The 50th anniversary year of the Schubertiade kicks off on 10 July with what has become one of the festival’s signature concerts: a lieder recital. Soprano Katharina Konradi and baritone Konstantin Krimmel, with Daniel Heide on the piano, sing a Brahms program from his Deutsche Volkslider I and II and other works. Katharina Konradi, originally from Kyrgyzstan and now living in Germany, is a lyric soprano singing roles from Pamina (Mozart: Die Zauberflöte) to Nannetta (Verdi: Falstaff). She also covers the lied repertoire from Schubert to Richard Strauss. Her first appearance at the Schubertiade was in a lieder recital in 2020.

German baritone Konstantin Krimmel also has a joint opera and lied repertoire. In 2019, he was awarded first prize at the International Helmut Deutsch Lied Competition. He joined the Bavarian State Opera in 2019 and will be focusing on the major Mozart roles, with extensions up to Richard Strauss’ and Benjamin Britten’s operas. He also made his Schubertiade debut in 2020.

Daniel Heide has an extensive history at the Schubertiade, appearing multiple times each season since 2017. He has collaborated intensively with singers such as Andrè Schuen (Schubertiade 2018–2023), Konstantin Krimmel (Schubertiade 2020–2024), Christoph Prégardien (2022–2024), Julian Prégardien (2025), Katharina Konradi (2025), Patrick Grahl (2022–2024), Tobias Berndt (2025), and others.

Korean pianist William Youn appears in a piano recital devoted to Schubert on 11 July. Youn, with a repertoire ranging from solo piano to orchestral performances, continues his Schubert cycle begun in 2022. Three sonatas, E minor, B major, and G (D. 566, 575, and 894) will be performed in this afternoon’s concert. William Youn has performed at the Schubertiade in piano recitals and chamber concerts since 2017.

Franz Schubert: Piano Sonata No. 6 in E Minor, D. 566, “Unfinished” – I. Moderato (William Youn, piano)

That evening, Julian Prégardien, tenor, with Daniel Heide on piano, will perform Winterreise. He first recorded this in 2013 with Michael Gees and then in 2018 in an orchestral version created by composer Hans Zender with the German Radio Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern Philharmonic Orchestra under Robert Reimer. Julian Prégardien made his first appearance at the Schubertiade in 2013 in a program with his father, tenor Christoph Prégardien.

Hans Zender: Schubert – Winterreise: No. 24 Der Leiermann (Julian Prégardien, tenor; German Radio Saarbrücken-Kaiserslautern Philharmonic Orchestra; Robert Reimer, cond.)

Saturday, 12 July, brings an afternoon concert by duo pianists Lucas and Arthur Jussen. The Dutch duo pianists bring a concert of Grieg, Rachmaninoff, and Schubert. Hanna Kulenty’s VAN… will close the first half. The duo have been playing at the Schubertiade since 2019.

Franz Schubert: Fantasie in F Minor, Op. 103, D. 940 (Arthur and Lucas Jussen, piano duo)

Baritone Christian Gerhaher with pianist Gerold Huber fill the evening concert with Robert Schumann’s Liederkreis, Op. 24, and other works, including his Op. 28 Dichterliebe cycle. Gerhaher studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, where he met his long-time accompanist Gerold Huber. Gerhaher’s voice has been compared with that of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. In addition to his accompanying work, Gerold Huber also has an extensive solo career focusing on Bach. Gerhaher and Huber have been appearing at the Schubertiade since 1999.

Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe, Op. 48 – No. 1. Im wunderschönen Monat Mai (Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Gerold Huber, piano)

On Sunday, 13 July, the Sitkovetsky Trio brings a program of Schubert and Beethoven. First meeting as students at the Yehudi Menuhin School in the UK and forming a trio in 2007, the trio, now with Alexander Sitkovetsky (violin), Isang Enders (cello), and Wu Qian (piano), is currently working on a cycle of all of Beethoven’s works for piano trio for BIS records, of which two volumes have been released. This will be their debut appearance at the Schubertiade.

Ludwig van Beethoven: Allegretto in B-Flat Major, WoO 39 (Sitkovetsky Trio)

The evening concert brings together tenors Ilker Arcayürek and Julian Prégardien, baritones Konstantin Krimmel and Tobias Berndt, with pianist Daniel Heide for an evening of Schubert’s vocal quartets for four male voices. Turkish tenor Ilker Arcayürek already appeared in recital in June at the Schubertiade with Die Winterreise, and baritone Tobias Berndt makes his Schubertiade debut in this concert.

The July concerts close with soprano Julia Kleiter, baritone Christian Gerhaher, and pianist Gerold Huber in an evening of Schumann. His Op. 25 song cycle Myrthen is followed by the Lieder und Gesänge aus Goethes Wilhelm Meister, Op. 98a and Romances and Ballads IV, Op. 64. German soprano Julia Kleiter has been appearing at the Schubertiade in lieder recitals since 2008.

Robert Schumann: Myrthen, Op. 25 – No. 8. Talismane (Christian Gerhaher, baritone; Gerold Huber, piano)

The range of performers in the July 2025 Schubertiade brings some of the great specialists in lieder, along with performers of the chamber music that complements this great genre. In so many ways, the 50th anniversary year is a culmination of a half-century of great music-making.

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