Pli selon Pli (1957 - 1989) / Portait de Mallarma

Critic's Choice - Gramophone Magazine 2002

"Radiant and precisely pitched, the voice of Christine Schafer complements the ensemble's glowing timbre. At ease with the notes and where they are going, the group's playing throughout is a potent realisation of the composer's ideal of extended chamber music." (BBC Music)

German soprano Christine Schäfer has swiftly established herself as one of the most talented sopranos of her generation. Born in Frankfurt am Main, she studied at the Berlin Conservatory under Professor Ingrid Figur and has also worked with the late Arleen Augér, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Sena Jurinac and Aribert Reimann, who has composed several works for her.

Now enjoying an international career in both opera and concert, Christine Schäfer made her mark early on with performances of works by Handel and Bach, including the St. John and St. Matthew Passions, as well as in recital. She is also at home in the early music repertoire, and has appeared in concert with Reinhard Goebel and Musica Antiqua Köln. In the summer of 1993 Christine Schäfer made her highly acclaimed US opera debut at San Francisco Opera's Strauss Festival as Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier. Highlights of recent seasons have included the title role in Lulu at the Salzburg Festival in 1995, a performance which helped establish the artist's international reputation; her role debut as Zerbinetta at the Munich State Opera; Pierrot lunaire at the Châtelet in Paris and the Staatsoper in Berlin under Pierre Boulez; Pamina and Elisa in Il Re Pastore at the Netherlands Opera; Pamina in Brussels; Gilda and Susanna in Bern and the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor for the Welsh National Opera. She was extremely well received in Salzburg in 1997 as Constanze in a production of Die Entführung conducted by Marc Minkowski and could be heard again in this role at the Salzburg Festival in 1998.

In 1988 Christine Schäfer made an acclaimed recital debut at the Berlin Festival singing Aribert Reimann's Nacht-Räume, and has since given recitals in Paris, London and Frankfurt as well as appearing at leading festivals, both in Europe and the USA. She has worked with leading conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez, Sir Simon Rattle, Seiji Ozawa and Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She has received much praise for her performances of Baroque and 20th-century works, which she has per-formed with the leading specialists in both fields. 1998/99 engagements include recitals in Bayreuth, Berlin, Amsterdam, Zurich and Barcelona, as well as appearances in Zemlinsky's Der Zwerg at Bastille Opera, Haydn's The Creation in Zurich and Mozart's The Magic Flute in Amsterdam.

In 1997 Christine Schäfer signed an exclusive contract with DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON. Her first recording for DEUTSCHE GRAMMOPHON featuring Mozart arias and orchestral songs by Richard Strauss with Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic (ECHO-KLASSIK 1998) was followed by a recording of Arnold Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire with Pierre Boulez and the Ensemble InterContemporain.