Andreas Scholl
Encyclopedia
Andreas Scholl is a German countertenor
, a male classical singer in the alto
vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music
.
, Germany, and grew up in neighboring Kiedrich
. All of his family members were singers. He was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbuben (Kiedrich Choir-Boys) — which was first documented in 1333 as "a schola of men assisting the priests on all Sundays, singing the Gregorian chant
." At age 13, Andreas Scholl sang the second boy (his sister Elisabeth
sang the first boy) in Mozart
's Die Zauberflöte
at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
. That same year, he was one of 20,000 choristers from all over the world gathered in Rome for a festival where Scholl was chosen to sing solo
at Mass
on 4 January 1981 and met Pope John Paul II. Along with his fellow choristers, Andreas Scholl was an extra in the film The Name of the Rose
, playing a young monk standing alongside Sean Connery
in scenes shot at Eberbach Abbey
, near Kiedrich.
conservatoire in Basel
, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
. Since an uncle had introduced Scholl to the voices of Paul Esswood
and James Bowman, the leading European countertenors of the day, Scholl chose Bowman as a role model. Scholl sent a demo tape to René Jacobs to evaluate his talent. This resulted in Jacobs inviting Scholl to visit the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
. However, Scholl had no first degree. Although the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
only offered post-graduate courses, Scholl was subsequently offered admission on the strength and quality of his voice after singing a Schubert
song for the admissions board — which included René Jacobs.
At the Schola, Andreas Scholl's teacher was Richard Levitt, followed by Jacobs in his second year. Violinist Chiara Banchini
and soprano Emma Kirkby
were major influences, as Scholl began to specialise in the music of the Baroque. Scholl additionally studied with soprano Evelyn Tubb
and lutenist Anthony Rooley
. In addition to the Diploma of Ancient Music, for which his external examiner was James Bowman, Andreas Scholl garnered prizes from the Council of Europe
and the Foundation Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and awards from Switzerland's Association Migros and Ernst Göhner Foundation.
Andreas Scholl has been teaching interpretation in the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, succeeding his own teacher, Richard Levitt, and is in much demand for master classes.
in Rüdesheim
. In 1991 he appeared in Bach's St John Passion, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
in Antwerp. In 1993, Scholl stood in for René Jacobs at Jacobs' request at the Théâtre Grévin in Paris, causing a sensation. This performance of Bach’s
Johannespassion was broadcast on Good Friday to a radio audience which included William Christie
. Shortly thereafter, Christie and Scholl met on a train. The 1994 recording of Handel's
Messiah
with Les Arts Florissants
resulted directly from this meeting.
Scholl performed Bach's Mass in B minor in 1995, conducted by Jacobs, and sang Purcell on a tour in France. In 1998 Scholl and his sister performed in Bach's St Matthew Passion, with Max Ciolek as the Evangelist
and Max van Egmond
as the Vox Christi
, in St. Martin, Idstein
. Scholl performed the title role of Solomon
at The Proms
. He gave recitals in Wigmore Hall
and at the Brighton Festival
.
castrato
Senesino
. They include his operatic debut at the Glyndebourne
in 1998, Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda, repeated in 1999 and 2002. Rodelinda was a huge success and he 'stopped the show' (Sunday Times). According to James Bowman, who describes himself as an unqualified admirer, 'people went into a kind of trance' when he sang Dove Sei. The Financial Times said of his Vivi tiranno: '... such intelligent virtuosity ... time stands still and you feel he is speaking to you.' In February 2002, Le Monde
called him 'Le Roi Scholl' after his reprise of the role of Bertarido in the Paris production of the Glyndebourne Rodelinda.
Scholl performed this role also at the Metropolitan Opera
in 2006, opposite Renée Fleming
in the title role and Kobie van Rensburg
, conducted by Patrick Summers, to be repeated in 2011. He performed the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare
in a Royal Danish Opera production in 2002 and 2005), reprised in Paris (2007) and Lausanne (2008). In 2008 he performed the role of Arsace in Handel's Partenope
for the Royal Danish Opera. In 2010 he sang Giulio Cesare, this time opposite Cecilia Bartoli
as Cleopatra, with Les Arts Florissants
conducted by William Christie.
, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven
in works of Bach, including his Missa in G
(BWV 236). He performed in the Avery Fisher Hall
Bach's Christmas Oratorio
, conducted by Ton Koopman
. In 2000 he sang in Japan several concerts of Bach's Mass in B minor, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki
. In 2001, Scholl sang in Handel's Saul
in Brussels and performed the title role in Handel's Solomon
, conducted by Paul McCreesh
. He sang Bach's St John Passion in the Thomaskirche, Leipzig. At the Bachfest Leipzig
(de) 2003, he sang in the Mass in B minor, which traditionally closes the festival, with Letizia Scherrer, Mark Padmore
and Sebastian Noack, choir and orchestra of the Collegium Vocale Gent, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
. In 2006 he sang on a tour of Europa Bach's solo cantata
s Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170, and Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35, with the orchestra Accademia Bizantina. In 2007 he sang Saul again, at Eberbach Abbey
with Trine Wilsberg Lund (Merab), Hannah Morrison (Michal), Andreas Karasiak
(Jonathan) and the Schiersteiner Kantorei, conducted by Martin Lutz. In the Berliner Philharmonie
he sang Handels Messiah with soloists of the Tölzer Knabenchor
, the choir of Les Arts Florissants
and the Berliner Philharmonic, conducted by Christie.
In 2008 Andres Scholl made his debut with the New York Philharmonic
, singing Handel's Messiah in Avery Fisher Hall
, conducted by Ton Koopman
. In 2011 Scholl made his debut at the Rheingau Musik Festival
in three events, an interview, a trip to three churches with different concert programs, and an opera recital with his sister Elisabeth
at Eberbach Abbey
. In the Christopheruskirche of Wiesbaden-Schierstein he appeared with harpsichordist Tamar Halperin, in Hallgarten
with members of the Accademia Bizantina, in the romanesque
Basilika St. Aegidius of Mittelheim with the vocal trio White Raven. The opera recital with the chamber orchestra Accademia Bizantina contained works of Handel and Purcell, such as Handel's Rodelinda, Purcell's King Arthur
, closing with the final love duet "Caro! Bella!" from Giulio Cesare in Egitto. In 2011 he performed the alto part of Handel's Messiah in St. Martin, Idstein
, with Katia Plaschka
, Ulrich Cordes
and Markus Flaig
. A review describes his perfect timing in the recitatives, his pronounced declamation, technically perfect interpretation and phrasing of the arias, and his devotion to Handel's music and Jennens's text. The Air "He was despised" was regarded as the center of the concert.
, William Christie
, Christophe Coin, Michel Corboz
, Paul Dyer, John Eliot Gardiner
, Reinhard Goebel
, Philippe Herreweghe
, Christopher Hogwood
, René Jacobs, Konrad Junghänel
, Robert King
, Paul McCreesh
, Nicholas McGegan
, Roger Norrington
, Christophe Rousset
, Jos van Veldhoven
, Dominique Veillard and Roland Wilson. He took part in the project of Ton Koopman
and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
to record the complete vocal works of Bach
. His regular solo partners include cemballist Markus Märkl and the virtuoso lutenist Edin Karamazov
. Ensembles with whom he performs include the Netherlands Bach Choir, Cantus Coelln, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
, Musica Antiqua Köln
, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
, the Freiburger Barockorchester
, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
and Accademia Bizantina.
The composer Marco Rosano has created a new Stabat Mater
for Andreas Scholl; he sang the first complete performance of this work on 22 February 2008 at the City Recital Hall
, Angel Place, Sydney, accompanied by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra under Paul Dyer.
, Switzerland. His White as Lilies, based on ideas of John Dowland
, is on the 1995 CD The Countertenors (with Dominique Visse
and Pascal Bertin). It was a hit in Korea when used in a TV commercial and was later released there in an orchestrated version. In December 2003, he gave his first public performance in popular music, an eclectic programme of electronic and orchestral works which included his own compositions. Alongside Andreas Scholl was fellow Baroque countertenor, Roland Kunz, who specialises in setting Elizabethan English poems to his own electronic music. The two countertenors duetted in Scholl's and Kunz's songs, backed by Kunz's band die Unerlösten and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken
under Rick Stengårds.
and Decca
. By 1998 his CDs dominated Harmonia Mundi's hit list at numbers one, three, four, five and ten, and they are still among Harmonia Mundi's best sellers. His discography amounts to more than sixty CDs, all but two being music of the European Baroque or Renaissance. Recordings in which he has collaborated, including all but one of his solo recordings, have won awards. His personal accolades include the Diapason d'Or, multiple Gramophone Award
s, 10 de Repertoire, ffff Telerama and Choc du Mond de la Musique, the ECHO award and Prix de l'Union de la Presse Musicale Belge. In an extremely rare departure from its normally austere approach, Fanfare magazine described his recording of Dowland's
A Musicall Banquet as 'perfect'. The recording of Bach
's St John Passion conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
on which Andreas Scholl sings was nominated for a Cannes Classical Award in 2003. He was Germany's Kultur Radio Artist of the Year in 1998. He has revealed, to German audiences in particular, some little-known masterworks of German Baroque composers and has thereby made a significant contribution to the modern rediscovery of the Baroque repertoire. His 2001 album of folk songs, Wayfaring Stranger, was a personal project, well-received by the CD-buying public but not universally acclaimed by his fellow musicians, some of whom regarded it as an inappropriate departure.
