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The French violinist, Renaud Capuçon, He entered the conservatory in his native city at the age of 4, and then the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris (CNSMDP) at the age of 14, where he studied under Gérard Poulet. Three years later he completed his studies there, winning first prize in both chamber music (1992) and violin (1993). Following this, he moved to Berlin to study with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern and was awarded the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts (1995). He then entered several international competitions and joined the European Union Youth Orchestra; and in 1997 he was invited by Claudio Abbado to become concert-master of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, which he led for three summers, working with conductors including Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Welser-Möst and Claudio Abbado. In 2000, he was named talent of the year by Victoires de la musique classique.
Since then, Renaud Capuçon has established himself as a soloist at the very highest level. He is firmly established internationally as a major soloist, recitalist and chamber musician. He is known and loved for his poise, depth of tone and virtuosity, and he works with the world’s most prestigious orchestras, artists, venues and festivals. He performs with leading orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker (VPO), London Symphony Orchestra (LSO), Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, Boston Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic Orchestra. His many conductor relationships include Daniel Barenboim, Dénève, Christoph von Dohnányi, Dudamel, Christoph Eschenbach, Gergiev, Bernard Haitink, Daniel Harding, Paavo Järvi, Andris Nelsons, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, François-Xavier Roth, Lahav Shani, Ticciati, van Zweden and Long Yu. Highlights of the 2018-2019 season include performances with the Wiener Symphoniker, Orchestre de Paris, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Salzburg, Konzerthaus-Orchester Berlin, New York Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, New World Symphony and a tour of Europe with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
A great commitment to chamber music has led Renaud Capuçon to collaborations with Nicholas Angelich, Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Bashmet, Frank Braley, Bronfman, Khatia Buniatishvili, Gérard Caussé, Jérôme Ducros, Hélène Grimaud, Hagen, Yo-Yo Ma, Maria-João Pires, Daniil Trifonov and Yuja Wang, as well as with his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon, and have taken him, among others, to the Berlin, Lucerne, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Roque d’Anthéron, San Sebastián, Stresa, Salzburg, Edinburgh International and Tanglewood festivals.
In 1996, Renaud Capuçon founded an annual festival at La Ravoire near Chambéry, the Rencontres artistiques de Bel-Air, which ended in 2010. It welcomed the most important chamber players including Jean-Pierre Wallez, Michel Dalberto, Martha Argerich, Stephen Kovacevich, Augustin Dumay, Gérard Caussé, Paul Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, Katia & Marielle Labèque. He is also the Artistic Director of two festivals, the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, since 2016, and the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence, which he founded in 2013.
Renaud Capuçon has worked with contemporary composers such as Nicolas Bacri (solo violin sonata, 1999), Karol Beffa (duet for violin and cello Masques, concerto for violin, string quartet Mosaïques), Pascal Dusapin (concerto for violin - Aufgang), Bruno Mantovani (concerto for violin - Jeux d'eau, 2012) and Wolfgang Rihm (concerto for violin - Gedicht des Malers, 2015). On January 4, 2019, he performed a concert during “Winter at Tantora” music carnival running at Al-'Ula, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northwestern Saudi Arabia.
On April 10, 2020, during the coronavirus lockdown, Renaud Capuçon was one of a handful of people to take part in a Good Friday service led by Michel Aupetit, Archbishop of Paris, in the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris, which was still being rebuilt after the Notre-Dame de Paris fire a year earlier. All wore protective clothing. Capuçon provided the sole musical accompaniment.
Renaud Capuçon has built an extensive discography and records exclusively with Erato/Warner Classics. Recent releases include a recording of Béla Bartók’s two violin concerti with the London Symphony Orchestra / François-Xavier Roth, Johannes Brahms and Alban Berg with the Wiener Philharmoniker / Daniel Harding, and chamber music of Debussy. He has recorded chamber works of Ravel, Schubert, Johannes Brahms, as well concertos for violin by Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn under the direction of Daniel Harding. His latest recording, ‘Au Cinema’, featuring much loved selections from film music, releases in October 2018. On May 25, 2009, he participated in the film 7.57 am-pm directed by Simon Lelouch, in which he performed the Melody of Orpheus by Gluck on his Guarnerius in the middle of a crowd of commuters on Line 6 of the Paris Métro, unrecognized and unremarked by the passing crowd.
In 2017, Renaud Capuçon n founded a new ensemble, the Lausanne Soloists, comprised of current and former students of the Haute École de Musique de Lausanne, where he has held a professorship since 2014.
After playing a Vuillaume, a Guadagnini, and then a Stradivarius, in 2005 the Banque de Suisse Italienne BSI loaned Renaud Capuçon the Guarneri del Gesù "Panette" (1737) that had belonged to Isaac Stern. In 2005, he was named the title "instrumental soloist of the year" by Victoires de la musique classique. In 2006 he received the Georges Enescu violin prize from the Société des auteurs, compositeurs et éditeurs de musique. In June 2011 he was appointed ‘Chevalidans l’Ordre National du Mérite’ and in March 2016 ‘Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur’ by the French Government.
Renaud Capuçon has been in a relationship with journalist Laurence Ferrari since 2008,[8] and they married on 3 July 2009. They have a son Elliott born November 8, 2010. His brother is the cellist Gautier Capuçon. |
