Herr der Diebe

Ruben Drole, bass-baritone, is from Winterthur and studied at the Zurich University of the Arts. In 2004, he joined the opera studio and in 2005 the ensemble of the Zurich Opera House, where he performed roles including Lucio Cinna (J.C. Bach’s "Lucio Silla"), Haly ("L’italiana in Algeri"), Argante ("Rinaldo"), Wurm ("Luisa Miller"), and Papageno in the production of "Die Zauberflöte" conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. As Papageno, he also made his debut at the Semperoper Dresden in 2015. Other projects with Harnoncourt included Kezal ("Die verkaufte Braut") and Haydn’s "Die Schöpfung" at Styriarte Graz, Beethoven’s "Christus am Ölberg" in Vienna and Lucerne, a Japan tour (Mozart’s "Requiem" and Handel’s "Messiah"), and Leporello ("Don Giovanni") at the Theater an der Wien. In the Zurich cycle of Mozart/Da Ponte operas directed by Sven-Eric Bechtolf and conducted by Franz Welser-Möst, he appeared as Guglielmo ("Così fan tutte"), Figaro ("Le nozze di Figaro"), and Leporello, the same roles he performed under Welser-Möst with the Cleveland Orchestra. At the Salzburg Festival 2012, he sang Achilla ("Giulio Cesare") and appeared in 2013 in Haydn’s "Il ritorno di Tobia" and Walter Braunfels’ "Szenen aus dem Leben der Heiligen Johanna." In Zurich, he has performed roles including Papageno ("Die Zauberflöte"), Alaskawolfjoe ("Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny"), Soldier ("Die Geschichte vom Soldaten"), Odysseus ("Die Odyssee"), Duchess/Caterpillar in "Alice im Wunderland," and Frank ("Die Fledermaus"). He also recently appeared in the ballet evening "Nachtträume."

Irène Friedli grew up in Räuchlisberg, Switzerland, and completed her studies at the Basel Music Academy with a soloist diploma. The alto furthered her training in the interpretation class of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin, attended masterclasses with Brigitte Fassbaender, and studied with Helen Keller. She has won numerous awards at international song competitions. Since 1994, she has been a member of the ensemble at the Zurich Opera House. Here, she has sung roles including Second and Third Lady ("The Magic Flute"), Mercédès ("Carmen"), the title role in Ravel’s "L’Enfant et les sortilèges," Elsbeth ("Schlafes Bruder"), Lily ("Harley"), Annina and Flora ("La traviata"), Flosshilde ("Das Rheingold," "Götterdämmerung"), Marcellina ("Le nozze di Figaro"), Emilia ("Otello"), Lucia ("Cavalleria rusticana"), Olga in Peter Eötvös’ "Drei Schwestern," Marthe (Gounod’s "Faust"), Margret ("Wozzeck"), Lovis in Jörn Arnecke’s "Ronja Räubertochter," Flower Maiden and Voice from Above ("Parsifal"), Gertrud/Crone ("Hänsel und Gretel"), Clotilde ("Norma"), Mother/Other Mother ("Coraline"), Card Dealer ("Arabella"), and Nurse ("Boris Godunow"). In the world premiere of the family opera "Odyssee," she portrayed Eurycleia/Mother, and in "Girl with a Pearl Earring" she sang Tanneke. In 2012, she appeared at the Opéra Bastille in Paris. Most recently in Zurich, she has performed roles including the Queen of Hearts ("Alice in Wonderland"), Filipjewna ("Eugene Onegin"), Tisbe ("La Cenerentola"), Miss Bentson ("Lakmé"), Frau Waas/Frau Mahlzahn ("Jim Knopf"), Head Cook ("Amerika"), Ninetta ("I vespri siciliani"), Annina ("Der Rosenkavalier"), and Gertrud/Crone ("Hänsel und Gretel").

