Britten, Berio, Bach

Church of Our Lady of the Snows
Jungmannovo náměstí 4 110 00 Prague 1
United Kingdom
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Charles-Antoine Duflot - cello

“A cellist caught my eye – a Frenchman, Charles- Antoine Duflot, who managed to play Suite No. 6 – the most difficult of them all – with delicacy and wit.” (The Guardian)

One can hardly imagine more stylistically and technically diverse repertoire for solo cello than the works chosen for his Prague Spring evening recital by the French cellist Charles-Antoine Duflot. This young artist, who is often called one of the most prominent talents of the younger generation, will be presenting on a single evening a combination of works by Baroque and contemporary composers, who share in common above all the extreme demands they place on performers.

For his Suite No. 3 Op. 37, Benjamin Britten (1913-1976) took inspiration from the personality and playing of the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who premiered the work in 1974. Britten, who had been captivated by Rostropovich’s interpretation of Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello, placed in his work a number of fragmentary references to Russian music, including a hymn of the Orthodox Church.

On the other hand, in Sequenza XIV (2002) Luciano Berio (1925-2003) introduces the cello right at the beginning of his composition in a less familiar role – as a percussion instrument. In addition to that, the work presents perhaps every sonic possibility that the cello has to offer.

Another interesting feature of the programme will be Bach’s Suite in D major BWV 1012, which the composer wrote for the fivestring ‘violoncello piccolo’. Although the work has traditionally been played on a modern four-string instrument, Duflot, who learned to play the Baroque cello during his university studies in Basel, will be performing the work on an 18th-century Italian Baroque instrument. This evening will be a unique opportunity to experience the colorful sound world of classical music through three phenomenally original compositions.

The French cellist Charles-Antoine Duflot has devoted himself to music since he was five years old. He first studied in Paris and Stuttgart, then he completed his master’s studies at the Musikhochschule in Lübeck and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, where he studied performance on the Baroque cello. He is a laureate of a number of international competitions (the International J&A Beare Solo Bach Competition in London and the Beethoven’s Hradec International Music Competition), and he has appeared as a soloist under the baton of such conductors as Christoph Alstaedt, Nicolás Pasquet, and Christoph Prick. He plays an instrument made by Jean Baptiste Vuillaume in 1865 and an Italian five-string cello from the 18th century.

Benjamin Britten : Suite No. 3 Op. 87
Luciano Berio : Sequenza XIV
J.S Bach : Suite in D major BWV 1012