Countertenor
A countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
, a male classical singer in the alto
Alto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
vocal range. He is noted as a specialist in Baroque music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
.
Childhood
Scholl was born on 10 November 1967 in EltvilleEltville
Eltville am Rhein is a town in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road ....
, Germany, and grew up in neighboring Kiedrich
Kiedrich
Kiedrich is a community in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany.- Location :The community lies in the Rheingau on the south slope of the Taunus, some 2 km north of the town of Eltville am Rhein and 3 km from the banks of the Rhine.- Neighbouring...
. All of his family members were singers. He was enrolled at the age of seven into the Kiedricher Chorbuben (Kiedrich Choir-Boys) — which was first documented in 1333 as "a schola of men assisting the priests on all Sundays, singing the Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant
Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...
." At age 13, Andreas Scholl sang the second boy (his sister Elisabeth
Elisabeth Scholl
- Professional career :Elisabeth Scholl was the first girl to sing with the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben. From 1982 to 1987 she sang the role of the First Boy in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden...
sang the first boy) in Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music...
's Die Zauberflöte
The Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue....
at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden
The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden is the State Theatre of the German state Hesse in the capital Wiesbaden, producing operas, plays, ballets, musicals and concerts on four stages. It is also known as Staatstheater Wiesbaden or Theater Wiesbaden...
. That same year, he was one of 20,000 choristers from all over the world gathered in Rome for a festival where Scholl was chosen to sing solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
at Mass
Mass (liturgy)
"Mass" is one of the names by which the sacrament of the Eucharist is called in the Roman Catholic Church: others are "Eucharist", the "Lord's Supper", the "Breaking of Bread", the "Eucharistic assembly ", the "memorial of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection", the "Holy Sacrifice", the "Holy and...
on 4 January 1981 and met Pope John Paul II. Along with his fellow choristers, Andreas Scholl was an extra in the film The Name of the Rose
The Name of the Rose (film)
The Name of the Rose is a 1986 film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, based on the book of the same name by Umberto Eco. Sean Connery is the Franciscan friar William of Baskerville and Christian Slater is his apprentice Adso of Melk, who are called upon to solve a deadly mystery in a medieval...
, playing a young monk standing alongside Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
in scenes shot at Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near Eltville am Rhein in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its impressive Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Hesse, Germany...
, near Kiedrich.
Musical education
Scholl was 17 when the extent of his ability was recognized by the Chorbuben's voice coach from the Darmstadt Music Academy. He then sang for the tenor/countertenor Herbert Klein, who advised him that there were only two places he should study: either in London or at the early musicEarly music
Early music is generally understood as comprising all music from the earliest times up to the Renaissance. However, today this term has come to include "any music for which a historically appropriate style of performance must be reconstructed on the basis of surviving scores, treatises,...
conservatoire in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, and focusing on early music and historically informed performance....
. Since an uncle had introduced Scholl to the voices of Paul Esswood
Paul Esswood
Paul Esswood is an English countertenor. He is best known for his singing in Bach cantatas and the operas of Handel and Monteverdi. Along with his countrymen Alfred Deller and James Bowman, he led the revival of countertenor singing in modern times.Esswood was born in West Bridgford, England. He...
and James Bowman, the leading European countertenors of the day, Scholl chose Bowman as a role model. Scholl sent a demo tape to René Jacobs to evaluate his talent. This resulted in Jacobs inviting Scholl to visit the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, and focusing on early music and historically informed performance....
. However, Scholl had no first degree. Although the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis
Schola Cantorum Basiliensis is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, and focusing on early music and historically informed performance....
only offered post-graduate courses, Scholl was subsequently offered admission on the strength and quality of his voice after singing a Schubert
Franz Schubert
Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...
song for the admissions board — which included René Jacobs.
