G\u00e9rard Causs\u00e9 is acclaimed worldwide as one of the great virtuosos of his instrument and is one of the few musicians since William Primrose to have given the viola its freedom as a solo instrument in its own right. He received international recognition in the mid-1970s as a founder member and principal viola of the Ensemble Intercontemporain and violist of the Via Nova Quartet, then of the Parrenin Quartet. After a crucial encounter with Gidon Kremer, he chose to divide his time between chamber music and solo appearances.<\/p>\n
He is a regular guest with the leading Eu- ropean orchestras, in Asia, and even in South America, in a very wide repertoire ranging from the Baroque to Berlioz, Bruch, Bart\u00f3k, Stravinsky, Britten, Walton and Martin\u016f, by way of Mozart, who in his opinion was the first composer to understand the viola\u2019s role as arbiter. He has also dedicated himself to expanding the repertoire of his instrument, and numerous composers have written for him, among them G\u00e9rard Masson, Ren\u00e9 Koering, Griffith Rose, Alain F\u00e9ron, G\u00e9rard Grisey, Emmanuel Nunes, Jacques Lenot, Michael Jarrell, Philippe Hersant, Micha\u00ebl Levinas, Pascal Dusapin, Hugues Dufourt, Betsy Jolas, and Mich\u00e8le Reverdy. He recently premiered Wolfgang Rihm\u2019s Double Concerto for viola and clarinet with the Orchestre National de France, alongside Michel Portal. From 2002 to 2004 he was artistic director of the Orchestre de Chambre National de Toulouse, with which he appeared as conductor and soloist. In 2005, at the invitation of the Caja Duero Foundation of Salamanca, he founded and became director of La Camerata, composed of young musicians. His work with them is intended to offer an experimental approach to the full range of repertoires, spread over a season and culminating in the Florilegio in July, which is renewed each year.<\/p>\n
G\u00e9rard Causs\u00e9 has performed and recorded with such artists as Gidon Kremer, Renaud Capu\u00e7on, Dmitri Sitkovetsky, Fran\u00e7ois-Ren\u00e9 Duch\u00e2ble, Frank Braley, Nicholas Angelich, Jean-Philippe Collard, Valery Afanassiev, Brigitte Engerer, Michel Portal, Paul Meyer, Gautier Capu\u00e7on, Gary Hoffmann, and the Hagen and Modigliani Quartets.<\/p>\n
Among the many conductors he has worked with are Charles Dutoit, John Eliot Gardiner, Marc Minkowski, Philippe Herreweghe, Emmanuel Krivine, Yutaka Sado, Marek Janowski, Pierre Boulez, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Claudio Abbado, Luciano Berio, Jean-Claude Casadesus, Michel Plasson, John Nelson, David Robertson, Peter E\u00f6tv\u00f6s, Kent Nagano, Lior Shambadal, Armin Jordan, Kees Bakels, Ion Marin, Yoel Levi, John Neschling, Roger Norrington, Krzysztof Penderecki, Pascal Roph\u00e9, Pedro Halffter, Philippe Bender, James Conlon, Theodor Guschlbauer, and Jonathan Schiffmann.<\/p>\n
His discography includes some sixty recordings for labels like EMI, Erato, Philips, Teldec, Virgin Classics, harmonia mundi, and Deutsche Grammophon. His most recent releases include Schubert\u2019s \u2018Trout\u2019 Quintet for Virgin Classics with Renaud and Gautier Capu\u00e7on and Frank Braley; the complete Brahms piano quartets with Nicholas Angelich and the Capu\u00e7on brothers; works by Hindemith and Levinas for Aeon; music by Bloch with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande; and a recording of Hugues Dufourt\u2019s concerto Le Cypr\u00e8s blanc with the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra for the Timpani label which won a Diapason d\u2019Or. His CD of Berlioz\u2019s Harold en Italie with John Eliot Gar- diner and his Orchestre R\u00e9volutionnaire et Romantique was unanimously acclaimed by critics all over the world. He is currently preparing a recording of the six Bach Suites.<\/p>\n
G\u00e9rard Causs\u00e9 is in charge of a viola class at the Conservatoire National Sup\u00e9rieur de Musique de Paris. He is director of the Florilegio music festival and the orchestra of the Caja Duero Foundation in Salamanca. He gives master- classes in Salzburg and at the Escuela Reina Sofia in Madrid (where he held a professorship for ten years), the Britten-Pears School in Aldeburgh, the Verbier Festival, and the Acad\u00e9mie de Villecroze.<\/p>\n
G\u00e9rard Causs\u00e9 plays a magnificent Gasparo da Sal\u00f2 viola of 1560, one of the gems of the Brescia school, which he chose for its irresistible baritone timbre, perfectly suited to his personal quest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
G\u00e9rard Causs\u00e9 is acclaimed worldwide as one of the great virtuosos of his instrument and is one of the few musicians since William Primrose to have given the viola its freedom as a solo instrument in its own right. He received international recognition in the mid-1970s as a founder member and principal viola of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13600,"template":"","class_list":["post-13599","artist","type-artist","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n