Who is andreas scholl

He appeared with the vocal ensemble Profeti della Quinta and lutenist Edin Karamazov. Scholl's major operatic roles were written for the 18th-century alto castrato Senesino. They include his debut at Glyndebourne in , performing the part of Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda opposite Anna Caterina Antonacci in the title role, repeated in and Rodelinda was a huge success and Scholl "stopped the show" according to the Sunday Times.

James Bowman , who describes himself as an unqualified admirer, reported that "people went into a kind of trance" when he sang Dove Sei. The Financial Times said of his Vivi tiranno: "such intelligent virtuosity The bulk of Scholl's recording career has been with Harmonia Mundi and Decca. By 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. In an extremely rare departure from its normally austere approach, Fanfare magazine described his recording of Dowland's A Musicall Banquet as "perfect". 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 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 from his more classical work.

Martin, Idstein. Scholl performed the title role of Handel's Solomon at The Proms. He gave recitals in Wigmore Hall and at the Brighton Festival. Scholl has always composed songs, as well as music for ballet and theatre, and has his own professional sound studio in Basel, Switzerland. It was a hit in Korea when used in a TV commercial and was later released there in an orchestrated version.

In December , he gave his first public performance in popular music, an eclectic programme of electronic and orchestral works which included his own compositions. Alongside Scholl was fellow Baroque countertenor, Roland Kunz, who specialises in setting Elizabethan English poems to his own electronic music.

In he collaborated with Idan Raichel in his album Quarter to Six. He was born in near Wiesbaden into a Roman Catholic family and still considers himself a Catholic, though, with a twinkly smile, he confesses that his thinking is at times unorthodox. Aged seven, he began singing in a local boys' choir, remaining with them until he was I didn't even know what a countertenor was, until my teacher played me tapes of Paul Esswood and James Bowman.

That was how I got in touch with the idea. Before that, however, two things intervened. He was called up for a year's military service - compulsory in Germany at the time - and, having "no idea what I would do with my life", he decided to try his hand at pop music. They flopped," he laughs, "but pop music is still my hobby. I've got my own recording studio. I'm thinking about a pop CD for Decca. Students are taught in small groups or receive one-to-one tuition.

Scholl found it by turns strenuous and revelatory. He equates it with scientific rationalism and distrusts it. The Schola Cantorum is old fashioned - but it's the best place to study Baroque music. It's a luxury. Do I sing to become rich, to become famous? Do I sing to entertain?

He is referring to a lateth century group of aristocratic, free-thinking musical intellectuals, whose experimentation with the relationship between music and text led to the creation of the first operas. These, with their mythic subject matter and Orphic spirituality, effectively formed the first alternative culture, challenging the hegemony of organised religion.

Music is there to support the words. This p erformance w as broadcast on Good Friday to a radio audience which included William Christie. A little later, Christie met Scholl on a train between Caen and Paris and gave Scholl his card, saying: 'Get in touch with me. It was widely acclaimed and Andreas Scholl's professional career was under way.

In , he sang it in Bach's own church of St Thomas in Leipzig. In London, on 10th September , Andreas Scholl sang at The Last Night of the Proms , the closing concert of the world's biggest classical music festival or, as he described it in an interview, 'the biggest classical event on the planet'.

Until then, no countertenor had ever been invited to sing at this event. Its worldwide audience through TV, radio and the internet has been estimated at million and most critics agreed that 'Scholl stole the show'. Andreas Scholl's recording career has been phenomenal, first with Sony Music and a number of smaller labels and then with Harmonia Mundi. By 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.

Now recording giant Decca scooped him up. 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. In an extremely rare departure from its normally austere approach, Fanfare magazine described his recording of Dowland's A Musicall Banquet as 'perfect'.

His recording Arias for Senesino , entered the UK classical charts at number one in the week it was released. In , Andreas Scholl returned to Harmonia Mundi, with a non-exclusive contract which will allow him to pursue his various musical interests.

Click here for details of Andreas Scholl's latest releases. Click here to check Andreas Scholl's full discography , including some of those planned. Click here to see a catalogue of all Andreas Scholl's recordings, indexed track by track and by composer.

In popular music, he works with rock countertenor Roland Kunz. He says: 'There are no style police who will fine you if you sing Schubert songs as a countertenor but, for me personally, I made the decision that first of all I'm a countertenor, and I studied in a school that specialised in mediaeval to late Baroque music so I know best how to perform that kind of music. Scholl describes Handel's writing for alto as the most singable of all Baroque music and Sir John Tavener calls Handel 'the greatest humanist composer of all time'.

