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‘He sings beyond competition’: The press pays tribute to the great tenor Christoph Prégardien on the occasion of his 70th birthday, which he celebrated on 18 January 2026 at the Konzerthaus Dortmund.
In an interview with German music critic Eleonore Büning, Christoph Prégardien muses about empathy and stage fright, talk of a lieder crisis and the sins of concert promoters.
No panic – Christoph Prégardien, one of the leading tenors of our time, is still on tour as a soloist. However, considering the success of his St. John and St. Matthew Passions it is no surprise that the singer will increasingly be seen on the conductor’s podium.
Franz Schubert, selected songs
Gustav Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Christoph Prégardien, tenor
Yaara Tal, piano
Franz Liszt, selected songs
Robert Schumann, Liederkreis, Op. 24
Robert Schumann, Twelve poems by Justinus Kerner, Op. 35
Pauliina Tukiainen, piano
Lieder by Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann and Hugo Wolf
Michael Gees, piano
Franz Schubert, Schwanengesang D 957
Wolfgang Rihm, Das Rot
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 also regularly appears with renowned orchestras the world over. He has worked with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, 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 (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Fenton (Falstaff), Don Ottavio, Titus, Ulisse, and Idomeneo.
The current season begins with recitals at the Oxford International Song Festival, together with Yaara Taal in Munich, at Haus Marteau, in Monheim, and in Weiden as well as with Michael Gees in Marbach and Blaibach. In December, he returns to the Filharmonie Brno, where he most recently performed Handel’s Messiah, to sing songs from Mahler’s Des Knaben Wunderhorn under Dennis Russell Davies. This is followed in January by two trio concerts in Switzerland with violinist Leila Schayegh, featuring works by Beethoven and Schubert; the programme will also be presented at the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg in June. Further engagements include a recital at the Festival internacional de música de Bogotá and the closing concert and a masterclass at the Leeds Song Festival. He will also serve as a jury member at the Concours Reine Elisabeth and the Bachwettbewerb Leipzig. A major project of recent seasons has been Johannes Maria Staud’s Die schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days, combining Schubert’s cycle in a newly orchestrated version with seven new songs after texts by Emily Dickinson. Following the 2024 world premiere with Ensemble Kontraste, highly successful performances followed last season with Klangforum Wien (Klangspuren Schwaz and Vienna Konzerthaus) as well as with the Remix Ensemble in Porto.
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 this repertoire as well. Following the success of his conducting debut in 2012 leading Le Concert Lorrain and the Nederlands Kammerkoor, he now regularly conducts renowned ensembles like the Balthasar Neumann Choir, Dresdner Kammerchor, Collegium Vocale Gent, and RIAS Kammerchor. In 2024, he took to the podium for Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Vespres d’Arnadí and the Cor de Cambra del Palau in Barcelona, returning to the latter in 2025 for a tour of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Belgian ensemble Il Gardellino.
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 award. 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 one recorded in collaboration with the Warsaw Chopin Institute with pianist Christoph Schnackertz featuring songs by Paderewski, Moniuszko and Duparc, and a new recording of Schubert’s Schwanengesang and Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 39 (with Julius Drake). In 2023, the Etcetera label released an album of Bach cantatas recorded with Stephan Schultz and Le Concert Lorrain, featuring Christoph Prégardien as baritone.
Teaching remains an important part of Christoph Prégardien’s musical life. Following many years at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Zurich and a professorship at the Academy of Music in Cologne, he continues to give masterclasses for young singers around the world.
2026/27 season
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by the artist management.
Recitals
Schwanengesang with Michael Gees, pianoF. Schubert: Schwanengesang, D. 957 Wolfgang Rihm: Das Rot (Six Songs after texts by Karoline von Günderrrode)
Song and Lyrics with Julius Drake, pianoGoethe in settings by Schubert, Wolf, Beethoven, Liszt, Schumann et al.
Memory with Stefan Litwin, pianoSongs by F. Schubert, G. Mahler, H. Wolf, Ch. Ives, H. Eisler et al.
Chamber recital with piano trioLeila Schayegh, violin; Felix Knecht, cello; Olga Pashchenko, pianoL. v. Beethoven: various English songs; movements from Piano Trio No 5 in D, Op. 70 ("Geistertrio") and Piano Trio , Op. 97 ("Erzherzog-Trio")F. Schubert: Piano Trio No. 2 in E-flat Major D. 929, 2nd mvmt; songs by various poets (partly arranged for trio)
Winterreise with the Aris QuartettF. Schubert: Winterreise D. 911 (order of poems after Wilhelm Müller) Transpos of the printed quartett version
Details and further programmes on request.
father & son
Duo recitalJulian and Christoph Prégardien, tenorMichael Gees, pianoSongs by Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms et al.The full programme can be downloaded here.