At the Schola, Andreas Scholl's teacher was Richard Levitt, followed by Jacobs in his second year. Violinist Chiara Banchini
Chiara Banchini
Chiara Banchini is a Swiss violinist, involved in the historical performance practice movement. She specializes in the music of the Baroque.Banchini was born in 1946 in Lugano, Switzerland. She graduated from the Geneva Conservatory; following this she studied under Sandor Vegh and then at the...
and soprano Emma Kirkby
Emma Kirkby
Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, DBE is an English soprano singer and one of the world's most renowned early music specialists. She attended Sherborne School For Girls in Dorset and was a classics student at Somerville College, Oxford, and an English teacher before developing a career as a soloist...
were major influences, as Scholl began to specialise in the music of the Baroque. Scholl additionally studied with soprano Evelyn Tubb
Evelyn Tubb
Soprano Evelyn Tubb is a long-time member of The Consort of Musicke and one of the world's greatest early music specialists, known for her innovative and original performances. She originally comes from the Isle of Wight and studied piano, trumpet, violin and singing...
and lutenist Anthony Rooley
Anthony Rooley
Anthony Rooley is a British lutenist. He founded in 1969 and directs the early music ensemble the Consort of Musicke, which continues to be one of the chief vehicles for his inspiration, among many other activities and interests...
. In addition to the Diploma of Ancient Music, for which his external examiner was James Bowman, Andreas Scholl garnered prizes from the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
and the Foundation Claude Nicolas Ledoux, and awards from Switzerland's Association Migros and Ernst Göhner Foundation.
Andreas Scholl has been teaching interpretation in the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, succeeding his own teacher, Richard Levitt, and is in much demand for master classes.
Early performances
In 1988 Scholl performed Bach's Christmas OratorioChristmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
in Rüdesheim
Rüdesheim
Rüdesheim is a winemaking town in the Rhine Gorge and thereby part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. It lies in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis district in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany...
. In 1991 he appeared in Bach's St John Passion, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
in Antwerp. In 1993, Scholl stood in for René Jacobs at Jacobs' request at the Théâtre Grévin in Paris, causing a sensation. This performance of Bach’s
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
Johannespassion was broadcast on Good Friday to a radio audience which included William Christie
William Christie (musician)
William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
. Shortly thereafter, Christie and Scholl met on a train. The 1994 recording of Handel's
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...
Messiah
Messiah (Handel)
Messiah is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel, with a scriptural text compiled by Charles Jennens from the King James Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. It was first performed in Dublin on 13 April 1742, and received its London premiere nearly a year later...
with Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants (ensemble)
Les Arts Florissants is a Baroque musical ensemble in residence at the Théâtre de Caen in Caen, France. The organization was founded by conductor William Christie in 1979. The ensemble derives its name from the 1685 opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier. The organization consists of a chamber orchestra...
resulted directly from this meeting.
Scholl performed Bach's Mass in B minor in 1995, conducted by Jacobs, and sang Purcell on a tour in France. In 1998 Scholl and his sister performed in Bach's St Matthew Passion, with Max Ciolek as the Evangelist
Evangelist (Bach)
The Evangelist in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach is the tenor part in his oratorios and Passions who narrates the exact words of the Bible, translated by Martin Luther, in recitative, namely in the works St John Passion, St Matthew Passion, and the Christmas Oratorio, also in the St Mark...
and Max van Egmond
Max van Egmond
Max van Egmond is a Dutch bass and baritone singer. He has focused on oratorio and Lied and is known for singing works of Johann Sebastian Bach.- Professional career :...
as the Vox Christi
Vox Christi
Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a term for the bass voice representing Jesus in the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and others. This part appears prominently in Bach's Passions...
, in St. Martin, Idstein
St. Martin, Idstein
St. Martin in Idstein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, is the church of the local Roman Catholic parish. The official name is Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Martin. The parish is part of the Diocese of Limburg...
. Scholl performed the title role of Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
at The Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
. He gave recitals in Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
and at the Brighton Festival
Brighton Festival
The Brighton Festival is an annual arts festival which takes place in the city of Brighton and Hove in England each May. It was founded in 1966, and is the largest multi-art form festival in England...
.
Opera
Scholl's major opera roles have been written for the 18th century altoAlto
Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...
castrato
Castrato
A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...
Senesino
Senesino
Senesino was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel.-Early life and career:...
. They include his operatic debut at the Glyndebourne
Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an English opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England.-History:...
in 1998, Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda, repeated in 1999 and 2002. Rodelinda was a huge success and he 'stopped the show' (Sunday Times). According to James Bowman, who describes himself as an unqualified admirer, 'people went into a kind of trance' when he sang Dove Sei. The Financial Times said of his Vivi tiranno: '... such intelligent virtuosity ... time stands still and you feel he is speaking to you.' In February 2002, Le Monde
Le Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
called him 'Le Roi Scholl' after his reprise of the role of Bertarido in the Paris production of the Glyndebourne Rodelinda.
