Werner Güra

Werner Güra © Marco Borggreve

TENOR

Representation: World

BACK TO ARTISTS OVERVIEW

GALLERY
BIOGRAPHY
DISCOGRAPHY
VIDEOS
CALENDAR
IN FOCUS

GALLERY

BIOGRAPHY

German tenor Werner Güra, born in Munich, received his musical training at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and completed his vocal studies with Professor Kurt Widmer. Furthermore, he was coached by Nicolai Gedda, Professor Margreet Honig in Amsterdam and Professor Wessela Zlateva in Vienna.

After guesting at the opera houses of Frankfurt and Basel, he joined the ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden in 1995, where he sang the important Mozart and Rossini parts of his Fach. Daniel Barenboim invited Werner Güra for various productions at the Staatsoper Berlin. He continued as guest in Dresden and also sang his highly acclaimed Mozart roles Tamino, Ferrando and Don Ottavio at Teatro Carlo Felice in Genova, Opéra de Lille, La Monnaie in Brussels and the Opéra National de Paris, at the Innsbruck Festival of Early Music and in Baden-Baden. After a long period appearing in concerts only, Werner Güra decided to take part in a new production of Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in patria at the Zurich Opera in May/June 2014.

At this stage of his career, Werner Güra concentrates his activities on the vocal-symphonic and Oratorio repertoire. He sang on the most prestigious European concert stages such as Konzerthaus and Musikverein Wien, Royal Festival Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Philharmonie Berlin, Philharmonie Paris and worked with many orchestras including Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, BBC Symphony Orchestra, the German, Dutch, Spanish, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestras, the Gulbenkian Orchestra Lisbon, with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Chailly, Michel Corboz, Sir Colin Davis, Ádám Fischer, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Thomas Hengelbrock, Philippe Herreweghe, René Jacobs, Marek Janowski, Armin Jordan, Philippe Jordan, Ton Koopman, Fabio Luisi, Kurt Masur, John Nelson, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Sir Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock, Helmuth Rilling, Sir András Schiff, Ralf Weikert, Thomas Zehetmair and David Zinman. The tenor enjoyed close collaboration with Nikolaus Harnoncourt under whose baton he appeared at the Vienna Musikverein, Styriarte Festival, Philharmonie München, Concertgebouw Amsterdam and on tour in Japan.

Recent highlights include Britten's War Requiem with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Philippe Jordan, Bach's Magnificat with the Concentus Musicus Wien and Stefan Gottfried, followed by Schubert's Mass in E-flat Major with the Cleveland Orchestra under Franz Welser-Möst, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the Munich Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck. Furthermore, Werner Güra was heard in Schumann's Das Paradise und die Peri with Jérémy Rohrer, in Berlioz' Requiem under Marc Soustrot in Leipzig and Schumann's Faust Scenes with the Royal Concertgebouw Orkest under Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Amsterdam.

In the current season Werner Güra can be heard, among others, with Mendelssohn's Lobgesangs Symphony under David Afkham in Madrid, Beethoven's IX Symphony under Yannick Nézét-Séguin in Baden-Baden, as well as Mendelssohn's Elijah at the Ruhr-Triennale in Bochum, with Beethoven's Missa Solemnis with Concerto Köln and Kent Nagano in Cologne, with Beethoven's IX Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Andris Nelsons. Other highlights include Handel's Ode for St Cecilia's day in Zurich, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis in Barcelona, Schumann's Das Paradies und die Peri in the Cologne Philharmonie, and Mendelssohn's Lobgesangs-Symphonie with the Berlin Philharmonic under Sir John Eliot Gardiner in Berlin.

Recordings for Harmonia Mundi France include Orpheus (Telemann), The Seasons (Haydn), Così fan tutte (Mozart), Christmas Oratorio and St Matthew Passion (J.S. Bach), all under the baton of René Jacobs. Lieder by Schubert and Der Rose Pilgerfahrt with the RIAS Chamber Choir conducted by Marcus Creed were also released at Harmonia Mundi. Beethoven´s Fidelio under the direction of Daniel Barenboim with Werner Güra in the role of Jacquino has been released by the Label Teldec. For Sony/BMG Werner Güra recorded Haydn´s Orlando Paladino and The Seasons as well as Bach´s Christmas Oratorio, all under the baton of Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Werner Güra is also much appreciated as Lied interpreter, regularly giving recitals amongst others at the Wigmore Hall London, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Lincoln Center New York and the Schubertiades Schwarzenberg and Barcelona. Upcoming recitals will lead him to the Wigmore Hall London, the Vienna Musikverein, to Zurich and Stuttgart.

In autumn 2000, Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin was released as Werner Güra’s first solo recording on Harmonia Mundi, followed by Schumann’s Dichterliebe and Liederkreis op. 39 as well as Hugo Wolf’s Mörike Lieder, all with pianist Jan Schultsz. Latest releases on Harmonia Mundi with pianist Christoph Berner are Schöne Wiege meiner Leiden, featuring songs by Clara & Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms as well as Schubert’s Schwanengesang, Winterreise and Mozart Lieder. All these solo recordings received the ‘Diapason d’or’ and were elected Editor’s Choice in Gramophone Magazine. For his Winterreise, Werner Güra received the BBC Music Magazine Award in the category ‘Vocal’ in 2011. For his latest Schubert-CD Willkommen und Abschied, he was awarded the prestigious German ECHO-Klassik prize in 2012. His latest recording features Beethoven Lieder and Bagatellen.

Werner Güra has been teaching at the Zurich University of the Arts since 2009.

2021 | 2022

This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.

DISCOGRAPHY

Hugo Wolf: Italienisches Liederbuch
Anke Vondung, mezzosoprano
Werner Güra, tenor
Christoph Berner, piano
Label: Spektral | 2021

TENOR

Werner Güra

GALLERY

BIOGRAPHY

DISCOGRAPHY

VIDEOS

CALENDAR

CONTACT

IN FOCUS

WERNER GÜRA performs in Barcelona, Cologne and Geneva

BEETHOVEN'S IX. SYMPHONY - new release by Harmonia Mundi

Beethovens Neunte Symphonie in Helsinki, Seoul, Tokyo und München