Johannes Weisser
Johannes Weisser debuterte som 23-åring i 2004, som Masetto i Don Giovanni på Den Norske Opera og Komische Oper Berlin. Siden har han vært engasjert på Staatsoper Berlin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Theater an der Wien, Théâtre de La Monnaie i Brussel, Opera Bilbao, Opéra National du Rhin Strasbourg, Opéra de Dijon, Det Kongelige Teater i København, Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Philharmonie de Paris, Innsbrucker Festwochen der alten Musik, Festival d'Aix en Provence, Festival de Radio France, Edinburgh International Festival, Festival van Vlaandern, Festspillene i Salzburg, Teatro Real Madrid, Canadian Opera Company, Festspillene i Bergen og Festival Enescu i Bukuresti.
På repertoaret hans står blant andre tittelrollen og Leporello i Don Giovanni, Guglielmo i Così fan tutte, tittelrollen i Onegin, Schaunard i La bohème, Malatesta i Don Pasquale, Don Pizarro i Fidelio, Papageno i Tryllefløyten og Achilla i Julius Cæsar. I 2014 sang han i Alcina og i Peer Gynt her ved Den Norske Opera & Ballett, og i 2018 og 2019 var han tilbake i Bjørvika i tittelrollen i Don Giovanni, som Mr. Flint i Billy Budd og som Far i Hans og Grete. Weisser er en meget etterspurt konsertsanger som opptrer i mange av Europas største konserthus og samarbeider med flere av verdens ledende dirigenter. Hittil i 2021 har han medvirket i operaen Genoveva av Schumann ved Dresdner Musikfestspiele, i Elbphilharmonie i Hamburg og i Müpa, Budapest, og i juni sang han rollen Kaspar i Webers Der Freischütz i Cité de la Musique-Philharmonie i Paris. Weisser har gjort en rekke CD-innspillinger, flere av dem med dirigenten René Jacobs.
Mark Bennett
Mark’s interest in the natural trumpet and historical performance practices were first sparked while a student at London’s Royal College of Music. Since then he has gone on to perform and tour with some of the world’s finest period instrument ensembles, including The English Concert (where he is their principal trumpet), The English baroque Soloists and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, as well as with some of the world’s greatest conductors Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Sir Simon Rattle to name a few.
In that time Mark has made a wealth of recordings, from baroque concerti under Trevor Pinnock with The English Concert for Deutsche Gramophone Archiv, to solo recordings of Purcell and Biber’s Sonatae Tam Aris Quam Audies Sevientes. Having recorded Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 2 for the first time at the age of 21 with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, Mark has recorded the work a further 6 times with the likes of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Hanover Band and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. While the baroque trumpet takes up much of Mark’s time, he is no stranger to other types of music making. He has played as principal trumpet with major modern symphony orchestras (London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra), West End Musical orchestras (Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s Cats in the West-End), and in over 100 films, including Shakespeare in Love and Stargate.
As well as now living in Oslo, Mark has established many wonderful relationships with ensembles and artists in Norway, not just as trumpeter, but also as a conductor. Specialising in informed styles of performance, whether on original or modern instruments, Mark has conducted the NRK Radio Orchestra, Barokkanerne, The Norwegian Wind Ensemble and Kongelige Norske Marines Musikkorps amongst many others. Mark and Simon Munday both play baroque trumpets made by Matthew Martin and Norwich Natural trumpets.
Johannes Weisser / Foto: Fredrik Arff