Scholl performed this role also at the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
in 2006, opposite Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming
Renée Fleming is an American soprano specializing in opera and lieder. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice.Fleming has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano repertoires. She has sung roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She also...
in the title role and Kobie van Rensburg
Kobie van Rensburg
Kobie van Rensburg is a South African tenor and opera director.- Life :Van Rensburg studied singing with Werner Nel at the Northwest University of South Africa, but also law and international politics at Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education..He made his debut in 1991 at the age...
, conducted by Patrick Summers, to be repeated in 2011. He performed the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare
Giulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724...
in a Royal Danish Opera production in 2002 and 2005), reprised in Paris (2007) and Lausanne (2008). In 2008 he performed the role of Arsace in Handel's Partenope
Partenope
Partenope is an opera by George Frideric Handel, first performed at the King's Theatre in London on 24 February 1730.-Background:...
for the Royal Danish Opera. In 2010 he sang Giulio Cesare, this time opposite Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli
Cecilia Bartoli is an Italian coloratura mezzo-soprano opera singer and recitalist. She is best-known for her interpretation of the music of Mozart and Rossini, as well as for her performances of lesser-known Baroque and classical music...
as Cleopatra, with Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants may refer to:*Les arts florissants , chamber opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier*Les Arts Florissants , musical group, directed by William Christie, named for the above work, and devoted to playing music of the Baroque...
conducted by William Christie.
Concert
In 1999, Scholl appeared with De Nederlandse BachverenigingDe Nederlandse Bachvereniging
De Nederlandse Bachvereniging is the oldest ensemble for Baroque music in the Netherlands, and possibly in the world. Choir and orchestra are internationally known as the Netherlands Bach Society...
, conducted by Jos van Veldhoven
Jos van Veldhoven
Jos van Veldhoven is a Dutch choral conductor. He studied musicology at the Rijksuniversiteit of Utrecht, and choral and orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatory, the Hague. He has been artistic director of De Nederlandse Bachvereniging since 1983...
in works of Bach, including his Missa in G
Missa (Bach)
A Missa of Johann Sebastian Bach is in general a composition of the Latin Mass by the German Baroque composer.More specifically, Missa refers to one of his four short masses in F major, A major, G minor and G major, BWV 233 to 236...
(BWV 236). He performed in the Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
Bach's Christmas Oratorio
Christmas Oratorio
The Christmas Oratorio BWV 248, is an oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach intended for performance in church during the Christmas season. It was written for the Christmas season of 1734 incorporating music from earlier compositions, including three secular cantatas written during 1733 and 1734 and a...
, conducted by Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
. In 2000 he sang in Japan several concerts of Bach's Mass in B minor, conducted by Masaaki Suzuki
Masaaki Suzuki
is a Japanese organist, harpsichordist and conductor, and the founder and musical director of the Bach Collegium Japan.He was born in Kobe to parents who were both Christians and amateur musicians...
. In 2001, Scholl sang in Handel's Saul
Saul (Handel)
Saul is an oratorio in three acts written by George Frideric Handel with a libretto by Charles Jennens. Taken from the 1st Book of Samuel, the story of Saul focuses on the first king of Israel’s relationship with his eventual successor, David; one which turns from admiration to envy and hatred,...
in Brussels and performed the title role in Handel's Solomon
Solomon (Handel)
Solomon, HWV 67, is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. Its libretto is based on the biblical stories of wise king Solomon and is attributed to Newburgh Hamilton...
, conducted by Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh is an English conductor.Paul McCreesh is founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, with whom he has established himself at the highest level in the period instrument field; he is recognised for his authoritative and innovative performances on the concert...
. He sang Bach's St John Passion in the Thomaskirche, Leipzig. At the Bachfest Leipzig
Bachfest Leipzig
The Leipzig Bach Festival is a music festival which takes place annually in the city of Leipzig, where Bach worked as the Thomaskantor from 1723 until his death in 1750....
(de) 2003, he sang in the Mass in B minor, which traditionally closes the festival, with Letizia Scherrer, Mark Padmore
Mark Padmore
Mark Padmore is a British tenor appearing in concerts, recitals, and opera.Born in London 8 March 1961, and raised in Canterbury, Kent in England. Padmore studied clarinet and piano prior to his gaining a choral scholarship to King's College, Cambridge...
and Sebastian Noack, choir and orchestra of the Collegium Vocale Gent, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
. In 2006 he sang on a tour of Europa Bach's solo cantata
Bach cantata
Bach cantata became a term for a cantata of the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach who was a prolific writer of the genre. Although many of his works are lost, around 200 cantatas survived....
s Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, BWV 170, and Geist und Seele wird verwirret, BWV 35, with the orchestra Accademia Bizantina. In 2007 he sang Saul again, at Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near Eltville am Rhein in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its impressive Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Hesse, Germany...
with Trine Wilsberg Lund (Merab), Hannah Morrison (Michal), Andreas Karasiak
Andreas Karasiak
- Biography :Andreas Karasiak studied voice at the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz with Claudia Eder. He studied Baroque music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis with René Jacobs in Basel....
