Renaud Capucon - Violin

Photo Credit: Simon Fowler, Virgin Classics

When the French Victoires de la Musique nominated Renaud Capuçon as “New Talent of the Year” in 2000 and an international jury named him “Rising Star 2000”, they confirmed his place among the leading violinists of his generation.  

Renaud Capuçon was born in Chambéry in 1976 and began studying at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris at the age of 14 with Gérard Poulet and Veda Reynolds.  In 1992, he was awarded First Prize for Chamber Music and in 1993, First Prize for violin with a special distinction from the jury.  In 1995, he won the Prize of the Berlin Academy of Arts and went on to study with Thomas Brandis and later, Isaac Stern.  Mr. Capuçon, by special invitation from Claudio Abbado, held the position of the concertmaster of the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, having the opportunity to work with Pierre Boulez, Seiji Ozawa, Daniel Barenboim, Franz Welser-Möst and Claudio Abbado.

He has performed with prestigious orchestras such as Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester

Berlin, Komischer-Oper Berlin, NDR Hamburg Orchester, WDR Köln Orchester, Montréal

Symphony, Jerusalem Symphony, Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon, Monte-Carlo, and Toulouse

Orchestras, Philharmonique de Radio France, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris,

Ensemble Orchestral de Paris, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, Copenhagen Royal Orchestra,

Swedish Radio Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, City of

Birmingham Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Firenze Maggio Musicale Orchestra,

Philharmonic Orchestra of the Scala di Milano, Rome Santa Cecilia Orchestra, Tokyo

Philharmonic, NHK Symphony, Lausanne and Zurich Chamber Orchestras. He has also worked

with world renowned conductors such as Christian Arming, Myung-Whun Chung, Jean-Claude

Casadesus, Charles Dutoit, Semyon Bychkov, Christoph Eschenbach, Ivan Fischer, Hans Graf,

Daniel Harding, Gunther Herbig, Armin Jordan, Philippe Jordan, Emmanuel Krivine,

Marc Minkowski, John Nelson, Michel Plasson, David Robertson, Michael Schonwandt, Leif

Segerstram, and Wolfgang Sawallisch. In November 2002, he made his debut with the Berliner

Philharmoniker under Bernard Haitink.

He has recently performed with the Orchestre de Paris/Eschenbach, Ensemble Orchestral de Paris/John Nelson, Tokyo Philharmonic and Roma Santa Cecilia Orchestra/Chung, City of Birmingham Symphony/Marc Minkowski, as well as the orchestras of Jerusalem, Liège, Manchester, Monte-Carlo and Montréal. 

Highlights of Mr. Capuçon’s past seasons included engagements with the Deutsche Symphonie Orchester Berlin, Orchestre de Paris/Christoph Eschenbach, Radio Sinfonie Orchester Berlin, Dresdner Philharmonie, NHK Orchestra Tokio, Orchestre Philharmonic de Radio France, Orchestre de Lille, Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic, WDR Cologne, Hong-Kong Sinfonietta, Orchestre Philharmonique de Luxembourg, Swedish Radio Orchestra/Leif Segerstam, a tour of Spain with the WDR Cologne Orchestra/Semyon Bychkov, Vienna Tonkünstler Orchester/Michael Jurovski, Budapest Festival Orchestra/Bychkov, Radio France Philharmonic/Chung, Milano Symphony Orchestra/Flor, Rai Torino/Marek Janowski and the NHK Symphony/Dutoit, along with recitals at the Schubertiade in Schwarzenberg, Ruhr Festival, Spoleto Festival, Lyon, Paris, Naples and Lugano, Montpellier, Geneva, Amsterdam, Antwerpen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Madrid, Vienna, Innsbruck, Shanghai, Bad Kissingen, Rheingau Musik Festival, Schleswig Holstein Musik Festival and Stockholm among others.

In the 2007-2008 season, Renaud Capuçon’s North American engagements will include the Detroit Symphony and the Toronto Symphony, and a tour of the Capuçons - Angelich Trio, which will have its debut performances in San Francisco, New York City, Quebec and Montreal.  Also, he will make his orchestral debut at the Festival Casals with The Dresden Philharmonic under Maestro Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.  Mr. Capuçon made his New York recital debut in 2007, and his National Symphony Orchestra debut under Maestro Leonard Slatkin.

Mr. Capuçon has appeared with the Houston Symphony/Hans Graf during their opening weeks of the 04/05 season and performed at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnányi.  In the 05/06 season he went on critically acclaimed US tours with the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz/Dennis Russell Davies and the Budapest Festival Orchestra/Ivan Fischer and gave his debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra under Charles Dutoit.

A serious chamber musican, Mr. Capuçon collaborates often with his brother, cellist Gautier Capuçon and pianist Nicholas Angelich, as well as with artists such as Martha Argerich, Daniel Barenboim, Elena Bashkirova, Hélène Grimaud, Andre Watts, Yefim Bronfman, Myung-Whun Chung, Stephen Kovacevich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Vadim Repin, Katia and Marielle Labèque, Yuri Bashmet, Truls Mork, Paul Meyer and Kremerata Baltica.  He receives regular invitations to the Berlin, Lockenhaus, Jerusalem, Stavanger, Verbier, Davos, Aix-en-Provence, Divonne, Menton, Saint-Denis and Strasbourg Festivals. Mr. Capuçon has given recitals in Paris’ Cité de la Musique, Vienna’s Musikverein, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, New York’s Carnegie Hall, Brussels’ Palais des Beaux Arts, Cologne’s Philharmonie and in Birmingham and Athens.

In 1999, Mr. Capuçon released his first recording for Virgin Classics, the Schubert recital Grand Duo with Jérôme Ducros.  Now an exclusive Virgin Classics artist, he has since recorded several CDs:  Ravel Piano Trio and Violin Sonata with Gautier Capuçon and pianist Frank Braley; French works for violin and orchestra with Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen and Daniel Harding; music of Dutilleux with Truls Mørk, the Radio France Philharmonic and Myung-Whun Chung; Face à Face, contemporary duos for violin and cello, with Gautier; and Brahms’ Piano Trios No. 1, 2 and 3 with Gautier and pianist Nicholas Angelich.  He has also recorded the Schubert Trio, Op. 100 and Trout Quintet on Erato and the Schumann Quintet on DGG.  For EMI, he has recorded the Franck Violin Sonata in A with Lilya Zilberstein and Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1 with Gautier Capuçon and Martha Argerich.

Mr. Capuçon’s most recent CD release is the complete Brahms' Sonata with Nicholas Angelich and was an Editor's choice by Gramophone Magazine.  His recording of Schubert’s Trout Piano Quintet for Virgin Classics with his brother Gautier Capuçon, Gérard Caussé, Alois Posch and Frank Braley was also an Editor’s choice by the Gramophone Magazine in March 2005 and “Disc Of The Month” in February 2005 by Classic FM.

Renaud Capuçon plays a 1737 Guarneri del Gesù, the "Panette" that belonged to Isaac Stern, bought for him by the Banca Svizzera Italiana.