Ep. 74: Pablo Ferrández

Talking Beats with Daniel Lelchuk

"When I hear Beethoven, I feel like he's reading my mind, reading my soul. It's impossible to comprehend. I compare Beethoven to someone like Da Vinci. Similar level of genius. His music is one of the great treasures we have."

On today's program, cellist Pablo Ferrández is here. A colleague of Daniel on stage and a friend offstage, they have a lot talk about when it comes to cello, music, and music's role in modern life. But this is not a conversation where two musicians talk shop. Quite to the contrary-- it's a conversation with appeal to the general public, to even the most casual of listeners or someone with just a passing interest in music.

Great music shapes us, it colors every aspect of our lives, it makes itself relevant and indispensable just by virtue of it existing. So where do we turn in these pandemic times when we need music the most? What do musicians do? Why does Beethoven mean so much, so long after his death? Is "relevance" an escape word-- a myth?-- people use when they don't want to fully confront a great work of art?

Prizewinner at the XV International Tchaikovsky Competition and SONY Classical exclusive artist, Pablo Ferrández announces himself as a musician of stature. A captivating performer, “Ferrández has the lot: technique, mettle, spirit, authority as a soloist, expressivity and charm” (El Pais).

Recent highlights include the debuts at the Hollywood Bowl with Los Angeles Philharmonic under G.Dudamel, with Bayersichen Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra under D. Gatti, with Bamberg Symphony under C. Eschenbach, performances of Brahms Double Concerto and Beethoven Triple Concerto with Anne-Sophie Mutter, and appearances with the London Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, and Orchestre National de France, among others.

The 20/21 season will bring the debuts with Filarmonica della Scala under R. Chailly, Mahler Chamber Orchestra under D. Gatti, Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony, RTE National Symphony Orchestra, Festival Strings Luzern, Orchestra de la Svizzera Italiana, Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and returns with the Dusseldorf Symphony at the Elbphilharmonie, Orchestra Sinfonica Nationale RAI, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Spanish National Orchestra, RTVE Orchestra, Orquesta Sinfónica de les Illes Balears and the Basque National Orchestra. He will also be Artist-in-residence at the Tenerife Symphony Orchestra.

As a recitalist and chamber musician, he frequently collaborates with such artists as Vadim Repin, Martha Argerich, Gidon Kremer, Yuja Wang, Nikolay Lugansky, Khatia Buniatishvili, Beatrice Rana, Denis Kozhukhin, Maxim Rysanov, Ray Chen, Alice Sara Ott, Elena Bashkirova, Luis del Valle and Sara Ferrández.

Born in Madrid in 1991, in a family of musicians, Pablo Ferrández joined the prestigious Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía when he was 13 to study with Natalia Shakhovskaya. After that he completed his studies at the Kronberg Academy with Frans Helmerson and became scholar of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation.

Mr. Ferrández plays the Stradivarius “Lord Aylesford” (1696) thanks to the Nippon Music Foundation.

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