Nicolas Altstaedt and Alexander Lonquich

Nicolas Altstaedt - cello - and Alexander Lonquich - piano.

Nicolas Altstaedt and Alexander Lonquich are two of the most dynamic protagonists of contemporary musical life. Impeccable soloists, as a duo they achieve situations of great interest for cultural contents and innovative aesthetic thinking.

Nicolas Altstaedt (born 1982, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany) is a German/French classical cellist.

German/French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt is one of the most sought after and versatile artists today. As a soloist, conductor and artistic director, he performs repertoire spanning from early music to the contemporary.

Awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award 2010 he performed the Schumann concerto in a highly acclaimed debut with the Vienna Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel at the Lucerne Festival. ^[1] Since then he has performed worldwide with orchestras such as the Tonhalle Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, all BBC Symphony Orchestras, Melbourne-and New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra working with conductors Sir Roger Norrington, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Sir Neville Marriner, Christoph Eschenbach, Krzysztof Urbański, Lahav Shani, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Robin Ticciati, Juraj Valcuha, Thomas Dausgaard, Sir Andrew Davis, Andrew Manze, Vladimir Fedosseyev, Andrey Boreyko, Fabien Gabel, Emmanuel Krivine, Dmitri Slobodeniouk, Thomas Hengelbrock, Leif Segerstam, Giovanni Antonini, René Jacobs and Andrea Marcon amongst many others.

Recent highlights, include concerto debuts with Detroit Symphony and Helsinki Philharmonic and recital debuts at BOZAR Brussels, Carnegie Hall, Théâtre des Champs Elysées, Paris and Koerner Hall, Toronto and a tour through Australia. In 18/19 he will be the Artist in residence at the NDR Elbphilarmonie, where he will perform with Krzysztof Urbánksi, Hannu Lintu and Christoph Eschenbach on tour. Other upcoming highlights include appearances with DSO Berlin, Orchestre National de France, Rotterdam Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Symphony at Suntory Hall, Il Giardino Armonico and a tour of major European venues with the SWR Orchestra and Teodor Currentzis. As a conductor, he will appear with the SWR Stuttgart, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Zurich and Scottish Chamber Orchestra and l’Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. During the 17/18 season, Nicolas gave the highly acclaimed Finnish Premiere of Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Cello Concerto under the baton of the composer at the Helsinki Festival and was also the Artist in Spotlight at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

As a chamber musician Nicolas regularly plays with Janine Jansen, Vilde Frang, Pekka Kuusisto, Antoine Tamestit, Lawrence Power, Jonathan Cohen, and the Quatuor Ébène, performing regularly at Salzburg Festival, Verbier, Utrecht, Stavanger, Prague Spring Festival, Proms, Gstaad, Musikfest Bremen, Rheingau and Schleswig-Holstein.

In 2012 Nicolas was chosen by Gidon Kremer to become his successor as the new artistic director of the Lockenhaus Chamber Music Festival, and in 2014 Adam Fischer asked him to follow in his footsteps as Artistic Director of the Haydn Philharmonie, with whom he regularly performs at Vienna Konzerthaus, Esterhazy Festival and will tour both China and Japan in the next season. Nicolas will be Artistic Director of the Pfingstfestspiele Ittingen 2019 and 2020.

Nicolas premieres new music and performs with composers like Thomas Ades, Jörg Widmann, Matthias Pintscher, Fazil Say, Bryce Dessner and Sofia Gubaidulina.

Nicolas’ recording of CPE Bach Concertos on Hyperion with Arcangelo and Jonathan Cohen received the BBC Music Magazine Concerto Award 2017. His latest recording – Four Cities – a recital programme of works by Say, Debussy, Shostakovich and Janacek with Fazil Say was released on Warner Classics to great acclaim and received the Edison Klassiek 2017. Nicolas will receive the Musikpreis der Stadt Duisburg 2018. Nicolas Altstaedt was a BBC New Generation Artist 2010-2012 and a recipient of the "Borletti Buitoni Trust Fellowship" in 2009. ^[2] Nicolas Altstaedt plays a Giulio Cesare Gigli cello from Rome around 1760.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org 

Alexander Lonquich (born 28 August 1960) is a German classical pianist and conductor. Born in Trier. Studied with Paul Badura-Skoda, Andrzej Jasiński, and Ilonka Deckers-Küszler.Won first prize at the Alessandro Casagrande Piano Competition in Terni, Italy, at the age of 16.

Appeared at festivals including: Mozartwoche Salzburg, Piano-Festival Ruhr, Schleswig-Holstein Festival, Lucerne Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Edinburgh Festival, Kissinger Sommer, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Lockenhaus, Beethovenfest.

Worked with conductors including: Claudio Abbado, Yuri Bashmet, Hans Graf, Heinz Holliger, Ton Koopman, Emmanuel Krivine, Mark Minkowski, Kurt Sanderling, Sándor Végh.

Played with orchestras including: Camerata Salzburg, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra da Camera di Mantova, Münchener Kammerorchester, Kammerorchester Basel, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Stuttgart Chamber, Symphony Orchestra Frankfurt, Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Düsseldorf Symphonic Orchestra. Also conducts himself, sometimes as piano concerto soloist.

Recording awards include the Diapason d’Or and Premio Abbiati.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org

Programme:

R. Schumann: Phantasiestücke op. 73

J. Brahms: Sonata no. 1 in E minor. op. 38

R. Schumann: Fünf Stücke im Volkston, op. 102

J. Brahms: Sonata no. 2 in F major. op. 99