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Baritone Michael Volle is an unusually versatile singer with a repertoire running from Bach to Hans Werner Henze. He is also in demand for lieder singing and concert appearances.

Volle was born in Freudenthal in Germany's Black Forest in 1960. One of his brothers, Hartmut, is an actor; another, Dietrich, is also an opera singer. Volle studied with Josef Metternich and Rudolf Piernay and began his professional career at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. He has remained closely associated with that house, as well as with the Zurich Opera House in Switzerland, where he was a cast member from 1999 to 2007. There, Volle gained a reputation for his mastery of a great variety of roles ranging from the titular character in Mozart's Don Giovanni to Marcello in Puccini's La bohème. He has also sung Wagner in various houses, making his debut at the Bayreuth Festival in 2007 as Beckmesser in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, returning in 2017 to sing Hans Sache in a new production of the opera. In 2007, Volle moved from Zurich to join the company of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. He has also sung roles as a guest at other major European houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Staatsoper in Berlin, and Covent Garden in London. In concert, Volle has sung under such top conductors as Zubin Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, and Riccardo Muti, with such orchestras as the Staatskapelle Dresden, and the Israel Philharmonic. Volle lives in Berlin and is married to opera singer Gabriela Scherer.

Volle has recorded for Oehms, Orfeo, and Harmonia Mundi, among other labels. In 2019, he moved to the Brilliant Classics label for Michael Volle Sings Brahms. Germany's Opernwelt magazine named Volle its "Singer of the Year" in 2008, and he has won several other significant European prizes. ~ James Manheim

Period-instrument ensemble L'Arpa Festante gives new life to neglected instrumental and choral works from the Baroque to the Romantic eras. The group has recorded for various German labels.

L'Arpa Festante is a durable survivor among German historical instrument groups, having been founded in 1983 by violinist Michi Gaigg. She remained its director and concertmaster until 1995. The group was sometimes known as the Barockorchester L'Arpa Festante ("Baroque Orchestra L'Arpa Festante") or even BOLAF, but since its repertory expanded forward into the Classical and Romantic eras, this has been used less often. The name L'Arpa Festante comes from that of a cantata by Giovanni Battista Maccioni and means The Festive Harp; that work had its premiere in 1653 as part of the inauguration ceremonies for what would eventually become the Bavarian State Opera. In its earlier years, the group focused on lesser-known works of the German Baroque, especially those by members of the Bach family. L'Arpa Festante made its recording debut in 1991 on the Amati label with the album Lully in Deutschland. In 1995, the group joined the Marburger Bachchor on the Genuin label for an album of works by Jan Dismas Zelenka; since then, it has partnered with a variety of regional German choirs in choral music.

L'Arpa Festante has emphasized recording over live performance; it has no website, although it is featured on that of the Bach Kantaten Verein and sometimes performs with that group. After Gaigg's departure, L'Arpa Festante has been led by a variety of conductors, including Fritz Näf and, since 2008, Rien Voskuilen; the present concertmaster is Christoph Hesse. The group has about 20 members but can expand to 40 or more for larger works of the Romantic era. L'Arpa Festante's recording catalog has appeared on labels such as CPO, Carus, Harmonia Mundi, and others. In 2023, the group joined the Arcis-Vocalisten Munich choir for a recording of the oratorio Jan Hus on Oehms Classics. ~ James Manheim