© Julia Wesley

Sol Gabetta

The Argentinian cellist Sol Gabetta is one of the most sought-after musicians in her field worldwide and is a regular guest with all internationally renowned orchestras and festivals. 

A sought-after guest artist at leading festivals, Sol Gabetta was Artiste étoile at Lucerne Festival where she appeared with Wiener Philharmoniker and Franz Welser-Möst, Mahler Chamber Orchestra and Francois-Xavier Roth and the London Philharmonic Orchestra directed by Marin Alsop. She continues drawing inspiration from a wide circle of collaborators and musical encounters at the Solsberg Festival, which flourishes under her commited artistic direction.

Chamber music is at the center of Gabetta's work, which can be seen in her trio recitals with Isabelle Faust and Alexander Melnikov, in performances with her long-time recital partner Bertrand Chamayou as well as Kristian Bezuidnhout and Francesco Piemontesi. In the past, chamber music performances led her to venues such as New York’s Lincoln Center, Wigmore Hall in London, Lucerne, Verbier, Salzburg, Schwetzingen and Rheingau festivals, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg and Beethovenfest Bonn.

In recognition of her exceptional artistic achievements, Sol Gabetta was honoured with the European Culture Prize performing together with Paavo Järvi and the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich as part of a gala concert. The prize is being awarded since 2012 to individuals and institutions with vision and creativity who have made a valuable contribution to the cultural life in Europe. She also received the Herbert von Karajan Prize at the Salzburg Easter Festival in 2018 where she appeared as soloist with the Staatskapelle Dresden and Christian Thielemann. In 2019 she was awarded the first OPUS Klassik

Award as Instrumentalist of the Year for her interpretation of Schumann’s Cello Concerto. The ECHO Klassik award saluted her accomplishment biennially between 2007 and 2013, and in 2016. A Grammy Award nominee, she also received the Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award in 2010 and the Würth-Preis of the Jeunesses Musicales in 2012 as well as commendations at Moscow's Tchaikovsky Competition and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich. She continues to build her extensive discography with SONY Classical, the most recent releases being a recording of late Schumann works and a live recording of the cello concertos by Elgar and Martinů with the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle / Krzysztof Urbański. In 2017, Gabetta joined forces with Cecilia Bartoli on an extensive tour throughout Europe showcasing their album Dolce Duello, released on Decca Classics.

Sol Gabetta performs on several Italian master instruments from the early 18th century, including a cello by Matteo Goffriller from 1730, Venice, provided to her by Atelier Cels Paris, and since 2020, the famous "Bonamy Dobree-Suggia" by Antonio Stradivarius from 1717, on generous loan from the Stradivari Foundation Habisreutinger. She has been teaching at the Basel Music Academy since 2005.