Andreas Scholl. (Photo: Martin Pichl)I thought I’d create a kind of "greatest voices of our time" series in this blog: Those who know me are aware of my passion for discovering and listening to really great voices, whether it be in pop or classical music…. (or somewhere in between)
Who better to start with, than Andreas Scholl?
You may have heard his voice somewhere and thought it was a woman singing – he’s a countertenor, which means his voice is in the highest vocal pitch for men and pretty much equals a female alto voice in range. Andreas was born in Kiedrich im Rheingau in Germany in 1967, and to say he grew up in a musical family would be an understatement; both his parents are choir singers, his sister Elisabeth is a soprano, his brother Johannes is a doctor but has a singing career on the side, and his late sister Christine was said to be a talented contralto. He joined the local choir at age 7. His voice broke fairly early, at 13, but he kept on singing soprano or alto in the choir. It wasn’t until he was 17 that a vocal coach told him that he could actually have a countertenor voice.
Since he started pursuing his singing career in 1993 he has released a number of albums, played in a couple of operas, like Händels "Giulio Cesare", teached masterclasses at Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, written some material of his own (more in the pop genre, but also for ballet and theatre), and of course performed on stage numerous times in oratorio works and solo recitals.
WHY LISTEN TO ANDREAS?
His voice has a smooth, rich tone which immediately grabs your attention. It has only a light vibrato, as one can hear especially on the baroque arias, and he shows off complete control and impressive technique.
RECOMMENDED TRACKS:
Where’er you walk, I will give my love an apple, How sweet the moonlight, Va ’per le vene il sangue
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