Christian Gerhaher, the best interpreter of ‘lied’ today, sings Brahms' most lyrical pieces at Les Arts

'Les Arts és Lied' 

• Gerold Huber, with whom he forms the leading duo in the genre, accompanies Gerhaher on his return to the Main Hall of Les Arts.
• The baritone's vocal technique and exquisite sensitivity make his performances essential viewing for lovers of 'lied'.

Valencia (13.12.22). German baritone Christian Gerhaher, considered the best lieder singer of our time, will inaugurate the 'Les Arts és Lied' cycle this Saturday, December 17, at 7:00 p.m. with a selection of the most lyrical pieces written by Johannes Brahms.

He is accompanied, on his return to the Main Hall, by pianist Gerold Huber, with whom he forms one of the most celebrated tandems of this genre and with whom he has visited the most prestigious concert halls, in addition to making reference recordings of 'Lieder' by Mahler, Schubert and Schumann.

For this new visit to Les Arts, Gerhaher proposes a program dedicated entirely to Johannes Brahms, in a suggestive selection from the more than 200 'Lieder' that the German composer left written and in which, through the word, the voice and the piano, he evokes joy, optimism, but also nostalgia, loss or renunciation.

In total, Gerhaher will perform 27 Brahms songs, including some of his most beloved works, such as the 'Vier ernste Gesänge' ('Four Serious Songs') on biblical texts, composed a year before his death.

Les Arts reminds those interested that tickets for the series range in price from 20 to 40 euros. For more information, please visit the Les Arts website. 

'Les Arts és Lied'

Les Arts maintains its commitment to the 'lied' for another year with a new edition of this cycle, which each season brings together the best voices in the current lyric scene to perform the most select composers of this genre, as well as making room for other sister musical genres such as the French 'mélodie', the English 'art song' or other types of songs in Spanish, Italian or Russian.

In addition to Christian Gerhaher's performance, the 2022-2023 season includes recitals by Marina Rebeka on February 4, who returns to Les Arts a year after her acclaimed debut in the role of Cio Cio San in 'Madama Butterfly'; Andrè Schuen on April 1, and Marianne Crebassa on May 7.

Christian Gerhaher

The German baritone Christian Gerhaher is one of the most prestigious lieder singers of our time. He studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich and attended masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Inge Borkh. During his more than thirty years of award-winning concert and recording career, alongside his regular pianist Gerold Huber, he has performed in venues such as the New York Philharmonie, the Concertgebouw and Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, the Cologne and Berlin Philharmonies, the Cité de la Musique in Paris, the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, and Wigmore Hall in London.

Christian Gerhaher has collaborated with conductors of the caliber of Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Herbert Blomstedt, Bernard Haitink, Christian Thielemann, Kirill Petrenko, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Pierre Boulez, Daniel Barenboim, Andris Nelsons, Kent Nagano, and Mariss Jansons, in concerts at the world's leading concert halls. He receives invitations from prestigious ensembles such as the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, and, in particular, the Berlin Philharmonic—where he was the first-ever resident singer—as well as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

As an opera performer, Gerhaher has played the roles of Posa in 'Don Carlo', Amfortas in 'Parsifal', Lenau in Holliger's 'Lunea', Eisenstein in 'Die Fledermaus', Figaro and Almaviva in 'Le nozze di Figaro' and, above all, Wolfram in 'Tannhäuser' (Berlin, London, Munich and Vienna), in addition to the protagonists in 'Don Giovanni', 'Pelléas et Mélisande', 'Wozzeck', 'Simon Boccanegra' or 'Der Prinz von Homburg' by Henze.

He records exclusively for Sony Music. Accompanied by Gerold Huber, he has recorded cycles of Mahler, Schubert, and Schumann. His most recent project is the complete Schumann songs, of which the albums 'Frage' (winner of the Gramophone and Opus Klassik awards) and 'Myrthen' have already been released.