Beethoven’s contribution to the development of German song was significant – he wrote some 90 songs – but it has inevitably been overshadowed by his mastery of orchestral and instrumental music. Unlike Mozart and Schubert’s works in the genre, little is known about the composition and performance of Beethoven’s songs, but he is known to have greatly respected Goethe, as his settings amply show, not least in the incidental music to Egmont, from which Freudvoll und leidvoll is taken. A versatile concert singer, Austrian soprano Elisabeth Breuer has performed with the top orchestras in Germany and Austria. Her work with conductors such as Daniel Harding, Franz Welser-Möst, Andrew Manze, Hansjörg Albrecht and Martin Haselböck has taken her to the Elbphilharmonie, Musikverein in Vienna, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Kölner Philharmonie and Munich Philharmonie am Gasteig. Rainer Trost has appeared at the most prestigious opera houses and festivals in the world. He has recorded numerous albums, including Mozart’s Così fan tutte, Lehár’s The Merry Widow, Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito, Mendelssohn’s Saint Paul, Beethoven’s Missa solemnis and Fidelio, as well as recordings of Schubert’s Die schöne Müllerin and Schubert’s Friends. Paul Armin Edelmann has sung at major opera and concert venues, and the state theatres in Darmstadt, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Munich and Leipzig. Edelmann has worked with renowned conductors such as Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Lorin Maazel, Michel Plasson, Jeffrey Tate and Manfred Honeck. His discography includes Reger Orchestral Songs and an album of works by Schubert. Bass Ricardo Bojorquez made his stage debut while there in June 2014 as Bottom in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna. He has subsequently sung various roles such as Osmin in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, Masetto and Comendatore in Don Giovanni, Sarastro and Sprecher in Die Zauberflöte, Cold Genius in King Arthur, Le Bailli in Werthe rand Sciarrone in Tosca.