Wolfram-Maria Märtig

When were you first enchanted by musical theatre? And how?

I remember it clearly: in my first year of conducting studies, we were supposed to learn Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier. At first, I couldn't really get into the work until I borrowed a DVD from the city library featuring Karajan, Rothenberger, Schwarzkopf, Edelmann & Co. from Salzburg. I watched this recording over and over again and fell in love with this work and opera in general.  

Why do people sing, and why don't they speak?

Because in certain situations or circumstances, speaking is not enough to give the soul and feelings the space they need. It is, in a sense, an intensification of expression. And because of the beauty of singing, it is also a way of letting other people share in it and perhaps even ‘infecting’ them with it.  

What role can/should musical theatre play in our society?

Well, that's an important question. Personally, I tend to be a purist and focus primarily on ensuring that musical theatre, with all its colourfulness, versatility and wealth of possibilities, is staged in the best possible way, in a contemporary yet timeless manner. We can draw on such a wealth of masterpieces; as long as we try to do them justice, this covers a wide range of topics and social issues, but also high-quality entertainment, so that everyone who wants to go to the opera can find something suitable for themselves or their current life situation. 

***

Born in

Hamburg (Germany) 

Education

Junior student at the Hamburg University of Music

Piano with Prof. Evgeni Koroliov, horn with Prof. Ab Koster, and conducting with Prof. Christof Prick  

Important Engagements

• Horn player in various orchestras (e.g. German National Youth Orchestra and principal horn player with the KlassikPhilharmonie Hamburg)
• Composer and arranger in collaboration with various orchestras and ensembles (including the KlassikPhilharmonie Hamburg, Vienna Volksoper Symphony Orchestra, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, etc.)
• 2008: Engagement as conductor and musical assistant to the principal conductor at the Nuremberg State Theatre
• 2012/13: Berlin State Opera ‘Unter den Linden’ (including Madama Butterfly, Der Freischütz and Die Zauberflöte)
• Aalto Theatre (Eugen Onegin, The Tales of Hoffmann, Le nozze di Figaro, Madama Butterfly and Ariadne auf Naxos)
• Other engagements: Berlin State Orchestra, Essen Philharmonic Orchestra, Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, Beijing National Opera Orchestra, Tonkünstler Orchestra Lower Austria, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Nuremberg State Philharmonic Orchestra, Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Göttingen Symphony Orchestra and Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra

Formative collaboration with these artists

Daniel Barenboim, Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, Daniel Harding, Eberhard Friedrich, Julia Jones, Helen Donath, Magdalena Kožená, Anna Prohaska, Dorothea Röschmann, Wolfgang Brendel, René Pape, Rolando Villazón, Roman Trekel, Achim Freyer, ...

Debut at Volksoper Wien

2014/15: Conductor in Residence at Volksoper Wien (Die Zauberflöte, Cosi fan tutte, Don Giovanni, Le nozze di Figaro, Il barbiere di Siviglia, La Traviata, Hänsel & Gretel, Zar und Zimmermann, Der Bettelstudent, … ) 

Important prizes and awards

• Scholarship holder of the Richard Wagner Association of Germany
• Special prizes from the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, the German Music Foundation and the German Federal Chamber of Pharmacists
• 2012: ‘Aalto Stage Prize for Young Artists’

* Use of the photograph (© Benne Ochs) solely for the purposes of current reporting on the Vienna Volksoper.