Hanno Müller-Brachmann (born 1970) is a German

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

who made an international career in both opera and concert. A member of the Berlin State Opera from 1998 to 2011, he first sang Mozart roles such as Papageno and

Figaro Figaro may refer to: Literature * Figaro, the central character in: ** ''The Barber of Seville'' (play), a 1775 play by Pierre Beaumarchais *** ''The Barber of Seville'' (Paisiello), a 1782 opera by Paisiello based on the play *** ''The Bar ...

, and created roles in premieres such as Mephistopheles in Dusapin's ''

Faustus, the Last Night ''Faustus, the Last Night'' is an opera in English by French composer Pascal Dusapin, inspired by '' Doctor Faustus'' (c. 1588) by Christopher Marlowe. The work was premiered on 21 January 2006 by the Berlin State Opera, a coproduction with the Op� ...

'' in 2006.

Career

Born in Cologne, Müller-Brachmann was a member of the boys' choir Knabenkantorei Basel, where his musical talent was discovered. He studied music pedagogy in

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population o ...

with Ingeborg Most. He continued his studies of ''

Lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

'' with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in Berlin, on a scholarship of the

Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes The German Academic Scholarship Foundation (German: , or ''Studienstiftung'' for short) is Germany's largest and most prestigious scholarship foundation. According to its statutes, it supports "the university education of young people who, on ac ...

. He studied further with

Rudolf Piernay Rudolf Piernay (born 8 December 1943 in Berlin) is a German vocal teacher and university lecturer. Biography Piernay spent his childhood, youth, and first studied in Berlin, then began the study of singing, piano, song accompaniment and conduct ...

at the Musikhochschule Mannheim and took his concert diploma singing the role of Elijah in Mendelssohn's oratorio. In 1995, he achieved a second prize at the competition for young singers

Neue Stimmen Neue Stimmen (''New Voices'') is an international singing competition. It was established in 1987 on the initiative of Liz Mohn with the support of August Everding to promote operas young talent. It is considered an important forum for new tal ...

of the

Bertelsmann Foundation The Bertelsmann Stiftung is an independent foundation under private law, based in Gütersloh, Germany. It was founded in 1977 by Reinhard Mohn as the result of social, corporate and fiscal considerations. As the Bertelsmann Stiftung itself h ...

Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...

engaged him at the Berlin State Opera in 1998, where he stayed until 2011 and performed in many operatic roles, such as Masetto and Leporello in Mozart's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; Vienna (1788) title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanis ...

'', the title role in his '' Le nozze di Figaro'', Guglielmo in his ''

Così fan tutte (''All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers''), K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. It was first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte w ...

'', Kaspar in Weber's '' Der Freischütz'', and Escamillo in Bizet's ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the Carmen (novella), novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first perfo ...

''. He took part in premieres of new operas: creating in 1999 the role "Harry or Larry, a bridegroom and a clown" in Elliott Carter's '' What Next?'', and in 2006 the role of Mephistopheles in Dusapin's ''

'', conducted by Michael Boder. Müller-Brachmann performed as a guest at the Salzburg Festival, the San Francisco Opera, in Vienna and in

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

. In concert and recital, he sang in notable halls around the world. He recorded with notable conductors, for example Papageno in ''Die Zauberflöte'' with Claudio Abbado, a recording that won a Gramophone Award, and Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...

'' as the vox Christi with

Riccardo Chailly Riccardo Chailly (, ; born 20 February 1953) is an Italian conductor. He is currently music director of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, since 2016, and music director of La Scala, since 2017. Prior to this, he held chief conducting positions ...

and the Thomanerchor. He recorded Mozart's

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

with Philippe Herreweghe Mahler's Eighth Symphony with

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...

, and his '' Des Knaben Wunderhorn'' with Michael Gielen. He was a professor of voice at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler from 2006 to 2011, and from 2011 at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. From 2008 to 2011 he was president of the

Bundeswettbewerb Gesang The German national competition Bundeswettbewerb Gesang Berlin was inaugurated in 1966 as a competition for solo singing. Beginning in 1979, it has been held annually, for the categories Musical theatre, Musical and Chanson in uneven years, for Ope ...

