Angelika Kirchschlager, Mezzo-soprano
Born in Salzburg, renowned mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager is today one of the leading artists in her field world-wide, equally at home in opera and concert. She is internationally acclaimed as one of the world’s leading Mozart singers, but her interpretation of Octavian in Richard Strauss’ “Rosenkavalier” or the title role in Nicholas Maw’s opera “Sophie’s Choice” were also received with great enthusiasm. In June 2007, she was awarded the title “Kammersängerin” at the Vienna State Opera.
Ms Kirchschlager currently lives in Vienna; her large repertoire includes works by Bach, Brahms, Korngold, Mahler, Rossini, Schubert, Schumann, Weill and Wolf. Her regular accompanists are Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Helmut Deutsch as well as violinist Jury Bashmet. Some of the most important conductors she has worked with include Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Donald Runnicles and Sir Simon Rattle. She has sung at many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including La Scala Milan, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the Vienna and Munich State Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Salle Pleyel and the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Boston Symphony Hall and the Barbican Centre in London.
Angela Kirschlager records exclusively for Sony Classical. Her successful collaboration with the label started with her debut recording of songs by Alma Mahler, Gustav Mahler and Erich Korngold. In March 1999, her second album was released under the title “When Night Falls”, featuring a selection of evening songs and lullabies, which won the Echo Classic Prize as “Best Lied-Recording of the Year” (in 2000). In 2002, her first CD with an all-baroque repertoire was released. Together with the Venice Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Andrea Marcon, she recorded “Vergnügte Ruh” (‘Gay Repose’), which won the Quarter of the Year Award of the German Record Review. In 2004, she recorded “First Encounter” together with Barbara Bonney, featuring duets by Schumann, Brahms and Dvorák. This CD was also awarded the Echo Classic Prize (in 2005). That year, Ms Kirchschlager also participated in the recording of “The Secret of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto” with Jan Vogler and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This was followed in 2006 by an album with Handel arias with the Kammerorchester Basel under the baton of Laurence Cummings. In 2007, the operetta-CD “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” was released which she recorded together with British baritone Simon Keenlyside and the Austrian Tonkünstler Orchester under Alfred Eschwé, as well as a CD with Christmas songs. In 2009, she recorded songs by Hugo Wolf; and her most current project features songs by Robert Schumann.
Ms Kirchschlager currently lives in Vienna; her large repertoire includes works by Bach, Brahms, Korngold, Mahler, Rossini, Schubert, Schumann, Weill and Wolf. Her regular accompanists are Jean-Yves Thibaudet and Helmut Deutsch as well as violinist Jury Bashmet. Some of the most important conductors she has worked with include Riccardo Muti, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado, Sir Colin Davis, James Levine, Kurt Masur, Kent Nagano, Donald Runnicles and Sir Simon Rattle. She has sung at many of the world’s most prestigious venues, including La Scala Milan, the Metropolitan Opera New York, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the Vienna and Munich State Opera, the San Francisco Opera, the Salle Pleyel and the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Boston Symphony Hall and the Barbican Centre in London.
Angela Kirschlager records exclusively for Sony Classical. Her successful collaboration with the label started with her debut recording of songs by Alma Mahler, Gustav Mahler and Erich Korngold. In March 1999, her second album was released under the title “When Night Falls”, featuring a selection of evening songs and lullabies, which won the Echo Classic Prize as “Best Lied-Recording of the Year” (in 2000). In 2002, her first CD with an all-baroque repertoire was released. Together with the Venice Baroque Orchestra under the baton of Andrea Marcon, she recorded “Vergnügte Ruh” (‘Gay Repose’), which won the Quarter of the Year Award of the German Record Review. In 2004, she recorded “First Encounter” together with Barbara Bonney, featuring duets by Schumann, Brahms and Dvorák. This CD was also awarded the Echo Classic Prize (in 2005). That year, Ms Kirchschlager also participated in the recording of “The Secret of Dvorák’s Cello Concerto” with Jan Vogler and the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. This was followed in 2006 by an album with Handel arias with the Kammerorchester Basel under the baton of Laurence Cummings. In 2007, the operetta-CD “Dein ist mein ganzes Herz” was released which she recorded together with British baritone Simon Keenlyside and the Austrian Tonkünstler Orchester under Alfred Eschwé, as well as a CD with Christmas songs. In 2009, she recorded songs by Hugo Wolf; and her most current project features songs by Robert Schumann.