Sol Gabetta

Sol Gabetta
Sol Gabetta in 2014
Born (1981-04-18) 18 April 1981 (age 45)
Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina
Education
OccupationClassical cellist
AwardsGramophone Award
Websitewww.solgabetta.com

Sol Gabetta (born 18 April 1981) is an award-winning Argentina-born cellist who made an international career as both a soloist, and a chamber musician.

Early life and education

Gabetta was born on 18 April 1981 in Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina. She is the daughter of pianist Irène Timacheff, and Andrés Gabetta, and is descended from Russian and French stock on her mother's side, and Argentine and Italian on her father's. She is the youngest of four children.

Gabetta grew up playing violin and clarinet (and had a further interest in harp, that was stymied by her father for practical reasons)—she began on the violin at the age of three, and on cello at age four.[citation needed] She continued to study both instruments until age eight, and then switched her focus exclusively to the cello.[citation needed]

Her debut performance was at the "legendary" Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires at age 12 (she had won her first competition at age 10[citation needed]), these soon followed by the Natalia Gutman Award.[citation needed] An early cello teacher of Gabetta was Christine Walevska.

In addition to Walevska, Gabetta's teachers have included Leo Viola,[citation needed] and Ivan Monighetti at the Reina Sofía School of Music, where she graduated in 1999 with distinction. She studied further at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin with David Geringas, completing in 2006 with the comcert exam. She also studied with Piero Farulli,[citation needed] and Ljerko Spiller.

Career

Gabetta's win, at age 23, of the Crédit Suisse Young Artist Award was announced in January 2004. She has been teaching cello at the Basel Music Academy since 2005.[citation needed] In 2006, she founded her own festival, the Festival Solsberg.[citation needed]

Her debut with the Berlin Philharmonic and Sir Simon Rattle was at the Baden-Baden Easter Festival in 2014.[citation needed] Her debut with the Staatskapelle Berlin occurred in December 2014.[citation needed] She was Artist in Residence at the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in summer 2014,[citation needed] and also held artistic residencies at the Philharmonie and Konzerthaus Berlin.[when?][citation needed]

Supported by a private stipend from the Rahn Kulturfonds since this date[when?],[citation needed] Gabetta performs on a cello by G. B. Guadagnini dating from 1759.[citation needed] Gabetta has made commercial recordings for Sony and Deutsche Grammophon.

Gabetta featured as soloist in the opening concert of the BBC Promenade concerts 2016 season, playing Elgar’s Cello Concerto. In August 2024, Gabetta performed the UK premiere of Francisco Coll’s Cello Concerto with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Tianyi Lu, at the BBC Proms.

Contemporary composers who have written music for Gabetta include Michel van der Aa, who composed Up-close for Gabetta and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, and Pēteris Vasks, who wrote his cello concerto 'Presence' for Gabetta. In November 2015, Gabetta's album of the music of Vasks, Presence, was released, which includes the cello concerto 'Presence', and "Musique du Soir" for organ and cello, in which Sol Gabetta and her mother, a professional organist, perform together.

Other activities

Since this date,[when?] Gabetta has been a regular presenter for the programme KlickKlack, for Bavarian Radio (BR-Klassik).[citation needed]

Awards and recognition

In addition to her early Crédit Suisse Young Artist award, other of her prizes have included the Gramophone Award for Young Artist of the Year in 2010,[citation needed] and the Würth Prize of Jeunesses Musicales Germany in 2012.[citation needed] At the Echo Klassik Awards, she was recognized in 2007, 2009 and 2013, and as Instrumentalist of the Year in 2013.[citation needed] She received the Diapason d'Or for her recordings of Haydn, Mozart and Elgar cello concerti, as well as works by Tchaikovsky and Ginastera.[when?][citation needed]

Gabetta was awarded the Herbert von Karajan Prize at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2018.

Discography

Films

Personal life

Gabetta married Balthazar Soulier,[when?] and as of this date,[when?] they had one child, a son.[citation needed] They reside in Switzerland.[citation needed]

Gabetta speaks six languages—Spanish, French, Russian, Italian, German, and English.[citation needed]

Gabetta's older brother Andrés is a professional violinist.[failed verification]

References

  1. ↑ Smith, Charlotte (8 October 2026). "Sol Gabetta: after 20 years at the top, the sensational cellist remains as curious and inventive as ever". BBC Music Magazine. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Klassik Radio Staff (9 February 2025). "Sol Gabetta". Klassik Radio (KlassikRadio.de) (in German). Archived from the original on 9 February 2025. Retrieved 5 November 2026. Sol Gabetta ist eine argentinische Cellistin, die 1981 in Villa Maria in Argentinien geboren wurde... ... Am 18. April 1981 als Tochter einer russisch-französischen Mutter und eines argentinischen Vaters mit italienischen Wurzeln als jüngste von vier Kindern geboren...
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Lopez Fidalgo, Daniel (11 September 2012). "Sol Gabetta: El cello del nueo siglo" [Sol Gabetta: The hallmark of the new century]. Confutatis (ConfutatisWeb.es) (interview with independent introduction) (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2026. [DLF]...del cello debutando en el mítico Teatro Colón de Buenos Aires a la temprana edad de 12 años. ¿Cómo fue el tránsito de su ciudad Córdoba (Argentina) a Buenos Aires? ... [SG] Fue muy fácil porque tuve la suerte de tener una excelente familia que siempre me apoyó en mis ideas y decisiones, entre las cuales estaba ir a estudiar a Buenos Aires con Christine Walewska, una gran cellista Americana-Polaca... Toqué también el violín y el clarinete, quería ser arpista...
  4. 1 2 3 4 Schwalb, Michael (2019). "Gabetta, Sol". MGG. Retrieved 5 November 2026.
  5. 1 2 NZZ Staff (14 January 2004). "Sol Gabetta, Preisträgerin" [Sol Gabetta, Award Recipient]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 5 November 2026. ...23-jährige Argentinierin Sol Gabetta den Credit Suisse Group Young Artist Award 2004 zugesprochen bekommen.
  6. ↑ Erica Jeal (17 September 2015). "Beethoven: Triple Concerto CD review – levity and wit from a dream team". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  7. ↑ Andrew Clements (29 November 2012). "Brahms; Debussy; Shostakovich: Cello Sonatas, etc – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "BBC Proms 2016 season revealed, including cello focus". The Strad. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  9. ↑ "Prom 38: Stravinsky's The Firebird with the BBC Symphony Orchestra". BBC. 18 August 2024. Archived from the original on 18 August 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2024.
  10. ↑ Tim Ashley (21 March 2011). "Amsterdam Sinfonietta – review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 August 2024. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  11. ↑ "Presence. Vasks: Cello Concerto no.2 'Klatbutne/Presence'; Musique du soir; Gramata cellam". The Strad. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
  12. ↑ Harb, Karl (28 March 2018). "Sol Gabetta – Preisträgerin bedankt sich poesievoll" [Sol Gabetta – Award winner expresses her poetic thanks]. Salzburger Nachrichten (in German). Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  13. ↑ Andy Gill (12 October 2012). "Album: Hélène Grimaud & Sol Gabetta, Duo (Deutsche Grammophon)". The Independent. Archived from the original on 28 July 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  14. ↑ "Sol Gabetta, A Part of My Soul". medici.tv. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2019.