Christian Gerhaher sings Schubert’s “Schwanengesang”

“I can’t listen to Schubert, write emails on the side and think I can understand the beauty of this music.” For Christian Gerhaher, music has something existential: “Music by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert,” he says, “is no less a pleasure than music by the Velvet Underground or The Cure. It deals with death, loss and loneliness, with the absence of ideal perfection, with problematic states of mind and deficits. Music often creates the shock that makes you long for consolation in the first place – and then, wonderfully, it provides it itself.” International critics agree that no other baritone combines existential profundity and vocal beauty better than the Bavarian-born singer, with his beguiling mixture of rich depth and captivating head notes. Gerhaher, who is a frequent guest at Berliner Philharmoniker Foundation concerts and was the orchestra’s Artist in Residence in the 2013/14 season, is of course one of the most sought-after singers in his field – on the opera stage, in the concert hall and above all as an interpreter of lieder. He has had a close artistic partnership with the pianist Gerold Huber, his long-time accompanist, since his school days. This year, the two artists will be awarded the German Record Critics’ Annual Award for their unique collaboration.

Gerold Huber is one of the most sought-after lieder accompanists of our day, - thanks to his ability to make the piano part “superiorly subtle” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) and to optimally support singers. He regularly appears at international festivals and in concert halls such as the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and the Wigmore Hall in London. The musician, who trained in Munich and Berlin, has been part of a regular lieder duo with the baritone Christian Gerhaher since their school days together: as early as 1998, both received the Prix International Pro Musicis, which was followed by many other awards, most recently the German Record Critics’ Annual Award. Gerold Huber has also given chamber concerts with the Artemis and Henschel Quartets, with trumpeter Reinhold Friedrich and cellist Maximilian Hornung. Gerold Hubert can also be heard in solo programmes, where he focuses primarily on the works of Bach, Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms. In addition to two solo albums with works by Beethoven and Schumann, there are numerous outstanding recordings with Christian Gerhaher. In addition to his concert activities, Gerold Huber holds master classes at the University of Yale, the Aldeburgh Festival and the Schwetzingen Festival. Since 2013 he has been professor of lieder accompaniment at Würzburg University of Music.