Benjamin Appl, Baritone

Biography

German baritone Benjamin Appl is equally at home with opera, concert and recital repertoire, most recently appearing at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin with the Staatskapelle Berlin in Eötvös’s Tri Sestri.  He is a member of Yehudi Menuhin’s Live Music Now program and is a recipient of awards from the German National Academic Foundation and the Wagner Society. A pupil of Edith Wiens at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Munich, he also has the good fortune to be mentored by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.

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In July 2011, Benjamin Appl made his acclaimed debut at the Berlin State Opera ‘Unter den Linden’ singing Baron Tusenbach in Peter Eötvös’s Tri sestri, followed by his debut as King in Orff’s Die Kluge at the Carl-Orff Festival Andechs, Germany, later that month. In August 2012, he will make his debut with the Rheingau Musik Festival, singing Wolf’s Italian Song Book.

The lyric baritone received his first musical training with the famous Regensburger Domspatzen. He finished his studies with Edith Wiens as well as in Helmut  Deutsch’s lied class at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Munich as well as at the Bayerische Theaterakademie August Everding in 2010. In 2010/2011 he deepens his studies at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama with Rudolf Piernay. During master classes, Benjamin Appl refined his training with Brigitte Fassbaender, Christian Gerhaher, Margreet Honig, Malcolm Martineau and Peter Schreier. Benjamin Appl also has the great fortune to be mentored by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau In 2002, Benjamin Appl was awarded a Special Prize by the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation „for his outstanding interpretation of a 20th Century’s Work“, he won a Dieter-Ullrich-Music-Promotion in Munich as well as a scholarship by the Richard-Wagner-Association. In 2003, he was a prize winner of the Bundeswettbewerb „Jugend musiziert“. Since 2007, Benjamin Appl holds a scholarship by the ‘Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes’ and, since 2008, he is promoted by the Yehudi-Menuhin-Foundation „Live Music Now“.

As a soloist Benjamin Appl has performed with ensembles, such as the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Arsatius Consort, Bach-Collegium Stuttgart, Bach Collegium Zurich and the „Ensemble aperto“ of the International Bach Days Halle. Benjamin Appl was soloist in a service held by Pope Benedikt XVI. in Regensburg on the occasion of his apostolic visit to Bavaria in 2006, broadcasted live worldwide.

Benjamin Appl has sung at festivals such as the Bachwoche Stuttgart, Internationale Sommerakademie Salzburg, Europäisches Musikfest Stuttgart, Internationale Haller

Bachtage and at the Zurich Bachtage. In 2010, he made his US debut at the Ravinia

Festival, performed Handel’s Messiah in Paris, Handel‘s Samson in Augsburg and sang Mahler‘s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen on a tour of Germany. Benjamin Appl also took part in the opening concert of the 2010 Days of Early Music Regensburg.

The recitalist Benjamin Appl works closely with pianists Marcelo Amaral and Jonathan Ware. In 2010, he was accepted by Graham Johnson for his “Young Songmakers’ Almanac”. In 2011, he won a scholarship of the Samling Program in the UK, made his debut at the Heidelberger Frühling International Festival with Beethoven’s An die ferne Geliebte and with the Berlin Philharmonic singing lieder by Mahler. Chamber music he performed together with clarinetist Ulf Rodenhäuser and cellist Wen-Sinn Yang.

The lyric baritone has performed Ernesto in Haydn’s Il mondo della luna in Augsburg, Minister in Strauß’ Wiener Blut at Munich’s Prinzregententheater, Papageno in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Dr. Falke in Strauß’ Die Fledermaus in Munich and Regensburg and Ottokar in Weber’s Der Freischütz in Munich. In 2009, he sang the role of Schaunard in Puccini’s La bohème with the Munich Rundfunkorchester under the baton of Ulf Schirmer. In 2010, Benjamin Appl sang Baron Tusendorf in Eötvös’s Tri sestri “with a highly lyrical baritone“ [Opernwelt, April 2010], conducted by Ulf Schirmer. He has worked with producers such as Rosamund Gilmore, Peter Konwitschny and Balázs Kovalik.

A CD recording for Oehms Classics as well as many live broadcasted concerts document Benjamin Appl‘s artistic skills.

(from artistainternational.com)