Andreas Scholl, countertenor; An intimate look at the charasmatic, critically-acclaimed performer through performances and interviews
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“Scholl‘s voice is pure and beautiful in sound, his taste exquisite, his pitch and diction immaculate. It is inadequate to compare Andreas Scholl to many other countertenors now working, even the finest of them. Instead one is put in mind of legendary past masters.” - Fanfare Magazine
In August, Arthaus releases a unique DVD chronicling the career of countertenor Andreas Scholl. Including performances of Dowland’s “I saw my Lady weep” and “Flow, my tears”, Buxtehude’s “Muβ der Tod denn auch entbinden” and “Mi palpita il cor” by Handel, the film portrait offers a very personal, inside look at the man with the inimitable voice who describes his success and responsibilities as more of “a calling” than a career. Through Scholl’s performances, interviews in his private apartment in Basel, Switzerland, interviews with his father, and video of Scholl coaching one of his young students, we begin to understand how Scholl’s charisma, talent and education led him to where he is today. “That is the purpose of art”, said Scholl, “to move and educate people, to enable people to learn something. And that has everything to do with the fact that music communicates on two levels: on a composition’s intellectual level, so that I am able to recognize its complexity; and on an emotional level, so that it moves me.”
Born on November 10, 1967, Andreas Scholl began singing with the Kiedricher Chorbuben - a boys’ choir with a history dating back more than 650 years - when he was 7 years old. The choir practiced for an hour everyday and School received one hour of private voice instruction per week. According to Scholl this was very important to his developing voice. His voice broke at age 13 or 14, and by 17 he was told that he sounded like a countertenor for the first time. Scholl listened to recordings of other countertenors such as Paul Esswood and James Bowman, which prompted him to seek instruction on being a professional singer. This led him to Basel and to teacher Richard Levitt, who is still Scholl’s teacher today. By the time Scholl had his diploma from Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, he was in demand from almost every major orchestra, conductor and concert venue for his performances of Baroque repertoire. He has collected prizes from the Conseil d’Europe and the Fondation Claude Nicolas Ledoux, awards from Switzerland’s Association Migros and Ernst Göhner Foundation, and was the first countertenor ever to be invited to perform at The Last Night of the Proms in 2005.
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