His lyric tenor voice had a youthful glow, yet he sang with plaintive beauty and piercing insight. The New York Times
Precise vocal control, clear diction, intelligent musicality and an ability to get to the heart of everything he sings all ensure Christoph Prégardien’s place among the world’s foremost lyric tenors. Especially revered as a Lieder singer, he kicks off the 2020/2021 season together with pianist Julius Drake at the Chopin and his Europe Festival, before the pair give joint recitals in the Boulez Saal Berlin and at Schubertiade Schwarzenberg in spring 2021. Additional appearances include concerts with Michael Gees in Madrid as well as with Stefan Litwin at the Schwetzinger SWR Festival. Also, he performs several times with piano trio accompaniment, first, with the Oberon Trio, followed by recitals with Franziska Hölscher, Jens-Peter Maintz and Daniel Heide at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, amongst others. In the beginning of 2021, a special «father&son» project together with his son Julian Prégardien, pianist Lars Vogt, Orchestre de chambre de Paris and choreographer Thieû Nang was presented at Philharmonie de Paris, broadcasted by ARTE Concert. Further highlights of the two-generation-duo include performances in the Théâtre Royal de La Monnaie Brussels and, together with Anima Eterna, in the Kölner Philharmonie.
Christoph Prégardien regularly appears with renowned orchestras the world over. He has worked with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, as well as the Boston and San Francisco Symphonies, along with conductors such as Barenboim, Metzmacher, and Thielemann. His wide orchestral repertoire includes the great baroque, classical, and Romantic oratorios and passions, as well as works from the 17th and 20th centuries. In opera, his roles have included, among others, Tamino, Almaviva, Fenton (Falstaff), Don Ottavio, Titus, Ulisse, and Idomeneo.
His extensive experience singing the Evangelist roles, together with his close working relationship with conductors such as Nagano, Chailly, Herreweghe, Harnoncourt, Luisi, and Gardiner have provided the perfect base for his increasing dedication to conducting the works of Bach. Following the success of his conducting debut in 2012, leading Le Concert Lorrain and the Nederlands Kammerkoor, he meanwhile regularly conducts renowned ensembles like the Balthasar-Neumann Choir, Dresdner Kammerchor and the Collegium Vocale Gent. In the spring 2021 he will conduct the Antwerpren Symphony Orchestra and Vlaams Radiokoor performing Bach’s St John’s Passion.
The singer has recorded much of his repertoire on a discography of over 150 records, which have received awards such as the Orphée d’Or of the Académie du Disque Lyrique, the Edison Award, the Cannes Classical Award and the Diapason d’Or. For the label Challenge Classics he has recorded Schubert’s Schwanengesang with Andreas Staier and Die schöne Müllerin with Michael Gees – selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine and awarded the MIDEM Record of the Year – followed by Hugo Wolf’s Italienisches Liederbuch with Julia Kleiter, Between Life and Death, Wanderer and the Grammy-nominated Winterreise disc – all with Michael Gees – as well as Father and Son with his son Julian Prégardien. His Schubert CD Poetisches Tagebuch (with Julius Drake) was awarded the German Critics’ Award 2016. His most recent releases include a recording of passion cantatas by Telemann and Bach with the Vox Orchester for Sony (where he appears as a baritone for the first time), along with Schumann's Dichterliebe and Wagner's Wesendonck Lieder with Michael Gees, released by Challenge in autumn 2019.
Teaching remains an important part of Christoph Prégardien’s musical life. Following many years at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich, he gives masterclasses for young singers the world over and since 2004 has been a professor at the Academy of Music in Cologne.
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