Mario Brunello, cello, Italy
Mario Brunello is an outstanding Italian cellist. He graduated from Venice Conservatory of music (Conservatorio di Musica Benedetto Marcello di Venezia). In 1986 he was the first Italian cellist who awarded the first prize at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. It was the turning point in his artistic life. The musician has played with some of the most prestigious orchestras including the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the French National Orchestra, the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonic Orchestra of La Scala. He has also collaborated with conductors such as Valery Gergiev, Zubin Mehta, Riccardo Muti, Yuri Temirkanov, Seiji Ozawa, Claudio Abbado and many others. His performances include chamber music concerts with Gidon Kremer, Yuri Bashmet, Valery Afanassiev, the Borodin and the Alban Berg Quartets.
In 1994 Mario Brunello founded the Orchestra d’Archi Italiana with which he tours intensively both in Italy and abroad as soloist and conductor.
Mario Brunello usually plays the famous Maggini cello from the beginning of 17th century. He also writes music for theatrical performances. Through new ways of communication he tries to attract new audiences, creating interactive performances of music, images and words.
The diverse artistic genres with which Brunello experiments are reflected in a wide-ranging collection of recordings which include the Bach Suites, Sonatas by Brahms, Beethoven, Chopin and contemporary works for solo cello. In 2008 he recorded the Beethoven Triple Concerto conducted by Claudio Abbado for Deutsche Grammophon. In 2010 for a double CD with the Bach Suites he was awarded the prestigious Italian Critics’ Award in 2010. Mario Brunello is a member of the National Academy of St Cecilia (Accademia di Santa Cecilia) in Rome. He teaches at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.
