Altstaedt and Say make their Isabel debut with a program featuring one of Fazil Say’s compositions, in addition to works by Britten, Barber, and Brahms.
German-French cellist Nicolas Altstaedt is one of the most sought-after and versatile artists today. As a soloist, conductor, and artistic director, he performs repertoire spanning from early music to contemporary, playing on period and modern instruments. Since his highly acclaimed debut with Wiener Philharmoniker and Gustavo Dudamel at the Lucerne Festival, recent notable residencies and collaborations include Budapest Festival Orchestra with Iván Fischer, Helsinki Festival with Esa-Pekka Salonen, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Robin Ticciati, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra with Lahav Shani, Orchestre National de France with Cristian Măcelaru, Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra, and Sydney and New Zealand symphony orchestras.
With his extraordinary pianistic talents, Fazıl Say has been transporting audiences and critics alike for more than twenty-five years. Concerts with Fazil are something different: they are direct, open and exciting. Fazıl Say had his first piano lessons from Mithat Fenmen, who had himself studied with Alfred Cortot in Paris. Fazil Say has been commissioned to write music for, among others, the Salzburger Festspiele, the WDR and the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival, the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the Konzerthaus Wien, the Dresdner Philharmonie, the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the BBC.