David Watkin (Cello, Conductor)

Born: May 8, 1965 - Crowthorne, Berkshire, England

The English cellist, David Watkin, read Music at St Catharine’s College, Cambridge whilst studying the cello with William Pleeth and singing with Kenneth Bowen. He was a Shell/LSO Finalist, received the Bulgin Medal and was Principal cello in the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain.

As a cellist David Watkin has made a wide range of acclaimed recordings including Sonatas by Antonio Vivaldi (Hyperion) L.v. Beethoven (Chandos) and Francis Pott (Guild), Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante with Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (Virgin) and Schubert Quintet with the Tokyo Quartet (hmusa). He has been a soloist at Wigmore Hall, Barbican, Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York and performed the Robert Schumann Concerto with Sir John Eliot Gardiner and ORR at Lincoln Center, New York. As a guest artist he has collaborated with, among others, Robert Levin, Nicola Benedetti and Fredericka von Stade.

Unaccompanied J.S. Bach has taken David Watkin all over Europe, from J.S. Bach’s birthplace in Eisenach to the Palace of Frederick the Great at Potsdam, the Prague Spring Festival and twice to Leipzig as a juror for the Bach Competition. His recording of the Cello Suites (Resonus) won both Gramophone and BBC Music Magazine Awards, and is one of four recordings of the Cello Suites in Gramophone’s list of “The 50 Greatest Bach Recordings” (along with Pablo Casals, Pierre Fournier and Steven Isserlis). A performance featured in Sir John Eliot Gardiner's BBCTV programme “Bach: A Passionate Life”.

As a member of the Eroica Quartet, formed as a response to recent research into 19th-century performance, David Watkin performed all over Europe and the USA. Their recordings of L.v. Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Debussy and Ravel have astonished critics. Research begun whilst a student of Peter le Huray at Cambridge resulted in the now growing revival of improvised chordal accompaniment on the cello, with performances, recordings and publications in Early Music. He has written widely about performance in The Strad and in CUP’s volume Performing L.v. Beethoven.

David Watkin brings to conducting decades of music making at the highest level. The breadth of his musical background – academic and practical, ‘early’ and modern, vocal and instrumental, symphonic and chamber – gives him a unique perspective in a wide range of repertoire. As Principal Cello in some of the world’s leading ensembles - English Baroque Soloists (he was the main cello continuo player for John Eliot Gardiner's 2000 Bach Cantata Pilgrimage, and was his principal cellist for 20 years), Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Philharmonia Orchestra and Scottish Chamber Orchestra - he played a key role at the heart of some ground-breaking performances. As well as formal study of conducting he has worked under, and received guidance from some of the leading conductors of the age. He has conducted groups including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Malta Philharmonic, the Swedish Baroque Orchestra, The Academy of Ancient Music, and the Manchester Consort. He was Assistant Conductor to Robin Ticciati at Glyndebourne Festival Opera and conducted George Frideric Handel's Agrippina at RCS as well as scenes in concert from Fidelio and Pelleas. He conducted the EUYO Campus Orchestra at Grafenegg and returned to conduct Gustav Mahler’s epic First Symphony with the European Union Youth Orchestra at European Forum Alpbach. In his time conducting the Meadows Chamber Orchestra he completed a cycle of Johannes Brahms Symphonies. As Artistic Director of St Endellion Easter Festival he conducted J.S. Bach's St John Passion, and with Manchester Consort the St Matthew Passion. He has conducted ensembles at the Royal Academy of Music, The Guildhall School of Music, the Royal Welsh College, Cambridge University Chamber Orchestra and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, where he is a Professor.

Sources:
The Artist (August 2019)
Contributed by David Watkin (August 2019)

David Watkin: Short Biography | Bach Discography: Recordings of Instrumental Works

Recordings of Bach Cantatas & Other Vocal Works

Conductor

As

Works

Stephen Cleobury

Cello

Member of The Academy of Ancient Music:
[C-1] (1999-2000): BWV 140, BWV 12; Chorales BWV 147/10, BWV 22/5; BWV 230, BWV 226; BWV 234, BWV 237; BWV 243

John Eliot Gardiner

Cello

Member of English Baroque Soloists:
[C-6] (1999): BWV 6 [1^st recording], BWV 66 [1^st recording]
[C-10] (1998): BWV 63, BWV 64, BWV 121
BCP [C-12] / [D-1] [DVD] (2000): BWV 113, BWV 179, BWV 199
BCP Vol. 3 (2000): CD-1: BWV 71; CD-2: BWV 131, BWV 93, BWV 88
BCP Vol. 4 (2000): CD-1: BWV 9, BWV 170; J. Kuhnau/J.S. Bach: Motet Der Gerechte kömmt um; CD-2: BWV 186, BWV 107, BWV 187
BCP Vol. 5 (2000): CD-2: BWV 46, BWV 101, BWV 102
BCP Vol. 6 (2000): CD-2: BWV 77, BWV 164, BWV 33
BCP Vol. 7 (2000): CD-1: BWV 25, BWV 78, BWV 17
BCP Vol. 11 (2000): CD-1: BWV 162, BWV 49, BWV 180
BCP Vol. 12 (2000): CD-1: BWV 55, BWV 89, BWV 115, BWV 60
BCP Vol. 18 (2000): CD-1: BWV 65, BWV 123
BCP Vol. 19 (2000): CD-1: BWV 155, BWV 3, BWV 13
BCP Vol. 20 (2000): CD-1: BWV 144, BWV 84, BWV 92; CD-2: BWV 18, BWV 181, BWV 126
BCP Vol. 21 (2000): CD-1: BWV 22, BWV 23, BWV 127, BWV 159
BCP Vol. 22 (2000): CD-1: BWV 4 [2^nd recording], BWV 31, BWV 66 [2^nd recording]; CD-2: BWV 6 [2^nd recording];, BWV 134, BWV 145
BCP Vol. 23 (2000): CD-2: BWV 104, BWV 85, BWV 112
BCP Vol. 25 (2000): CD-2: BWV 44, BWV 150, BWV 183; Johann Christoph Bach: Motet Fürchte dich nicht
BCP Vol. 26 (2000): CD-1: BWV 172, BWV 59, BWV 74, BWV 34; CD-2: BWV 173, BWV 68, BWV 174
BCP Vol. 27 (2000): CD-1: BWV 184, BWV 175; Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 BWV 1048
BCP Vol. 28 (2012): BWV 43 [2^nd recording], BWV 37 [2^nd recording], BWV 128 [2^nd recording], BWV 11 [2^nd recording]
[F-6] (2007, Video): BWV 198 [2^nd recording]

Links to other Sites

David Watkin (Official Website)
David Watkin - Biography (Resonus Classics)
David Watkin - Biography (AMG)