Matthias Goerne
In concert, opera, on recordings and most notably in recital, Matthias Goerne has received worldwide praise for his warm, fluid baritone and his profound artistry in the interpretation of lieder.
The 2003/04 season began for Mr. Goerne at the Salzburg Festival with his warmly received performance in the world premier of Hans Werner Henze's opera “The Hoopoe, and the Triumph of Filial Love.” (''L'Upupa''). North American engagements include orchestral appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; recitals of Beethoven and Schubert lieder with Alexander Schmalcz in Santa Barbara and at the Kennedy Center; recitals of Schumann and Mahler lieder in Philadelphia and New York with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano; and Schubert's “ Winterreise ” with Alfred Brendel in Los Angeles.
In concert, opera, on recordings and most notably in recital, Matthias Goerne has received worldwide praise for his warm, fluid baritone and his profound artistry in the interpretation of lieder.
The 2003/04 season began for Mr. Goerne at the Salzburg Festival with his warmly received performance in the world premier of Hans Werner Henze's opera “The Hoopoe, and the Triumph of Filial Love.” (''L'Upupa''). North American engagements include orchestral appearances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra and the Los Angeles Philharmonic; recitals of Beethoven and Schubert lieder with Alexander Schmalcz in Santa Barbara and at the Kennedy Center; recitals of Schumann and Mahler lieder in Philadelphia and New York with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano; and Schubert's “ Winterreise ” with Alfred Brendel in Los Angeles.
H
ighlights of the 2002/03 season included three appearances in San Francisco's Herbst Theater with Schubert's Winterreise, Schwanengesang and Die Schöne Müllerin ; and several performances of songs from Das Knaben Wunderhorn with the Toronto Symphony led by Manfred Honeck. Mr. Goerne made an outstanding debut at Covent Garden in Keith Warner's new production of Wozzeck, and during the summer returned to Tanglewood for two Schubert recitals and masterclasses in German lieder.
In recent seasons Mr. Goerne has performed at the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals with pianists Christoph Eschenbach and Alfred Brendel. He has appeared with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, National Symphony, the Minnesota Orchestra in Mahler songs for a week of subscription concerts, and on tour with Ricardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra with stops in Toronto and at New York's Avery Fisher Hall.
Following his New York debut in 1996 at the Frick Collection, Mr. Goerne has returned regularly to New York for recitals in Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall, where he performed Schubert's Winterreise and Schwanengesang with Alfred Brendel to great acclaim in 1999. Mr. Goerne has appeared with Vladimir Ashkenazy in Berlin, Sir Roger Norrington and the LPO in London, and with the Vienna Philharmonic, the Berlin Philharmonic and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. Recent engagements in Europe include recitals with pianist Andreas Haefliger at Wigmore Hall and the Queen Elizabeth Hall, with Alfred Brendel in Belfast and Berlin, and performances in Bath, Milan, Munich, and Cologne.
In opera, Matthias Goerne was an outstanding success in the Cologne Opera production of Hans Werner Henze's The Prince of Homburg (1992) in which he played the title role both there and at the Opera House in Zurich. In the spring of 1993 he sang the role of Marcello in La Bohème at Berlin's Komische Oper, and during the next two seasons was a member of the Dresden Opera. The 1996/97 season saw the role of Wolfram in a concert performance of Tannhaüser in Cologne, and in December 1997 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut as Papageno in The Magic Flute , a role he had portrayed in 1997 and 1998 at the Salzburg Festival. His 1999 performances of the title role in Wozzeck in Zurich earned him the h ighest international accolades.
Mr. Goerne's discography includes a highly praised recording of Schubert lieder with pianist Andreas Haefliger and a Schumann recording with Vladimir Ashkenazy for London/Decca which received Germany's Schallpalattenkritik Prize. His Schubert disc with Andreas Haefliger received the Diapaison d'Or in France and the Echo Klassik Award from the German Phonographic Academy in 1997. Also for London/Decca, he has recorded Hanns Eisler's Das Hollywood Leiderbuch, a Schumann disc with pianist Eric Schneider, Bach cantatas with Sir Roger Norrington, the world premiere recording of Walter Braunfels' opera Die Vögel , Franz Schrecker's Die Gezeichneten , and the Deutsche Sinfonie of Hanns Eisler. Additional releases include opera arias with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Manfred Honeck and Hugo Wolf's Orchesterlieder with Ricardo Chailly and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. For Hyperion Records, he has recorded Schubert works including Winterreise with pianist Graham Johnson, and for Teldec, Bach's Saint Matthew Passion with Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
Matthias Goerne grew up in Weimar and began his singing career as a member of the children's choir of the Civic Opera. He began serious voice study in 1985 with Hans Meyer in Leipzig, and continued with master artists Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. He was recently named an honorary member of the Royal Academy in London, and appointed Professor of Lied Interpretation at the Robert Schumann Academy in Düsseldorf.
September 2003