Liliana Nikiteanu studied at the Conservatory in Bucharest. She received her first permanent engagement in 1986 at the Musiktheater Galati. She has won numerous awards, and in 2000, Opernwelt named her "Best Young Singer of the Year." Her repertoire includes over 80 roles, which she has performed in Zurich, where she has been an ensemble member since 1991, as well as in other opera houses, including Octavian ("Der Rosenkavalier") at the Bastille, the Vienna and Hamburg State Operas, Ježibaba ("Rusalka") in Montreal, Sesto ("La clemenza di Tito") in Dresden, Rosina ("Il barbiere di Siviglia") in Vienna and Munich, Dorabella ("Così fan tutte") in Dresden, Munich, Salzburg, and Aix-en-Provence, Fjodor ("Boris Godunow") in Salzburg, Margarethe ("La damnation de Faust") in Brussels, and Dulcinée ("Don Quichotte") at Theater an der Wien. In Zurich, she has performed all Mozart roles of her fach as well as roles such as Ljubascha ("Die Zarenbraut"), Nurse (Dukas’ "Ariane et Barbe-Bleue"), and Fricka ("Das Rheingold"). As a concert singer, her repertoire ranges from Bach to Berio. In Bamberg, she sang Berenice by Haydn under Adam Fischer, in Paris Berlioz’ "Les nuits d’été" under Heinz Holliger, in Copenhagen Verdi’s Requiem, and in Tel Aviv and Haifa Bruckner’s Te Deum under Zubin Mehta. Conductors who have shaped her include Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Claudio Abbado, Fabio Luisi, Franz Welser-Möst, John Eliot Gardiner, René Jacobs, and Philippe Jordan. Most recently, in Zurich, she has performed roles including Tisbe ("La Cenerentola"), Praškowia ("Die lustige Witwe"), Mama ("Wir pfeifen auf den Gurkenkönig"), Sir Pumpkin ("In 80 Tagen um die Welt"), as well as in the music-theater evening created for her, "Wie du warst! Wie du bist!"

The Swiss tenor Felix Gygli completed his training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He is the winner of the 2023 Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the 2024 Lieder Prize of the Queen Sonja Competition, and among other distinctions, a scholarship recipient of the Hildegard Zadek Foundation. He is a Samling Artist and was a "Young Artist" at the National Opera Studio in London in 2022/23, as well as a member of the Académie Lyrique of the Verbier Festival in 2023, where he was awarded the Prix Thierry Mermod as "Most Promising Singer." From 2023 to 2025, he was a member of the International Opera Studio at the Zurich Opera House. In 2024, he participated in the Carnegie Hall SongStudio under the patronage of Renée Fleming. In 2022, he made his debut as Papageno in "Die Zauberflöte" with Ouverture Opéra Sion and performed at the Verbier Festival 2023 as the Second Craftsman ("Wozzeck"). He gave an opera gala concert with the Opéra Orchestre National de Montpellier and appeared as a soloist in Brahms’ Requiem with the Theater Orchester Biel Solothurn. As a lied singer, he gave recitals in the UK, France, and Switzerland. He made his US debut with a performance of Schubert’s "Winterreise" at the Boston Text and Tone Festival. His oratorio repertoire includes, among others, Fauré’s "Requiem" and Bach’s "St. Matthew Passion." At the Zurich Opera House, he sang roles including Starveling in Britten’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" and stepped in for the title role of "Elijah" in 2025. In the 2025/26 season, he made his debut as Schaunard ("La bohème") at the Concert and Theater St. Gallen.

Bass Valeriy Murga studied at the National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv. He was a finalist at both the 41st International Singing Competition in Toulouse (1996) and the 7th Julian Gayarre Competition in Pamplona (1998). In 1997, he won second prize at the Maria Callas Grand Prix in Athens and participated in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition in 1999. From 1997 to 1999, he was a soloist at the Ukrainian National Opera in Kyiv, where he performed roles including Figaro (“Le nozze di Figaro”), Escamillo (“Carmen”), Schaunard (“La bohème”), and the title roles in “Eugene Onegin,” “Don Giovanni,” and “Prince Igor.” His repertoire also includes the roles of Marchese di Posa (“Don Carlo”) and Shaklovity (“Khovanshchina”). At the Zürich Opera House, Valeriy Murga was initially a member of the International Opera Studio and during this time performed, among others, Sciarrone and the Jailor (“Tosca”) as well as Monterone (“Rigoletto”). Since the 2000/01 season, he has been a permanent ensemble member at the Zürich Opera House, where he has performed roles such as Prince Yeletsky (“The Queen of Spades”), Moralès (“Carmen”), Second Soldier (“Salome”), Alessio (“La sonnambula”), Ali (“L’italiana in Algeri”), Wagner (“Faust”), Sacristan (“Tosca”), Butler (“La rondine”), and Bogdanovich (“The Merry Widow”), as well as in family operas including “The Canterville Ghost,” “Robin Hood,” “The Enchanted Pig,” “Jim Knopf,” and “Wir pfeiffen auf den Gurkenkönig” He has also appeared as a guest in Eugen d’Albert’s “Tiefland” at the Liceu in Barcelona and in “L’italiana in Algeri” at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin.