The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic
»Cellissimo«
The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic are nothing short of an institution: back in 1972, a radio production of Julius Klengel’s »Hymnus für zwölf Violoncelli« supplied the idea to set up a soloist ensemble of this size, and today the 12 Cellists occupy a unique position on the international music scene.
With their entertaining concert programmes mixing serious moments and humour, depth and lightness, they delight audiences all over the world. As ambassadors for Berlin, they have accompanied the German President on state visits; they have been inside the Japanese Imperial Palace on several occasions; and their recordings have been awarded a number of prizes, for example, the »Echo Klassik« in 2001 and 2005.
The ensemble’s repertoire covers a wide variety of genres – classical, jazz, tango and avant-garde. Many contemporary composers have written works especially for the 12 Cellists, among them Boris Blacher, Jean Françaix, Iannis Xenakis, Wolfgang Rihm, Brett Dean, Wilhelm Kaiser-Lindemann, Frangis Ali-Sade, Christian Jost, Kaija Saariaho and Tan Dun.
Performers
Die 12 Cellisten der Berliner Philharmoniker
Programme
Werke von Maurice Ravel, Michel Legrand,