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Hans
Adolfsen
piano



www.hansadolfsen.ch


«Ach! die wahre Herzenskunde, 
Liebeshauch, erfrischtes Leben
Wird mir nur aus seinem Munde,
Kann mir nur sein Athem geben.»

My love for Lied began with these lines of Goethe. I left the concert hall on cloud nine after hearing Schubert's song for the first time. And these feelings of happiness have returned again and again an infinite number of times upon hearing Mahler, Wolf, Ravel, Poulenc and many other composers.

Despite the fact that Suleika is singing about a person, I like to interpret "sein Atem [his breath]" as referring to Song itself! There is no other genre of music that can move me so much; and yet at the same time it is so approachable: with just a voice and a piano you can experience an evening of song that tells of a whole range of essential human experiences.


BIOGRAFIE:

Hans Adolfsen started playing the piano when he was eight. At the age of 17 he entered the Konservatorium Utrecht (Netherlands), starting studying singing and chanhing to piano after several years. Upon hearing his first Liederabendl, a Schubert recital with Elly Ameling und Rudolf Jansen, he experienced such great joy, that he knew immediately that his future was destined to be becoming a Lied pianist.

After his piano studies followed complementary studies in chamber music and piano accompaniment; during his whole time at the conservatorium he played the piano with and for singers in the Lied and opera repertoire, for masterclasses and exams. Even though his favourite "instument" was the voice, he had more talent for the piano. Vocal music was therfore the ideal combination; a further preoccupation for poetry and language provided the additional ingredients for Lied.
He deepened his knowledge of Lied in masterclasses with Hartmut Höll and Mitsuko Shirai, Udo Reinemann, Arleen Augér, Irwin Gage and Thomas Hampson.

Working with the singing teacher Margreet Honig has played a decisive part in his further development. Working so deeply and with such joy on vocal technique, Honig, and sunsequently Adolfsen himself, explore far further reaches than mere technique, moving into the areas of musicality, artistry and humanity. This has contributed to Hans being in such demand as a coach and repetiteur. These developments achieve their final and consummate form in the Lied pianist Hans Adolfsen. 

At the Zurich University of Applied Arts (ZHdK) he teaches a class in Lied together with Daniel Fueter, and currently works closely together with the Pianist and accompanist Christoph Berner.

Hans is also at home in the area of light music and theatre. He performs regularly in programmes wher literature and theatre combine with chansons, jazz and classical music.

For the last twelve years, Hans has also been busy as a composer. His focus is on classical art song. Apart from that, he also composes light music.