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 2021/2022 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 frequently at Schubertiade Schwarzenberg/Hohenems. Additional appearances include concerts with Michael Gees at the Oxford Lieder Festival, with Stefan Litwin at the Schwetzinger SWR Festival, with Magnus Svensson at Konserthuset Stockholm, with Roger Vignoles in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and in Hong Kong, as well as with the Oberon Trio at Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Together with Ensemble Pentaèdre and Quatuor Arthur-LeBlanc, he will be on tour in North America come spring of 2022, performing Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin arranged for woodwinds and strings by Denis Plante. Further, he will be part of Beethoven’s Missa solemnis performed by Duisburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Christoph Spering, and present special father & son programmes together with his son Julian Prégardien in collaboration with Würth Philharmonic orchestra conducted by Alondra de la Parra, as well as in a recital at Schwetzingen SWR Festival with Michael Gees.
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, alongside 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 currently regularly conducts renowned ensembles like Balthasar-Neumann Choir, Dresdner Kammerchor, and the Collegium Vocale Gent. In the spring 2022 he will conduct the Basel Chamber Orchestra and RIAS Kammerchor performing Bach’s St John’s Passion in Lucerne and Basel.
The singer has recorded much of his repertoire on a discography of over 150 albums, 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, which was selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine and awarded the MIDEM Record of the Year. Shortly thereafter followed recordings of 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. With pianist Christoph Schnackertz, he released a recording of Paderewski, Moniuszko, and Duparc songs in collaboration with the Warsaw Chopin Institute.
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 worldwide and since 2004 has been a professor at the Academy of Music in Cologne.
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