MARBECKS COLLECTABLE: Cello Concertos (with Monn - Concerto for cello, strings and harpsichord)

***** Five Stars BBC Music Magazine (July 2004)

"Queyras benefits from the much more alert playing of the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra: and in their account of the D minor central episode, the piece suddenly springs to life. (This) can confidently be recommended as a period-instrument choice." (BBC Music)

The two Haydn concertos recorded here are pillars of the cello repertoire, and unquestionably the two most accomplished works in their genre from the Viennese Classical era. As to the concerto by Matthias Georg Monn (a major figure of the transition from Baroque to Classicism), it is a remarkable work from the pre-Haydn period.

In November 2002, Jean-Guihen Queyras received from both Pierre Boulez and the Glenn Gould Foundation, the City of Toronto Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize in Music.
This recognition, from one of the greatest musicians of our time, is indicative of the exceptional musical talent Jean-Guihen embodies.

Jean-Guihen Queyras' extensive repertoire encompasses classical and contemporary works which he performs worldwide: he premiered Ivan Fedele's cello concerto with the Orchestre National de France under the baton of Leonard Slatkin, and Gilbert Amy's concerto with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo. With Concerto Köln, with whom he is touring regularly, and the Freiburger Barockorchester, he has performed classical repertoire from Haydn to Schumann.

His chamber music partners are Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Tabea Zimmermann, Antje Weithaas, Lars Vogt, Isabelle Faust and Emmanuel Pahud. He has also formed a trio with violinist Daniel Sepec and pianofortist Andreas Staier which is touring regularly and appearing in the most prestigious concert series and venues in Europe.

Jean-Guihen's particular focus on repertoire for solo cello, which brilliantly demonstrates the exceptional narrative and expressive force of the instrument "senza basso" in programmes featuring the Suites by Jean-Sebastian Bach as well as contemporary pieces, led him to devise and perform several series of concerts including three highly acclaimed recitals he gave at the Triphony Hall in Tokyo and four concerts at the Théâtre du Châtelet.

His solo engagements with orchestras include the Orchestra della RAI in Torino, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Zagreb Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orchestre National de Lille, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, 'I Pomeriggi Musicali', Orchestra Verdi, Orchestre National de Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Matav Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, the Philharmonia in Prague, the Münchener Kammerorchester, Orchestre Symphonique du Québec, the Orchestre de Paris, the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker, and the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Jean-Guihen was the solo cellist of the Ensemble Intercontemporain with whom he recorded the Ligeti Cello Concerto conducted by Pierre Boulez (Gramophone Contemporary Music Award). For Harmonia Mundi, he released two solo CDs; the first dedicated to Britten's suites received great critical acclaim from the British press, and the second, featuring works by Kodaly, Kurtag and Veress, was awarded a Diapason d'Or. Jean-Guihen has also recorded Dutilleux's Tout un Monde Lointain and Boulez's Messagesquisse (Gramophone Contemporary Music Award).