Handel’s Heyday in London
Christoph Prégardien, tenorEnsemble La Centifolia, Leila Schayegh, violin and directionHandel’s heyday in London in one evening: the most beautiful and touching tenor arias from Tamerlano, Rodelinda, Samson and Jephtha, nestled in overtures and concerti grossi. The (earlier) Italian–profane and the (later) English–sacred contrast each other whilst the wide range of Handel’s oeuvre unfurls before the audience. The full programme can be downloaded here.
Die Schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days
Music by Franz Schubert (Text: Wilhelm Müller; arrangement for ensemble: Johannes Maria Staud)and Johannes Maria Staud (Text: Emily Dickinson)
Instrumentation of the song cycle with seven new Dickinson songs for tenor and large ensemble (2023/2024)
Please visit our project website for more information.
“Prégardien illuminated every mood with the finest nuances. […] in a delicate transitional passage, Prégardien manages to navigate his voice with perfect intonation, without strain or any audible change of register. And all this with flawless legato.”
General-Anzeiger Bonn, Bernhard Hartmann, 11 June 2026
“In […] Robert Schumann’s Liederkreis, [Christoph Prégardien] displays a radiantly bright, healthy tenor timbre and an effortless lightness with which he soars to delicate high notes. Full of inner feeling and touching naturalness. Not a single note sounds forced.”
Neue Ruhr Zeitung, Michael-Georg Müller, 9 June 2026
“Christoph Prégardien once again demonstrated the significance he has attained as a lyric tenor in the world of German art song. His vocal intelligence, grounded in superb technique, enables him, even at the age of 70, to deliver such thrilling performances.”
Fränkischer Tag, Martin Köhl, 20 May 2026
“Krufft can certainly hold his own in this field alongside Beethoven […] when he finds an advocate like Christoph Prégardien, who transforms a miniature with sparse piano accompaniment […] into a multi-layered composition – and does so with perfectly balanced vocal registers and a noble timbre.”
Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger, Richard Lorber, 3 February 2026
“The magnificent tenor Christoph Prégardien evokes all these facets of expression with consummate skill and sonority. The clarity and intensity of his lyrical diction are remarkable in the lullaby-like, gently swaying Danksagung an den Bach and in Der Neugierige.”
Der Standard, Ljubiša Tošić, 12 December 2025
“What Christoph Prégardien produced with his voice, perfectly controlled down to the finest detail and allied to his perfect enunciation of the text, was magnificent and touching.”
Das Opernmagazin, Marco Stücklin, 29 May 2025
“Christoph Prégardien’s voice is resonant across all registers and at all volumes. He immerses himself deeply in the works emotionally, for example in the ‘dolor’ from Handel’s opera Rodelinda. […] even in English and Italian, every word can be understood.”
Haller Tagblatt, Monika Everling, 17 May 2025
“Tenor Christoph Prégardien impressed with his expressively modulated, chamber-like performance and precise German pronunciation.”
Opera Plus, Emil Drápela, 13 December 2024
“the recital by two of the most important lieder experts of our time [Christoph Prégardien and Michael Gees] turned out to be a hardly quantifiable top class event. […] Both master not only the vocal and musical parameters, but also the aspect of programme design: the common thread that runs through a theme and deepens our experience.”
Passauer Neue Presse, Hans-Udo Kreuels, 25 November 2024
“Tenor Christoph Prégardien realised the narrative’s arc of suspense with extraordinarily precise vocal control and remarkably clear articulation.”
nmz, Luise Heiss, November 2024 – on the premiere of Die schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days (F. Schubert/Johannes Maria Staud)
“Christoph Prégardien’s tenor manages this balancing act with stupendous assurance. It is not least his voice that brings the disparate aspects of the two musical worlds together into a unity.”
Nürnberger Zeitung, Peter Löw, October 2024 – on the premiere of Die schöne Müllerin/These Fevered Days (F. Schubert/Johannes Maria Staud)
“Consummately sung and played […]. Prégardien’s intelligence as an interpreter is as sharply focused as ever, with the ability to make his audience hang on every word, totally immersed in the worlds he evokes.”
The Guardian, Andrew Clements, 4 July 2023
“Prégardien shows an enviable freshness; his voice has lost neither in tone nor in breath nor in the play between the forte and the pianissimi, always a wonderful timbre at the centre.”
