Gautier Capuçon

Gautier Capuçon
Capuçon in 2015
Capuçon in 2015
Background information
Born (1981-09-03) 3 September 1981 (age 43)
Chambéry, France
GenresClassical
OccupationMusician
InstrumentCello
Years active1998–present
Labels
Websitegautiercapucon.com

Gautier Capuçon (born 3 September 1981) is a French cellist.

Biography

Gautier Capuçon was born in Chambéry, Savoie, the youngest of three siblings. His brother is the violinist Renaud Capuçon.

He started learning the cello when he was four years old.[1][2][3] He began his formal musical education in his hometown at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Chambéry,[4] where he graduated with first prizes in cello and in piano.

In Paris, he studied the cello initially with Annie Cochet-Zakine, who had heard him in Chambéry and brought him with her to the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris (CNR), where he graduated in 1997 with the first prize in cello. He then became a pupil of cello pedagogue Philippe Muller at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMP), where he graduated in 2000 with first prizes in cello and chamber music. After that, he finished his studies with Heinrich Schiff at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna.[5]

Between 1997 and 1998, as a student, he was a cellist in the European Community Youth Orchestra (now the European Union Youth Orchestra) and also in the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, playing under conductors including Bernard Haitink, Pierre Boulez and Claudio Abbado.[6]

He is also an accomplished pianist. He started learning the piano at the age of seven[7] and studied it as his second instrument at the Conservatoire Supérieur de Paris under Christophe Egiziano.[6] He enjoys playing jazz piano recreationally.[3] Now he teaches at Classe d'Excellence de Fondation Louis Vuitton with young students.

Cello

Capuçon's principal instrument is a 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello which he has on loan.[8] He also has a 1746 Joseph Contreras cello on loan from BSI (Banca della Svizzera Italiana).[6]

Speaking about his Goffriller cello in April 2008, he said:[9]

I am very lucky to be playing this cello for ten, nearly eleven, years now. It is a Matteo Goffriller, of the Venetian school, from 1701. All the Goffriller cellos that I have tried are not easy to play. For each note you need to know how much bow pressure, how much vibrato and how much bow speed you can put on it. It is an instrument that you really need to know to be able to play; it is not like a Montagnana or a Stradivarius. Montagnana, for example – most of them are really easy to play. So in a way, on the Goffriller, I probably search more and look more for different things.

Describing a Montagnana cello as his "dream" instrument of choice, he said: "I hope one day to be able to play on a Montagnana."[9]

Awards

Discography

Gautier Capuçon was an exclusive recording artist for Virgin Classics (a division of EMI). In 2015 he recorded for Erato, a division of Warner Music Group.

Orchestral

  • Dvorak – Cello Concerto, 2009
  • Herbert – Cello Concerto no.2, 2009
  • Haydn – Cello Concertos, 2003
  • Brahms – Double Concerto, 2007
  • Tchaikovsky – Variations on a Rococo Theme, 2010
  • Prokofiev – Sinfonia Concertante, 2010
  • Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto n°1, 2013
  • Shostakovich – Cello Concertos, 2015
  • Schumann - Cello Concerto, 2019

Chamber

  • Ravel – Chamber Music, 2002
  • Face à Face: Violin & Cello Duets, 2003
  • Saint Saëns – Carnival of the Animals, 2003
  • Brahms Piano Trios, 2004
  • Schubert – Trout Quintet, 2004
  • Inventions: Violin & Cello Duets (Bach, Eisler, Karol Beffa, Bartok, Martinu), 2006
  • Schubert Piano Trios, 2007
  • Rachmaninov & Prokofiev: Cello Sonatas, 2008
  • Fauré: Complete chamber music for strings, 2011

Other albums

In addition, Gautier Capuçon has featured in EMI's annual CD releases of live recordings from the Lugano Festival each year, "Martha Argerich & Friends", at which he is a frequent returning guest performer.

He also released these albums:

Year Album Peak positions Notes
FRA
[10] 		BEL
(Fl)
[11] 		BEL
(Wa)
[12] 		NLD
[13] 		SWI
[14]
2018 Intuition 52 117 101 102 78
2020 Emotions 20  – 57  –  –
2021 Souvenirs 70  – 121  –  –
2022 Sensations 4  – 49  – 62
2023 Destination Paris  –  – 93  –  –

Collaborations

Date album title Credited to
2013 Saint-Saëns: La muse et le poète Renaud Capuçon / Gautier Capuçon / Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Lionel Bringuier
2013 Schubert: Arpeggione Gautier Capuçon / Frank Braley
2015 Shostakovich: The Cello Concertos Gautier Capuçon / Mariinsky Orchestra / Valery Gergiev
2016 Beethoven Gautier Capuçon / Frank Braley
2017 Szymanowski Lutosławski Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Gautier Capuçon / Alexander Liebreich
2019 Franck - Chopin Gautier Capuçon / Yuja Wang

DVDs

Date album title Credited to
2013 The European Concert - Brahms / Haydn / Beethoven (as DVD) Gautier Capuçon / Berliner Philharmoniker / Gustavo Dudamel

Management

Gautier Capuçon is represented by:

  • France: Agence Artistique Jacques Thelen, Paris
  • UK: Harrison Parrott
  • Germany: Weigold & Böhm
  • North America: Columbia Artists Management Inc., New York
  • Japan: Kajimoto Concert Management, Tokyo

References

  1. ^ Gautier Capuçon interview, Virgin Classics promotional film, 2003
  2. ^ Gautier Capuçon interview, Borletti-Buitoni Trust, London, 2004
  3. ^ a b "Archive.ph". Archive.ph. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  4. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 12 September 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. ^ International Who's Who in Classical Music 2008, pub: Routledge (2008)
  6. ^ a b c "Le CNM : Centre national de la musique". Cnm.fr. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  7. ^ "Agence Artistique Jacques Thelen, Paris". Archived from the original on 3 July 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  8. ^ Gautier Capuçon interview, EMI Classics promotion film "Gautier Capuçon – Dvorak and Herbert cello concertos", Dec 2008
  9. ^ a b Gautier Capuçon speaking on BBC radio, recorded April 2008, broadcast 2 May 2008
  10. ^ "Discographie Gautier Capu�on". Lescharts.com. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Discografie Gautier Capu�on". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  12. ^ "Discographie Gautier Capu�on". Ultratop.be. Retrieved 10 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Discografie Gautier Capu�on". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  14. ^ "Discographie Gautier Capu�on". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 13 January 2023.