Christian Boesch (born 27 July 1941) is an Austrian operatic baritone. He is the son of the soprano

Ruthilde Boesch Ruthilde Boesch, born Ruthilde Klösterer, married also Ruthilde Loibner (9 January 1918 – 20 January 2012) was an Austrian soprano in opera, operetta, song and concert, and a vocal pedagogue. She was a member of the Vienna State Opera for dec ...

, and studied at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

, from 1959 to 1964. He was the pupil of

Alfred Jerger Alfred Jerger (9 June 1889 – 18 November 1976) was an Austrian operatic bass-baritone, who began his career as a conductor of operettas, and was also an interim director of the Vienna State Opera and a professor of the Vienna Music Academy. ...

, and made his official debut at the Stadttheater, Bern, in 1966. He joined the

Vienna Volksoper The Vienna Volksoper (''Volksoper'' or ''Vienna People's Opera'') is an opera house in Vienna, Austria. It produces three hundred performances of twenty-five German language productions of opera, operetta, musicals, and ballet, during an annual s ...

in 1975. It was in 1978 when Boesch came to prominence, as Papageno in ''Die Zauberflöte'', at the

Salzburg Festival The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Ama ...

, in

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (19 February 1932 – 11 August 1988) was a French opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the ...

's production, conducted by

James Levine James Lawrence Levine (; June 23, 1943 – March 9, 2021) was an American conductor and pianist. He was music director of the Metropolitan Opera from 1976 to 2016. He was terminated from all his positions and affiliations with the Met on March 1 ...

. The next year, the singing-actor made his debut at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

, as Papageno. He returned for the same opera in 1981 (now with

Lucia Popp Lucia Popp (born Lucia Poppová; 12 November 193916 November 1993) was a Slovak operatic soprano. She began her career as a soubrette, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard Str ...

and Gail Robinson alternating as Pamina, and Zdzisława Donat as the Queen of Night), and the same season sang Monsieur Presto in the Met premiere of ''Les mamelles de Tirésias'' (directed by

John Dexter John Dexter (2 August 1925 – 23 March 1990) was an English theatre, opera and film director. Theatre Born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, Dexter left school at the age of fourteen to serve in the British Army during the Second World War. F ...

). In 1983, he appeared again at that theatre for their Centennial Gala and ''Don Giovanni'' (as Masetto), opposite James Morris, Edda Moser,

Carol Neblett Carol Lee Neblett (February 1, 1946 – November 23, 2017) was an American operatic soprano. Life and career Neblett was born in Modesto, California and raised in Redondo Beach. She studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1969 ...

Paul Plishka Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, Roberta Alexander and John Macurdy. His final appearances at the Met were in the title part of ''Wozzeck'', in 1985. At the Vienna Staatsoper, the baritone appeared in ''Die Zauberflöte'', from 1979 to 1982, and, in 1980, the name part of ''Le nozze di Figaro''. In 1989, he was seen in a film version of ''Der Schauspieldirektor''. In Paris, in 1991, he resumed his most famous part, Papageno, in Robert Wilson's production of ''Die Zauberflöte'', conducted by

Armin Jordan Armin Jordan (9 April 1932 – 20 September 2006) was a Swiss conductor known for his interpretations of French music, Mozart and Wagner. Armin Jordan was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. "Mr. Jordan was a large man, with a slab of a face and a ...

. The

Kammersänger Kammersänger (male) or Kammersängerin (female), abbreviated Ks. or KS, is a German honorific title for distinguished singers of opera and classical music. It literally means "chamber singer". Historically, the title was bestowed by princes or ...

was also responsible for the concept and script of "''Die Zauberflöte'' für Kinder," which introduced many youngsters to opera, and was published on DVD in 2007. Boesch himself is the father of seven children, one of whom is the bass-baritone Florian Boesch.

Discography

* Mozart: ''Die Zauberflöte'' (Cotrubaş, Donat, Tappy, van Dam, Talvela; Levine, 1980)

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

* J. Strauß II: ''Die Fledermaus'' s Frank(Gruberova, Bonney, Lipovšek, Hollweg; Harnoncourt, 1987)

Teldec Teldec (Telefunken-Decca Schallplatten GmbH) is a German record label in Hamburg, Germany. Today the label is a property of Warner Music Group. History Teldec was a producer of (first) shellac and (later) vinyl records. The Teldec manufacturing ...

Decorations and awards

* 2006:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

References

* ''The Metropolitan Opera Encyclopedia'', edited by David Hamilton,

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, 1987.

External links

Christian Boesch in an excerpt from ''Die Zauberflöte''
(1982) on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Boesch, Christian 1941 births Living people Austrian operatic baritones Singers from Vienna Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni 20th-century Austrian male opera singers