Platea Magazine, Javier de Oliva, 25 August 2022 – on the recital with Julius Drake at Schubertiade Schwarzenberg in August 2022
“With Prégardien, one could once again admire the consistent comprehensibility of the text and the always convincing power of interpretation. Even if one has heard the well-known songs many times, he once again succeeded in building up great tension in Erlkönig, in making the Musensohn happily wander through ‘field and forest’ or in turning Ständchen into a touching love song. The quiet songs such as Die Mutter Erde, Wandrers Nachtlied II and Nacht und Träume were particularly impressive in terms of vocal quality.”
Der Opernfreund, Gerhard Eckels, June 2022
“Prégardien retains his essentially mellow sound, comfortable in the lower registers but still capable of the airy phrases and subtle dynamic gradations that have always characterised his singing. […] Above all, he always remains true to the concept of line. His clear diction allows him to narrate and illuminate the two dozen stories the songs here contain, without the self-dramatising fear-mongering that plagues some critically acclaimed representatives of lieder singing today. […] an auspicious start to Eisenlohr’s latest endeavor.”
Opera News Online, David Shengold, June 2022 – on Volume 1 of Brahms’ complete songs with Ulrich Eisenlohr
“The voice sounds almost youthfully fresh, effortlessly supple and lyrical in the intimate Lieder, on the other hand capable of powerful expressivity. […] Without pushing, Prégardien’s always cultivated tenor (which is by no means restrained by its beauty) can hold its own very well. […] He convinces with exemplary diction […]. At the same time, he stretches wonderful, almost endlessly long legato arches from bright tenor spheres into earthy baritonal depths.“
tagblatt.ch, Bettina Kugler, 1 May 2022
“A sublime evening that will be cherished for a long time“
Oregon Artswatch, James Bash, 9 March 2022 – on a Portland recital with Gloria Chien
“Christoph Prégardien […] still possesses a clear and flexible tenor, flawless diction, and an emotional expressiveness that shades from the contemplative to raw outbursts of joy and feeling. His intensity is just overwhelming.“
Crescendo Magazine, Jean Lacroix, 3 January 2020
“The performance was superb. Prégardien is one of today’s greatest Lieder singers, a consummate storyteller whose gestures and facial expressions aid in communicating the meaning and emotional content of the lyrics, and whose voice is fluidly expressive across its entire range, and especially beautiful on both top and bottom notes.“
ClassicalSource, David M. Rice, 22 October 2019
“Prégardien’s easeful articulation, his rich coloring, the diminuendos and light irony: superb!“
Tagesspiegel.de, Christiane Peitz, 17 September 2019 – on his recording of Robert Schumann’s Dichterliebe, Op. 48 with Michael Gees
“How well one can follow the train of thought through the interludes and stanzas, thanks to the wealth of detail with which he relates these little stories through song; art of the highest order.“
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Guido Holze, 8 February 2019 – on songs after Heine from Schwanengesang
“A beautifully imaginative disc […]. Prégardien floats a beautiful line, […] and Katsaris’ piano flows delicately […] his piano accompaniments take a strong character of their own, one which complements the singer and very much creates a discreet whole, even in the songs where the piano’s role is relatively straight forward.“
Planet Hugill, 20 November 2018 – on the CD “Auf den Flügeln des Gesanges. Romantic songs and piano transcriptions”
“This quite a superlative recording that meets the desires and wishes of any Baroquophile on the quest for excellence. […] The music simply washes over you with a purity and quality many seek to match.“
Early Music Review, David Bellinger, 3 June 2018 – on the album “Cantatas for Baritone” with Vox Orchestra (Sony)
“Both artists brought deep insight to their roles, combining beautifully in sound and spirit, and creating no end of poignant moments.“
New York Times, James R. Oestreich, 23 February 2018 – on Winterreise with Julius Drake
“His voice maintains its dark, almost baritone-like lower range, and a top that can float with the utmost delicacy in soft passages.“
Chicago Classical, John Y. Lawrence, 19 February 2018 – on the recital “Poetic Diary” with Julius Drake