(Jonathan) and the Schiersteiner Kantorei, conducted by Martin Lutz. In the Berliner Philharmonie
Berliner Philharmonie
The Berliner Philharmonie is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany. Home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, the building is acclaimed for both its acoustics and its architecture....
he sang Handels Messiah with soloists of the Tölzer Knabenchor
Tölzer Knabenchor
The Tölzer Knabenchor is a boys' choir with roots in the Bavarian town of Bad Tölz.The choir group is still led by director and singing master Gerhard Schmidt-Gaden, who founded the choir in 1956 when he was only nineteen years old. The founder was once a student of Carl Orff's and worked with him...
, the choir of Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants
Les Arts Florissants may refer to:*Les arts florissants , chamber opera by Marc-Antoine Charpentier*Les Arts Florissants , musical group, directed by William Christie, named for the above work, and devoted to playing music of the Baroque...
and the Berliner Philharmonic, conducted by Christie.
In 2008 Andres Scholl made his debut with the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, singing Handel's Messiah in Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall
Avery Fisher Hall is a concert hall, in New York City and is part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex. It is the home of the New York Philharmonic, with a capacity of 2,738 seats.-History:...
, conducted by Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
. In 2011 Scholl made his debut at the Rheingau Musik Festival
Rheingau Musik Festival
The Rheingau Musik Festival is an international summer music festival in Germany, founded in 1987. It is mostly for classical music, but includes other genres...
in three events, an interview, a trip to three churches with different concert programs, and an opera recital with his sister Elisabeth
Elisabeth Scholl
- Professional career :Elisabeth Scholl was the first girl to sing with the boys choir Kiedricher Chorbuben. From 1982 to 1987 she sang the role of the First Boy in Mozart's Die Zauberflöte at the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden...
at Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey
Eberbach Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery near Eltville am Rhein in the Rheingau, Germany. On account of its impressive Romanesque and early Gothic buildings it is considered one of the most significant architectural heritage sites in Hesse, Germany...
. In the Christopheruskirche of Wiesbaden-Schierstein he appeared with harpsichordist Tamar Halperin, in Hallgarten
Hallgarten (Rheingau)
Hallgarten is a Stadtteil of Oestrich-Winkel, Hesse, Germany. It lies within the Rheingau wine region.Its church, dedicated to the Assumption of Mary, is a location of the Rheingau Musik Festival....
with members of the Accademia Bizantina, in the romanesque
Romanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
Basilika St. Aegidius of Mittelheim with the vocal trio White Raven. The opera recital with the chamber orchestra Accademia Bizantina contained works of Handel and Purcell, such as Handel's Rodelinda, Purcell's King Arthur
King Arthur (opera)
King Arthur or, The British Worthy , is a semi-opera in five acts with music by Henry Purcell and alibretto by John Dryden. It was first performed at the Queen's Theatre, Dorset Garden, London, in late May or early June 1691....
, closing with the final love duet "Caro! Bella!" from Giulio Cesare in Egitto. In 2011 he performed the alto part of Handel's Messiah in St. Martin, Idstein
St. Martin, Idstein
St. Martin in Idstein, Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis, is the church of the local Roman Catholic parish. The official name is Katholische Pfarrkirche St. Martin. The parish is part of the Diocese of Limburg...
, with Katia Plaschka
Katia Plaschka
Katia Plaschka is a German coloratura soprano who performs in opera, especially contemporary opera, and concert performances of oratorios.-Professional career:...
, Ulrich Cordes
Ulrich Cordes
Ulrich Cordes is a German tenor.-Professional career:Ulrich Cordes first studied sacred music at the Hochschule für Musik Köln with Winfried Bönig and Margaretha Hürholz, among others. He continued studying voice. In 2005 he was able to study at the CNSMDP in Paris with Pierre Mervant as a...
and Markus Flaig
Markus Flaig
-Professional career:Markus Flaig was born in Horb am Neckar. He studied sacred music and school music, then voice with Beata Heuer-Christen in Freiburg and with Berthold Possemeyer at the Hochschule für Musik Frankfurt. Since 2006 he has worked with Carol Meyer-Bruetting...
