Artist's words
|
|
Video
A FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN 2 CELLOS AND 1 PIANO
This decidedly romantic program combines the various facets of my journey. Along the way, I have made some very deep friendships and I am delighted to present this program with German cellist Katharina Deserno and Swiss pianist Christian Chamorel. It focuses on the Trio for two cellos and piano by French composer Jérôme Ducros, whom I met during my time at Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique et de Danse in Paris.
KATHARINA DESERNO
The cellist Katharina Deserno, born in Frankfurt/Main, is famous for her wide repertoire and her exciting concert programming as well as for her sensitive and expressive playing. Her international concert activities include appearances as a soloist, among others with the Spanish National Orchestra, and as a chamber musician. Katharina has performed as part of a duo with Serbian pianist Nenad Lecic for more than 15 years. Her artistic work encompasses numerous world premieres of compositions written for her, concert tours and festival invitations, radio broadcasts at WDR, Deutschlandfunk, Radio Clasica, ORF among others, and CD-productions. Reviewers outline her “perfect playing” and “perfection in technique” (Rondo Magazine).
On her debut CD “Hommage à Clara Schumann” (2011), she presented music for cello and piano and for cello solo by women composers; On subsequent albums for KALEIDOS and WERGO, she has recorded music by Sergei Rachmaninov, Alexander Grechaninov, Konrad Lang and Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as chamber music by Barbara Heller. All recordings include world-premieres and have been praised highly by the press. On her just recently published CD, she presents a solo program with music by Johann Sebastian Bach and Violeta Dinescu. First reviews write about a “an impressing recording”, “enthralling interpretation” and “an extraordinary, touching CD” (pizzicato, Musenblätter).
Katharina Deserno received her artistic education in Frankfurt, Paris and Cologne from Maria Kliegel, Gerhard Mantel and Philipp Muller; further inspiration and artistic impulses came among others from Janos Starker, Siegfried Palm, Wolfgang Boettcher, György Kurtág, José Luís de Delás, and Rainer Zipperling for baroque cello. Already during her studies she became an assistant to Maria Kliegel. Being one of the youngest teachers at the Cologne University of Music and Dance, she established her own cello class in 2008. Meanwhile, many of her students are prizewinners of international and national competitions. Katharina is regularly invited to give master classes for young cellists. Her book on the history of female cellists was published in 2018 by Böhlau publishers. Her teaching book for young cellists, published by Schott, was a sheet music top seller for several years.
In 2015, Katharina Deserno became professor at Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts. She is artistic director of Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Frankfurt.
Katharina Deserno plays an Italian Violoncello by Carlo Antonio Testore from 1712 which has been generously loaned to her by a German patron.
CHRISTIAN CHAMOREL
A “lively and eloquent” pianist (Diapason) and a “perfect stylist” with a “jubilatory and orchestral” play (Classica), Christian Chamorel is one of the few French-speaking Swiss pianists whose influence goes beyond the country's borders. His commitment to Lied and chamber music makes him a highly sought-after artistic partner whose communication skills and generosity are celebrated by everyone.
Chamorel was a guest in prestigious festivals such as the Menuhin Festival in Switzerland; Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Klavierfestival Ruhr and Schloss Elmau in Germany; Musicales du Golfe, Lisztomanias and Menton Music Festival in France; and the Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti in Rome. He has performed in the US and Canada; in Beijing’s NCPA; Tokyo’s Musashino Hall and Kioi Hall; Berlin's Konzerthaus; Munich's Prinzregententheater; Zurich’s Tonhalle; London's Wigmore Hall; and Geneva's Victoria Hall.
Chamorel studied under Christian Favre at the Conservatoire de Lausanne where he was awarded a “Virtuosité” and highest honours from the jury at the age of 17. He went on to study at Munich’s Hochschule für Musik und Theater with Gerhard Oppitz, graduating as a soloist in 2004. In May 2006 he graduated as a soloist from Zurich’s Musikhochschule under the supervision of Homero Francesch.
Prizewinner of several international competitions (Gian Battista Viotti in Vercelli, Vienna’s Beethoven, Geneva’s Société des Arts), Christian Chamorel performs with orchestras such as the Chamber Orchestra Fribourg, the Bern Symphony Orchestra, the Geneva Chamber Orchestra, the Menuhin Academy Soloists and the Frankfurter Solisten.
Christian Chamorel’s Liszt, Mendelssohn, Franck and, more recently, Mozart recordings have been praised by international critics. Two of his recordings were nominated for Best Recording of the Year at the International Classical Music Awards.
Chamorel also collaborates with a number of internationally renowned instrumentalists and singers such as the Sine Nomine Quartet, pianist Finghin Collins, mezzo-sopranos Marie-Claude Chappuis and Karine Deshayes, baritone Benjamin Appl and violinist Rachel Kolly d’Alba.
Christian Chamorel is the founding member and artistic director of the “Mont Musical,” a Lied and chamber music festival in Le-Mont-sur-Lausanne whose strong themes appeal to a broad and enthusiastic audience.
