Anssi Karttunen
cellocontact
Maike Charlotte Fuchs
mf(at)karstenwitt.com
+49 30 214 594-220
Heike Wilms
hw(at)karstenwitt.com
+49 30 214 594-236
General Management
Dates
07.10. 18:00
Southbank Centre London
biography
Anssi Karttunen has always been on the cutting edge of classical music performance and is one of the most innovative cellists in today’s international music scene. He started learning the cello as a 4-year-old in Finland, a uniquely fertile ground for music and musicians, and subsequently built up a worldwide reputation both as a soloist and chamber musician. In his repertoire, he takes a fresh look at the well-known masterpieces and brings forgotten works to the public ear, as well as making own original transcriptions. He plays on modern, classical, and baroque cellos, as well as violoncello piccolo and electric cello. The latter features prominently in his current multimedia solo recital, which includes works by Kaija Saariaho, Thierry Pécou and Pablo Ortiz with images, video and electronics.
Anssi Karttunen is a passionate advocate of contemporary music. He has performed over 170 world premieres, collaborating with such composers as Magnus Lindberg, Kaija Saariaho, Pascal Dusapin, Luca Francesconi and Tan Dun. An astounding 29 concertos have been written for him. He premiered Magnus Lindberg’s Cello Concerto No.1 with the Orchestre de Paris and Cello Concerto No. 2 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Mania with Avanti! and Luca Francesconi’s Rest with the RAI Torino. Kaija Saariaho wrote her concerto Notes on Light for Karttunen and he premiered it with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, who commissioned the work. Since 2007, he has performed the concerto over 50 times with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Swedish Radio, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, and the New World Symphony among others. In 2018, he premiered Betsy Jolas's "Side Roads" with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and Gérard Korsten, which was recently released in a recording with the Orchestre d’Auvergne. Future plans include premieres of new works by Antti Auvinen, Ramon Lazkano and Sean Shepherd.
Anssi Karttunen has worked with world-renowned orchestras such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, NHK Orchestra, Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Ensemble Modern, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, New World Symphony, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and many more. He also performs regularly as a soloist and chamber musician at Europe’s most important music festivals, including Edinburgh, Salzburg, Lockenhaus, Berlin, Venice, Strasbourg and Helsinki. His Zebra Trio, with violinist Ernst Kovacic and violist Steven Dann, performs concerts on both sides of the Atlantic. He also enjoys close collaborations with pianist Nicolas Hodges, choreographer Diana Theocharidis and the producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones.
His recordings traverse a broad musical spectrum, including Beethoven’s complete works for cello and piano on period instruments and 20th century solo pieces. He has released recordings of concertos by Lindberg, Saariaho, and Salonen on Sony Classical and a DVD of Tan Dun's The Map for cello, video and orchestra on Deutsche Grammophon. Two of Anssi Karttunen’s recordings were nominated for a Gramophone Award in 2013: a CD of Magnus Lindberg’s chamber music works and Henri Dutilleux’s Tout un monde lointain, recorded with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Esa-Pekka Salonen on Deutsche Grammophon, which was chosen as the best contemporary recording of 2013. His recent recordings include Toshio Hosokawa's Concerto Chant for Naxos, his own transcription of Brahms’ String Quintet for Toccata Classics as well as two tango CDs for Petals and Albany.
Born in 1960, Anssi Karttunen studied with Erkki Rautio, William Pleeth, Jacqueline du Pré and Tibor de Machula, among others. From 1999 until 2005 he was principal cellist with the London Sinfonietta. He was the Artistic Director of the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra between 1994 and 1998 the Suvisoitto Festival in Porvoo, Finland from 1994 until 1997. He was the artistic director of the Helsinki Biennale in 1995 and 1997 and the Festival Musica Nova Helsinki in 2015. He frequently gives masterclasses, for example at Carnegie Hall, at Cello Biennale Amsterdam, at the Juilliard School or at the Royal Academy of Music in London. At the University of Berkeley, he taught and performed as a Regents’ Lecturer in the autumn of 2015. In 2008, he initiated the annual Creative Dialogue workshop in Santa Fe in collaboration with the Sibelius Academy. He started teaching at the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris in the autumn of 2014. Anssi Karttunen plays on a Francesco Ruggeri cello.
