Biography

With a voice of “warm, noble timbre and great flexibility” (Forum Opéra), German-Swiss bass-baritone Christian Immler is a multifaceted artist whose career ranges widely across the worlds of opera, oratorio and lieder, “a technically, musically and stylistically consummate interpreter, with a strikingly masculine, truly grounded bass capable of tenoral splendour, exemplary diction and emotional urgency coupled with a deep intellectual textual understanding” (Klassik Heute). Initially anchored in the baroque and early Classical repertoire, Christian’s artistry extended rapidly to also encompass 19th century orchestral traditions and contemporary works.

Recent operatic highlights have included the role of Fasolt in Wagner’s Das Rheingold with Kent Nagano and Concerto Köln, Rocco in Beethoven’s Fidelio/Leonore with the FBO and René Jacobs as well as the Insula Orchestra, the Hermit in Weber’s Der Freischütz at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées with Laurence Equilbey, the Musiklehrer in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos in Luxembourg with Lawrence Renes, the title roles in Telemann’s Don Quichotte and Pimpinone as well as Orpheus with the Boston Early Music Festival and the B’Rock Orchestra, Don Fernando at the Opéra Comique in Paris with Raphaël Pichon, Nettuno in Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria with Ensemble I Gemelli, Seneca in Keiser’s Octavia in Boston, as well as a recording of the Oberpriester in Joachim Raff’s Samson with the Sinfonieorchester Bern.

On the concert stage, he sang in the world premiere of Detlev Glanert’s ‘Prague Symphony’ with Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic and subsequent performances with Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and the BBC Symphony Orchestra; he has been a soloist in performances and recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Minnesota, Cincinnati and Nashville Orchestras with Osmo Vänskä, James Conlon and Giancarlo Guerrero, in Haydn’s Creation at the Paris Philharmonie, in Mendelssohn’s Paulus with the Spanish National Orchestra, in Beethoven’s C minor Mass with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Masaaki Suzuki, in Mozart’s C minor Mass with both the Munich Philharmonic and Ensemble Pygmalion at the Salzburg Festival, in Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with the Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra, in Jörg Widmann’s ‘Schumannliebe’ with Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, in Mozart’s Requiem with the Flanders Symphony and in a recording and performances of Haydn’s Stabat Mater with the Kammerorchester Basel.

In addition, he has sung in a fully staged performance of the St John Passion for Opera de Dijon and Salzburg Festival with Sasha Waltz and Leonardo García-Alarcón. He performed in Bach’s B minor mass and further Bach Passion and Cantata projects with Ensemble Pygmalion and Raphaël Pichon, as well as widely acclaimed recordings of the St Matthew and St John Passions with Bach Collegium Japan for BIS Records and a series of performances with this orchestra, culminating in a BBC Proms concert in the Royal Albert Hall. Bach’s choral works are central to Christian Immler’s repertoire, leading to performances of the B minor Mass with the Czech Philharmonic, and with the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Christmas Oratorio in the Kreuzkirche Dresden and the St John Passion in the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. Upcoming highlights include the Brahms Requiem with the RTVE in Madrid, Bach’s B minor Mass with the Berliner Philharmoniker as well as a St Matthew Passion tour with Ensemble Pygmalion.

On the operatic stage, Immler will also perform Massenet’s Werther (le Bailly) at the Opéra Comique in Paris, Zemlinsky’s Der Zwerg (Don Esteban) at the Opéra de Lausanne and Frank Martin’s La Tempête (Gonzalve) at the Grand Théâtre de Genève.

He maintains strong links with conductors such as Masaaki and Masato Suzuki, René Jacobs, Raphaël Pichon, Jörg Widmann, Marc Minkowski, Laurence Equilbey and Jordi Savall and has collaborated widely with Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Osmo Vänskä, Semyon Bychkov, James Conlon, Herbert Blomstedt, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, Christophe Rousset, Philippe Herreweghe, Ivor Bolton, Daniel Harding, Andrew Parrott, Ottavio Dantone, Giovanni Antonini, Leonardo García Alarcón, Alexander Liebreich, Thomas Hengelbrock, Graziella Contratto, Giancarlo Guerrero, Marek Janowski and William Christie.

His broad orchestral repertoire encompasses Bach, Handel, Rameau, Vivaldi and their contemporaries, through Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Missa solemnis, oratorios and masses of Mozart, Mendelssohn, Schubert and Rossini, the Requiems of Dvorak, Duruflé, Fauré, Brahms and Verdi, to Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, Zemlinsky’s Lyric Symphony, Kálmán, Poulenc, Vaughan Williams, Korngold and Krenek.

A keen recitalist, Christian has performed at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Frick Collection in New York, the Paris Philharmonie, the Salzburg Mozarteum, and the Tonhalle Zurich. He enjoys a long-time partnership with pianist Helmut Deutsch, with whom he released three albums entitled ‘Modern Times’, ‘Hidden Treasure’ (songs by Hans Gál) and ‘Be Still My Heart’ (songs by Robert Gund and Wilhelm Grosz) for Alpha Classics which were awarded the ‘Diamant d’Opéra’, the ‘Diapason d’Or’ and the prestigious ‘Diapason Découverte’. He collaborates regularly with Andreas Frese with whom he premiered and recorded Jörg Widmann’s song cycle ‘Das heiße Herz’ for Alpha Classics (‘Diapason d’Or’), Anne Le Bozec, Kristian Bezuidenhout, Christoph Berner, Danny Driver and Silvia Fraser. Alongside his impeccable Lied pedigree he retains a soft spot for Leonard Bernstein and Cole Porter.

Following his early training as a boy alto soloist in the Tölzer Knabenchor, Christian Immler studied with Rudolf Piernay at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and won the International Nadia et Lili Boulanger Competition in Paris. He completed his doctorate in musicology with a thesis entitled ‘The diversity of Vienna’s inter bellum song recital scene’.

Christian loves teaching and is much in demand for worldwide masterclasses. He is Visiting Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, has regularly taught the Lied, Duo and Oratorio masterclasses at the International Summer Academy of the Mozarteum Salzburg, Royaumont and Orford Musique and has served on several jury panels, including the International Nadia et Lili Boulanger Competition in Paris, from which his own victory launched his career.

His more than 60 recordings have been awarded prizes such as a 2016 Grammy Nomination, the Echo and Opus Klassik, the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik, the Gramophone Award and France Musiques’ Enregistrement de l’année.

His recent releases include the complete Mörike-songs by Hugo Wolf together with pianist Anne Le Bozec for the label Oktav Records.  

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