Tenor
Michael Schade
Debut at Luzerner Sinfonieorchester on January 15th 2025
Tenor
Debut at Luzerner Sinfonieorchester on January 15th 2025
Celebrated as one of the leading tenors of our time, the German-Canadian Michael Schade makes regular guest appearances on the most prominent opera stages and concert halls across Europe and North America. He has enjoyed a particularly close collaboration with the Vienna State Opera, while also appearing frequently at the Metropolitan Opera, Hamburg State Opera, Canadian Opera Company, Bavarian State Opera, La Scala in Milan, the Liceu Barcelona, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Opéra Bastille in Paris and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires.
His role debuts as Eisenstein (Die Fledermaus) in Toronto and as Florestan (Fidelio) under Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Theater an der Wien were acclaimed by audiences and press alike. Other highlights have included Aschenbach (Death in Venice) and Peter Grimes in Hamburg, Max in Weber’s Freischütz at the Berlin State Opera and the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, and his role debut as Eisenstein in the traditional New Year’s Eve Fledermaus at the Vienna State Opera. This was followed by new productions of Strauss’ Elektra (Aegisth) at the Canadian Opera Company, as well as Strauss’ Daphne (Leukippos) and Erik in Wagner’s Der fliegende Holländer at the Hamburg State Opera. Michael Schade was heard as Florestan under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Séguin in Montréal as well as with Paavor Järvi and the Tonhalle Orchestra in a concertante Fidelio. In the spring of 2023, Michael Schade enjoyed great success as Herod in a new production of Strauss’ Salome at the Canadian Opera Company.
For many years, Michael Schade has been a regular guest at the Salzburg Festival in new productions of Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Purcell’s King Arthur, Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, Haydn’s Armida, Cherubini’s Medée, von Winter’s Das Labyrinth and in the title role of Schubert’s Fierrabras, as well as on the concert and Lied podium. From 2008 to 2010 he was Creative Director of his own Young Singers Project.
With a large concert repertoire ranging from Bach’s Passions to Mahler’s Lied von der Erde, Michael Schade regularly works with conductors such as Ivor Bolton, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Iván Fischer, Valery Gergiev, Stefan Gottfried, Daniel Harding, Pablo Heras-Casado, Philippe Jordan, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Kent Nagano, Yannick Nezet-Séguin, Peter Oundjian, Sir Simon Rattle, Christian Thielemann, Robin Ticciati, Franz Welser-Möst and Simone Young. His music-making was strongly influenced by numerous performances with Nikolaus Harnoncourt.
At the beginning of the 2023/2024 season, Michael Schade celebrated his debut in Australia – as Flamand in Strauss Capriccio under the baton of Simone Young in Melbourne. Other highlights include the title role in Mozart’s Idomeneo at Opera Australia in Sydney, Mahler’s Lied von der Erde in Bern, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Mahler’s Symphony No.8 with the NHK and under the baton of Fabio Luisi in Tokyo, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra conducted by Omer Meir Wellber at the Vienna Konzerthaus, Orff’s Carmina Burana with Andrés Orozco-Estrada at the Paris Philharmonic, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 once more with the Vienna Academy and Martin Haselböck at the Historische Stadthalle Wuppertal.
Equally as a lieder singer, the artist has been acclaimed at major venues including Vienna’s Musikverein, Konzerthaus and State Opera, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, New York’s Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Verbier Festival, the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, and the Grafenegg Festival. Recent recitals have taken him to the Vienna State Opera, La Scala in Milan and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.
Among his numerous recordings, those with Harnoncourt include Bach’s St. Matthew Passion (Grammy Award-winning), Verdi’s Messa da Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, Haydn’s Orlando Paladino, Mozart’s Zaide and La clemenza di Tito. Other award-winning recordings include Mahler’s Lied von der Erde with the Vienna Philharmonic under Pierre Boulez, Mozart’s Requiem with the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado, and Strauss’s Daphne conducted by Semyon Bychkov (Grammy nomination in 2005) and the live recording of a Mozart gala at the Salzburg Festival. Additional successes include Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin with Malcolm Martineau, Soirée Française and Mozart: Aria & Duetti, Die schöne Müllerin with Rudolf Buchbinder (live recording) and the DVDs of Arabella (Vienna State Opera), Das Labyrinth (Salzburg Festival) and the Vienna Philharmonic’s Summer Night Concert.
In 2007, the artist was awarded the title of Austrian Kammersänger (Chamber Singer). Since 2014, Michael Schade has been the artistic director of the International Baroque Days at Melk Abbey, which take place annually at Whitsun. In 2017 Michael Schade became an Officer to the Order of Canada (OC), and in 2019 took up the position as singing professor at the University of Music and Performing Arts, where he dedicates himself intensively to the next generation of singers in addition to numerous master classes.