. A review describes his perfect timing in the recitatives, his pronounced declamation, technically perfect interpretation and phrasing of the arias, and his devotion to Handel's music and Jennens's text. The Air "He was despised" was regarded as the center of the concert.
Collaborations
Andreas Scholl has worked with the majority of contemporary Baroque specialists, including Chiara BanchiniChiara Banchini
Chiara Banchini is a Swiss violinist, involved in the historical performance practice movement. She specializes in the music of the Baroque.Banchini was born in 1946 in Lugano, Switzerland. She graduated from the Geneva Conservatory; following this she studied under Sandor Vegh and then at the...
, William Christie
William Christie (musician)
William Lincoln Christie is an American-born French conductor and harpsichordist. He is noted as a specialist in baroque repertoire and as the founder of the ensemble Les Arts Florissants....
, Christophe Coin, Michel Corboz
Michel Corboz
Michel Corboz is a Swiss conductor.Corboz was born in Marsens, Switzerland and educated in his native canton of Fribourg. He founded the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, with which he has recorded and toured extensively...
, Paul Dyer, John Eliot Gardiner
John Eliot Gardiner
Sir John Eliot Gardiner CBE FKC is an English conductor. He founded the Monteverdi Choir , the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique...
, Reinhard Goebel
Reinhard Goebel
Reinhard Goebel is a German conductor and violinist specialising in early music on authentic instruments. Goebel received his first violin lessons at the age of twelve...
, Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
, Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Hogwood
Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood CBE, MA , HonMusD , born 10 September 1941, Nottingham, is an English conductor, harpsichordist, writer and musicologist, well known as the founder of the Academy of Ancient Music.-Biography:...
, René Jacobs, Konrad Junghänel
Konrad Junghänel
Konrad Junghänel is a German conductor and lutenist. He has given numerous solo concerts all around the world and has also worked with ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants and others....
, Robert King
Robert King (conductor)
Robert King is an English conductor and harpsichordist. As a youth, he was a member of the Choir of St John's College, Cambridge...
, Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh
Paul McCreesh is an English conductor.Paul McCreesh is founder and artistic director of the Gabrieli Consort & Players, with whom he has established himself at the highest level in the period instrument field; he is recognised for his authoritative and innovative performances on the concert...
, Nicholas McGegan
Nicholas McGegan
Nicholas McGegan OBE is a British harpsichordist, flautist, conductor and early music expert....
, Roger Norrington
Roger Norrington
Sir Roger Arthur Carver Norrington, CBE is a British conductor. He is the son of Sir Arthur Norrington and his brother is Humphrey Thomas Norrington....
, Christophe Rousset
Christophe Rousset
Christophe Rousset is a French harpsichordist and conductor, specializing in the performance of baroque music on period instruments.-Biography:...
, Jos van Veldhoven
Jos van Veldhoven
Jos van Veldhoven is a Dutch choral conductor. He studied musicology at the Rijksuniversiteit of Utrecht, and choral and orchestral conducting at the Royal Conservatory, the Hague. He has been artistic director of De Nederlandse Bachvereniging since 1983...
, Dominique Veillard and Roland Wilson. He took part in the project of Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman
Ton Koopman is a conductor, organist and harpsichordist.Koopman had a "classical education" and then studied the organ , harpsichord and musicology in Amsterdam...
and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir
The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir is a Dutch early-music group based in Amsterdam.The Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir was created in two stages by the conductor, organist and harpsichordist Ton Koopman. He founded the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra in 1979 and the Amsterdam Baroque Choir in...
to record the complete vocal works of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
. His regular solo partners include cemballist Markus Märkl and the virtuoso lutenist Edin Karamazov
Edin Karamazov
Edin Karamazov is a renowned Bosnian musician-lutenist . He studied lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis....
. Ensembles with whom he performs include the Netherlands Bach Choir, Cantus Coelln, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a British period instrument orchestra. The OAE is a resident orchestra of the Southbank Centre, London, associate orchestra at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and has its headquarters at Kings Place...
, Musica Antiqua Köln
Musica Antiqua Köln
Musica Antiqua Köln was an early music group that was founded in 1973 by Reinhard Goebel and fellow students from the Conservatory of Music in Cologne. Musica Antiqua Köln devoted itself largely to the performance of the music of the 17th and 18th centuries...
, the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin
Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin is a German chamber orchestra founded in East Berlin in 1982...
, the Freiburger Barockorchester
Freiburger Barockorchester
Freiburger Barockorchester is a German orchestra founded in 1987, with the mission statement: "to enliven the world of baroque music with new sounds"...
, the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
Australian Brandenburg Orchestra
The Australian Brandenburg Orchestra is an Australian period instrument orchestra specialising in the performance of baroque and classical music.The musicians play from original edition scores on restored or reproduced instruments of the 18th century...
and Accademia Bizantina.
The composer Marco Rosano has created a new Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater
Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Roman Catholic hymn to Mary. It has been variously attributed to the Franciscan Jacopone da Todi and to Innocent III...
for Andreas Scholl; he sang the first complete performance of this work on 22 February 2008 at the City Recital Hall
City Recital Hall
City Recital Hall, or City Recital Hall Angel Place, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is a purpose-built concert venue with the capacity for 1,238 guests seated over three tiers of sloped seating...
, Angel Place, Sydney, accompanied by the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra under Paul Dyer.
Popular music
Scholl has always written songs as well as music for ballet and theatre and has his own professional sound studio in BaselBasel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, Switzerland. His White as Lilies, based on ideas of John Dowland
John Dowland
John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...
, is on the 1995 CD The Countertenors (with Dominique Visse
Dominique Visse
Dominique Visse is a French countertenor and founder of the Ensemble Clément Janequin. Visse devotes himself to performing of secular and religious music of the Renaissance. He is principally known for his interpretations of the Parisian chansons.He was a chorister in the Cathedral of Notre Dame...
and Pascal Bertin). It was a hit in Korea when used in a TV commercial and was later released there in an orchestrated version. In December 2003, he gave his first public performance in popular music, an eclectic programme of electronic and orchestral works which included his own compositions. Alongside Andreas Scholl was fellow Baroque countertenor, Roland Kunz, who specialises in setting Elizabethan English poems to his own electronic music. The two countertenors duetted in Scholl's and Kunz's songs, backed by Kunz's band die Unerlösten and the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
under Rick Stengårds.
Recordings
The bulk of Scholl's recording career has been with Harmonia MundiHarmonia Mundi
Harmonia Mundi is an independent music record label founded in 1958 by Bernard Coutaz in Arles . The Latin phrase means "world harmony"....
and Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
. By 1998 his CDs dominated Harmonia Mundi's hit list at numbers one, three, four, five and ten, and they are still among Harmonia Mundi's best sellers. His discography amounts to more than sixty CDs, all but two being music of the European Baroque or Renaissance. Recordings in which he has collaborated, including all but one of his solo recordings, have won awards. His personal accolades include the Diapason d'Or, multiple Gramophone Award
Gramophone Award
The Gramophone Awards are one of the most significant honours bestowed on recordings in the classical record industry, often referred to as the Oscars for classical music. The winners are selected annually by critics for the Gramophone magazine and various members of the industry, including...
s, 10 de Repertoire, ffff Telerama and Choc du Mond de la Musique, the ECHO award and Prix de l'Union de la Presse Musicale Belge. In an extremely rare departure from its normally austere approach, Fanfare magazine described his recording of Dowland's
John Dowland
John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...
A Musicall Banquet as 'perfect'. The recording of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's St John Passion conducted by Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe
Philippe Herreweghe is a Flemish conductor.In his school years at the University of Ghent, Herreweghe combined studies in medical science and psychiatry with a musical education at the Ghent Conservatory, where Marcel Gazelle, Yehudi Menuhin's accompanist, was his piano teacher...
on which Andreas Scholl sings was nominated for a Cannes Classical Award in 2003. He was Germany's Kultur Radio Artist of the Year in 1998. He has revealed, to German audiences in particular, some little-known masterworks of German Baroque composers and has thereby made a significant contribution to the modern rediscovery of the Baroque repertoire. His 2001 album of folk songs, Wayfaring Stranger, was a personal project, well-received by the CD-buying public but not universally acclaimed by his fellow musicians, some of whom regarded it as an inappropriate departure.
External links
- Andreas Scholl Website
- The Andreas Scholl Society not-for-profit independent site with future concerts, past performances, extended biography, full discography, list of all recorded tracks indexed by composer, photo archive, early music links, index of world countertenors, audio samples, message board
- Andreas Scholl Harrison Parrott artist management
- Andreas Scholl DeccaDecca RecordsDecca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
2011 - Andreas Scholl laphil.com 2011
- Scholl's MySpace page with audio clips from his own studio.
- Andreas Scholl sings from Mozart's MitridateMitridate, re di PontoMitridate, re di Ponto , K. 87 , is an early opera seria in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by Vittorio Amadeo Cigna-Santi after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine....
- Germany special: The Rhine Valley Interview with Andreas Scholl by Kieran Falconer, The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 9 April 2006 - Andreas Scholl' Dan Shorer, "on-line meetings at U-Sophia, where minds meet on-line"