Andreas Scholl
Andreas Scholl is one of the world's best-known exponents of the countertenor voice -- of male singing in the alto range. He focuses on Baroque operatic and concert works, but later in his career, he has also recorded a wide variety of music from beyond that period, some of it not originally written for a countertenor at all.
Scholl was born on November 10, 1967, in Eltville, on the Rhine River, in what was then West Germany. He grew up in nearby Kiedrich, where his father was a boychoir conductor. Andreas and two siblings sang in the choir, and as a child, he had a solo at a choral festival in Rome and met Pope John Paul II. When his voice changed, he realized he could still sing the soprano parts to which he was accustomed. A vocal coach spotted a countertenor in the making, and Scholl began listening to records by early countertenors such as Alfred Deller and James Bowman. He sang in a rock band as a teenager but settled on early music and, in 1987, enrolled at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, Switzerland. He studied with René Jacobs and Richard Levitt, and as his program approached its end in 1993, he was recommended by the ailing Jacobs as a replacement for an appearance at the Théâtre de Grévin in Paris. That appearance proved to be a classic example of a substitute slot that launched a brilliant career. Scholl earned rave reviews, then joined Jacobs on a live broadcast of Bach's St. John Passion, BWV 245. On the train home that night, Scholl met conductor William Christie, who had heard the broadcast; Christie invited Scholl to sing the alto part in his upcoming recording of Handel's Messiah, HWV 56, with his ensemble Les Arts Florissants. In 1994, Scholl made his recording debut on the Naïve label with an album of Bach cantatas featuring the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges directed by Christophe Coin.
From there, Scholl's career expanded rapidly. In the beginning, he sang concert works, appearing with a variety of Europe's leading historical performance ensembles. In 1998, he sang the role of Bertarido in Handel's opera Rodelinda, HWV 19, and since then, he has excelled in both operatic and concert appearances. He appeared in Rodelinda at the Metropolitan Opera in 2006, opposite Renée Fleming, returning there in 2011. In 2008, he appeared at Avery Fisher Hall with the New York Philharmonic in Handel's Messiah. He has collaborated with most of the leading early music conductors in Germany, France, and Britain, including John Eliot Gardiner, Christophe Rousset, and Konrad Junghänel.
Scholl's recording career has been especially notable for its depth and variety; he has been associated mostly with the Harmonia Mundi, Naïve, and Decca labels. In 2007, he moved to Sony BMG for his album Andreas Scholl Goes Pop, on which he explored his interest in electronics, pop songwriting of his own, and popular music generally. In addition to his Baroque specialties, he has recorded such novelties as the music of medieval German poet and singer Oswald von Wolkenstein; Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms on the 2012 album Wanderer; and, with his pianist wife Tamar Halperin, 20th century song on the 2019 album Twilight People. By that time, Scholl was as close to superstar status as a countertenor can be, and his career showed few signs of slowing. He moved to the Aparte label in the early 2020s, recording several albums there, including one mostly devoted to music by 20th century composer Leo Brouwer. He returned to Naïve in 2024 for the album Invocazioni Mariane, featuring sacred music from 18th century Naples.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Invocazioni Mariane
Andreas Scholl, Alessandro Tampieri, Accademia Bizantina
Classical - Released by Naive on Mar 8, 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Arvo Pärt: Stabat Mater & Other Works
Morphing Chamber Orchestra, Aleksandra Kurzak, Andreas Scholl, Roberto Alagna, Tomasz Wabnic
Minimal Music - Released by Aparté on Oct 28, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Frantisek Tuma (Motets, Dixit Dominus, Sinfonia)
Andreas Scholl, Czech Ensemble Baroque, Roman Válek
Classical - Released by Aparté on Nov 10, 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Stabat Mater
Chiara Banchini, Ensemble 415, Andreas Scholl
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Jun 1, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Deutsche Barocklieder (Andreas Scholl)
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Jul 31, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
O Solitude
Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach - Brouwer: Canciones
Andreas Scholl, Edin Karamazov
Duets - Released by Aparté on Nov 5, 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Twilight People
Andreas Scholl, Tamar Halperin
Classical - Released by BMG Rights Management GmbH on Nov 15, 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Pergolesi : Stabat Mater - Salve Regina in F minor - Salve Regina in A minor
Barbara Bonney, Andreas Scholl, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Nov 15, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Crystal Tears (John Dowland et ses contemporains) (Andreas Scholl)
Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Released by harmonia mundi on May 22, 2008
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Andreas Scholl: The Voice
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Dec 29, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
English Folksongs & Lute Songs (Andreas Scholl)
Classical - Released by harmonia mundi on Aug 23, 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Stabat Mater, Gloria & Other Works (Live)
Bach Consort Wien, Andreas Scholl, Hanna Herfurtner, Rubén Dubrovsky, Joowon Chung, Salzburg Bach Choir
Classical - Released by Gramola Records on Mar 5, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wanderer
Andreas Scholl, Tamar Halperin
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Vivaldi: Nisi Dominus; Concerto for Strings & Continuo in F etc.
Andreas Scholl, Australian Brandenburg Orchestra, Paul Dyer
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Andreas Scholl
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Andreas Scholl - Bach Cantatas
Andreas Scholl, Kammerorchester Basel, Julia Schröder
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Oct 10, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Andreas Scholl - Heroes
Andreas Scholl, Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment, Roger Norrington
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Family Songbook (Deluxe Version)
Andreas Scholl, Tamar Halperin
Classical - Released by Berlin Classics on Nov 2, 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
O Solitude
Andreas Scholl, Accademia Bizantina, Stefano Montanari
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on Jan 1, 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo