Christian Tetzlaff, Violin

“Since the time of Paganini, violin virtuosos have tried to overwhelm audiences with feats of agility.  Tetzlaff is after something different,” according to The New Yorker, who profiled Tetzlaff this past August 2012.  “A character actor in a field of matinée idols, he prefers to disappear into the sound world he creates onstage.  “You become the thing,” Tetzlaff says.  “Or that’s the hope.”

Again, according to the The New Yorker, “Tetzlaff is distinguished by his deep musical empathy–his ability to open a window onto a composer’s inner life.”  He has been doing this for over 20 years, these days playing more than a hundred concerts a year.  One focus of the 2012/13 season consists of 10 concerts in London: at the Proms, with the London Philharmonic and Osmo Vänskä, London Symphony with Daniel Harding as well as a residency at the Wigmore Hall. Christian Tetzlaff is also Artist-in-Residence with the Tonhalle Orchestra Zürich where he opened the season in August 2012 with Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto under David Zinman. He will also be present there under Christoph von Dohnanyi, with a chamber music project, a duo recital with Leif Ove Andsnes and with his string quartet.

In addition, Christin Tetzlaff makes return visits to orchestras such as the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, BR Symphony Orchestra Munich, Berlin Philharmonic, Gewandhaus orchestra Leipzig, New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Montreal Symphony, and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. At the end of the season he will appear with the Berlin Philharmonic in their famed open-air arena “Waldbühne” under Simon Rattle.

In recital Christian Tetzlaff appears in several major cities with pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. In spring 2013 he embarks on an extensive tour with his string quartet with concerts in Oslo, Cologne, London, Zürich, Freiburg, Berlin and Paris. At the Konzerthaus Vienna and the Wigmore Hall London he can be heard in a program of solo Bach.

Tetzlaff’s discography for Virgin Classics and other labels includes the major concerto repertoire, Bartok Sonatas with Leif Ove Andsnes, and the three Brahms Violin Sonatas with Lars Vogt. Christian Tetzlaff has received several awards for his recordings: the Diapason d’Or twice, the Edison prize, the Midem Classical Award as well as the ECHO Klassik prize and several nominations for the Grammy.