Carnegie Hall

Baritone Benjamin Appl is celebrated for a voice that “belongs to the last of the old great masters of song” with “an almost infinite range of colors” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), and artistry described as “unbearably moving” by The Times.

An established recitalist, Mr. Appl has performed at Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, and the Ravinia, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, and Edinburgh International festivals. He has performed at major concert venues that include Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Vienna Konzerthaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Musée du Louvre Paris, and he is a regular recitalist at Wigmore Hall and Heidelberger Frühling. In equal demand as a soloist on the world’s most prestigious stages, he collaborates with the NHK Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, London’s Philharmonia, Seattle Symphony, and Vienna Symphony.

In the 2022–2023 season, Mr. Appl appeared twice with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra conducted by Klaus Mäkelä and John Butt; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic in Mozart’s Requiem; NDR Radiophilharmonie Hanover with Andrew Manze; Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Britten’s War Requiem; Symphony Orchestra of Milan Giuseppe Verdi in G. Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder; and Zurich Chamber Orchestra’s prestigious New Year’s Gala.

A revered interpreter of period music, Mr. Appl enjoyed collaborations this season with Les Talens Lyriques and Christophe Rousset, a recital with Ensemble Masques at Bozar Brussels, Bach programs with the Berliner Barock Solisten, and his debut appearance with the Gabetta Ensemble in Budapest.

In addition, Mr. Appl revisits successful collaborations with lutenist Thomas Dunford, pianist Alice Sara Ott, accordionist Martynas Levickis, and pianist James Baillieu at Festival de Saint-Denis, Grand Théâtre de Genève, London’s Southbank Centre, Heidelberger Frühling, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Following his successful visit in 2022, he returns to North America for a series of prestigious recitals, making his eagerly anticipated Carnegie Hall debut, and performing concerts in San Francisco, Vancouver, and Portland.

Mr. Appl was a Sony Classical artist from 2016 to 2021. His first solo album, Heimat, was nominated for a Gramophone Award and won the prestigious Prix Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau for best lieder singer at the 2017–2018 Académie du Disque Lyrique Orphées d’Or. In 2021, he began a multi-album deal with Alpha Classics, and his debut album for the label, Winterreise, was released in 2022.

Described by The Daily Telegraph as “in a class of his own,” James Baillieu is one of the leading song and chamber music pianists of his generation. He has given solo and chamber recitals throughout the world and collaborated with a wide range of singers and instrumentalists, including Jamie Barton, Ian Bostridge, Annette Dasch, Adam Walker, Pretty Yende, and the Elias and Heath quartets.

Mr. Baillieu is a frequent guest at many of the world’s most distinguished music venues, including Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Vancouver Playhouse, Konzerthaus Berlin, Vienna Musikverein, Barbican Centre, Vienna Konzerthaus, Bozar Brussels, Pierre Boulez Saal, Kölner Philharmonie, and Laeiszhalle Hamburg. His festival appearances include Aix-en-Provence, Verbier, Schleswig-Holstein, Bergen, Edinburgh, Spitalfields, Aldeburgh, Cheltenham, Bath, City of London, and Brighton.

Mr. Baillieu presented his own series at Wigmore Hall with Adam Walker, Jonathan McGovern, Ailish Tynan, Tara Erraught, Henk Neven, Iestyn Davies, Allan Clayton, and Mark Padmore, among others. The series was shortlisted for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber Music and Song Award for outstanding contribution to the performance of chamber music and song in the UK. An innovative programmer, he has stewarded many song and chamber music series for the Brighton Festival, BBC Radio 3, Verbier Festival, Bath Festival, and Perth Concert Hall.

North American appearances this season include a recital with violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen presented by San Francisco Performances; tour dates with baritone Benjamin Appl in Detroit, New York, Portland, San Francisco, and Vancouver; and a pair of recitals with tenor Allan Clayton at the Park Avenue Armory. European highlights include recitals with Lise Davidsen, Véronique Gens, and Timothy Ridout, and a staged presentation of Winterreise with Mr. Appl at the Gran Teatre del Liceu.

His critically acclaimed discography includes Heimat with Mr. Appl (Sony Classical), the complete works of C. P. E. Bach for violin and piano with Tamsin Waley-Cohen (Signum Classics), a collection by Brahms for clarinet and piano with Julian Bliss (Signum Classics), French works for flute with Adam Walker (Chandos), and several other albums on the Opus Arte, Champs Hill, Rubicon, and Delphian Records labels.