Scholl's musical and humane-religious sensitivity match perfectly both the content and range of the great alto works of Bach and Handel. He has revealed, to German audiences in particular, some little-known masterworks of the German Baroque composers whose music he sang as a child, and has thereby made a significant contribution to the modern rediscovery of the Baroque repertoire as a whole.

He has been invited to sing the role of Oberon in Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream but considers this too big a challenge at this stage of his career. His album of folksongs, Wayfaring Stranger , was a very personal project, well-received by the CD-buying public but not universally acclaimed by his fellow musicians, some of whom who regarded it as an inappropriate departure. Bach is the composer whose work Andreas Scholl finds both the most difficult and the most rewarding.

He has a deep appreciation of the spiritual content of Bach's religious work and the rhetorical intention of the composer. Unlike some Baroque composers, Bach 'wrote all the notes' for the singer and yet, Scholl says, the depth and complexity of the music carrying the text is such that ' He says that when Bach writes for this voice, the part carries the core of the message of the whole piece, such as in the Erbarme Dich of the St Matthew Passion , recorded with Philippe Herrweghe, where the appeal of the broken soul to Christ is one of simple, unqualified contrition: the singer must deliver it with the simplest, most intense feeling.

He makes a similar point about Es ist vollbracht , in the St John Passion , which he describes as the moment of the pivotal question in the whole drama: the witness must now decide whether he believes that the moment of Christ's death is in fact the moment in which his own salvation is accomplished.

In his student years, performance was a fairly casual, friendly business. When early professional opportunities offered, Andreas Scholl had to battle to overcome his acute natural shyness.

Even so, performance has priority over recording for Scholl. He speaks enthusiastically of spending time with an audience and is remarkably unstarry, even to the extent, occasionally, of seeming to find applause embarrassing. He enjoys oratorio and other ensemble work as much as solo recital. He is in constant demand in every continent. Andreas Scholl refuses to describe himself as an opera singer but rather as a singer who does opera.

Not anxious to make an early start on a career in opera theatre, his only major roles to date have been Bertarido in Handel's Rodelinda Glyndebourne, , , and the title role in Handel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto in the Royal Danish Opera production of , which he had already sung in a platform performance at the London Proms.

He was reluctant to accept the Rodelinda offer at first, but Richard Levitt persuaded him to do it. It was a huge success and he 'stopped the show' Sunday Times.

According to James Bowman, who describes himself as 'an unqualified admirer of Andreas', people 'went into a kind of trance' when he sang Dove Sei? The Financial Times said of his Vivi tiranno: ' Since , critics and audiences have commented on his increasingly commanding stage presence. His immensely affecting characterisation together with his ability easily to fill the relatively large Paris theatre-space with his voice, whether singing piano or fortissimo, were widely noted as the measure of his development in opera since his debut.

After Paris, he remarked that he finally felt happy to tackle the greatest castrato roles. Having now also performed Giulio Cesare , he hopes, eventually, to tackle all seventeen of the starring roles created by Handel for the great castrato Francesco Bernardi, better known as Senesino.

In , Andreas Scholl again impressed both audiences and critics as Bertarido, this time in New York, and he is currently working on other Handel hero roles.

Andreas Scholl teaches interpretation in the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis , succeeding his own teacher, Richard Levitt.

He is in much demand for masterclasses. Andreas Scholl has always written songs as well as music for ballet and theatre. He has a professional sound studio in his home. It was a huge hit in Korea when used in a TV commercial and was later released there in an orchestrated version. Andreas Scholl intends to release a CD in this genre. In December , Andreas Scholl gave his first public performance in popular music in an eclectic programme of electronic and orchestral works which included four of his own compositions.

His All beauty must die brought the house down. Alongside Andreas Scholl was fellow Baroque countertenor, Roland Kunz , who specialises in setting Elizabethan English poems to his own electronic music.

Click here to read about this project. Andreas Scholl doesn't practise scales much, preferring just to keep on singing one thinks of pianist Andras Schiff and this means constant work.

He occasionally goes back to his teacher to ensure that no bad habits have crept in. Each new aria takes about a month's work, a couple of hours every day, to perfect. After that, with the slog behind him, he tries not to work too hard 'on the night', simply enjoying singing. Sometimes the effort required is greater than usual and sometimes, he says, he cannot account for the audience's reaction. There are times when he feels he gives a near-perfect performance but without much response.

At other times his performance is below the standard he hoped to reach yet the audience is delighted.