Get to know Nicolas Altstaedt

You first performed with the Philharmonia in 2024 – what stood out for you about the orchestra?

The Philharmonia is an incredible orchestra. Not only does it have an outstanding culture in its sound, but also an unlimited potential of energy that can be released in all sorts of ways in any repertoire.

Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Cello Concerto was written for you. Did you work closely with him while he was writing it? What was the process like?

I recorded his first concerto during my time as a BBC New Generation Artist in 2012. He heard the recording and spoke very fondly about it, when we met by chance at the Proms in 2017 for the first time. A year later our paths crossed again in Jakobstad in Finland, when Sebastian Fagerlund was writing a cello concerto for me. Erkki-Sven was Composer In Residence and came to see me backstage after a Haydn concerto performance. As I didn’t perform any of his music in the festival, we thought it would be nice to have a second cello concerto since 20 years had passed since the creation of the first one. We didn’t talk about the piece while he was composing and met again at the premiere in Bamberg. I am very willing to “collaborate”, but it always depends on the composer’s wish. I find it very interesting to receive a score without having communicated any thoughts or ideas.

This will be the concerto’s third performance. Are you expecting it to sound very different to the first two?

Of course. Every piece is recreated in each performance. Paavo knows Erkki-Sven’s music so well and for the Philharmonia the sky is the limit.

You perform a wide range of music, from Baroque repertoire to contemporary compositions. Do you have a favourite piece, composer or period?

Always the one you are playing in the moment. Apart from the obvious composers, I feel  to mention the still underrated ones. As a conductor I have had my most intense experience and relationship with The Seasons by Haydn, a composer that has accompanied me a lot in my life. I have a strong affinity to Dvořák (especially the 7th symphony and chamber music as the F minor piano trio Op. 65 and String Quintet Op. 97), whom I see as a successor of Schubert.

At the moment I listen a lot to Monteverdi (Vespers), Brahms (Op. 116-119 ) and Richard Strauss (Alpine Symphony).

Outside ‘classical’ music, what else do you enjoy playing or listening to?

The Beatles, good Jazz.  I listen to a lot of music, that I don’t know to programme for my chamber music festivals, cd recordings or orchestras I collaborate.

If you hadn’t become a professional musician, what job do you think you would have liked to do?

I don’t think too much  in “what if’s”. Things happen for a reason. But outside the arts and music especially, I need a connection to nature (Ocean and cliffs as Cornwall, Brittany or Galicia) and animals.

What do you like most about visiting London?

If time allows I like to have a stroll on the Heath and see the self-portrait of Rembrandt with two circles in the background in Kenwood House, as well as the da Vinci (The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne and Saint John the Baptist) in the National Gallery. Last time I went to see the Michelangelo exhibition at the British Museum. I often listen to friends performing in town, often at the Wigmore Hall, that always includes a dinner together or trying out bows.

Which other concert(s) in our London season would you most like to hear, and why?

Any performance of Mao Fujita is something very special, and I would like to hear Ives’s The Unanswered Question with Ryan Bancroft.