After studying with Jérôme Pernoo at the CNSM in Paris and then in Gautier Capuçon's class of excellence at the Vuitton Foundation, Caroline Sypniewski perfected her skills with Clemens Hagen at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. At the same time, she obtained the DEM in piano at the CRR in Paris as well as a DEM in accompaniment at the CRR in Boulogne-Billancourt. Throughout her career, she has notably benefited from the advice of Gary Hoffman, Lluis Claret, Ivan Monighetti, Wolfgang Boettcher, Colin Carr.

Caroline has performed as a soloist and in chamber music in many festivals such as Prades, Debussy, W Krainie Chopina in Warsaw, the Orangerie de Sceaux, Vézère, Val d'Aulnay, Edinburgh Festival, Tons Voisins, Notes in Irancy, Instants de Grasse, Music at l'Empéri, Music at Versailles, Music and wines at Clos-Vougeot, Musical Thursdays in Royan, Monsieur Haydn's Holidays at Roche Posay; and in large halls European institutions such as the Victoria Hall in Geneva, Philharmonie de Paris, Kurhaus in Baden-Baden, La Seine Musicale, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Schloss Elmau, Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, and the Chorégies d'Orange. In April 2018 she represented the Van Cleef & Arpels brand at a private event at the Summer Palace in Beijing.

She has taken part in numerous varied projects including the Seiji Ozawa Academy, Jaroussky Academy, Villecroze Academy, and masterclasses at Kronberg. She is a resident at the Villa Musica Foundation in Germany within the Mona Quartet, also a resident at ProQuartet, and she founded a string trio with her two sisters Magdalena and Anna. On the chamber music platform, she has shared the stage with Adam Laloum, Abdel Rahman El Bacha, Marie-Josèphe Jude, Gautier Capuçon, Philippe Graffin, Emmanuel Pahud, Jérôme Pernoo, Michel Beroff, Laurent Naouri, Philippe Bernold, amongst many others. As a soloist, Caroline has performed with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic Orchestra, Dijon-Bourgogne Orchestra, Appassionato Ensemble, Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and the New Europe Chamber Orchestra.

Caroline was named Adami's Classic Revelation 2017, Young Talent 2019 at the Music and Wine Festival at Clos-Vougeot, is supported by the Safran Foundation and won the Ginette Neveu prize at the Carl Flesch Academy 2015 as well as the Grand Prix of the 2018 Ravel Academy.

Cello

Caroline Sypniewski

Beethoven, Sonata Op. 5, No. 2 in G minor 

Beethoven composed his two Op 5 cello sonatas in 1796 while visiting the Prussian court of cello-loving King Friedrich Wilhelm II. No composer had previously written a sonata for cello and keyboard, and you hear Beethoven clearly relishing this trailblazing status in No 2 as he fully exploits the cello’s dynamic and expressive range. Cast in sombre G minor, its first movement opens with an emotionally weighted slow introduction, the two instruments in tight communion. The main Allegro molto più tosto presto then contains a structural surprise in the shape of a false ending, followed by a dramatic coda. Tonality then tips to the major for the virtuosic final Rondo. ‍

Written between 1910 and 1923, Janáček’s ‘Pohádka’ is based on Vasily Zhukovsky’s folkloric epic poem of 1832, The Tale of Tsar Berendyey. Rather than offering a blow-by-blow musical retelling of the story, Janáček’s three movements are more an expression of the emotions of the poem’s central love story, articulated through a constant succession of shifting moods, playing styles and musical ideas.‍

It’s a similarly constantly shifting cornucopia of musical material and rhetoric for Poulenc’s Cello Sonata, completed in 1949. The first movement contrasts a lively march with more luxuriously lyrical writing. Next come a tender Cavatine and a jaunty Ballabile. A big-boned cello statement opens the Finale, before Poulenc reintroduces moods from the previous three movements. A surprise return of the big-boned statement then leads to a triumphant climax.‍

Chopin, Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C Major, Op. 3 

The main rondo-form Polonaise of Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise brillante in C Major dates from 1829, just before he left his native Poland forever. Written for amateur cellist Prince Antoni Radziwill to play with his pianist daughter, its mix of cantabile lyricism and bravura brilliance suggests both father and daughter were highly accomplished on their instruments. The introduction – long-breathed cello writing which moves from expectation to high romance – was added the following year. 

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Caroline Sypniewski, cello
Pierre-Yves Hodique, piano

Duo Recital

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