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The German bass-baritone, Hans Christoph Begemann, studied in Hamburg and Munich under the guidance of Klaus Ocker and Ernst Haefliger. At the Karlsruhe Music Academy he graduated with honors in “Concert”, with Aldo Baldin as an examiner.
At an early age, Hans Christoph Begemann had his first stage appearance as a boy in W.A. Mozart's Magic Flute at the Hamburg National Opera. In 1992, he gave his debut in the great role as a robber in Gasparone at the Municipal Theater of Gießen. For three seasons he was a member of the ensemble Wuppertaler Bühnen. Giving an outstanding performance as Wolfram von Eschenbach in Tannhäuser, he commenced his engagement at the Darmstadt National Theater. There his parts include Orestes in Elektra, Nick Shadow in TIgor Stravinsky's The Rake’s Progress, the villains in the Tales of Hoffmann, and in particular the W.A. Mozart's parts of Papageno, Nardo in La Finta giardiniera, and Figaro.
Hans Christoph Begemann has a large lieder repertoire, focusing on Schubert’s work with over 400 lied compositions. He has been invited to present song recitals at major festivals, opened the Winter Festival Week in Castle Elmau performing Winterreise, he was guest performer at the Meisterconcerts of the Villa Musica in Mainz and sang all of Schubert’s Goethe-Lieder at the Schubertiade im Ettlinger Schloß, his partners included Helmuth Deutsch and Thomas Seyboldt.
Hans Christoph Begemann was awarded the First Prize at the International Schubert Contest in Osaka. He commits himself to lieder of the 20th century, and for the first time presented works by Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Gideon Klein, and Wilhelm Petersen in German premieres. Since October 2001, Begemann’s interpretations of lieder by Petersen are available on CD for the first time.
Various broadcasting companies invited him for productions of classical and contemporary music. A Winterreise produced by Südwestrundfunk was greeted with much acclaim.
Hans Christoph Begemann performs oratorios in major concert halls in Germany and Vienna. In 2001, his performance in J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) conducted by Enoch zu Guttenberg at the Munich Philharmonic Hall was a great success. |