2020/2021 season
This biography is to be reproduced without any changes, omissions or additions, unless expressly authorised by the artist management.
Discography
PETER LIEBERSON: SONGS OF LOVE AND SORROW
The Six Realms (2000) for amplified cello and orchestra
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Hannu Lintu
Ondine, 2020, 00761195135624
Betsy Jolas: Side roads
Side Roads for cello and string orchestra
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Orchestre national d'Auvergne / Roberto Forés Veses
digital album, 2020
HANS WERNER HENZE: HELIOGABALUS IMPERATOR – WORKS FOR ORCHESTRA
Englische Liebeslieder for cello & orchestra
Anssi Karttunen, cello; BBC Symphony Orchestra / Oliver Knussen
Wergo, 2018, 9072990
Toshio Hosokawa: Orchestral Works 1
Moments of Blossoming; Lotus under the moonlight; Chant
Stefan Dohr, French horn; Momo Kodama, piano; Anssi Karttunen, cello; Royal Scottisch National Orchestra / Jun Märkl
NAXOS, 2014, 8.573239
Mystery Variations
on Giuseppe Colombi’s Chiacona per basso solo and 30 variations by contemporary composers
Anssi Karttunen
Toccata Classics, 2013, TOCC0171
Henri Dutilleux: Correspondances
Correspondances; Tout un monde lointain…; The Shadows of Time
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Barbara Hannigan, soprano; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / Esa-Pekka Salonen
Deutsche Grammophon, 2013, 0289 479 1180 7
Magnus Lindberg: Chamber Works
Trio for clarinet, cello and piano; Santa Fe Project (Konzertstück); Partia; Dos Coyotes
Kari Krikku, clarinet; Anssi Karttunen, cello; Magnus Lindberg, piano
Ondine, 2012, ODE-1199-2
Kaija Saariaho: Trios
Mirage; Cloud Trio; Cendres; Je sens un deuxième cœur; Serenatas
Steven Dann, viola; Pia Freund, soprano; Tuija Hakkila, piano; Mikael Helasvuo, alto flute; Florent Jodelet, percussion; Anssi Karttunen, cello; Ernst Kovacic, violin
Ondine, 2012, ODE 1189-2
Johannes Brahms by Arrangement, Volume One: String Quintets
String Quintet in F minor, Op. 34; String Quintet in B minor, Op. 115
Zebra Trio (Ernst Kovacic, Steven Dann, Anssi Karttunen); Krysia Osostowicz, violin; Richard Lester, cello; James Boyd, viola
Toccata Classics, 2012, TOCC 0066
Friedrich Cerha
Bruchstück, geträumt; Neun Bagatellen; Instants
Klangforum Wien; Sylvain Cambreling; Zebra Trio; WDR Sinfonieorchester Cologne; Peter Rundel
KAIROS, 2011, KAI0013152
Kaija Saariaho: Notes on Light
Notes on Light; Orion; Mirage
Karita Mattila, soprano; Anssi Karttunen, cello; Orchestre de Paris / Christoph Eschenbach
Ondine, 2008, ODE 1130-2
Fauré/Duparc
Sonatas
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Tuija Hakkila, piano
Saphir, 2005, 001048
Beethoven: Complete works for cello and fortepiano. Vol. 3
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Tuija Hakkila, fortepiano
Warner Classics, 2004, Apex 256461144-2
Beethoven: Complete works for cello and fortepiano. Vol. 2
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Tuija Hakkila, fortepiano
Warner Classics, 2003, Apex 2564060626-2
Beethoven: Complete works for cello and fortepiano. Vol. 1
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Tuija Hakkila, fortepiano
Warner Classics, 2003, Apex 0927-49595-2
The music of Magnus Lindberg
Cantigas; Cello Concerto; Parada; Fresco
Christopher O’Neal, oboe; Anssi Karttunen, cello; Philharmonia / Esa-Pekka Salonen
Sony Classical, 2002, SK 89810
Kaija Saariaho: Château de l’âme
Graal Théâtre; Château de l’âme; Amers
Gidon Kremer, violin; BBC Symphony Orchestra; Dawn Upshaw, soprano; Members of the Finnish Radio Chamber Choir; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Anssi Karttunen, cello; Avanti! Chamber Orchestra / Esa-Pekka Salonen
Sony Classical, 2001, SK 60817
Esa-Pekka Salonen: La Variations
La Variations; Five Images After Sappho; Giro; Mania; Gambit
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Dawn Upshaw, soprano; London Sinfonietta; Los Angeles Philharmonic / Esa-Pekka Salonen
