Markus Schäfer (Tenor)

Born: June 13, 1961 - Andernach/Rhein, Germany

The German tenor, Markus Schäfer, studied with Marga Plachner, Armand McLane and Evelyn Dalberg.

Following his attendance at the Opera Studio in Zürich, Markus Schäfer's first professional engagement was at the Opernhaus Zürich in 1985. Since then guest appearances have take Markus Schäfer to many a prestigious musical location – the Salzburger Festpiele, the Rossini Festival in Pesaro, La Fenice in Venice, Liceo in Barcelona and the State Opera on Munich, to name but a few. He has undertaken principal roles in various operas by Mozart, Monteverdi, Alessandro Scarlatti, Johann Adolf Hasse and Rolle. He worked closely with René Jacobs and the Concerto Köln at the Berlin State Opera Unter den Linden, on Cosi fan tutte, and Krösus by Reinhard Keiser.

Markus Schäfer has often toured and recorded with the Baroque ensemble La Petite Bande (Sigiswald Kuijken) works such as Cosi Fan tutte, Don Giovanni and Mozart’s Requiem. At the moment (2000) he is playing Tamino in Harry Kupfer’s production of Die Zauberflöte at the Berlin Comic Opera.

Highlights of Markus Schäfer's concert career have been recording of the St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) with Gustav Leonhardt (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi/BMG) and the recording of J.S. Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) with the Windsbacher Knabenchor for television and CD. In 1997 he sang the Evangelist in J.S. Bach’s St John Passion (BWV 245) under the direction of Karl-Friedrich Beringer during Bachwoche Ansbach.

As a singer of Lieder, Markus Schäfer has performed Schubert, Schumann and Wolff together with Hartmut Höll at the Wolf-Gesellschaft in Stuttgart and also in the Lincoln Center, New York. The Heimkehr – taken from Heinrich Heine’s Reisebilder (series of travel poems) and set to music by Vesque von Püttlingen (1803-1883) – was released by Signum, featuring Markus Schäfer and Christian de Bruyn.

Source: Liner notes to Rondeau CD ROP-2007 (Cantatas BWV 34, BWV 93 & BWV 100, conducted by Beringer, 2000)
Contributed by Aryeh Oron (April 2001)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Hansjörg Albrecht

Tenor

BWV 201

Rolf Beck

Tenor

BWV 248

Karl Friedrich Beringer

BWV 34, BWV 93, BWV 100, BWV 232, BWV 243, BWV 244 (Excerpts), BWV 245, BWV 248

Christian Brembeck

Tenor

BWV 232

Frans Brüggen

Tenor

BWV 245 [2^nd - Evangelist]

Michel Corboz

Tenor

BWV 232

Nikolaus Harnoncourt

Tenor

BWV 244

Gustav Leonhardt

Tenor

BWV 27, BWV 30a, BWV 34, BWV 41, BWV 207, BWV 244

Hermann Max

Tenor

BWV 195

Johannes Moesus

Tenor

BWV 244

Helmut Müller-Brühl

Tenor

BWV 55, BWV 160, BWV 189, BWV 232, BWV 244

Helmuth Rilling

Tenor

BWV 215

Peter Schreier

Tenor

BWV 245

Christoph Spering

Tenor

BWV 244

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