Julius Berger, a cellist, has channeled considerable attention in both his concert appearances and his discography toward the compositions of Luigi Boccherini. Recognized simultaneously as a pedagogue and a musicologist, he also interprets a broad spectrum of modern repertoire.
Born in 1954 in Augsburg, at that time part of West Germany, Berger has maintained strong professional ties to the city throughout his career. He received his initial training at the Musikhochschule München under Fritz Kiskalt and Walter Reichardt before continuing at the Mozarteum in Salzburg with cellist and conductor Antonio Janigro, an early advocate for the revival of late Baroque and early Classical works. Between 1979 and 1982 he served as Janigro’s assistant. Additional instruction came from cellist Zara Nelsova during her tenure at the University of Cincinnati in the United States, after which Berger completed his studies in a master class led by Mstislav Rostropovich. In 1982 he joined the faculty of the Musikhochschule Würzburg, at the time one of the youngest professors within the German higher-education system. He married his former teaching assistant, Hyun-Jung Sung, in 1997. Performing together as the Berger Duo, the couple also maintain individual careers yet limit their travel commitments to preserve family time. Their joint and separate recording activities remain extensive. Berger accepted a faculty position at the Musikhochschule Augsburg in 2000. He oversees several prominent music festivals and leads an annual master class at the Internationale Sommerakademie Mozarteum Salzburg.
Much of Berger’s scholarly and studio work has centered on research and documentation. An acknowledged specialist in the music of Luigi Boccherini—the earliest composer to produce an extensive body of cello literature—he has committed numerous works by that composer to disc, among them several pieces he himself rediscovered. His recordings also encompass other late Baroque and early Classical composers, reaching back to Pietro degli Antonii and Domenico Gabrielli, the first musicians to write specifically for the cello. In addition, Berger has documented standard cello repertoire by Brahms and Dvořák while promoting contemporary scores by Sofia Gubaidulina, John Cage, and Toshio Hosokawa; he further released an album of tangos “von und für” Astor Piazzolla. His recordings have appeared on numerous labels, among them Wergo, Hänssler, and Solo Musica. On the last of these he issued a complete survey of Beethoven’s works for cello and piano, accompanied by pianist Margarethe Höhenrieder, in 2020.
