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The German bass-baritone (and former boy alto), Christian Immler, performed, as the alto soloist in the boy’s choir Tölzer Knabenchor, under conductors James Levine, Herbert von Karajan, von Dohnanyi, Chailly, Wolfgang Sawallisch and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. He was trained with Rudolf Piernay on the Opera Course at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, where he took part in the Young Songmakers’ Almanac with Graham Johnson. He was a Junior Fellow at the Royal College of Music in 2001-2002. He was a prize-winner in 1990 and 1992 of the Bundesgesangswettbewerb Berlin VDMK. In 1999 he won the Schubert Prize 1999, and in 2001 he won First Prize at the prestigious inaugural Concours Internationale Nadia et Lili Boulanger in Paris. He holds a Masters degree in Musicology from Royal Holloway College, University of London.
As an adult singer, Christian Immler has worked as a soloist with major orchestras and conductors all over the world including Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Daniel Harding), Les Arts Florissants (William Christie) at the BBC Proms, Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (Helmuth Rilling), Lucerne Symphony Orchestra (John Axelrod), Orchestre de Paris (Marc Soustrot), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (Osmo Vänskä, Manchester Camerata (Nicholas Kraemer), Hamburger Syphoniker (Mattias Janz), MDR Rundfunk Orchester (Howard Arman), Balears Simfonica Orchestra, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra (Leon Botstein), Israel Chamber Orchestra (John Nelson and Christoph Spering), Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid (José de Eusebio), Prague Philharmonia (Kaspar Zehnder), and the London Mozart Players.
Operatic work continues to be a very important part of Christian Immler's repertoire and he will sing Förster in Das Schlaue Füchslein for the Wiener Kammeroper in Autumn 2007. His recent operatic projects have included Ubalde in Armide by Gluck at New Israeli Opera, the title role in The Weather Man by Paul Clarke/John Binias for Opera North, Testo in Il Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda by Monteverdi and Father in Die Sieben Todsünden by Weill for Lautten Compagney at Opera Potsdam, David & Jonathas by Charpentier and Le Roi in Lully’s Thésée for Les Arts Florissants, Béatrice et Bénédict by Berlioz at Opéra Comique, Harlequin in Ariadne auf Naxos by Strauss for the Orchestre de Picardie and Melisso in Alcina at the Händel-Festspiele, Halle.
Christian Immler is also an experienced recitalist. He has made his debut at the Wigmore Hall as part of the “Continental Britons” series, the Purcell Room, the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House, St. John’s Smith Square and the Royal Festival Hall in London, the Frick Collection in New York, the Salon d’Honneur in Paris, Opera Lille, the Jewish Museum in Vienna (under the auspices of the Wiener Festwochen), Pollok House in Glasgow, and The Crucible in Sheffield as part of the Music In The Round concert series.
During the 2001-2002 season Christian Immler gave the first in a series of recitals (at the Purcell Room) entitled Thwarted Voices. A further recital with similar material took place at the Wigmore Hall in June. In 2002 he has worked with Osmö Vanska and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in a concert including Nielsen’s S3 recorded by BIS. He has worked extensively in Germany and France including with Françoise Pollet at the Festival du Haut Limousin and given his debut at the Salon d’honneur in Paris and at the Royal Festival Hall as part of the London Pilharmonic Orchestra’s Mahler Festival. Future engagements include a Purcell Room recital, his debut at the Wienerfestwochen 2003, a tour of Israel with the Israel Camerata and a recital tour of South Africa.
Performances and recordings in previous seasons include Benda’s Romeo und Julie (Opera Bremen); Händel's Apollo und Daphne (Jerusalem, Music Festival); J.S. Bach's St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) and Cantatas (Ulmer and Wiesbaden Bach-Festival); Charpentier’s la Descente d’Orphée aux Enfers and Tippett’s/Bowen’s The Tempest (Spitalfields Festival, London); the role of Le Roi in J.B. Lully’s Thésée (concerts and recordings in Lyon, Paris, Brussels and the London); the role of Mackie Messer in Weill/Brecht's Threepenny Opera (Caracas); the role of Melisso in Händel's Alcina (Händel-Festspiele Halle); W.Boyce's Ode for St. Cecilia’s Day (Hanover Band at Brighton Festival); and J.S. Bach's Magnificat (BWV 243) (St John’s Smith Square). In January 2000, Christian gave his Purcell Room debut during the Park Lane Group New Years Series with A. Reimann’s Shine and Dark and G. Poole’s 5 Brecht Lieder. He recently toured Europe with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Bremen with Daniel Harding and Ian Bostridge.
2006 was a busy year for Christian Immler and included performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) at the Gulbenkian in Lisbon conducted by Michel Corboz, the B-Minor Mass (BWV 232) for the Israel Chamber Orchestra, Kurt Weill’s Berliner Requiem at the Lucerne Festival, several performances of the Messiah with the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne, Mozart and Schubert arias with the Orchestre de Picardie and St. John Passion (BWV 245) for the Oxford Bach Choir and the London Handel Society.Concert highlights so far in 2007 have included Pilate/bass solos St. John Passion (BWV 245) for Collegium Vocale Gent, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe, in London, Bruges and the Lincoln Center in New York, Haydn’s The Seasons with Orchestre de Picardie, Haydn’s Creation with the New Haifa Symphony Orchestra and the Fauré Requiem with the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne.
Future plans include Pharnaces Der König Kandaules by Zemlinsky at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Mahler Songs with the Orchestre de Pays de Savoie, Schubert Orchestral Songs with the Ensemble de Basse-Normandie and performances of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with the Ensemble Vocal de Lausanne.
His recordings include cantatas by Stölzel, as well as the “Continental Britons” on Nimbus, both released in 2004 to wide critical acclaim and Albeniz’ Henry Clifford with the Orquesta Sinfonica de Madrid for Decca. As a treble soloist, he recorded Bach cantatas and J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass (BWV 232) with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and Andrew Parrott. |
