Hartmut Höll (born November 24, 1952) is a German pianist and music professor.J. B. Steane, "Hartmut Höll", Grove Music Online

Biography

Höll was born in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...

. He trained in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, Milan and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, specializing in

art song An art song is a Western world, Western vocal music Musical composition, composition, usually written for one voice with piano accompaniment, and usually in the classical music, classical art music tradition. By extension, the term "art song" is ...

accompaniment. From the time of his début in 1973 he has worked closely with the

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

(later

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

) Mitsuko Shirai, winning the

Hugo Wolf Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (; ; 13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, so ...

Competition in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, the

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

Competition at Zwickau (1974) and international prizes in 1976 in Athens and 's-Hertogenbosch. For many years their recitals have been acclaimed throughout Europe and the United States, as well as in Japan, the Middle East and South America. They have also recorded extensively together. Höll was also frequent accompanist to

Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (; 28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music. One of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, he is best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's ...

, from 1982 until the singer's retirement in 1993.Slonimsky and Kuhn, "Hartmut Höll", ''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', Centennial Edition, Volume 3, page 1588 Their recording of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's songs won special praise for Höll's finely shaded playing. Another close associate has been the viola player Tabea Zimmermann, and they too have made some remarkable recordings, including sonatas by

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

and

Shostakovich Dmitri Dmitriyevich Shostakovich, group=n (9 August 1975) was a Soviet-era Russian composer and pianist who became internationally known after the premiere of his Symphony No. 1 (Shostakovich), First Symphony in 1926 and thereafter was regarded ...

,. Since 2001 he has accompanied

Renée Fleming Renée Lynn Fleming (born February 14, 1959) is an American soprano and actress, known for performances in opera, concerts, recordings, theater, film, and at major public occasions. A recipient of the National Medal of Arts, Fleming has been nom ...

for recitals in Europe, Australia, Asia and the United States. He has also worked with other singers, such as Urszula Kryger, Yvonne Naef,

Jochen Kowalski Jochen Kowalski (born 30 January 1954) is a German alto or mezzo countertenor, noted for his very rich timbre. Early life Jochen Kowalski was born in Wachow, Nauen District, Bezirk Potsdam, in East Germany (now a small village belonging to th ...

, René Pape,

Christoph Prégardien Christoph Prégardien (born 18 January 1956) is a German lyric tenor whose career is closely associated with the roles in Mozart operas, as well as performances of Lieder, oratorio roles, and Baroque music. He is well known for his performances a ...

Hermann Prey Hermann Prey ( Berlin, 11 July 1929 – Krailling, 22 July 1998) was a German lyric baritone, who was equally at home in the Lied, operatic and concert repertoires. His American debut was in November 1952, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and ...

, Jadwiga Rappé,

Peter Schreier Peter Schreier (29 July 1935 – 25 December 2019) was a German tenor in opera, concert and lied, and a conductor. He was regarded as one of the leading lyric tenors of the 20th century. Schreier was a member of the Dresdner Kreuzchor conduct ...

, Changyong Liao, and Roman Trekel, and the clarinettist Sabine Meyer.

Teaching

Höll is professor at the

Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe The Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe () is a college of music in Karlsruhe, Germany. Originally the Baden Conservatory of Music, it was elevated to a Hochschule under the direction of Franz Philipp, who led the school from 1924 to 1942. Studies ...

and a visiting professor in

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

and

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

. He also serves as artistic director of the International Hugo Wolf Academy in Stuttgart.

Writing

* ''WortMusik'', Staccato, Düsseldorf 2012

Selected discography

*Schoeck: Lieder (1986) Claves Records *Mozart: 21 Songs (with Mitsuko Shirai) (1986) Capriccio Records *Mendelssohn: Lieder (with

) (1991) Claves Records *Schoeck: ''Das Hold Bescheiden'' (1993) Claves Records *Weber: Lieder (1993) Claves Records *Ravel: Songs (with

) (1993) Orfeo Records *Schoeck: ''Das stille Leuchten'' (1994) Claves Records *Richard Strauss: Songs (with Mitsuko Shirai) (1994) Cappricio Records *Lieder (Songs) with Viola (1995) Capriccio Records *Schubert Edition: ''Die Schőne Műllerin''; ''Winterreise'' (1997) Capriccio Records *Schumann: ''Frauenliebe und –Leben'' Op. 42; ''Liederkreis'' Op. 39 (1997) Camerata Records *Norbert Burgmũller: Chamber Music (2000) MDG Records *Victor Ullman: Lieder (2001) Capriccio Records *Brahms: Viola Sonatas; Schumann: Märchenbilder (2003) EMI Classics *Schumann: Sonata Op. 105, Märchenbilder, Romanzen, Fantasiestűcke, Adagio and Allegro (2004) Capriccio Records *Schubert: Lieder (2004) Apex Records *Ludwig Thulle: Selected Songs (2012) Capriccio Records *German Duets: Mendelssohn, Schumann, Brahms (2014) Dux Records

Footnotes

References

*. *

External links

Discography on Allmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Holl, Hartmut 1952 births Living people German pianists People from Heilbronn