Gautier Capuçon

In this section, La Grivoise, we examine a personality from the world of the art of living through a few questions. History to discover unsuspected facets of our guests. The cheeky.

Passionate, talented, charismatic...
Gautier Capuçon is above all a virtuoso excelling in the art of the cello. Witness his title of "new talent of the year" at the Victoires de la musique 2001, his numerous tours across the globe under the direction of the greatest conductors, the Classe d'Excellence de Violoncelle inaugurated at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris in 2014, his presence on the jury of the hit show Prodiges broadcast on France 2 or his latest album exploring the sonatas of Franck and Chopin, with pianist Yuja Wang. Confessions of a musician who definitely has gold in his hands.

Text: Leslie Gogois
Portrait: Oriana Fenwick

My untruth (what people imagine about you and which isn't true) Ever since I was little, and even more so since music became my profession, people say I'm instinctive! On the one hand, it's true and I'm happy about it, because an artist feels a lot of things thanks to his instinct. But on the other hand, I was so described as being instinctive, that I came to believe that people saw me as someone who acted without thinking! Which is really not my case, I have always thought a lot, at all stages of my life...

My hidden secret (a little mania, an unexpected cute sin, a secret that you usually keep to yourself…) My hidden secrets? There are so many, I don't know where to start. I am extremely orderly and organized, sometimes even too much; but I'm better, I assure you! As for my indulgence, it is simple: a good cheese platter, with bread and a glass of wine, in front of a fireplace. Happiness when I come back from tour!

My greatest love in life is… My wife and my two princesses are my greatest loves, but also my cello, which I fell in love with at 4 and a half years old. A real passion was born for this sensual instrument, which is now part of my body. He has become an extension of myself, of my arms, of my legs. The one I've been playing with for over 20 years now was made by Matteo Goffriller, an Italian luthier from the School of Venice, in 1701… It had no name. I have just given him one, “The Ambassador”, since he is, in my eyes, the instrument that allows music to deliver its values ​​of peace and freedom.

What I really don't know how to do… There are so many things I would like to know how to do, one life is probably not enough. Drawing for example… I don't know how to cook either, apart from very simple things. And I'm really not good at ironing in general. On the other hand, if I have to iron a shirt before a concert, there is no problem, especially since with the tailcoat, only the shirt front is visible!

If I had led another life, I would have wanted (to be or do)... Fighter pilot, a childhood dream. Even today I cherish the hope, one day perhaps, of passing my pilot's license once I retire! Finally if I retire one day... And if not something related to nature, the mountains of my childhood in Savoie, like... adventurer? I would also like to take up the piano again, abandoned more than 10 years ago now, and take up jazz!

Your most memorable memory on stage? In April 2018, I was in Brunswick, Germany, to give a concert with the Orchester de chambre de Paris. Two hours before, in full acoustic rehearsal, a person, the livid face, announced to me to have to cancel. A 250 kg bomb, dating from the Second World War, had just been discovered a few steps away... I remember thinking of this famous line by Louis de Funès in La Grande Vadrouille: "The repetition has been reduced to 12 minutes by the force of machine guns, that's it! Tonight will be pretty! »

The French Riviera: why, for whom, for when? For its shared pleasures, with family and friends, especially in summer. Those offered by its beaches, its vegetation…, on this slower and lighter tempo of the holidays. A real sweetness of life that I always appreciate in the summer. Moreover, on July 23, I will be there, in concert, on the occasion of the 45th edition of the Nuits du Château de La Moutte.