Angelika Kirchschlager
November 24, 1965 - Salzburg (Austria)
About
Today, Austrian mezzo-soprano Angelika Kirchschlager enjoys an international career as one of the most requested vocal artists before the public today. She is equally celebrated for her performances in opera, recital and concert be it in Europe, North America and the Far East. She is recognized as one of the foremost Mozart interpreters.
However, Ms. Kirchschlager is, perhaps, most identified with the role of Octavian in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. Other key operas in her repertory include Offenbach’s Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Johann Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Debussy’s Pelleas et Melisande. Her vast song and concert repertory encompass the works of Bach, Berlioz, Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Korngold, Mahler, Mendelssohn and Ravel to Rossini, Schubert, Schumann, Weill and Wolf. For her outstanding contributions to the Vienna State Opera, her home theater, the Austrian government awarded Ms. Kirchschlager the title of Kammersängerin in June 2007. Prior to the start of the 2007-08 season, Ms. Kirchschlager toured with the Basel Chamber Orchestra, performed Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder at the Salzburg Festival and appeared in concerts and recitals in Spain and Italy. At the start of the new season recitals of Schubert and Schumann bring the Austrian mezzo-soprano to the Lucerne Festival and at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Austria. Thereafter, she tours to Germany, France, Italy and Switzerland with the Camerata Bern.
Recent audio releases include Handel Arias and First Encounter with Barbara Bonney on Sony BMG; Women’s Lives and Loves with Dame Felicity Lott on Hyperion; and Le Nozze di Figaro (René Jacobs, conductor) on Harmonia Mundi. On DVD Ms. Kirchschlager can be seen as Sesto in the highly-acclaimed Glyndebourne production of Handel’s Giulio Cesare (William Christie, conductor) on Opus Arte; as Cherubino on Le Nozze di Figaro (René Jacobs, conductor) on and as Octavian in from the Salzburg Festival (Semyon Bychkov, conductor) on TDK. Additionally, her Sony BMG discography includes releases Bach arias, a collection of classical and popular lullabies and a highly acclaimed album of Lieder by Alma Mahler, Gustav Mahler and Erich Korngold.
Born in Salzburg, Angelika Kirchschlager studied piano at the Mozarteum. Upon graduation from the "Musisches Gymnasium" in Salzburg, she enrolled at the Vienna Music Academy in 1984 where, in addition to studying voice with Professor Gerhard Kahry and the late Viennese baritone Walter Berry, she also studied percussion. Today, Ms. Kirchschlager is a professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. She makes her home in Vienna.