Christian Gerhaher
Baritone Christian Gerhaher had a meteoric rise after his 1998 victory in the New York/Paris-shared Prix International Pro Musicis. Gerhaher subsequently developed a major career on both the operatic and recital stages. His repertory takes in J.S. Bach cantatas and oratorios; operas by Mozart, von Weber, and Wagner; lieder by Schubert, Brahms, and Mahler; and concert works by Haydn, Mendelssohn, and Mahler. He has hardly restricted himself to the German sphere, though, having performed Orff's Carmina Burana, Britten's War Requiem, Monteverdi's Orfeo, and much else. Gerhaher possesses a very distinct, attractive voice, a bit higher in the baritone range than is usual. He has performed at many of the major recital halls and operatic venues and with an extensive list of conductors that includes Harnoncourt, Rattle, and Muti. Gerhaher's résumé, apart from his considerable musical activity, is impressive: he holds a doctorate degree in medicine and has extensively studied philosophy.
Christian Gerhaher was born in the Bavarian city of Straubing on July 24, 1969. His major educational activity was in Munich: he studied voice with Paul Kuen and Raimund Grumbach and enrolled at the Musikhochschule Opera School there, simultaneously studying medicine and philosophy. Gerhaher later took master classes with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Elisabeth Schwarzkopf. For Gerhaher, 1998 was a pivotal year: he obtained his medical degree, won the Prix International Pro Musicis, and joined the Stadttheater Würzburg, remaining a member until 2000. Meanwhile, he began making critically acclaimed appearances in lieder repertory with pianist Gerold Huber, including at Carnegie Hall, the Schubertiade in Feldkirch, and Wigmore Hall in London. Gerhaher quickly built a reputation in opera as well: his 2005 performance at the Frankfurt Opera in the title role of Orfeo drew rave notices. In the following season, Gerhaher appeared in Schubert's opera Alphonso und Estrella in Berlin and Schumann's oratorio Das Paradies und die Peri in Munich. Gerhaher's 2007-2008 schedule included a highly acclaimed North American tour with pianist Gerold Huber.
As Gerhaher entered middle age and his voice deepened somewhat, he took on operatic roles such as Wolfram in Wagner's Tannhäuser, which he performed at London's Covent Garden in 2010 and reprised at the Bavarian State Opera in 2017. Nevertheless, the bulk of Gerhaher's recording energies in the 2010s continued to focus on the lieder repertory. His 2012 album, Ferne Geliebte, featuring not only the Beethoven cycle An die ferne Geliebte, Op. 98, but also songs by Haydn, Schoenberg, and Berg, inaugurated a multi-year relationship with the Sony Classical label that has also produced Nachtviolen (a Schubert song recital) and an album of Mozart arias. His performances of Mahler's Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen and Kindertotenlieder deepened his relationship with Huber, which was displayed to fine effect in their 2017 recording of the unusual Brahms song set Die schöne Magelone, Op. 33. A long-held goal of Gerhaher's was accomplished in 2021 when he issued a much-heralded recording of the complete songs of Schumann. In 2022, Gerhaher and Heinz Holliger teamed up on a pair of recordings: Othmar Schoeck's Elegie with the Kammerorchester Basel and Holliger's opera Lunea, which was written for and dedicated to Gerhaher.
© Robert Cummings & James Manheim /TiVo
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Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 05.05.2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy: Pelléas et Mélisande
London Symphony Orchestra, Christian Gerhaher, London Symphony Chorus, Magdalena Kožená, Sir Simon Rattle
Oper - Erschienen bei LSO Live am 06.10.2017
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Alle Lieder
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 03.09.2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert : Die schöne Müllerin, D. 795
Kunstlieder (Deutschland) - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 06.10.2017
5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Dichterliebe
Klassik - Erschienen bei RCA Red Seal am 01.08.2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schoeck: Elegie, Op. 36
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 22.04.2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Nachtviolen - Schubert: Lieder
Kunstlieder (Deutschland) - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 16.06.2014
Gramophone AwardGramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Frage (Lieder, vol. 1)
Kunstlieder (Deutschland) - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 16.11.2018
Gramophone: Recording of the Month24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Orchestral Songs
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 16.04.2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Terezín / Theresienstadt : Oeuvres de Hans Krasa, Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Erwin Schulhoff, etc.
Anne Sofie von Otter, Bengt Forsberg, Christian Gerhaher, Daniel Hope
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 01.01.2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Lieder
Klassik - Erschienen bei RCA Red Seal am 16.10.2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Orchestral Songs
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 16.04.2013
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Abendbilder
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 01.01.2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantische Arien / Airs romantiques (Wagner, Schubert, Schumann, Weber, Nicolaï)
Vokalmusik (weltlich und geistlich) - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 16.11.2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christian Gerhaher - The Art of Song
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 01.11.2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Heinz Holliger - Lunea
Christian Gerhaher, Basle Madrigalists, Philharmonia Zürich, Heinz Holliger
Klassik - Erschienen bei ECM New Series am 22.04.2022
OPUS Klassik24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Winterreise
Klassik - Erschienen bei ARTE NOVA Classics am 31.12.1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann: Lieder
Klassik - Erschienen bei RCA Red Seal am 04.05.2007
Qobuz’ Schallplattensammlung16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart Arias
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 11.09.2015
5 Sterne Fono Forum Klassik24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mahler: Knaben Wunderhorn - Adagio from Symphony No. 10 (Live From Severance Hall, Cleveland / 2010)
Magdalena Kožená, Christian Gerhaher, The Cleveland Orchestra, Pierre Boulez
Klassik - Erschienen bei Deutsche Grammophon (DG) am 05.10.2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schumann : Myrthen
Klassik - Erschienen bei Sony Classical am 11.10.2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo