Baritone André Schuen (1984, La Val – South Tyrol / Italy) released his dream album on July 4, 2025 – nothing but Mozart and more Mozart. Klassiek Centraal was able to listen to the recording in full beforehand, and yes, this is Mozart at a level we don't hear every day.
André Shoes who grew up trilingual from birth (Ladin as his mother tongue, Italian and German) was a cellist in his youth. A cello, the baritone of string instruments, can be made to sing, but Schuen found more satisfaction in the voice of the human voice than in the strings, and so he ended up at the Mozarteum where he was trained into an accomplished baritone. Mozart, opera and song – that's his holy trinity. When someone is bitten by Mozart like this and has the gift to perform Mozart like few others, they simply must make a recording. Schuen presents an overview of arias and duets from Mozart's greatest operas alongside some sometimes remarkably moving songs. André Schuen has been active as a singer for almost 20 years, though the big breakthrough took some time in coming. Today you'll find him on many stages across our musical world as an opera and art song singer, where he performs the best alongside and under the direction of other renowned musicians.
One of the accompanists on this CD is none other than Avi Avital, who already received a Golden Label from Klassiek Centraal when only a handful of listeners came to the small black hall at DeSingel to hear this then completely unknown mandolinist. Less than a year later, Avital signed with Deutsche Grammophon and the rest is history… He's not the only world-renowned name on this CD. The orchestra is the famous Mozarteumorchester Salzburg under the inspiring direction of Roberto González-Monjas. Pianist Daniel Heide is Schuen's inspiring regular accompanist, and Nikola Hillebrad is the ideal Papagena in the eternally beautiful duet between Papagena and Papageno…
André Schuen: "This album is meant as my personal journey through Mozart's music," Schuen explains. "I didn't want to simply present a collection of Mozart arias for baritone and bass, but rather create such interesting connections and transitions that the listener is drawn into the music and a holistic musical dramaturgy emerges."
Couldn't have said it better myself – indeed, the succession of the various pieces has something of a story to it.
The wonderfully beautiful song deserves special mention, both musically and poetically: Abendempfindung, set to a text by Joachim Heinrich Campe. It moves you – this noble farewell to Life, something Mozart himself held so dear and had to say goodbye to far too soon.
Schuen is one of those rare fine baritones with a bass coloring who can handle just about everything and excels in Mozart and Schubert and more… In short: buy this CD or listen to it on one of the many streaming services.
