Christian Gerhaher studied medicine and singing and completed his training with masterclasses by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Inge Borkh. During his studies, he formed a close partnership with pianist Gerold Huber. For more than 30 years, the duo has set standards in song interpretation. Collaborations with conductors such as Daniel Barenboim, Herbert Blomstedt, Bernard Haitink, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Mariss Jansons, Andris Nelsons, Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Simon Rattle, and Christian Thielemann have taken him to orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic. He is a regular guest at festivals in Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg, the Rheingau Music Festival, and the BBC Proms. His most important opera roles include Wolfram (Tannhäuser), Posa (Don Carlo), Germont (La traviata), Il Conte di Almaviva (Le nozze di Figaro), Orfeo, Don Giovanni, Simon Boccanegra, Pelléas, Henze’s Prinz von Homburg, and Lenau in Holliger’s Lunea. His portrayal of Wozzeck at the Zurich Opera House is considered a milestone. Together with Gerold Huber, he has released song cycles by Schubert and Mahler. Their recording Robert Schumann: Alle Lieder was awarded an OPUS Klassik in 2022. Most recently, he released Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde in the piano version as well as his first book, Lyrisches Tagebuch, a compendium on song interpretation. Christian Gerhaher is a professor of song interpretation at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich and teaches at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
7. February 2018
In a concert on the Studiobühne, the world-famous baritone Christian Gerhaher introduces himself to the audience. Gerhaher plays the lead role in Holliger's new opera Lunea, which deals with the fascinating romantic poet Nikolaus Lenau. Accompanied by his well-known piano partner Gerold Huber, he sings Robert Schumann's Lieder op. 90 on poems by Nikolaus Lenau, and then talks about his artistic work in an interview with Claus Spahn.