Renaud Capuçon
January 27, 1976 - Chambéry, France
© Darmigny
Born in Chambéry in 1976, Renaud Capuçon began his studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of fourteen, winning numerous awards during his five years there. Following this, Capuçon moved to Berlin to study with Thomas Brandis and Isaac Stern, and was awarded the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts. In 1997, Capuçon was invited by Claudio Abbado to become concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, which he led for three summers, working with conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Moest and Abbado himself.
Since this time, Capuçon has established himself as a soloist at the very highest level. He has played concerti with orchestras such as the Berlin Philharmonic under Haitink and Robertson, the Boston Symphony under Dohnanyi, the Orchestre de Paris under Eschenbach and the Simon Bolivar orchestra under Dudamel. Capuçon also tours extensively as a solo recitalist and will perform complete cycles of the Beethoven violin sonatas with pianist Frank Braley around the world during the coming seasons.
Upcoming concerto engagements for Capucon include concerts with the London Symphony Orchestra with Harding, City of Birmingham Symphony with Morlot, Philadelphia Orchestra with Bychkov, Chicago Symphony with Nezet-Seguin and Chamber Orchestra of Europe with Haitink.
Capuçon has a great commitment to performing chamber music and has worked with Argerich, Barenboim, Bronfman, Grimaud, Kovacevich, Pires, Pletnev, Repin, Bashmet and Mørk, as well as with his brother and regular collaborator cellist Gautier Capuçon. These collaborations have taken him to the festivals of Edinburgh, London (Mostly Mozart), Berlin, Lucerne, Verbier, Aix-en-Provence, Roque d’Anthéron, San Sebastian, Stresa, Tanglewood and many others.
Capuçon records exclusively for Virgin Classics. His most recent recording was of Beethoven Sonatas for violin and piano with Frank Braley. He also recorded the Beethoven and Korngold concertos with the Rotterdam Philharmonic and Yannick Nezet-Seguin. Since 2007 Renaud Capucon has been an Ambassador for the Zegna & Music project, which was founded in 1997 as a philanthropic activity to promote music and its values.
Renaud Capuçon plays the Guarneri del Gesù “Panette” (1737) that belonged to Isaac Stern, bought for him by the Banca Svizzera Italiana (BSI).
Born in Chambéry in 1976, Renaud Capuçon started his studies at the Paris Conservatory in 1990 with Gérard Poulet and Veda Reynolds where he was awarded first prize for chamber music in 1992 and first prize for violin with a special distinction from the jury in 1993. In 1995 he won the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts. Then he studied with Thomas Brandis in Berlin, and later with Isaac Stern. Invited by Claudio Abbado in 1997, he was Konzertmeister of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester during three summers under Boulez, Ozawa, Barenboim, Welser-Möst and Abbado. In 2000 he was nominated “Rising Star” and “New talent of the Year” (French Victoires de la Musique), in 2005 “Soliste instrumental de l’année” and in 2006 “Prix Georges Enesco” (Sacem). In November 2002 he made his debuts with the Berlin Philharmonic under Bernard Haitink and in July 2004 with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi.
Renaud Capuçon is the soloist of prestigious orchestras: Munich Bayerische Rundfunk Orchester, Berlin Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, NDR Hamburg and WDR Köln orchestras, Montreal Symphony, Philadelphia Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Philharmonique de Radio France, Tokyo Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, under Abbado, Chung, Casadesus, Dutoit, Bychkov, Eschenbach, Fischer, Harding, Jordan, Masur, Sawallisch, Steinberg, Wolff. Renaud Capuçon plays chamber music with Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Elena Bashkirova, Hélène Grimaud, Yefim Bronfman, Myung-Whun Chung, Stephen Kovacevich, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Mikhail Pletnev, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Vadim Repin, Yuri Bashmet, Truls Mork, Paul Meyer. He is invited by prestigious festivals: London Mostly Mozart, Edinburgh, Berlin, Lockenhaus, Ludwigsburg, Rheingau, Schwarzenberg, Jerusalem, Stavanger, Lucerne, Verbier, San Sebastian, Stresa, Roque d’Anthéron, Strasbourg, Tanglewood.
His discography includes Mendelssohn and Haydn trios and the Triple Concerto by Beethoven with Martha Argerich (Emi). As an exclusive Virgin Classics artist: duos with his brother; Dutilleux Concerto with the Radio France Philharmonic under Myung-Whun Chung (awarded “Choc de la Musique” and “Diapason d’Or”), Saint-Saëns chamber music among other recordings. His Brahms sonatas for violin with Nicholas Angelich won the Gramophone/Editor Choice, the Scherzo/Excepcional, the Diapason d’Or and the Choc/Monde de la Musique). Renaud Capuçon plays the Guarneri del Gesù “Panette” (1737) that belonged to Isaac Stern, bought for him by the BSI.