Goerne, Matthias

Goerne, Matthias, admired German baritone; b. Weimar, March 31, 1967. He sang in the children’s choir of the Chemnitz Civic Opera before pursuing vocal studies with Hans Joachim Beyer in Leipzig (1985-91), Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin (1988-93), and Schwarzkopf in Zurich (1989-91). In 1987 he began his career as a soloist with orchs. and as a recitalist in Germany. Following an engagement as Lazarus in the St. Matthew Passion with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orch. under Masur’s direction in 1990, he appeared with many major orchs. In 1992 he made his operatic debut in the title role of Henze’s Der Prinz von Homburg in Cologne. From 1993 to 1995 he sang at the Dresden State Opera. In 1994 he made his London recital debut at Wigmore Hall. He made his U.S. debut as a soloist as Christus in the St. John Passion with the Philadelphia Orch. under Killing’s direction in 1996, the same year he made his N.Y. recital debut at the Frick Collection. In 1997 he made his first appearance at the Salzburg Festival as Papageno. In 1998 he sang in recitals at the Edinburgh Festival and at N.Y’s Alice Tully Hall, and on Dec. 14th of that year he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Papageno. He sang Die Winterreise and Schwanengesang with Brendel as his accompanist at N.Y’s Carnegie Hall in 1999, the same year he portrayed Wozzeck at the Zurich Opera. In addition to his es-teemed interpretations of Schubert’s lieder, Goerne has also won critical accolades for his Schumann, Wolf, and Mahler.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire