Young cellist in a hurry


Gautier Capuçon has recorded Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme and Prokofiev's Sinfonia Concertante with Valery Gergiev and the Mariinsky Orchestra on a CD which is a clean sweep for Columbia Artists Management, who represent soloist, conductor and orchestra. Capuçon, who is seen above, is an outstanding young cellist, and, although I have not heard the disc, I am sure it is quite excellent. But I did hear him play live a few years back, and that concert sticks in my mind for reasons other than his playing.

The year was 2005 and Gautier Capuçon came to Norwich to join a stellar line-up of musicians led by Pascal Rogé in a weekend of chamber music. The concluding concert was on the Sunday afternoon. I can't remember the exact programme but it called for Capuçon to play in the second half, but not in the first.

Before the concert started an announcement was made that the two halves of the concert were being reversed to accomodate Gautier Capuçon's return travel arrangements to Paris. I am afraid I could not share the promoters view that we were fortunate to have the young cellist in a hurry with us, even if the price was changing the order of the performances. Instead I was left wondering why Capuçon could not have made his travel arrangements fit the concert he was booked to play, rather than the other way round. Bearing in mind what happened at that 2005 concert, Capuçon's current performing partnership with Gergiev seems rather appropriate.

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Comments

Keith said…
Jonathan Biss recently performed Mozart K271 with the CBSO here in Birmingham. He performed in the first half, and then gave a follow up piano trio concert at lunchtime the next day at the CBSO centre in Birmingham.

I couldn't go to the second recital, but seems like a different approach!
9:41 pm
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