Prégardien, Christoph

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Prégardien, Christoph

Prégardien, Christoph , German tenor; b. Limburg an der Lahn, Jan. 18, 1956. He gained experience as a member of the Cathedral boy’s choir and later the Cathedral choir in his native city. He studied voice with Martin Gründler at the Frankfurt am Main Hochschule für Musik (graduated, 1983) and with Carla Castellani in Milan. In 1978 he won the Federal Republic of Germany vocal competition in Berlin. He sang opera in Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Antwerp, Karlsruhe, Ghent, and other European cities, becoming well known for his roles in Baroque and Classical operas. As a concert and lieder artist, he appeared in major European music centers with notable success. In 1989 he gave a series of early music concerts in London, returning there in 1993 to make his Wigmore Hall recital debut. In 1997 he gave a London recital to mark the bicentenary of Schubert’s birth. Prégardien has won particular praise for his interpretations of works by Schütz, Bach, Handel, Buxtehude, Haydn, and Mozart.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire