Several years ago, while traveling in Europe, I caught Simon Rattle once again, in Brussels. By the time I arrived in Berlin, the only available concert at the Philharmonie was not with the orchestra, but a solo recital. A disappointing situation, but I went anyway, and it all turned out very well: Christian Gerhaher sang a remarkable recital, and I've been long waiting to hear him again — now it's happening. Gerhaher and accompanist Gerold Huber will open San Francisco Performances' 35th season on Sept. 30.
What I heard on the first live encounter with Gerhaher was:
By far the best musical experience of the week: Christian Gerhaher's all-Brahms recital in the Berlin Philharmonic's Kammermusiksaal, on March 27 [2008]. Supported by a true and grand accompanist, Gerold Huber, Gerhaher sang quietly (what acoustics that hall has!), consistently, clearly, beautifully, with impeccable diction, from the heart, without artifice or posing, investing all of himself in the music.
After that Berlin recital, I encountered the two again when I caught up with their previously published sublime Schubert lieder recording:
Add to Quasthoff, Hampson, Finley, Keenleyside, Goerne, Maltman, Brendel, Holzmaier, Berg, Hvorostovsky, Daniel, Croft, Kataja, Suaste, Moroz, Detwiler, Salters ... etc., Christian Gerhaher, whose Abendbilder, an RCA Red Seal CD of Schubert songs, which came out in 2006.With pianist Gerold Huber, Gerhaher performs lieder in a unique "crossover" way, sounding both lyrical and dramatic, indicating a clear ability to take on just about every possible role in opera.
Here's a group of Schubert lieder by Gerhaher and Huber, in Vienna a couple of years ago. In San Francisco, their program includes works by Beethoven ("An die ferne Geliebte"), Schoenberg (Buch der hängenden Gärten, Opus 15), Haydn, and Berg ("Fünf Lieder nach Ansichtskartentexten").
Gerhaher’s Sept. 30 performance precedes his engagement next month with the Berlin Philharmonic and Simon Rattle in Peter Sellars’ “ritualization” of Bach's St. Matthew’s Passion at the Park Avenue Armory, part of Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival in New York City. Gerhaher will return to San Francisco in February 2015 with Herbert Blomstedt in Brahms’ German Requiem for his debut with the San Francisco Symphony.
In SFP's Vocal Series:
Except for the last concert, in the S.F. Conservatory, all recitals take place in St. Mark's Lutheran Church.