Christine Schäfer, soprano

The German soprano, Christine Schäfer, studied with Ingrid Figur at the Berlin Hochschule der Künste (Academy of Arts). In 1985 she took part four master-class courses given by Arleen Augér, an important stimulus in her training; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Sena Jurinac also influenced her development. Then came the first song recitals in Berlin, Frankfurt and Stuttgart. In November 1988 she was awarded a prize at the German VDMK contest.

Christine Schäfer has a highly diversified repertoire, which is perhaps the most obvious feature of her artistic endeavours: she sings Baroque music and roles in modern opera, Mozart arias and the works of contemporary composers, orchestral songs by R. Strauss and Arnold Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire, all with the same whole-hearted commitment. The major festivals, opera houses and concert promoters are scrambling to engage this young soprano, who is only at the beginning of her international career. For example, she participated at the Mahler Festival Toblach, the Staufen Week of Music, and the Los Angeles Bach Festival.

The composer Aribert Reimann has played a special role in Christine Schäfer’s career: it was his course on contemporary song at Berlin Hochschule that she was able to cultivate in depth her love for the music of our time, and Reimann has also composed several songs specially for her. In 1989 she made her first record with songs composed by Reimann.

Initially, Christine Schäfer concentrated on the concert repertoire, but before long she also began tackling some of the most important parts in the opera literature. Her international breakthrough as an opera singer came as Sophie in Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier and in the title role of Alban Berg’s Lulu. In the field of early music, she preferred partners have long been Nikolaus Harnoncourt and, especially, Reinhard Goebel and his Musica Antiqua Köln.