Lines of life: Schubert & Kurtág Benjamin Appl, György Kurtág, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, James Baillieu

• György Kurtág (b. 1926): Circumdederunt:
• 1 Kurtág: Circumdederunt 01:41
• Franz Schubert (1797 - 1828): Ganymed, D. 544:
• 2 Schubert: Ganymed, D. 544 04:29
• György Kurtág: Das Angenehme dieser Welt…:
• 3 Kurtág: Das Angenehme dieser Welt… 00:56
• Franz Schubert: Totengräbers Heimweh, D. 842:
• 4 Schubert: Totengräbers Heimweh, D. 842 06:41
• György Kurtág: Nun versteh‘ ich…:
• 5 Kurtág: Nun versteh‘ ich… 00:28
• Franz Schubert: Im Frühling, D. 882:
• 6 Schubert: Im Frühling, D. 882 04:20
• Dass sie hier gewesen, D. 775:
• 7 Schubert: Dass sie hier gewesen, D. 775 03:34
• György Kurtág: Hölderlin-Gesänge, Op. 35a:
• 8 Kurtág: Hölderlin-Gesänge, Op. 35a: No. 1, An. . . 03:00
• 9 Kurtág: Hölderlin-Gesänge, Op. 35a: No. 2, Im Walde 01:23
• 10 Kurtág: Hölderlin-Gesänge, Op. 35a: No. 3, Gestalt und Geist 01:30
• 11 Kurtág: Hölderlin-Gesänge, Op. 35a: No. 4, An Zimmern 01:49
• 12 Kurtág: Hölderlin-Gesänge, Op. 35a: No. 5, Der Spaziergang 02:40
• 13 Kurtág: Hölderlin-Gesänge, Op. 35a: No. 6, Tübingen, Jänner 01:52
• Franz Schubert: Der Wanderer an den Mond, D. 870:
• 14 Schubert: Der Wanderer an den Mond, D. 870 02:33
• Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen, D. 343:
• 15 Schubert: Litanei auf das Fest Allerseelen, D. 343 03:20
• György Kurtág: Die Rosen:
• 16 Kurtág: Die Rosen 00:40
• Die Zeit:
• 17 Kurtág: Die Zeit 01:15
• Ich weiss nicht…:
• 18 Kurtág: Ich weiss nicht… 00:17
• Physalis alkagengi:
• 19 Kurtág: Physalis alkagengi 02:32
• Franz Schubert: Der Jüngling an der Quelle, D. 300:
• 20 Schubert: Der Jüngling an der Quelle, D. 300 02:17
• Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897): 5 Lieder, Op. 47:
• 21 Brahms: 5 Lieder, Op. 47: No. 3, Sonntag 01:59
• György Kurtág: Interview with György Kurtág
• 22 Kurtág: Interview with György Kurtág 18:17
• Total Runtime 01:07:33

Info for Lines of life: Schubert & Kurtág

Benjamin Appl met Hungarian composer György Kurtág in 2019 and has worked with him ever since. 'He has shaped me both as a musician and as a human being, perhaps more than anyone else,' says Appl. This album alternates Romantic German songs by Schubert and Brahms with vocal pieces by Kurtág, five of which are world premiere recordings. Kurtág himself is at the piano for two of the songs by Schubert and Brahms; while the German baritone's old and trusted friends Pierre-Laurent Aimard and James Baillieu join him for the other works in this programme, all under the artistic direction of Kurtág, ending with a fascinating recorded interview with Gyuri bácsi ('Uncle George') by Benjamin App. l, who tells us: 'My aim in this album is to give listeners a glimpse into the infinite universe of György Kurtág, a shy procrastinator, stern self-critic, hesitant researcher, introverted questioner, unpretentious intellectual, brilliant composer and an extraordinary human being.'

