Gautier Capucon and Frankfurt Radio Symphony - Saent Saens Cello Concerto n.1 (February 14, 2020)

Gautier Capucon Saent Saens Concerto link

Gautier Capucon is quite literally the best ever at Saent Saen's first cello concerto.

Nobody in history in my opinion has surpassed his playing, in regards of technique, musicality, etc. for this concerto. The specific reason for this is because I believe that the inherent technique for both Capucon’s right and left hand is perfectly tuned for this concerto.

To elaborate on the specifics of this, Capucon’s left hand consists of an extremely big and slow romantic vibrato.

This is good and bad, as although it is perfect for a piece like the Saent Saens Concerto, it would be too romantic for something more classical like Haydn. Not to mention Capucon is technique wise one of the greatest living cellists, holding impeccable intonation as well in his left hand.

With his right hand, Capucon holds one of his most defining features, the use of his shoulder and back when he uses the bow. Capucon uses his shoulder and back to create a huge and powerful sound that has almost no air in it, which, like I mentioned before, is good and bad as it is perfect for Saent Saens however not so much for Haydn.

Now that we got all the technical stuff out of the way, it is important for us to talk about Capucon’s musicality in this piece. This performance is Capucon at his best, there seems to be no hesitation or bewilderment in terms of what he is trying to say in the music, it is an incredibly specific story that Capucon creates.

Part of this lies probably with how Capucon and Saent Saens are both Frenchmen, which I believe allows for a more personal connection to the music, as they are part of the same culture and such. We have also seen this with the likes of Jacqueline du Pre and the Elgar concerto, Rostropovich with the Shostakovich/Prokofiev concertos, and many more (these cellists performing the best versions of these pieces that they share a kinship to the composer with).

Capucon’s emotions are extremely present in this piece, with him many times smiling at the conductor and other times even shedding a tear. He seems to truly enjoy the process of performing this concerto, and I believe this to be the greatest performance of the Saent Saens concerto.