During his studies with Paul Kuën and Raimund Grumbach, Christian Gerhaher attended the opera school at the Munich University of Music, where he studied Lied interpretation with Friedemann Berger. In addition to medical studies, he refined his vocal training in masterclasses with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, and Inge Borkh. Today, Christian Gerhaher teaches a Lied interpretation class together with Gerold Huber at the Munich University of Music and Theatre and also serves as an Honorary Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.
Gerold Huber and he have devoted themselves as a duo to Lied interpretation for well over thirty years – in concerts and recordings – and have long been honoured with major awards. The Lied duo performs regularly at the international centres of song: in New York’s concert halls, at the Muziekgebouw and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, at the Philharmonies in Cologne, Luxembourg and Berlin, at the Cité de la musique in Paris, at the Konzerthaus and Musikverein in Vienna, at Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela, at La Scala in Milan and, most frequently, at London’s Wigmore Hall; furthermore at festivals in Munich, Aix, Heidelberg, Salzburg, Granada, Berlin, Lucerne, Edinburgh, Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein. In October 2025, the “Liedwoche Elmau”, curated by the duo, took place for the fifth time.
Collaborations with conductors such as Daniel Harding, Simon Rattle, Herbert Blomstedt, Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez, Christian Thielemann, Kirill Petrenko, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Antonio Pappano, Daniel Barenboim, Andris Nelsons and Mariss Jansons have taken Christian Gerhaher to the world’s major concert halls. Among the orchestras with which he works particularly frequently are the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and, above all, the Berlin Philharmonic, of which he was the first singer to serve as Artist in Residence, as well as the symphony orchestras of Swedish and especially Bavarian Radio.
On the concert stage, the baritone can be heard in Munich as Wozzeck with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Sir Simon Rattle and in Basel with Mahler’s songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn with the Basel Symphony Orchestra conducted by Markus Poschner. With Othmar Schoeck’s Elegie, released on CD by Sony in 2022, he appears in Switzerland with the Basel Chamber Orchestra. He can also be heard performing the colourful cycle Les nuits d’été by Hector Berlioz, in Cologne with the Gürzenich Orchestra under Riccardo Minasi and in Munich with the Bavarian State Orchestra under Pablo Heras-Casado.
The song recitals of the current season are dedicated entirely to Franz Schubert. With their new composer portrait, the duo tours to Madrid, London, Amsterdam and Berlin. As part of the Munich Opera Festival, a unique juxtaposition of the Winterreise with Othmar Schoeck’s Elegie, also known as the “Swiss Winterreise,” will be heard over two evenings – this time in its piano version.
On the opera stage, Christian Gerhaher is in high demand, honoured among others with the “Laurence Olivier Award” and the German theatre prize “Der Faust”. Among his roles are Posa (Don Carlo), Amfortas (Parsifal), Lenau (Lunea, world premiere 2018), Figaro and Conte (Le nozze di Figaro), as well as the title roles in L’Orfeo, Don Giovanni, Pelléas et Mélisande, Simon Boccanegra and Der Prinz von Homburg. A milestone in his operatic career was his portrayal of Wozzeck in September 2015 in Andreas Homoki’s acclaimed production at Zurich Opera House. The key role of Wolfram in Wagner’s Tannhäuser remains a constant in his calendar at the houses of New York, Berlin, Vienna, London and Munich, as well as at the Salzburg Easter Festival with Andris Nelsons conducting the Gewandhausorchester.
In the current season, Christian Gerhaher once again appears as Wolfram in a new production at Zurich Opera House under Tugan Sokhiev. In addition, he takes on the role of the Count (Le nozze di Figaro) at the Opéra National de Paris–Garnier. For the first time, he can be heard as Wotan in a new production of Wagner’s Rheingold at the Salzburg Festival with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Kirill Petrenko.
As an exclusive artist with Sony Classical, Christian Gerhaher has released numerous recordings, including the complete cycles of Schubert, Schumann and Mahler with Gerold Huber. A major project in autumn 2021 was the release of the complete recording of all of Robert Schumann’s songs – a unique undertaking developed over many years, produced in cooperation with Bavarian Radio and the Heidelberger Frühling. Early in 2022, Schoeck’s Elegie with the Basel Chamber Orchestra under Heinz Holliger, Holliger’s opera Lunea (ECM), and Rihm’s Stabat Mater with Tabea Zimmermann followed in quick succession. In the same year, his Lyrisches Tagebuch, a collection of essays on Lied interpretation, was published by C. H. Beck. In 2023, Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde appeared, featuring Piotr Beczała as tenor partner and Gerold Huber at the piano, and in May 2025 an album of selected Brahms Lieder was released.
Christian Gerhaher and his wife live in Munich with their three children.
