Friedrich Kleinhapl Austrian Cellist Plays 3 New York Concert Series With Town Hall Debut December 12 Grace Church December 11 and Austrian Cultural Forum December 13 Accompanied by Andreas Woyke Repertoire Includes Zemlinsky, Schnittke, Gulda, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff
From Vienna to Caracas, to New York to Rome, Austrian Cellist Friedrich Kleinhapl has thrilled audiences and critics all over the world with his passionate and unconventional approach to music making. Friedemann Leipold, of Bayern 4 Klassik Radio Germany praised this unique artist saying: "Friedrich Kleinhapl is a remarkable artistic personality, who continually challenges and takes his audience into worlds previously only imagined." Steve Smith in The New York Times commended Kleinhapl as possessing "abundant skill and unbridled passion." This December, with fascinating programs of music for Cello and Piano by composers including Zemlinsky, Schnittke, Gulda, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, together with pianist Andreas Woyke, Friedrich Kleinhapl will appear on 3 celebrated New York concert series, making his Town Hall Debut on Sunday, December 12. (Please see below for program and ticket details.)
Kleinhapl completed his studies under Philippe Muller in Paris. This was followed by a period of intensive collaboration with the conductors Claudio Abbado, Yehudi Menuhin, Paul Tortelier and Tibor Varga. He has made a name for himself with premiere performances of works by distinguished contemporary composers. His list of premieres includes Friedrich Gulda's Cello Concerto for Brass Orchestra, "Fantasy for Cello and Big Band" by
Ed Neumeister (both recorded in 2001), Johannes Berauer's Concert with Vocal Ensemble and Percussion and the Cello Concerts by Christoph Cech,
Peter Herbert and Dirk D'Ase.
Kleinhapl has performed with the Mariinsky Orchestra under Valery Gergiev, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Fabio Luisi, Ulf Schirmer, Karel Mark Cichon and Michael Güttler, the Munich Symphony Orchestra under Heiko Mathias Förster, the Prague Symphony Orchestra under Aleksandar Markovic, and the Zagreb Slovenian and Graz Philharmonic Orchestra. He has appeared as a soloist and chamber musician in many of the major music capitals of the US, Canada and Europe, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna, Hercules Hall in Munich and the Dome des Invalides.
With a portfolio of 11 CD's, the most recent addition is a recording of Beethoven's last Cello Sonatas No. 4 and 5 which also includes a rare world premiere of Beethoven's Tenth Violin Sonata op. 96 transcribed for Cello and Piano by Kleinhapl and his accompanist Andreas Woyke. Kleinhapl's CD of works by Shostakovich, recorded in 2004 with Woyke, was awarded the Pasticcio prize. In 2005 Kleinhapl recorded a CD of sonatas and songs by Johannes Brahms, and in 2006, released a recording of
J. S. Bach's Cello Suites all on the ARS label. In 2007 Kleinhapl's recording with Andreas Woyke of Sonatas by Franck and Rachmaninoff in won the "Supersonic Award 2008," and the Duo's recording of Sonatas by Beethoven earned the "Excellentia Award 2009." In November, 2010, a CD of pieces by Max Bruch for Cello and Orchestra with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra will be recorded by Kleinhapl.
Highlights of the 2010-2011 include a tour of the United States and Canada. This past season he performed with the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in South America, as well as appearing at the Salzburg Easter Festival and with the Israel Chamber Orchestra at the Eisenstadt Haydn Festival.
Friedrich Kleinhapl performs on the "Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, Piacenza 1743 ex von Zweygberg,"on loan from the Austrian National Bank's instrument collection.
Details about Kleinhapl's upcoming performances, as well as discography, photos and video are available at
www.kleinhapl.com.
