EN Biography
»Their passionate reading earned an ovation for a somewhat difficult piece to grasp for most audiences, and Gabetta’s encore fully revealed the kind of serious musician she is.
Her tone is fascinating, full of energy and drive. Nothing about her play is fortituous, and she doesn‘t want it to be. Thus she creates ecstatic moments. Her phrases are full of poetry, strength and clarity, brought about by a sound ideal that seeks not only beauty, but also life. Frankfurter Rundschau, October 2008.
Wherever the Argentine-French cellist of Russian origin Sol Gabetta plays, she impresses with her captivating interpretations, her passionate, full-bodied play and her charismatic, conquering personality. Her great versatility regarding styles and repertoire distinguishes her artistic profile. She can grip audiences through her musical speech with an excellent 2nd cello concert by Shostakovich from 1969, as well as with Vivaldi’s cello concerts from the early 18th century, played on a baroque cello. Her performances can be enjoyed in concerts with great symphony orchestras, chamber orchestras or baroque ensembles as well as in her own recitals with renowned pianists and chamber musicians.
She completes her traditional solo repertoire, composed by pieces by Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Elgar and Haydn, with pieces from the 20th century such as Bohuslav Martinu’s or Samuel Barber’s cello concerts; new pieces she learned and introduced to her repertoire in 2009 and 2010. Sol Gabetta is often sollicited to work with composers who write pieces for her, or whose pieces she learns and plays. She collaborates closely with the Latvian composer Peteris Vasks, whose piece “the Book” she plays regularly.
Sol Gabetta has acquired an impressive following and a solid fan base in cities within the German cultural influence, such as Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, Vienna and Zurich. Indeed, her fans often fill great concert venues such as the Munich Philharmonic, the Zurich Tonhalle, the Vienna Musikverein or the Leiszhalle in Hamburg. Her public is now growing in bordering countries such as Spain, Italy, France, the Benelux countries and Great Britain. This season, for the first time, she toured the USA and South America, and in the near future she expects to tour Japan and Australia.
Her international career was launched in 2004 when she received the prestigious “Crédit Suisse Young Artist-Award”, one of the most celebrated rewards for young musicians. The winners’ concert in the fall of 2004 with the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Valery Gergiev opened several doors in the music world to her.
Her first CD with Sony Music, with pieces by Tchaikovsky, Saint-Saëns and Ginastera was awarded an ECHO award in the fall of 2007, which she received before the eyes of millions of Germans through the channel ZDF. She received another ECHO for her live recording of Shostakovich’s 2nd concert with the Munich Philharmonic in the fall of 2009. She recorded other works with Sony Music, including Vivaldi’s cello concerts with the Sonatorio della Gioioso Marca (2007) for baroque cello, and classical cello concerts by Haydn, Leopold Hofmann and a flute arrangement of a concert by Mozart. Several of her recordings reached high positions in the German classical music charts, including the 1st position in September and October 2009.
Sol Gabetta had already been granted prices in past years, like the ARD competition in Munich and the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow. Several renowned orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Russian National Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Vienna Symphonic Orchestra or the St. Petersburg Symphonic Orchestra appreciated working with her, as well as directors like Leonard Slatkin, Andris Nelsson, Neeme Järvi, Mikhail Pletnev, Christoph Eschenbach, Charles Dutoit, Paul McCreesh and Valery Gergiev. Besides her increasing participation in concerts throughout Europe and Japan, in 2009 she debuted in the USA and England, with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic of London, both under the direction of Charles Dutoit. She also collaborates closely with the Basel Chamber Orchestra. In June 2008, Sol played with the famous cellist Yo Yo Ma in the USA under the direction of Leonard Slatkin, playing his double concert for 2 cellos as well as the second cello concert by Shostakovich.
In February 2006, she finished her soloist studies with professor David Geringas at the Hanns Eisler Musikhochschule in Berlin, after studying for 10 years with cellist Ivan Monighetti in Madrid, and then in Basel. Since 2005, she is an assistant-professor at the Musikhochschule in Basel.
She is also passionate about other projects which were born to her initiative: since June 2006, she hosts the Solsberg Festival in Switzerland, her chosen home, celebrating 8 to 10 chamber music concerts played by musicians invited by her. Another of her projects is the “Capella Gabetta”, a baroque orchestra which will start a tour with the cellist in December for the first time, playing music from Vivaldi and his contemporaries, and which will be led by Sol Gabetta’s brother, violinist Andrés Gabetta.
Thanks to a generous grant by the Rahn Culture Fund, Sol Gabetta plays on one of the rare and costly violoncellos by G.B Guadagini, from 1759.
Translation: Fernanda Vilamajo Nossovitch
