Benjamin Appl — Baritone

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 colours” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), and for performances “delivered with wit, intelligence and sophistication” (Gramophone). A former BBC New Generation Artist (2014–16), Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist and ECHO Rising Star (2015–16), he was named Gramophone Young Artist of the Year in 2016. That same year, he signed exclusively with Sony Classical, later beginning a multi-album collaboration with Alpha Classics, whose releases include Winterreise (2021) and The Christmas Album (2024), both met with critical acclaim.

Appl began his musical journey as a chorister with the renowned Regensburger Domspatzen before studying at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, London. His most formative influence was his mentorship with the legendary Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, whom Appl credits as an “inspiration…a role model for how to prosper as an artist, never just delivering, but each time creating.”

An acclaimed recitalist, Appl has appeared at major festivals including Ravinia, Rheingau, Schleswig-Holstein, Edinburgh, Heidelberg Frühling, Oxford International, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, and KlavierFestival Ruhr. He has performed at leading venues such as Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Konzerthaus Berlin, Vienna Konzerthaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Musée du Louvre, and the Shanghai Symphony’s Music in the Summer Air Festival. His recent recital debuts include Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Performances, Dallas Opera, Boston Celebrity Series, New York’s Park Avenue Armory (performing all three Schubert cycles), Sydney Opera House, Mozarteum Salzburg, Festival St. Denis, and Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu.

As soloist, Appl has collaborated with leading orchestras and conductors, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Klaus Mäkelä, Munich Philharmonic/Andrew Manze, Philadelphia Orchestra/Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Staatskapelle Dresden/Christian Thielemann, NHK Symphony/Paavo Järvi, Vienna Symphony/Karina Canellakis, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Andreas Reize, and Philharmonia/Maxim Emelyanychev. His upcoming engagements include performances with the Oslo Philharmonic/Mäkelä, NFM Wrocław Philharmonic, Le Concert Spirituel/Hervé Niquet, and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, where he will also make his European conducting debut.

On the operatic stage, Appl’s recent highlights include his debut as Harlequin (Ariadne auf Naxos) at Liceu Barcelona, Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) at Opéra de Rouen, and Guglielmo (Così fan tutte) with the Classical Opera Company and at Mozartfest Würzburg. In the 2024/25 season, he makes his house debut at Hamburg State Opera as Papageno.

Equally at home in early and contemporary repertoire, Appl enjoys long-standing collaborations with ensembles including Les Talens Lyriques, the Gabetta Ensemble, B’Rock, Ensemble Masques, and Berliner Barocksolisten. He has premiered works by Nico Muhly, David Lang, and Matthias Pintscher, and maintains a significant partnership with György Kurtág. His discography ranges from Bach and Sibelius (Kullervo, Hyperion) to orchestrated Schubert lieder and Hans Sommer’s orchestral songs, alongside acclaimed solo albums such as Heimat (Sony), which was nominated for a Gramophone Award and won the Prix Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (2017–18).

Beyond the concert hall, Appl has brought song to new audiences through film and broadcast. His BBC/SRF production of Schubert’s Winterreise, filmed in the Swiss Alps and directed by John Bridcut, aired in 2022 to widespread praise. He has also presented the BBC Radio 3 series A Singer’s World and starred in Breaking Music, a film that bridges Argentinian tango and German Lied.