The great conductors
Ihave had the extraordinary privilege and honor of collaborating with some of the most outstanding conductors of my time. My musical journey began under the patronage of Wolfgang Sawallisch and Sir Georg Solti, who were not only my first patrons but also formative figures in my career.
I traveled with Wolfgang Sawallisch to countries such as Japan and America. In his role as chief conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo and the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra in Philadelphia, he chose me, Herbert Lippert, the young tenor, for lyrical concert roles such as Joseph Haydn's "The Creation" and "The Seasons", as well as for important Mozart works such as the Requiem in D minor. Particularly noteworthy is our collaboration on Mendelssohn Bartholdy's "Elijah", with which I accompanied him worldwide. As General Director of the Bavarian State Opera, he also used me in outstanding roles such as the "Steuermann" in "Der fliegende Holländer" and the "Jüngling" in "Die Frau ohne Schatten", and took me to the great stages of the world, including Munich and Tokyo.
A deep and personal connection developed between me and Sir Georg Solti, which was reflected in a father-son relationship. Together with my opera colleague and friend René Pape, we became his favorite singers in a variety of productions. This partnership brought me the greatest recognition of my career - a Grammy Award for the best portrayal of "David" in our joint recording of Richard Wagner's "Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg" with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
The collaboration with Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the Vienna Musikverein, intimate concerts with Nikolaus Harnoncourt and the Concentus Musicus as well as the Arnold Schoenberg Choir, the recording of my first solo CD with Leopold Hager and the Munich Radio Orchestra, experiencing the music of Gustav Mahler with Franz Welser-Möst and the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, the rediscovery of Anton Bruckner with Herbert Blomstedt and the NDR Symphony Orchestra, exploring Italian music with Giuseppe Sinopoli and the Orchestra Santa Cecilia in Rome, immersing myself in the masterpieces of Viennese classical music with Carlo Maria Giulini and the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and exploring the work of Franz Schmidt with Fabio Luisi and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra - all these experiences have enriched my career and my musical understanding in invaluable ways.
I had the good fortune and the honor to work with other great conductors of my time such as Thomas Ades, Niksa Bareza, Jiří Bělohlávek, Rudolf Bibl, Erich Binder, Michael Boder, Pierre Boulez, Semyon Bychkov, Nicholas Carter, Riccardo Chailly, Myung-Whun Chung, James Conlon, Dennis Russell Davies, Christoph von Dohnányi, Marc Elder, Christoph Eschenbach, Alfred Eschwé, Vladimir Fedoseyev, Gabriele Ferro, Adám Fischer, Iván Fischer, Mikko Franck, Helmut Froschauer, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Daniele Gatti, Michael Gielen, Wolfgang Gönnenwein, Sascha Goetzel, Ennoch zu Guttenberg, Michael Güttler, Hartmut Haenchen, Michael Halász, Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe, Michael Hofstetter, Heinz Holliger, Heinz Hollreiser, Christopher Hogwood, Marek Janowski, Mariss Jansons, Graeme Jenkins, Michail Jurowski, Carlos Kalmar, Bernhard Klee, Peter Keuschnig, Berislav Klobučar, Patrick Lange, Alain Lombard, Charles Mackerras, Susanna Mälkki, Sir Neville Marriner, Ernst Märzendorfer, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Cornelius Meister, Ingo Metzmacher, Kent Nagano, Günter Neuhold, Gianandrea Noseda, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Seiji Ozawa, Antonio Pappano, Roberto Paternostro, Trevor Pinnock, Gerrit Prießnitz, Sir Simon Rattle, Julius Rudel, Helmuth Rilling, Donald Runnicles, Ulf Schirmer, Peter Schneider, Michael Schønwandt, Stefan Soltesz, Horst Stein, Pinchas Steinberg, Jeffrey Tate, Ernst Theis, Christian Thielemann, Marcello Viotti, Hans Vonk, Sebastian Weigle, Ralf Weikert, Bruno Weil, Johannes Wildner, Simone Young, Lothar Zagrosek and Alberto Zedda.
I have a lifelong, personal and artistic friendship with many of you.
