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