Page 10 - Winterreise Coverage Book, 2021 - 22

Colin’s Column

21 October 2021
Singer Benjamin Appl joins the French

label Alpha Classics.

Named Young Artist of the Year by Gramophone magazine in 2016 following immediate
success as a Wigmore Hall Emerging Artist and BBC New Generation Artist, the German
baritone Benjamin Appl enjoys an extraordinary international career and has established a
reputation as an outstanding recitalist and soloist.

With Alpha, he begins a rich collaboration featuring many projects over a period of several
years, starting with Schubert’s epic song cycle Winterreise with pianist James Baillieu, which
will be released on 11 February 2022. This release will be followed by a recital album
entitled ‘Forbidden Fruit’, combining the works of several composers and telling the story of
The Creation – it will explore multiple shades of humankind in a unique and creative way.
Benjamin Appl will then devote a recording to a composer he particularly admires and to
whom he is very close, György Kurtág, and he will also pay tribute to his teacher and
mentor, the legendary baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau in a separate release. Further
artistic projects and collaborations alongside these initial projects will intertwine
mainstream repertoire with new discoveries.

“Our encounter with Benjamin was completely natural and everything happened very
quickly. He knew our family of artists and obviously felt close to it; he trusted us. I am
delighted to have him join us and proud to champion his projects and his creativity, which is