Renaud CAPUÇON

#Interview

The violin has been with you for as long as you can remember, how did you turn to this instrument? How has it captivated you since you were 4 years old?

I started playing the violin when I was 4 years old. My parents had sought advice from a piano teacher, who having heard me sing, advised them that I start the violin.
According to her, I had a good ear! From then on, I was won over by the sound of this instrument, but it was the fact of playing together that seduced me the most.
Every week, I look forward to the group lessons and the orchestra session where we play together. It was the “playing together” that appealed to me right away.

A few words about your violin, a 1737 Guarnerius…

My violin is a 1737 Guarnerius del Gesù. It was for more than 50 years the violin of the great virtuoso Isaac STERN who played about 50 records with it. It is one of the most beautiful specimens of Guarnerius of which only 60 remain in the world. This one, called “Le Vicomte de Panette” is one of the most famous.

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I’ve been playing it since 2005 and it’s decently “My Violin” since last year that I had the chance to acquire it.

You are conducting a new string ensemble bringing together students from the Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne (HEMU) where you have been teaching since fall 2014. What does this experience bring to you?

I have been teaching at the HEMU in Lausanne since 2014, a prestigious school full of projects. Teaching has given me new perspectives and by teaching young people, I am relearning myself! It is quite natural that we created the “Lausanne Soloists” to continue this notion of collective learning. From February 2019, we will give two concert tours per year. It’s an exciting project!

Would your collaboration with a ballet such as the École-Atelier Rudra Béjart be quite unusual?

Would a collaboration with the Rudrat-Béjart workshop be quite unheard of and I look forward to our working together!

BIOGRAPHY

• 1976 Birth
• 1980 Beginning of Violinistic studies
• 1993 1st prize at the Paris Conservatory
• 1995 Meets C Abbado and D. Barenbuim
• 1997 Solo violin of the Mahler Ouchetra with C. Abbado
• 2002 Debut with the Berlin Philharmonic
• 2013 Creation of the Easter Festival in Aix-en-Provence
• 2016 Creation of the “Lausanne Soloists”
• 2018 Recording of “CINEMA”, CD of film music (released in October 2018).

Did you know?

The Group received at the end of 2018 at the BFM some extraordinary artists representing symbols that are dear to it: elegance, passion, rising youth and internationality. Renaud Capuçon, an internationally renowned violin virtuoso, performed on a musical program mixing classical and contemporary until his performance met and merged with the work of the Ecole-Atelier Rudra Béjart, for an original and unprecedented show.