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Ingeborg Danz (Mezzo-soprano, Contralto)

Born: 1961 - Witten, North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany

The German mezzo-soprano (and contralto), Ingeborg Danz, studied school music in Detmold. After passing her state teacher's examination she studied singing with Heiner Eckels, graduating with distinction. She took advanced courses with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and others. Whilst still being a student, she was awarded several prizes and was granted scholarships by Deutscher Musikrat and Richard-Wagner-Federation.

In 1987 Ingeborg Danz made guest appearances at various opera houses, a.o. in Hamburg. Her main field, however, is oratorio and concert performance and Lieder singing. She very closely collaborates with Helmuth Rilling/Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart and Collegium Vocale Gent and Philippe Herreweghe.

Ingeborg Danz does not exclusively commit herself to certain musical epochs. Works of the late romantic period, such as Gustav Mahler's symphonies, Berlioz' Nuits d'été or Robert Schumann's Faust-Szenen, sacral music by Bruckner and L.v. Beethoven are part of her regular repertoire, still it is no exaggeration to call her one of the finest J.S. Bach performers of her generation. After a concert of J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass (BWV 232) with the Münchner Philharmoniker, the Munich press judged her with the words: "Ingeborg Danz, the leading concert contralto of today - all future b minor masses are spoilt for one that has been moved by this Agnus Dei aria!"

Ingeborg Danz' collaboration with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Herbert Blomstedt, Claudio Abbado, Manfred Honeck, Christopher Hogwood, Philippe Herreweghe, Heinz Holliger, Helmuth Rilling, Ingo Metzmacher and Semyon Bychkov led her to the Scala in Milan, the Lucerne and Salzburg Festival and the leading orchestras of the world including: Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam, Wiener Philharmoniker and Münchner Philharmoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Bayerischer Rundfunk Symphonieorchester, DSO Berlin, NDR Hamburg, Bamberger Symphoniker, Radio-Symphony-Orchestra Stuttgart of the SWR, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra (Washington) and Chicago Symphony Orchestra.

Ingeborg Danz has given many recitals and made extended tours throughout the USA and to Japan, South America, Russia and across Europe. She has an unbroken history of work with the Lieder accompanist Almut Eckels since 1984. She regularly appears at the International Bach Academy in Stuttgart and at international festivals including the European Music Festival in Stuttgart, Schloss Ludwigsburg Festival, Schwetzingen Festival, Bachwoche Ansbach, Händel Festival in Halle, Oregon Bach Festival, Tanglewood Festival, Salzburg Festival, and Baldwin-Wallace College Bach Festival in Ohio. She has an extensive repertoire including all the major works in the oratorio and concert literature and dozens of songs.

Important projects of the last years have been, amongst other performances, a concert tour with the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and in spring 2007 two extended tours with the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées, as well as with the Collegium Vocale Gent under Philippe Herreweghe. In the 2007-2008 season Ingeborg Danz performed Felix Mendelssohn's Elias with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Strasbourg under Heinz Holliger, J.S. Bach's St. Matthew's Passion (BWV 244) with Dresdner Kreuzchor and J.S. Bach's B Minor Mass (BWV 232) with the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo (OSESP) under Claus Peter Flor. The Gewandhausorchester Leipzig invited her for concerts with J.S. Bach's Christmas oratorio in Leipzig, Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne, Dortmund and Frankfurt.

Ingeborg Danz is a dedicated Lieder singer. She went on a recital tour greatly acclaimed by both audience and press with Juliane Banse, Christoph Prégardien and Olaf Bär, and later with James Taylor. With Olaf Bär she further gave concerts, at the Rheingau Musik Festival. Also her recitals together with pianist Michael Gees received rave reviews.

Ingeborg Danz demonstrates her enormous repertoire in numerous broadcast and TV productions and many CD recordings: W.A. Mozart's Masses with Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Teldec), several discs with Philippe Herreweghe for Harmonia Mundi, and, all for Hänssler, her first recital disc with Johannes Brahms Lieder and J.S. Bach's St Matthew Passion (BWV 244) and St John Passion (BWV 245), B Minor Mass (BWV 232) and Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) (all with Helmuth Rilling). This summer (2007-2008) Ingeborg Danz recorded her a CD with pianist Helmut Deutsch, which is again dedicated to J. Brahms and was released in fall 2007. Among her pupils and/or singers who have attended her master-classes: Pauline Stöhr (Contralto/Mezzo-soprano).


More Photos

Sources:
Liner notes to the CD ‘Secular Cantatas BWV 201’ conducted by Rilling (Hänssler 1999)
KSGasteig Website (2007-2008)
Contributed by
Aryeh Oron (January 2001, April 2008)

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Karl-Friedrich Beringer

Alto

BWV 232

Georg Christoph Biller

Alto

BWV 248 [2nd], BWV 248 [3rd]

Justin Doyle

Alto

[CR-1] (2019, Radio recording): BWV 147a

Werner Ehrhardt

Alto

Video (2011): BWV 11, BWV 172

Iván Fischer

Alto

BWV 244 [2nd]

Karin Freist-Wissing

Alto

BWV 245 [1st, 2005]

Philippe Herreweghe

Alto

BWV 2, BWV 8, BWV 20, BWV 29, BWV 63, BWV 91, BWV 119 [1st recording], BWV 120 [1st recording], BWV 121, BWV 125 [1st], BWV 133, BWV 138 [2nd], BWV 176, BWV 207, BWV 214
BWV 243a, BWV 244 [3rd], BWV 245 [3rd]

Klaus Hövelmann

Alto

BWV 248/1-3,6

Ton Koopman

Alto

BWV 243 [2nd, Video]

Dwight Oltman

Alto

BWV 148, BWV 232 [5th], BWV 248 [5th]

Hans-Christoph Rademann

Alto

Bachfest Leipzig 2011: BWV 1, BWV 6

Helmuth Rilling

Alto

BWV 30a, BWV 36b, BWV 67, BWV 69, BWV 79, BWV 110, BWV 120a, BWV 134a, BWV 201, BWV 206, BWV 207a, BWV 213, BWV 214
[L-11] (1997): BWV 4 [3rd recording]
BWV 232, BWV 233, BWV 234, BWV 235, BWV 236, BWV 243, BWV 243a, BWV 244, BWV 244 [6th, 2013, Video], BWV 245 [3rd], BWV 248 [2nd], BWV 248/1,3 [4th], Chorales & Sacred Songs, BWV 524

Links to other Sites

Ingeborg Danz (KS Gasteig) [German]
Ingeborg Danz (LKKL) [German]
Ingeborg Danz (Beaty in Music)
Ingeborg Danz (Ricercare) [Italian] [N/A]
Danz Ingeborg, contralto (Festival de Wallonie) [French] [N/A]
Soloists of the season 2002/2003 - Ingeborg Danz (BR Online) [English/German] [N/A]


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Explanation | Acronyms | Missing Biographies | The Sad Corner




 

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Last update: Saturday, February 24, 2024 05:42