, and afterwards on its board. He served in the juries of international competitions such as the International Bach Competition in Leipzig and the international competition "Franz Schubert und die Musik der Moderne" (Franz Schubert and Contemporary Music) in

Graz Graz (; sl, Gradec) is the capital city of the Austrian state of Styria and second-largest city in Austria after Vienna. As of 1 January 2021, it had a population of 331,562 (294,236 of whom had principal-residence status). In 2018, the popul ...

Awards

Müller-Bachmann's awards have included: * 1992 First prize

for juniors * 1994 First prize Bundeswettbewerb Gesang in the category concert * 1995 First prize "Meistersingerwettbewerb Nürnberg" * 1995 Brahms-Preis of the Brahms-Gesellschaft Schleswig-Holstein * 1996 Second prize ARD International Music Competition in Munich

Discography

Recordings by Müller-Brachmann are held by the German National library: * Salieri: '' La passione di Gesù Cristo (Salieri)'',

Christoph Spering Christoph Spering (23 June 1959 in Simmern) is a German conductor of classical music, especially church music. He founded in 1985 the choir Chorus Musicus Köln and in 1988 the orchestra Das Neue Orchester (The new orchestra). Selected recordings ...

(Capriccio 2004) * Bach: Church solo cantatas, Helmut Müller-Brühl (Naxos 2005) * Mozart:

, Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi 2005) *

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

: ''Der Rose Pilgerfahrt'', Marcus Creed (Harmonia Mundi 2005) * Bach: '' Matthäus-Passion'' (bass arias), Helmut Müller-Brühl (Naxos 2006) * Mozart: '' Die Zauberflöte'' (as Papageno), Claudio Abbado (Deutsche Grammophon 2006) * Brahms: '' Ein deutsches Requiem'', Stephen Cleobury (EMI 2006) * Bach: ''Mass in B minor'', Philippe Herreweghe (Harmonia Mundi 2007) * Mahler: Eighth Symphony,

(Deutsche Grammophon 2007) * Brahms: ''Ein deutsches Requiem'' Zubin Mehta (Helicon Classics 2009) * Bach: ''Matthäus-Passion'' ( vox Christi),

(Decca 2010) * Gustav Mahler: '' Des Knaben Wunderhorn'', Michael Gielen (Hännsler Classic 2011) * Haydn: '' Die Jahreszeiten'', Bruno Weil (Ars Produktion 2011) * Bach: ''

Johannes-Passion The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as direc ...

'' (vox Christi), John Eliot Gardiner (Soli Deo Gloria 2011, recorded in 2003) * Mahler: Eighth Symphony, Markus Stenz (OehmsClassics 2012) * Haydn: '' Die Schöpfung'', Bruno Weil (Ars Produktion 2012) * Beethoven: Ninth Symphony, Riccardo Chailly (Decca 2012)

References

External links

* *
Hanno Müller-Brachmann / Biography
Künstler-Sekretariat

Gasteig Gasteig is a cultural center in Munich, opened in 1985, which hosts the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra. The Richard Strauss Conservatory, the Volkshochschule, and the municipal library are all located in the Gasteig. Most of the events of the ...

Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Bass-baritone
Bach Cantatas Website

(interview, in German) Badische Zeitung 10 November 2010 *
Hanno Müller-Brachmann
Operabase
Hanno Müller‐Brachmann / Born 1970
BBC
Concert celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall
digitalconcerthall.com

(interview, in German) Badische Zeitung 21 March 2014
Der Grünschnabel im Ring
Berliner Zeitung 15 October 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Muller-Brachmann, Hanno German bass-baritones Academic staff of the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin Voice teachers 1970 births Living people Musicians from Baden-Württemberg 21st-century German male opera singers People from Lörrach