Benjamin Appl, baritone
György Kurtag, piano
Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano
James Baillieu, piano

Benjamin Appl
Hailed as ‘the most promising of today’s up-and-coming song recitalists’ (Financial Times), baritone Benjamin Appl is celebrated by audiences and critics alike for a voice that ‘belongs to the last of the old great masters of song’ with ‘an almost infinite range of colours’ (Suddeutsche Zeitung), ‘exacting attention to text’ (New York Times), and artistry that’s described as ‘unbearably moving’ (The Times). Named Gramophone Award Young Artist of the Year in 2016, Appl was a member of the BBC New Generation Artist scheme from 2014-16, as well as a Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist and ECHO Rising Star for the 2015-16 season, appearing at major venues throughout Europe, including the Barbican Centre London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Konzerthaus, Philharmonie Paris and Cologne and the Laeiszhalle Hamburg. He was signed exclusively to SONY Classical between 2016 and 2021. He recently partnered up with Alpha Classics for a long term collaboration of multiple albums the first of which – Winterreise – is released in February 2022.

Appl started in music as a young chorister at the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen, later continuing his studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and eventually at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama in London. He had the good fortune of being mentored by the legendary singer Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Appl says, ‘my years of working with Fischer-Dieskau were invaluable and had a hugely formative influence on me. He is an inspiration – someone who is always searching and seeking a deeper understanding of music and of life. He was a role model for how to prosper as an artist, never just delivering, but each time creating.’

Appl is increasingly in demand on the world’s most prestigious stages, collaborating with ensembles such as the NHK Symphony Orchestra, Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Staatskapelle Dresden, Philharmonia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Vienna Symphony, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich, Hamburg Ballet, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Players & Consort, Les Violons du Roy, Concerto Köln, and with multiple BBC orchestras. He made his BBC Proms debut in September 2015 singing Brahms’ Triumphlied with Marin Alsop and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

An established recitalist, he has performed at the Ravinia, Rheingau, Schleswig Holstein, Edinburgh International, Life Victoria Barcelona, Leeds Lieder and Oxford Lieder festivals, deSingel Antwerp, Heidelberger Frühling, and at the KlavierFestival Ruhr. He has performed at major concert venues including Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Het Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Musée de Louvre, Paris, in addition to which he is a regular recitalist at Wigmore Hall and at the Schubertiade Hohenems and Schwarzenberg. He works closely with pianists Graham Johnson and James Baillieu.

Appl is equally sought for his work in oratorio; notable past works include Bach’s Magnificat, St John and St Matthew passions, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Händel’s The Messiah, Haydn’s The Creation and Britten’s War Requiem. In 2017 he performed in the internationally televised ZDF Adventskonzert concert at the Dresden Frauenkirche with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann.

Recent highlights include his role debut as Guglielmo Così fan tutte with Classical Opera Company; Aeneas Dido and Aeneas in concert with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sir Roger Norrington; three recitals at New York City’s Park Avenue Armory featuring all three Schubert song cycles; a debut performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor with the Philadelphia Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin; his Paris orchestral debut at the Saint-Denis Festival with the Orchestre National de Lille; and debut recitals at Grand Théâtre in Geneva, Linz Brucknerhaus, Salzburg Mozarteum and Spivey Hall, Atlanta.

The 2021-22 season will open with Appl making his operatic debut at the Liceu, Barcelona as Harlequin Ariadne auf Naxos. This is followed by a full schedule of concerts across Europe and the USA, including recitals and concerts at Salle Gaveau Paris, Berlin Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, Wigmore Hall, Boston Celebrity Series and Dallas Opera; concerts with the Sofia Philharmonic, NDR Radiophilharmonie, and the Berlin Barock Solisten and ongoing residencies with the Jenaer Philharmonie and Hamburg Ballet.

Appl’s growing discography includes Schumann duets with Ann Murray (DBE), accompanied by Malcolm Martineau; his debut solo disc ’Stunden, Tage, Ewigkeiten’ accompanied by James Baillieu, which was released in April 2016 on Champs Hill records; and a live recording of Schubert lieder with Graham Johnson for the Wigmore Hall Live label. His first solo album for SONY Classical, ‘Heimat’, was Gramophone nominated and won the prestigious Prix Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (Best Lieder Singer) at the 2017/18 Académie du Disque Lyrique Orphées d’Or. Most recently, Appl released a recording of Bach with Concerto Köln for SONY Classical, as well as Sibelius’s Kullervo with the BBC Scottish Symphony and Thomas Dausgaard for Hyperion Records.

Booklet for Lines of life: Schubert & Kurtág