Gautier Capuçon

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

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.He began his formal musical education in his hometown at the Ecole Nationale de Musique de Chambéry, 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. Following on, 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.

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.

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

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

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

"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."

• First prize, Maurice Ravel International Academy of Music competition, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France, 1998
• Second prize, 3rd Adam International Cello Festival and Competition, Christchurch, New Zealand, 1999
• First prize, 1er André Navarra International Cello Competition, Toulouse, France, 1999
• Victoires de la Musique Classique, “New Talent of the Year”, 2001
• Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award, 2004
• Echo Classics Award (category: Young Artist of the Year) Germany, 2004
• Echo Classics Award (category: Chamber Music Recording of the Year (20th/21st Century)), Germany 2007
• Echo Classics Award (category: Concerto Recording of the Year) Germany 2010/2011
• Echo Classics Award (category: Chamber Music Recording of the Year (19th Century)/Mixed Ensemble)) Germany, 2012

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
• Shostakovich - Cello Concertos, 2015

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

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.

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