Werner Güra

Biography

Born in Munich, Werner Güra studied at the Salzburg Mozarteum and completed his training with Kurt Widmer in Basel and Margreet Honig in Amsterdam, in addition to taking courses in acting with Ruth Berghaus and Theo Adam.After appearing at the Frankfurt and Basel operas, in 1995 he joined the Semperoper in Dresden where he sang the principal tenor roles of Mozart and Rossini. He has sung Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte under Daniel Barenboim and René Jacobs, Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Berlin State Opera, Die Zauberflöte at the Paris Opéra, Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Dresden, and Bach’s Passions under Philippe Herreweghe and Peter Schreier. He has worked with the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado and Adám Fischer, and with the Concentus Musicus Wien under Nikolaus Harnoncourt. As a lied interpreter Werner Güra gives recitals at the Wigmore Hall in London, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Lincoln Center in New York, the Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris, the Barcelona Schubertiade and the Schubertiade Schwarzenberg. Among his successful lieder recordings for harmonia mundi are programmes of Schubert (Die schöne Müllerin, Schwanengesang), Schumann (Dichterliebe, Liederkreise op.24 & 39), Wolf (Mörike-Lieder), Mozart, and Brahms (Liebeslieder-Waltzer) – all celebrated by the international press (‘Editor’s Choice’ by Gramophone magazine, Diapason d’Or de l’année…).