Sony Classical, 2001, SK 89158
Bach/Telemann: Works on violoncello piccolo
Anssi Karttunen, violoncello piccolo
Petals, 1998, Petal 002
Kaija Saariaho: Spins and Spells – Près – Petals
Anssi Karttunen, cello
Petals, 1998, Petal 001
Haydn: Flute Trios
Trios for fortepiano, flute and cello
Tuija Hakkila, fortepiano; Mikael Helasvuo, flute; Anssi Karttunen, cello
Finlandia, 1992, 544142
Debussy – Enescu – Janáček – Kodály
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Tuija Hakkila, piano
Finlandia, 1990, 1576-53395-2
Concertos by Hindemith, Merikanto, Lindberg, Zimmermann
Anssi Karttunen, cello; London Sinfonietta / Esa-Pekka Salonen
Finlandia, 1990, 4508-95865-2
Contemporary Music for Cello and Piano
Carter – Kaipainen – Denisov – Heininen – Bergman
Anssi Karttunen, cello; Tuija Hakkila, piano
Finlandia, 1988, 1576-53362-2
News
Six realms of existence
For the new album now released on the Ondine label with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hannu Lintu, Anssi Karttunen has recorded a cello concerto by his close friend Peter Lieberson (1946-2011). The Six Realms for cello and orchestra takes its title from a central teaching of Buddhism, the six realms in the cycle of rebirth.
Lieberson's Concerto for Amplified Cello and Orchestra takes up this philosophy and consists of six parts, each of which stands for one realm of existence. In addition to the Six Realms, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra's recording also features Lieberson's song cycle Songs of Love and Sorrow, interpreted by the Canadian baritone Gerald Finley.
Peter Lieberson: Songs of Love and Sorrow, The Six Realms
Ondine, ODE 1356-2
Magazine
The “Instead List” for Cello
Anssi Karttunen is adamantly against monotony. To stimulate more diversity in programme planning, the cellist now offers ideas for alternatives. On his "Instead List" for cello, he pairs a rarely played work worth listening to with every well know piece....
Companions – Anssi Karttunen and Hans Werner Henze
In May, Wergo will release a portrait CD including Anssi Karttunen’s recordings of Hans Werner Henze’s English Love Songs with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Oliver Knussen. It is not only the three artists who shared a long-lasting friendship and working relationship; Hans Werner Henze and Anssi Karttunen were and are long-lasting companions for us, too. In 2004, Anssi Karttunen was one of our first artists, impressing us with his insatiable musical curiosity, which most recently has led to a collaboration with Led Zeppelin legend John Paul Jones. We had the pleasure of working with Hans Werner Henze in the preparations for the concerts in celebration of his 80th birthday in 2006, and continued our relationship until his death in 2012. He was one of the first composers for whom we worked, laying the foundation for a particularly important focus of our activities. For our magazine, Anssi Karttunen reminisces on his encounter with Hans Werner Henze and Oliver Knussen, and on the special rehearsal work for the English Love Songs....
New musical horizons: Anssi Karttunen
An outstanding soloist, chamber musician, pedagogue, artistic director and essayist – and in all these things a musical bridge-builder and partner to musicians, composers and artists alike from various fields: Anssi Karttunen forges his own path. His journey started in Finland at a very special time. “I was born into a lucky generation,” he explains. “This was a time when the windows to the world were more open than before and perhaps even more so than later on. There were many like-minded people my own age who were interested in being more than just one thing; the cellist, the pianist or the conductor. We saw that being a musician can mean many things.” This lucky generation includes Anssi Karttunen’s contemporaries Esa-Pekka Salonen, Magnus Lindberg and Kaija Saariaho, with whom he started his voyage of discovery....
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