“Prégardien’s artistry is streamlined, focused, essential: with beauty of tenor tone absolutely intact – he is 60 – diction impeccable, emotions of text and tone fused and explored to the last degree, he is the consummate Lieder singer. […] He brought splendour, agony and ecstasy to Mahler’s Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen first; bitterness, irony and a heady intelligence to Schumann’s Dichterliebe in the second half; and those Schubert Heine settings in between are still alive and reverberating with wonder and horror somewhere in my subconscious several days on. You want it darker? Try Schubert.“
jessicamusic.blogspot.de, Jessica Duchen, 18 November 2016
“The tenor is a storyteller who avoids mannerisms: no reverb, little vibrato, no preoccupation with nice sound. However, he is constantly audible, and he does not avoid risks. In the highest registers he also has an astonishing resilience, as demonstrated in the almost hummed encore Mondnacht. British accompanist Julius Drake showed a sensitive ear for detail. In the perlentränentröpfchen, the death coffin is nailed: they were all audible in the Steinway.“
De Volkskrant, 20 November 2015 – on the album “Poetisches Tagebuch“ (Challenge Classics, November 2015)
“Much of what Prégardien did was a revelation, with such immaculate diction and attention to each musical detail that the audience hung on every word. The four songs of Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, so often presented as expressions of youthful self-pity, became a genuinely dramatic scenario, the tragedy searingly convincing. […] This was Lieder singing of the very highest class“
The Guardian, Andrew Clements, 2 November 2015
Christoph Prégardien & Joseph Middleton: Schubert, Die schöne Müllerin – Leeds Song, 12 April 2025
Christoph Prégardien & Julius Drake: Schubert Lieder, August 2022
Christoph Prégardien & Trio Hölscher, Heide, Maintz: Beethoven folk song arrangements for piano trio, June 2022
British folk songs, arranged for voice and piano trio
Sunset, Op. 108/2Since Greybeards inform us, WoO 153/4Come, draw we round, WoO 152/8Again, my lyre, Op. 108/24Sally in our alley, Op. 108/25
Christoph Prégardien & Trio Hölscher, Heide, Maintz: Lieder by Schubert, June 2022
Der Musensohn (Goethe), D. 764Im Frühling (Schulze), D. 882Erlkönig (Goethe), D. 328Wandrers Nachtlied II (Goethe), D. 768*Fischerweise (Schlechta), D. 881*Ständchen (Rellstab), D. 957/4Die Mutter Erde (Stolberg), D. 788*Nacht und Träume (M. v. Collin), D. 827*
Christoph Prégardien & Ulrich Eisenlohr: Six Songs from Schubert’s Schwanengesang
Christoph Prégardien with the Oberon Trio @ Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele 2020
Schubert’s Winterreise with Julius Drake (piano)
Recorded by the ORF at Schubertiade (Angelika-Kauffmann-Saal Schwarzenberg, 22.6.2026)
Instrumentation of Franz Schubert’s song cycle with seven new songs after Emily Dickinson by Johannes Maria Staud for tenor and large ensemble (2023/2024)
Johannes Maria Staud orchestrated the original work for large ensemble and added seven new songs based on poems by Emily Dickinson. The commissioned composition, realised in collaboration with ensemble KONTRASTE, Casa da Musica Porto/Remix Ensemble, and Wiener Konzerthaus/Klangforum Wien, combines historical and contemporary languages. Christoph Prégardien’s performance brings Schubert’s settings into the present and creates a dialogue between the two poets: Dickinson’s laconic lyricism acts as a modern counterpoint, questioning the original cycle’s romanticised image of nature and – for the first time – lending the character of the “fair maid of the mill” her own voice.
Christoph Prégardien, Ulrich Eisenlohr
Naxos 8.574268, 2021
Christoph Prégardien, Julius Drake
The Fryderyk Chopin Institute NIFCCD 076, 2022
Christoph Prégardien, Michael Gees
Challenge Records CC 72788, 2019
Christoph Prégardien, Christoph Schnackertz
The Fryderyk Chopin Institute NIFCCD 070, 2019
Christoph, Prégardien, Kammerorchester Basel, Camerata Vocale Freiburg, Winfried Toll (conductor)
Solo Musica SM 328, 2019
Christoph Prégardien, Vox Orchester, Lorenzo Ghirlanda
deutsche harmonia mundi 19075834122, 2018
Christoph Prégardien, Cyprien Katsaris
Challenge Records CC 72787, 2018
Christoph Prégardien, Olivier Darbellay, Michael Gees
Challenge Records CC 72771, 2017
Challenge Records CC 72670, 2015
Christoph & Julian Prégardien, Michael Gees
Challenge Records CC 72645, 2014
Challenge Records CC 72596, 2013
Christoph Prégardien, Bochumer Symphoniker, Steven Sloane
cpo 777 675-2, 2013
Christoph Prégardien, Julia Kleiter, Hilko Dumno
Challenge Records CC 72378, 2010
Challenge Records CC 72324, 2009
Christoph Prégardien, Andreas Staier
Challenge Records CC 72302, 2008
Challenge Records CC 72292, 2008