Program:

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

Martinu: Cello Sonata No. 1

Intermission

Nadia Boulanger: 3 Pieces for Cello and Piano

Grieg: Cello Sonata, Op. 36

Acclaimed worldwide for his profound musicianship and technical mastery, British cellist Steven Isserlis enjoys a uniquely varied career as a soloist, chamber musician, educator, author and broadcaster. He appears with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, and gives recitals in major musical centers. As a chamber musician, he has curated concert series for many prestigious venues, including London’s Wigmore Hall, New York’s 92nd St Y, and the Salzburg Festival. Unusually, he also directs chamber orchestras from the cello in classical programs.

With a strong interest in historical performance, Steven has worked with many period-instrument orchestras and has performed and recorded recitals with harpsichord and fortepiano. Also a keen exponent of contemporary music, he has given many premieres of new works, including Sir John Tavener’s The Protecting Veil and many other works, Thomas Ade`s’s Lieux retrouve´s, three works for solo cello by Gyo¨rgy Kurta´g, and pieces by Heinz Holliger and Jo¨rg Widmann.

Steven’s extensive and award-winning discography includes J S Bach’s complete solo cello suites (Gramophone’s Instrumental Album of the Year),  Brahms Double Concerto with Joshua Bell and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, and – as director and soloist – concertos by Haydn and CPE Bach with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. His recording of works by John Taverner. won the 2021 BBC Music Magazine Award.

Since 1997, Steven has been Artistic Director of the International Musicians Seminar at Prussia Cove, Cornwall. He also enjoys playing for children, and has created three musical stories, with the composer Anne Dudley. His two books for children, published by Faber & Faber, have been translated into many languages; his latest book for Faber is a commentary on Schumann’s Advice for Young Musicians, and a book about the Bach suites will appear in 2021. He has also devised and written two evenings of words and music, one describing the last years of Robert Schumann, the other devoted to Marcel Proust and his salons, and has presented many programs for radio, including documentaries about two of his heroes – Robert Schumann and Harpo Marx.

The recipient of many awards, Steven’s honours include a CBE in recognition of his services to music, the Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau, the Piatigorsky Prize and Maestro Foundation Genius Grant in the U.S, the Glashu¨tte Award in Germany, the Gold Medal awarded by the Armenian Ministry of Culture, and the Wigmore Medal.

Steven plays the ‘Marquis de Corberon’ Stradivarius of 1726, on loan from the Royal Academy of Music.