Daniel Behle

Biography

Daniel Behle is one of the most versatile German tenors and is equally successful in the concert, lied and opera genres. His extensive repertoire ranges from Baroque masterpieces to Classical and Romantic works to compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries.

In April 2014 he made his acclaimed debut in the role of Matteo in Richard Strauss’s Arabella at the Salzburg Easter Festival under Christian Thielemann and was subsequently engaged to appear as David in a new production of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Bayreuth Festival in 2017. In summer 2015 he returns to Aix-en-Provence as Belmonte (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) and sings the role of Erik in Der fliegende Holländer at the Frankfurt Opera in the autumn, his first Wagner role. In 2016 Daniel Behle makes his debut as Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, under Semyon Bychkov and sings Flamand in Strauss’s Capriccio for the first time at the Theater an der Wien.

Daniel Behle appears in concert with various ensembles, including the Staatskapelle Dresden, the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Hamburg Symphony Orchestra and the Stuttgart Bach Academy, working with such conductors as Christian Thielemann, Marek Janowski, James Gaffigan, Jiří Bělohlávek, René Jacobs, Jérémie Rhorer, Jeffrey Tate, Helmuth Rilling, Hans-Christoph Rademann, Kent Nagano and Sebastian Weigle.

Highlights of the 2015/16 season include his first collaboration with Christoph Eschenbach (Lenski in a concert performance of Eugene Onegin at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival), his debut with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (opening concert of the Musikfest Berlin in Schoenberg’s Jakobsleiter with Ingo Metzmacher), the Zender Winterreise with the SWR Symphony Orchestra Freiburg and Baden-Baden under Stefan Asbury and Beethoven’s Missa solemnis with the Staatskapelle Dresden under Christian Thielemann. In spring 2017 he appears for the first time with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (Haydn’s The Seasons with Trevor Pinnock) and makes his debut as Loge in Rheingold with the NDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thomas Hengelbrock.

Daniel Behle fascinates his audiences as a lieder singer at such venues as the Schwetzingen Festival, the Schubertiade, the Prinzregenten Theater in Munich, the Cologne Philharmonie, Hamburg’s Laeiszhalle, the Beethoven House in Bonn, London’s Wigmore Hall and the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Music critic Jan Brachmann wrote, “Tenor Daniel Behle already ranks among the great artists of his voice type” (Opernwelt, November 2014).

The artist has also made a name for himself as a composer. He gave the premiere of his Ringelnatz cycle at the Beethoven House in Bonn in 2013. An important milestone in his composing career is his arrangement of Schubert’s Winterreise for tenor and piano trio, which he presented for the first time with the Oliver Schnyder Trio at the Hirzenberg Festival in Switzerland. The UK premiere of the work was given at Wigmore Hall in April 2015 and will be followed by the first performance in Germany with WDR in Cologne in February 2016. Daniel Behle will pay musical tribute to his native city of Hamburg next year with Waterkant Songs, arrangements and new compositions for tenor and piano trio.

Daniel Behle was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2014 for his interpretation of the villain Artabano in the recording of Leonardo Vinci’s Artaserse. His lieder recordings and solo CDs, including Die schöne Müllerin, Dichterliebe, Strauss songs and Bach arias, have been praised by critics. His debut album for Decca (Gluck arias with Armonia Atenea) was released in 2014.