Arts Global

Born in Chambéry, France in 1981, Gautier Capuçon began cello studies in his native city at age five. At the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris he studied cello with Annie Cochet-Zakine and piano with Christophe Egiziano, and later received First Prize for cello at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris with Philippe Muller. He followed this win with masterclasses in Vienna with Heinrich Schiff.

In 1999 Mr Capuçon won First Prize at the M. Ravel Music Academy of Saint-Jean-de Luz, Second Prize in the International Cello Competition in Christchurch (New Zealand) and First Prize in the André Navarra Competition in Toulouse. In June 2000 he received the Cello and Chamber Music Prizes at the CNSMP. He was voted “New Talent of the Year 2001” by the French Victoires de la Musique. In 2004 he was awarded the “Echo Preis” by German Television and a winner at the Borletti Buitoni Trust 2004.

In 1997 and 1998, as a musician of the European Community Youth Orchestra and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, he had the opportunity to improve his musical education with Bernard Haitink, Kent Nagano, Pierre Boulez, Daniele Gatti, Seiji Ozawa and Claudio Abbado.

Mr Capuçon has given recitals in Berlin, Brussels, Hanover, Dresden, London, Paris and Vienna, and is often invited to perform at most prestigious festivals: Divonne, Menton, Saint-Denis, La Roque d’Anthéron, Strasbourg, Berlin (invited by Claudio Abbado), Jerusalem, Lockenhaus, Rheingau, Stresa, Spoleto, San Sebastian (with the WDR Orchestra and Semyon Bychkov), Edinburgh, Davos, Lucerne, Verbier, London Mostly Mozart and Martha Argerich Festival in Lugano.

Mr Capuçon has performed with the Bordeaux, Lille, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Belgrade, Jerusalem, Liège Orchestras, Vienna, Scottish, Zurich Chamber Orchestras, Bayerischer Rundfunk Orchestra, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Munich Philharmonic with Paavo Jarvi, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Frankfurt Radio with Hugh Wolff, NDR Hannover, WDR Cologne with Semyon Bychkov, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Moskow Radio Tchaikovsky Orchestra with Vladimir Fedoseyev, Malmö Symphony, BBC Scottish and BBC Wales Symphony, Roma Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe with Myung-Whun Chung, Spanish National Orchestra with Josep Pons, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Philharmonique de Radio France, Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre de Paris with Christoph Eschenbach, Helsinki Radio Orchestra with Semyon Bychkov, Houston Symphony, Washington National Orchestra with Leonard Slatkin, Orchestre National de France with Togian Sokhiev, Philadelphia Orchestra with Charles Dutoit and Cincinnati Orchestra with Paavo Jarvi.

Passionate about chamber music, Mr Capuçon has collaborated with Martha Argerich, Nicholas Angelich, Daniel Barenboim, Yuri Bashmet, Frank Braley, Gérard Caussé, Myung-Whun Chung, Michel Dalberto, Hélène Grimaud, Stephen Kovacevich, Gabriela Montero, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Oleg Maisenberg, Paul Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Mikhail Pletnev, Viktoria Mullova, Leonidas Kavakos, Vadim Repin, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Maxim Vengerov, Lilya Zilberstein, Nikolaj Znaider and Ysaye Quartet.

A Virgin Classics exclusive artist, Mr Capuçon’s discography includes Ravel’s chamber music alongside his brother Renaud and Frank Braley, two duo recordings with Renaud, Haydn’s concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra under Daniel Harding, Schubert’s Trout, Saint-Saëns’ chamber music, Brahms Trios with Renaud and Nicholas Angelich (Preis der deutshen Schallplattenkritik) and Schubert Trios with Renaud and Frank Braley. For EMI: Haydn and Mendelssohn Trios with Martha Argerich and his brother and the Shostakovitch trio with Martha Argerich and Maxim Vengerov. Most recent recordings: Brahms Double Concerto with Gautier Capuçon and the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester (Gramophone/Editor’s Choice) and a recital with pianist Gabriela Montero (Mendelssohn/Prokofieff/Rachmaninoff). Most recent release: Dvorak’s Concerto and Frankfurt Radio Orchestra under Paavo Järvi.

Gautier Capuçon plays a 1701 Matteo Goffriler.