Angelika Kirchschlager

Austrian mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager enjoys an international career dividing her time between recitals and opera in Europe, North America and the Far East. She is internationally recognized as one of the foremost interpreters of Richard Strauss and Mozart. In title roles of operas such as Debussy Pelleas et Melisande, Maw Sophie’s Choice and Britten The rape of Lucretia she shows the vast variety of her voice. As a celebrated recitalist and concert performer her repertoire ranges from Bach, Berlioz, Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Korngold, Mahler, Mendelssohn and Ravel to Rossini, Schubert, Schumann, Weill and Wolf.

In 2007 the Austrian government awarded Angelika the title of Kammersängerin for her outstanding contributions to the Vienna State Opera. In 2009 she became an Honorary Member of the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2013 she won the BBC Music Magazine Award for her recording of Liszt and received the prestigious European Cultural Award for her contributions to classical music on stage and as a teacher keeping the fascination of classical music alive for the younger generation.

Recent engagements have included Clairon in Strauss Capriccio at the Theater an der Wien, performances of Bach Christmas Oratorio at the Philharmonie am Gasteig, Munich and the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with the Bach Collegium München and Hansjörg Albrecht, a concert tour to the Trancoso Festival, Brazil with the Camerata Bern and recitals for Oxford Lieder and London’s Wigmore Hall in the UK, at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht and Amsterdam’s Muziekgebouw and at the Wiener Staatsoper.

Highlights of the 2018/19 season include Mrs Lovett Sweeney Todd for Opernhaus Zurich; Mrs Muskat in Johanna Doderer’s Liliom for Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz Munich; a performance of Winterreise at the Wiener Staatsoper with Julius Drake and other major European recital dates including the Opernhaus Zurich.

Recordings include an album of Liszt accompanied by Julius Drake (Hyperion), a Lieder CD (Preiser Records) and Seligkeit featuring Schubert, Mahler and Brahms with the Philharmonia Schrammeln (Deutsche Grammophon). In 2010 she released the ECHO Award winning recording of Schumann Lieder (Sony), Mahler Lieder (Quinton Records) for the composer’s 150th birthday, a Brahms album (Hyperion Records) and a CD of Lieder by Joseph Marx (cpo). In addition, she is part of a two volume CD of Volkslieder (Sony). Her discography further includes Lieder by Hugo Wolf (Sony), an Operetta album (Sony) recorded with Simon Keenlyside, an album of Christmas carols, Händel Arias and the duet lieder album First Encounter with Barbara Bonney, Women’s Lives and Loves (lieder by Schumann and Loewe with Dame Felicity Lott) on Hyperion, Le Nozze di Figaro (René Jacobs, conductor) on Harmonia Mundi as well as the Sony releases of Bach Arias, When night falls a collection of classical and popular lullabies and her highly acclaimed debut album of Lieder by Alma Mahler, Gustav Mahler and Erich Korngold.

DVD releases include Sesto in the highly-acclaimed Glyndebourne production of Handel Giulio Cesare (Opus Arte); Cherubino in Le Nozze di Figaro (René Jacobs, conductor) for Bel Air; Octavian in Der Rosenkavalier from the Salzburg Festival (Semyon Bychkov, conductor) on TDK and Sophie in the Royal Opera House release of Sophie’s Choice. She has won three ECHO KLASSIK awards as well as a GRAMMY Award.

Born in Salzburg, Angelika enrolled at the Vienna Music Academy in 1984 where she studied voice with Professor Gerhard Kahry and the late Viennese baritone Walter Berry. Today she teaches at international master classes. She makes her home in Vienna.