton Koopman, Cantus Cölln, the Reinische Kantorei under Hermann Max, the Orlando di Lasso Ensemble, Musica Fiata Köln, La Stagioni in Frankfurt, Le Concert Lorrain, and the Johann Rosenmüller Ensemble and Peter Neumann. Festival appearances include Tagen Alter Musik (Early Music Festival) in Herne, the Bachfest, the Thüringer Bachwochen, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Handel Festival in Halle, and the MDR Music Summer. In 2012, she recorded some solo cantatas by Dietrich Buxtehude with Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra. In 2009, Verena Gropper was the winner of the International Graun Brothers Competition.
- Julia Diefenbach, mezzosoprano
Born in Limburg, mezzo soprano Julia Diefenbach studied voice with Melinda Paulsen and Thomas Heyer at the University of Music in Frankfurt. Prior to that, she had studied music education and French in Mainz. At present, she is working with Carol Mayer-Brütting, and has participated in masterclasses with Ulf Bästlein, Kurt Widmer, Ingeborg Danz, and Noelle Turner.
Diefenbach regularly appears with ensembles such as the Stuttgart Chamber Choir, the Rastatt Vocal Ensemble, Chapelle de la Vigne, and Frankfurt’s La Stagione, and she has also worked with conductors such as Gabriel Garrido, Michael Hofstetter, Frieder Bernius, Michael Schneider, and Holger Speck. In addition, she has performed at the Handel Festival in Karlsruhe, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Beethovenfest in Bonn, as well as the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, and has appeared as guest soloist with the Frankfurt Opera, the Baden-Baden Fespielhaus, and the Mainz State Theatre. She also has many CDs and broadcast recordings to her credit. Since 2013, Julia Diefenbach has been an instructor at the Frankfurt University of Music.
- Jörn Peuser, countertenor
After completing a two year program in church music, Jörn Peuser studied voice privately with Stephan Schreckenberger from 1996 to 2007. In 2002, Peuser won second prize at the International Luxembourg Competition for young soloists. Later that year he was granted a scholarship to study art song interpretation with Andreas Scholl at the Villa Musica in Mainz.
Peuser frequently appears under conductors such as Frieder Bernius (Stuttgart Chamber Choir), Holger Speck (Rastatt Vocal Ensemble), Verena Förster (cantOrgano), Laurent Gendre (Fribourg’s Ensemble Orlando), Michael Schneider (La Stagione), Norbert Köhler, and Gerhard Weinzierl (Musica Canterey of Bamberg). He has obtained stage experience in productions such as the successful staging of Der Name der Rose by Wolfgang Maria Bauer at the Heidleberg Castle Festival as well as the Weilburg Castle Concert production of La Susanna by Alessandro Stadella. In 2010, Jörn Peuser appeared as Orfeo in a semi-staged production of Johann Joseph Fux’s opera Orfeo ed Euridice at the Tage Alter Musik (Early Music Festival) in Bamberg.
- Patrick Siegrist, tenor
Patrick Siegrist studied vocal performance and opera under Karl Markus at the Frankfurt University of Music and is currently active as an oratorio and recital soloist in Southern and Western Germany. He mainly focuses on early and contemporary music and works actively with many ensembles including the German Chamber Choir, Berlin’s Vocal Consort, the Rheinische Kantorei under Hermann Max, Arsys Bourgogne, the Basel Madrigalists, Musica Lingua, and the Vocal Ensemble of Rastatt. He has also worked with conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Heinz Holliger, Gabriel Garrido, Pierre Cao, and Michael Scheider, and has made CDs and broadcast recordings with WDR, German Radio, and SWR.
- Christos Pelekanos, bass
Greek baritone Christos Pelekanos studied vocal performance with an emphasis on oratorio and lieder under Hedwig Fassbender at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Frankfurt am Main. Of vital importance to Pelekanos’ musical development has been his work with conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Thomas Hengelbrock, Louis Langré, Hermann Max, Michael Graf Münster, Helmuth Rilling, Morten Schuldt-Jensen, Michael Schneider, Frieder Bernius, Gabriel Garrido, and Martin Lutz. Pelekanos has also attended masterclasses with Ingeborg Danz, Klaus Häger, Eva Marton, Johannes Martin Kränzle, and Helmut Deutsch, and he appears regularly with the German Chamber Choir, the Rheinische Kantorei, the Immortal Bach Ensemble, the Stuttgart Chamber Choir, and the Balthasar-Neumann Choir.
