Biography
German bass-baritone André Morsch studied with Margreet Honig at the Amsterdam Conservatory and was a member of William Christie’s Le Jardin des Voix. He received the 1st Prize and Hermann-Reutter-Prize at the prestigious ‘Internationaler Wettbewerb für Liedkunst’ in Stuttgart and the Prix Bernac from the Académie Ravel.Most recent engagements include Malatesta/Don Pasquale for Opéra de Dijon, the role of Christus in a staged production of Bach’s Matthäus-Passion at Theater Basel, Handel’s Messiah with the NDR Vokalensemble at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Mozart’s Requiem with the Brussels Philharmonic, Papageno in Simon McBurney’s acclaimed production of Die Zauberflöte at Theater Basel, the title role in Don Giovanni, JS Bach’s Matthäus-Passion and Haydn’s Jahreszeiten, all with the Orchestra of the 18 Century, Britten’s War Requiem with Het Gelders Orkest, Schubert’s Stabat Mater with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the title role in Telemann’s Miriways with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under Bernard Labadie at Laeizhalle Hamburg, Bach’s Weihnachtsoratorium with Chorwerk Ruhr in Madrid and at the Essen Philharmonie, Mozart’s Messe in c-moll with the RIAS Kammerchor and Brahms’ Deutsches Requiem with the Orchestra of the 18th Century and the Sinfonieorchester Basel. With the Balthasar Neumann Ensembles and Thomas Hengelbrock he has performed Haydn’s Die Schöpfung, works by Mozart, Beethoven and Saint-Saëns and the world premiere of Jan Mueller Wieland’s Maria at the Ruhrtriennale Festival.
In the season 2022-23, André Morsch performs and records J.H. Rolle’s Die Befreiung Israels and Telemann’s Das Befreite Israel with Il Gardellino, joins Nico and the Navigators for their acclaimed production Empathy with the Devil in Berlin and returns to the Sinfonieorchester Basel for Beethoven’s Symphony no 9, which he will also perform with the Orchestra of the 18th Century. Other concert projects include Bach cantatas with the Arion Ensemble in Montreal and the Matthäus Passion with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and Jan Willem de Vriend.
A former ensemble member of Oper Stuttgart, his roles for this house included Leporello/Don Giovanni, Papageno/Die Zauberflöte, Figaro/Le Nozze di Figaro, Figaro/Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Harlekin/Ariadne auf Naxos, Achille/Giulio Cesare, Schaunard/La bohème, Dandini/La Cenerentola, Cithéron/Platée, Dr Falke/Die Fledermaus, Der Graf in Boesmans’ Der Reigen, Guglielmo/Cosi fan tutte, Pluto/Orphée aux enfers, Malatesta/Don Pasquale and as Fernando Ormez in the world premiere of Toshio Hosokawa’s Erdbeben.Träume, directed by Jossi Wieler.
At De Nationale Opera Amsterdam, he has sung Pompeo/Benvenuto Cellini, Der Graf in Schreker’s Die Schatzgräber, Jake Wallace/La Fanciulla del West, The Novice’s Friend/Billy Budd, Michelotto Cibo in Schreker’s Die Gezeichneten and Thésée in Enescu’s Oedipe, conducted by Marc Albrecht.
Other recent opera appearances include Plutone in Legrenzi’s La Divisione del Mondo, conducted by Christophe Rousset, at the Opéra National du Rhin, Kölner Philharmonie, in Nancy and Versailles, Papageno at Grand Théâtre de Genève, Figaro/Le Nozze di Figaro, Bach’s Johannes-Passion and Guglielmo with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Adario/Les Indes Galantes at Opernhaus Zürich, the title role in Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione at Opéra Comique in Paris, Fritz/Die tote Stadt at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, Boris in Shostakovich’s Moskva – Cheremushki at the Opéra de Lyon and Stephano in Martin’s Der Sturm at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam.
In concert, he has worked with, amongst others, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, the Beethoven Orchester Bonn, Les Talens Lyriques, Le Poème Harmonique, Les Arts Florissants, Het Residentie Orkest, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductors such as Frans Brüggen, Jaap van Zweden, Ingo Metzmacher, James Gaffigan, Hervé Niquet, Christophe Rousset, William Christie, Vincent Dumestre, Carlo Rizzi, Ivor Bolton, Kenneth Montgomery, Marcus Creed, Reinbert de Leeuw, Jan Willem de Vriend, Sylvain Cambreling and Edo de Waart.
With recital partner Julius Drake he has performed at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, Zurich, Stuttgart and elsewhere.
His discography includes Haydn’s Die Jahreszeiten with Concerto Köln and Marcus Creed (Carus), Haydn’s L’isola disabitata with Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin (Pentatone), Lully’s Cadmus et Hermione (Diapason d’Or, DVD of the year 2009/Deutsche Schallplattenkritik), Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem with the Orchestra of the 18th Century, Bach’s Messe in h-moll with Les Arts Florissant and William Christie, Schreker’s Die Schatzgräber and Telemann’s Miriways with the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin and Bernard Labadie (Pentatone).
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