Originally, the lyric tenor Markus Miesenberger had actually wanted to become a violinist …
At any rate, the Austrian began studying this instrument as a young talent at the Mozarteum Salzburg at the age of 14, while also singing daily in the school choir — and he found such joy in singing that he ultimately completed his regular studies at the University of Music in Vienna in parallel in voice, (baroque) violin/viola, and early music. Quite an organizational effort — but to this day a great benefit for Markus Miesenberger.
For not only does he benefit vocally, with regard to aspects such as intonation and the conscious use of vibrato, phrasing, breath control, and tonal color, from his skills as an instrumentalist, but also in terms of his ensemble experience and the expansion of his already enormous repertoire. And not least, it is quite practical for ensembles and orchestras that the tenor also plays the viola — for Markus Miesenberger continues to do so at a professional level.
This is certainly also connected to his remarkable stylistic versatility as a singer: although he does place a particular focus on music from the baroque and classical periods. His curiosity for ever-new repertoire and his interest in rediscovering long-forgotten works, whether in opera or concert repertoire, also play a role here, as does his — especially important in early music! — highly conscious and rhetorical approach to text.
It is precisely this quality, however, that also makes him an outstanding interpreter of contemporary music and, not least, of the tenor roles of Richard Wagner, where he can also indulge his love of acting.
And it is precisely this diversity that Markus Miesenberger describes as a blessing for his voice: a healthy mix of opera, concert, song, and ensemble work keeps both voice and soul in good condition, he believes!
He therefore appears as a concert, recital, and opera singer in all major European music centers, but also, for example, in Israel and Mexico — from the Festival Oude Muziek Utrecht to the MAfestival Bruges, from the Settimana di musica sacra di Monreale via Styriarte, Carinthian Summer, the Schubertiades in Schwarzenberg and Dürnstein, the Salzburg Festival and Easter Festival, the Bruckner Festival Linz, the International Music Festival Hamburg, the Handel Festival Halle, Musica antiqua of Bavarian Radio, to the Wrocław Philharmonic and many others.
As a recital singer he is frequently accompanied by, among others, David Lutz and Sir András Schiff; in the concert and opera field he sings under conductors such as Christian Thielemann, Markus Poschner, Jeffrey Kahane, Ralf Weikert, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Federico Maria Sardelli, Gunar Letzbor, Michi Gaigg, and Rubén Dubrovsky with orchestras and ensembles such as the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Vienna and Hamburg Symphony Orchestras, the Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Ars Antiqua Austria, the L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra, and the Bach Consort Vienna.
Markus Miesenberger is a prizewinner of the Franz Joseph Aumann Prize at the international H.I.F. Biber Competition. More than 30 CDs and numerous radio appearances document his career, including the two recordings of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger from Nuremberg with Christian Thielemann and Haydn’s L’incontro improvviso with Michi Gaigg. Other important recordings include his solo CDs Arias for Silvio Garghetti with the Neue Wiener Hofkapelle, Cupido – Love Songs with songs by Haydn, Giuliani, and composers of the Viennese song school, the Kriegsgeschichten and Liebesabenteuer with music by G.D. Speer, and the Passionsoratorium by Franz Joseph Aumann, recorded with Ars Antiqua Austria.
SONUS on Markus Miesenberger
This singer combines in his voice several qualities that are not often found in such a pleasing combination: a refined understanding of text and rhetoric, comprehensive knowledge of the requirements of historically informed performance practice, and the ability to guide his voice in a highly focused manner — while at the same time possessing enormous volume and intense tonal color where appropriate. This results in his very warm and radiant sound combined with excellent textual clarity.
In addition, Markus impresses with outstanding technique, seamless brilliance in all registers, even in the most virtuosic coloratura passages, an apparently effortless yet immensely powerful top register, nevertheless a strong lower range, and not least his enjoyment of and talent for acting: this makes him the ideal interpreter even for very dramatic roles — whether in passions, song, and oratorios, or also in opera.
Audio samples
Rupert Ignaz Mayr: Alma redemptoris mater
with Ars Antiqua Austria, conductor: Gunar Letzbor
Johann Joseph Fux: Vola già di lido in lido
from the CD: Arias for Silvio Garghetti, The Habsburg Star Tenor
with Neue Wiener Hofkapelle, conductor: Markus Miesenberger
Joseph Haydn: Canzonetta: L'amore é un gran briccone
with L’Orfeo Barockorchester, conductor: Michi Gaigg
Rupert Ignaz Mayr: Confitebor tibi Domine
with Ars Antiqua Austria, conductor: Gunar Letzbor
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