Bertrand Cuiller

Biografie

Born into a family of musicians, Bertrand Cuiller began playing the harpsichord at the age of eight with his mother. At thirteen he met Pierre Hantaï, who became his mentor. He was also marked by his studies with Christophe Rousset at the CNSM in Paris. In 1998 he won third prize in the Bruges International Harpsichord Competition.
After several years in baroque ensembles such as Les Arts Florissants, Le Concert Spirituel and Le Poème Harmonique, Bertrand decided to concentrate exclusively on the harpsichord and chamber music, and then founded Caravanserai.

As a harpsichordist he is particularly fond of the English composers William Byrd and John Bull, whom he has recorded for Alpha and Mirare. He has also recorded for these labels concerti by Johann Sebastian Bach with the Stradivaria ensemble (Classica award of the year 2010), the complete works for harpsichord by Jean-Philippe Rameau (Classica award of the year 2015) as well as an album Scarlatti-Soler. All of his albums have been warmly received by audiences and critics alike.
In 2018, he participated in the Scarlatti 555 project organised by France Musique, performing and recording the complete sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti with 30 harpsichordists.
Since 2004, he has also followed Bruno Cocset in the projects of the Basses Réunies.
As a conductor, Bertrand Cuiller has notably conducted John Blow's Venus & Adonis (co-produced by Angers Nantes Opéra, Théâtre de Caen, Théâtre de la Ville de Luxembourg, Opéra Comique, Opéra de Lille, MC2 Grenoble and CMBV), a programme entitled "Rameau, Opéra sans Parole" (Rameau, Opera without Words), harpsichord concerti by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, the Brandenburg concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach and Rinaldo by Georg Friedric Handel, directed by Claire Dancoisne.

He is currently recording the complete works for harpsichord by François Couperin for harmonia mundi - PIAS. The first opus released in 2018 was Choc de l'année Classica and received 4F from Télérama. The second opus released in July 2020 was awarded a Diapason d'Or and 5 stars by Classica.

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