Riccardo Muti, born July 28, 1941 in Naples, is an Italian conductor of Neapolitan and Apulian origin. He is invited to conduct the New Year’s Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic in 1993, 1997, 2000, 2004, 2018 and 2021. Riccardo Muti is one of the most regular guest conductors of the New York Philharmonic and the National Orchestra of France.

The soprano Aušrine Stundyte (*1976) began her vocal studies in her hometown at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and later continued them at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig, a city rich in music tradition. The opera and concert singer had her first engagements at the stages in Leipzig, Cologne and Lübeck, and guest appearances took her to Lisbon and Palermo, among other places. This was followed by appearances at the opera houses in Amsterdam, Berlin, Madrid, Munich, Lyon, Vienna, Zurich and at the festivals in Aix-en-Provence, St. Gallen, Salzburg and Savonlinna. 
Stundyte`s broad repertoire of roles includes opera classics by Giacomo Puccini (Tosca, Manon Lescaut) and Giuseppe Verdi (Elisabeth in ´Don Carlos`, Amelia in ´Un ballo in Maschera`, Desdemona in Othello) as well as modern opera literature, for example by Béla Bartók (Judith in ´Bluebeard’s Castle`) and Erich W. Korngold (Marietta in ´Die tote Stadt`).
At Salzburg Festival 2021 and under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst, the soprano will again sing the title role of Elektra with which she successfully debuted in Salzburg in 2020.

Born in New Orleans in 1983, Lisette Oropesa is one of the most sought-after (coloratura) sopranos of her generation. With her extensive repertoire of roles, she is a guest on all the great stages of the world. The soprano with Cuban roots made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera New York, where she shone in the roles of Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Gilda (Rigoletto) and Nannetta (Falstaff). After numerous guest engagements in the United States, she has since conquered the European opera stages, from the Teatro Real in Madrid to the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, from the festival stages of the Arena di Verona to the Finnish Savonlinna. The soprano has also received much applause for her brilliant bel canto role of Lucia in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, with which she made her house debut at the Royal Opera House in London.
At the International Opera Awards 2020 Lisette Oropesa was nominated in the category Female Singer.

Asmik Grigorian, born May 12, 1981 in Vilnius in a family of lyrical artists, has been a soloist of the Vilnius City Opera since its inception in 2006. She has twice received the Golden Stage Cross (the highest honor for singers in Lithuania ): in 2005, on the occasion of her debut in the title role of La Traviata, and in 2016, for her portrayal of Mrs Lovett by Sweeney Todd.
Her international career took off in 2016 when she performed the title role of Madame Butterfly at the Stockholm Opera House where she was once again a guest for Fedora directed by Christof Loy. In the 2019-2020 opera season, Asmik Grigorian performs Chrysothemis at the Salzburg Festival in a new production of Elektra directed by Krzysztof Warlikowski.

French conductor Marc Minkowski was born on October 4, 1962 in Paris. His passion for music began when he was a college student at the Ecole Alsacienne. In 1979, even before his majority, Marc Minkowski joined the Lille orchestra under the direction of Jean-Claude Casadesus. Marc Minkowski performed very quickly in many orchestras, in particular among pioneer ensembles of the Baroque revival such as Les Arts Florissants or the Clemencic Consort in Vienna. Marc Minkowski quickly took an interest in conducting, which he studied in the United States at the Pierre Monteux Conducting School. At only nineteen, Marc Minkowski founded Les Musiciens du Louvre, an ensemble which took an active part in the Baroque revival, before broadening its repertoire by approaching works by Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach Wagner and many others. Marc Minkowski has been director of the Opéra national de Bordeaux since September 2016, his contract is extended until August 2022.

Born in Paris in 1985, Benjamin Bernheim is a lyric tenor whose debut album was released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2019 and has since been followed by a second in 2022. Bernheim is considered an outstanding interpreter of the Italian and French repertoire. After completing his studies, he was accepted into the Zurich Opera Studio. In 2012 he made his debut at the Salzburg Festival, after which he also appeared at the Whitsun Festival in Salzburg. Striking stations in his burgeoning career included the Semperoper Dresden, the Zurich Opera House, the Vienna State Opera, the Royal Opera House and the Teatro alla Scala. In 2019, the young artist made his acclaimed role debut as Duca in “Rigoletto” at the Bavarian State Opera, after causing a sensation as Alfredo in a sensational production of “La Traviata” at the Opéra de Paris with his stage partner Pretty Yende as Violetta. Don’t miss this enchanting voice and make your own impression of this brilliant tenor to whom the future belongs!