Alisa Weilerstein

Cello

"It’s a tricky balance to respect the knowledge that we have now about the way they supposedly played in those times, and yet be able to express ourselves freely and respectfully."

Alisa Weilerstein, New York Times, April 2017

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Alisa Weilerstein

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Biography

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Alisa Weilerstein is one of the foremost cellists of our time. Known for her consummate artistry, emotional investment and rare interpretive depth, she was recognized with a MacArthur “genius grant” Fellowship in 2011. Today her career is truly global in scope, taking her to the most prestigious international venues for solo recitals, chamber concerts and concerto collaborations with all the preeminent conductors and orchestras worldwide.

„Weilerstein is truly a phenomenon.”UK Telegraph

The 23/24 season sees Alisa perform concertos spanning three centuries with the Berlin Staatskapelle, Boston Symphony, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, City of Birmingham Symphony, Verbier Festival Orchestra and tour with the San Diego Symphony, having worked with the New York Philharmonic, Pittsburgh Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester and Orchestre symphonique de Montréal the previous season.

„Weilerstein is a throwback to an earlier age of classical performers: not content merely to serve as a vessel for the composer’s wishes, she inhabits a piece fully and turns it to her own ends”New York Times

In January 2023 Alisa premiered Fragments I – the first of six sequences of music combining Bach’s Cello Suites with 27 newly-commissioned works, accompanied by production, staging and lighting design. Following acclaimed performances at Carnegie Hall, Severance Hall and Tanglewood Festival, the muti-year project continues this season with dates at The Kennedy Center, Maison symphonique de Montréal, Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Sanders Theatre as part of Boston’s Celebrity Series.

„Weilerstein’s cello is her id. She doesn’t give the impression that making music involves will at all. She and the cello seem simply to be one and the same”Los Angeles Times

Elsewhere, Alisa gives solo and chamber recitals at New York’s 92Y and Lincoln Center, London’s Wigmore Hall and Barcelona’s L'Auditori, where she will collaborate with pianist Inon Barnatan. A champion of new music, Alisa has given premieres of works by Matthias Pintscher, Pascal Dusapin, Joan Tower, Osvaldo Golijov and Thomas Larcher, while her many accolades include a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship. She records exclusively for Pentanone.

2023/2024

This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorized by artist management.

Contacts: Juliane Scotney, Juliane Doiwa

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Programme

2024 / 2025

You’ll find the current programs in the IMPRESARIUM of the 24/25 season

2023 / 2024

Solo
Fragments, Unified

A series of six solo concerts of 80 minutes each, each comprising a Bach suite, 20th century classics and 18 brand new works. These are meant to represent our world today: socially and ethnically diverse, with equal gender representation. Among others, they include Osvaldo Golijov, Allison Loggins-Hull, Reinaldo Moya, Matthias Pintscher and Joan Tower.

Schedule

18/08/2024
19:30 h

Deutsches Haus
Flensburg, Germany

Alisa Weilerstein, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach

19/08/2024
20:00 h

Elbphilharmonie (Großer Saal)
Hamburg, Germany

Alisa Weilerstein, Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, Christoph Eschenbach

Discography

Shostakovich: Cello Concertos

Dmitri Shostakovich
Cello Concertos No. 1 & 2

Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Pablo Heras-Casado - Conductor

Decca, DDD, 2015

Rachmaninov & Chopin

Sergey Vasil'yevich Rachmaninov
Sonata in G minor for Cello & Piano, Op. 19
Vocalise, Op 34, No. 14

Frédéric Chopin
Sonata in G minor for Cello & Piano, Op. 65
12 Etudes, Op. 25
Introduction & Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3

Inon Barnatan - Piano

DECCA, 2017

Elgar, Carter & Bruch: CelloCconcertos

Edward Elgar
Cello Concerto op. 85

Elliot Carter
Cello Concerto

Max Bruch
Kol Nidrei, Op. 47 for Cello & Orchestra

Staatskapelle Berlin
Daniel Barenboim - Conductor

Decca, DDD, 2011

Alisa Weilerstein - Solo

Zoltán Kodály
Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8

Osvaldo Golijov
Omaramor for Solo Cello

Gaspar Cassado
Suite for Solo Cello

Bright Sheng
Seven Tunes Heard in China

Decca, 2014

Dvorak: Cello Concerto

Antonin Dvorak
Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Rondo in G minor, Op. 94
Silent Woods, Op. 68/5

Anna Polonsky - Piano
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Jiri Belohlavek - Conductor

Decca, 2013

Elgar: Cello Concertos

Richard Wagner
Prelude of "Meistersinger" (Act III)

Edward Elgar
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 85

Johannes Brahms
Symphony No. 1

Berliner Philharmoniker
Daniel Barenboim - Conductor

EuroArts, 2011

Weilerstein & Weilerstein

Niccolo Paganini
Variations on "Preghiera" From Rossini's "Mosè", for Violin & Guitar (or Piano), MS 23

Antonín Dvořák
Silent Woods (Klid), for Cello & Piano (arr. from "From the Bohemian Forest", B. 133), B. 173 (Op. 68/5)

Alberto Ginastera
Pampeana No.2, Rhapsody for Cello & Piano, Op. 21

Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy
Songs without Words for Cello & Piano in D major, Op. 109

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pezzo capriccioso, for Cello & Orchestra (or Cello & Piano) in B minor, Op. 62

Gabriel Fauré
Après un rêve ("Dans un sommeil"), song for Voice & Piano, Op. 7/1

Leoš Janáček
Pohádka (Fairy Tale), for Cello & Piano ("The Story of Tsar Berendyey"), JW 7/5

Camille Saint-Saëns
The Swan (from "Carnival of the Animals"), original (for 2 Pianos & Ensemble) and arrangements

Manuel de Falla
Suite Populaire Espagnole, for Violin & Piano (arr. from "Popular Spanish Songs" by Kochanski)

Vivan Hornik Weilerstein - Piano

EMI classics, 2000