French Cello Charm

Media release

3rd June 2007

French Cello Charm

"Gautier Capuçon plays the cello with the control and wisdom of a much older musician. The lightness of his touch and the consistent clarity of his bow strokes are quite admirable in themselves, but when combined with an uncanny sweetness of tone in the higher registers they are breathtaking." Gramophone Magazine

"I'm insatiable - one life is just not enough to do everything I want", says young cellist, Gautier Capuçon in a recent article. At only 26, Capuçon has already performed with such pianists as Martha Argerich and Mikhail Pletnev and toured with orchestras conducted by Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez and Bernard Haitink.

Born in the French Alps in 1981 to a French Customs official and a housewife, the parents raised their three children with a passion for music, largely due to their proximity to the prestigious Les Arcs festival. Capuçon and his brother, violinist Renaud have, from early on, forged a successful musical partnership which has produced four CD's.

This talented young man has already visited Christchurch, having placed second in the Adam International Cello Competition performing the much-loved Dvorak Cello Concerto. He will perform this concerto this June in Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland.

Capuçon has won the Andre Navarra Competition in Toulouse in 1999 and the Leonard Rose International Cello Competition. Explaining their attraction, he says, "Through the diversity of the repertory that you have to tackle in a very limited time span, competition give you a picture of what the life of a soloist can be."

Capuçon will also perform the wondrous Walton cello concerto in Dunedin, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland. Not often performed this is Walton's only concerto for the instrument and was dedicated to Gregor Piatigorsky who premiered this romantic work in 1957 with the Boston Symphony.

Married with the Walton concerto will be Dvorak's famous Ninth Symphony 'From the New World' conducted by Arvo Volmer, Music Director of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Familiar to audiences for the tune 'Goin' home' from the poignant third movement, this symphony was unique for the period as the composer reflected the influences of the developing New World but also demonstrated his homesickness for his homeland.
An intriguing addition to these concerts is a new NZ work from The Royal New Zealand Plunket Society, who have marked the milestone of their centenary with a commission from Eve de Castro-Robinson for children's voices and orchestra.

The music is set to the poem These Arms to Hold You written by Montana 2006 New Zealand Book Award recipient Bill Manhire and will be performed by the Lyrica Choir from Kelburn Normal school. Premiered in Wellington at the NZSO's Made in NZ concert, the orchestra and the Lyrica choir will travel around the country showcasing this extraordinary work.

NZ composer Eve de Castro-Robinson was honoured to receive such a commission, saying recently, "I was immediately keen to celebrate an organization which had played such a vital role in the early months of my own baby. I was also taken with the idea of writing for children's voices, a first for me. To work with Bill Manhire, one of this country's most stylish and witty poets, was the icing on the (birthday) cake!"

The second series of concerts in Auckland and Wellington follow a Danish theme with an evocation of Nordic sunrise introduced in Danish composer Nielsen's Helios Overture which opens these concerts.

Keeping with this Danish composer, the orchestra will highlight Nielsen's Symphony No.4; this turbulent and explosive symphony has not been performed publicly but the NZSO in its 60-year history. Named 'inextinguishable' by Nielsen, the symphony represents the force of life, a will to live, contradicting the turbulent point that the composer was in his own personal life while also painting a picture of the Great War which was going on around him.

Programme

SERIES 2, CONCERT 3

AUCKLAND Friday 15 June 6.30pm, Town Hall

DVORAK Cello Concerto
NIELSEN Helios Overture
NIELSEN Symphony No 4 The Inextinguishable

ARVO VOLMER Conductor
GAUTIER CAPUÇON Cello

Series 1, Concert 3

AUCKLAND Saturday 16 June 8pm, Town Hall Pre-concert talk 7.15pm

DE CASTRO-ROBINSON These Arms to Hold You Commission for Children's Voices and Orchestra
WALTON Cello Concerto
DVORAK Symphony No 9 From the New World
ARVO VOLMER Conductor
GAUTIER CAPUÇON Cello

ends