Over the past decade, Alban Gerhardt has established himself among the greatest cellists of our time. His sound is unmistakable and his interpretations of the repertoire are distinguished in their originality. The cello starts to sing under his hands; standard works are newly discovered and unknown pieces are brought to life again. Gerhardt fascinates his growing audiences with the combination of an unerring musical instinct, intense emotionality and a very natural, arresting stage presence. Of particular concern for him is his desire to help audiences break with old listening and concert habits and to open classical music to a younger audience.
After early success at competitions and his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Semyon Bychkov, Gerhardt has since performed with more than 170 different orchestras worldwide under conductors such as Kurt Masur, Christoph von Dohnányi, Christoph Eschenbach, Sir Neville Marriner, Marek Janowski, Sir Colin Davis, Leonard Slatkin, Michal Tilson-Thomas, Fabio Luisi, Sakari Oramo, Paavo and Neeme Järvi.
Highlights of Gerhardt’s recent seasons included tours of Australasia, concerts in the Far East, a return to the Berlin Philharmonic under Christian Thielemann, performances with the Czech Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, Finnish Radio Symphony, Bbc Symphony, Leipzig Gewandhaus, National Symphony Orchestra of Washington, Rtve Madrid, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Gurzenich Orchester, Ndr Symphony and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Highlights of the 2009/10 season include performances with the Royal Concertgebouw, Vienna Symphony, Zurich Tonhalle, Danish National Radio, New World Symphony, Strasbourg Philharmonic, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, NHK Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestras. The season began with the world premiere at the Proms of the Cello Concerto by Unsuk Chin, commissioned by the Bbc, with the Bbc Scottish Symphony/Volkov.
Alban Gerhardt’s repertoire includes almost 60 different cello concertos, and he relishes rescuing lesser-known works from undeserved obscurity. His collaborations with composers such as Unsuk Chin, Peteris Vasks, Brett Dean, Jörg Widmann, Osvaldo Golijov, Mathias Hinke and Matthias Pintscher demonstrate his strong interest in enlarging the cello repertoire. As well as his intensive solo career, chamber music plays an important role in Gerhardt’s life. He is a frequent performer at international festivals such as the Bbc Proms in London and the Edinburgh Festival, and at the Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Suntory Hall Tokyo and the Chatelet in Paris. Gerhardt’s regular chamber partners include Steven Osborne, Cecile Licad, Lars Vogt, Christian Tetzlaff, Lisa Batiashvili, Arabella Steinbacher, Tabea Zimmermann and Emmanuel Pahud.
Gerhardt is also a highly acclaimed recording artist, and has won three Echo Classic Awards most recently for his all-Reger double Cd (2009). For the past 3 years he has recorded exclusively with the British label Hyperion, spearheading their “Romantic Cello Concertos” series. His latest chamber music release is a recital Cd featuring Sonatas by Chopin and Alkan with Steven Osborne. Released in September 2009 is his recording of Prokofiev Sinfonia Concertante and Concerto in E minor op. 58 with the Bergen Philharmonic/Litton.
Alban Gerhardt now plays a unique instrument from the renowned maker Matteo Gofriller.