SCHAFER, MARKUS (b 1961 )

The tenor Markus Schäfer studied singing and church music in Karlsruhe and Düsseldorf and was prize-winner in the Berlin Singing Competition and in the Milan Caruso Competition. In 1984/85 he worked with the Zurich Opera Studio, with a contract at the Zurich Opera in the latter year. From 1987 to 1993 he was a member of the Düsseldorf/Duisburg Opera of the Rhine, and since then has worked free-lance, appearing in major opera houses and festivals in a wide repertoire, with oratorio and Lieder performances in Vienna, New York, Cologne, and Frankfurt, among other places, and participation in the Ansbach Bach Week and the Wallonia Festival. The recording of Dittersdorf’s oratorio Job, in which Markus Schäfer took the title rôle, was awarded the German Record Critics’ Prize, and that of Bach’s St Matthew Passion under Nicolaus Harnoncourt, in which he participated, was awarded a Grammy as the best choral performance. He has given Lieder recitals and made recordings, and won particular success for the première of Mörike settings by Wolfgang Rihm at the Stuttgart Hugo Wolf Academy in 2004. His recordings include Lieder by Reger and Karg-Elert.

Albums featuring this artist are available for download from ClassicsOnline.com
BACH, J.S. / HOFFMANN / TELEMANN: Alto and Tenor Cantatas, BWV 35, 55, 160, 189	8.557615
BACH, J.S.: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232	8.550585-86
BACH, J.S.: Mass in B Minor, BWV 232	8.557448-49
BACH, J.S.: St. Matthew Passion	8.557617-19
BACH, J.S.: St. Matthew Passion (Matthaus-Passion)	8.551240-42
ROLLE, J.H.: Thirza and her Sons [Opera]	C10868-69
SCHUBERT, F.: Lied Edition 32 - Part Songs, Vol. 1	8.570961
SCHUBERT, F.: Lied Edition 33 - Part Songs, Vol. 2	8.570962
SCHUBERT, F.: Lied Edition 34 - Part Songs, Vol. 3	8.572110
SCHUBERT: Lied Edition 25 - Romantic Poets, Vol. 2	8.557831