Gautier Capuçon is a true 21st century ambassador for the cello. Performing internationally with many of the world's foremost conductors and instrumentalists, he is also founder and leader of the 'Classe d'Excellence de Violoncelle' at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris and a passionate ambassador for the Orchestre à l'École Association, which brings classical music to more than 40,000 thousands school children across France. A multiple award winner, he is acclaimed for his expressive musicianship, exuberant virtuosity, and for the deep sonority of his 1701 Matteo Goffriller cello "L'Ambassadeur".

Cello

Gautier Capuçon

Piano

Nour Ayadi

 (Piano), nominated by (and performing with) 

An expressive meditation on Rachmaninov, Debussy, and Liszt

For me, [the piano] is the place where I find myself, where I can meditate, be almost in a sort of trance…it allows me to discover who I am, my limits…

The cellist is anchored in the ground, around his instrument, there is a union of two bodies… we wrap around each other, it’s very sensual.

Pianist Nour Ayadi, and cellist Gautier Capuçon, share an intimate relationship with their instruments that surpasses physical touch. It is a relationship that nourishes their sense of identity and grounds them in a universe that spins on the axis of musical strings. 

Mysticism echoes through Sergei Rachmaninov’s 

Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19

. Reaching psychological breaking point in 1897 after a catastrophic premiere of his Symphony No. 1, hypnotherapy lulled the composer into recovery, after which emerged this sonata. Featuring close intervals, passionate single-note repetitions and bell-like sonorities, the symphony is reminiscent of the spirit of the Russian Orthodox Church. 

Mysticism and mystery are not limited to the four-movement form. Claude Debussy’s 

 (From a sketchbook) is a brief, yet seductive piano work of just fifty-five measures. Its “very slow (without rigour)” rhythm has a persuasive quality, rich with thoughtful repetition and meaningful pauses. First publicly performed by Ravel in 1910, it remains one of Debussy’s least known and most neglected works.

 lets its anxiety and torment be known. As repeated themes turn incessantly around each other, we can almost feel the anguish regurgitating through the notes. With obsessive motifs and sharp staccatos, the work departs from the slow pondering of the previous work. Written in the summer of 1904, Debussy had just left his first wife for singer Emma Bardac. Its title, he said, “is not [a reference to] Commedia dell’arte, but the tragic expression of existence.”

After ceaseless probing, we start a gradual descent into an inferno through the Devil’s Interval (a tritone). 

Après une lecture du Dante (Fantasia quasi Sonata)

 by Franz Liszt describes the journey of the soul into hell, beginning with descending tritones and dissonant harmonies that brings us to D minor – a key infamously associated with death in Romantic music. The second theme of this work is an enchanted chorale in the major, representing the uplifting nature of Heaven. Perhaps it is here that we witness the meditation and intimacy that both Ayadi and Capuçon experience with their instruments.

Nour Ayadi and Gautier Capuçon

D'un cahier d'esquisses

Masques

Après une lecture du Dante - Fantasia quasi Sonata

Piano and Cello Recital

Kim Bernard

Kim joined the Classeek Ambassador Programme in season 2021-22, following his nomination by Gautier Capuçon. 

Born in 1999, Bernard Kim began studying piano at age 5 with Michèle Mary. He later went on to study at the Lyon National Superior Conservatory with Florent Boffard and Laurent Cabasso where he earned his masters degree in 2018, after which he began the Concertiste program at the Paris Regional Conservatory. With support from the Fondation, Kim has recorded his first album, “Chopin, Debussy, Ravel” on Warner Classics & Erato (2022).

Kim Bernard & Gautier Capuçon | Grieg, Sonata for cello and piano in A minor, Op.36, I. Allegro agitato

Sonata for cello and piano in A minor, Op.36, I. Allegro agitato

Classeek Showroom performance, June 2022

Kim Bernard & Gautier Capuçon | Improvisation & Piazzolla, Oblivion (Encore)

Oblivion

Kim Bernard & Gautier Capuçon | Monti, Czardas (encore)

Czardas

Jeein You

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Jeein You, Gautier Capuçon & Samuel Parent | Jean-Baptiste Barrière, Sonata for two cellos in G major

Sonata for two cellos in G major

Classeek Showroom performance, December 2021

Jeein You, Gautier Capuçon & Samuel Parent | Shostakovich, 5 pieces for 2 cellos and piano (Prelude)

5 pieces for 2 cellos and piano (Prelude)

Jeein You & Gautier Capuçon | Paganini, Variations on a Theme of Rossini for two cellos

Variations on a Theme of Rossini for two cellos

"It's an incredible space dedicated to the arts, dedicated to the young generation... they can experience, they can feel secure, they can try new repertoire, they can show themselves to the world" 

- Gautier Capuçon on the Classeek Showroom

Gautier Capuçon interview clip

on Classeek's concert hall

“Thanks Classeek for this beautiful energy, trust and for highlighting today’s and tomorrow’s talents” - Gautier Capuçon on Classeek's initiatives

Gautier on Classeek

Gautier Capuçon talks about sharing and expressing the language of classical music.

the 'Power of Music'

Caroline Sypniewski

Anouchka Hack

Kristina Winiarski

Gautier Capuçon & la Classe d'Excellence's performance at the Classeek Showroom in 2019.

Gautier Capuçon & la Classe d'Excellence | P. Sarasate, Carmen Fantasy (Bizet)

Carmen Fantasy (Bizet)

Classeek Showroom performance, September 2019

Gautier Capuçon & la Classe d'Excellence | Piazzolla, Fuga y Misterio

Fuga y Misterio

Gautier Capuçon & la Classe d'Excellence | Elgar, Salut d'Amour 

Salut d'Amour

Solo Celli: Gautier Capuçon, Kristina Winiarski 

Gautier Capuçon & Kristina Winiarski | Sollima, Violoncelles,vibrez!

Violoncelles, vibrez!

Gautier Capuçon & la Classe d'Excellence | J.Martinez Campos, Fantasie pour La Classe d'Excellence

Fantasie pour La Classe d'Excellence

Gautier Capuçon & la Classe d'Excellence performing at the Classeek Showroom in September 2019.

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Gautier Capuçon

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