Christian Poltéra was born in Zürich. After receiving tuition from Nancy Chumachenco and Boris Pergamenschikow, he studied with Heinrich Schiff in Salzburg and Vienna.
As a soloist he works with eminent orchestras including the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique and Chamber Orchestra of Europe under such conductors as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnanyi, Andris Nelsons and Sir John Eliot Gardiner.
He also devotes himself intensively to chamber music together with such musicians as Gidon Kremer, Christian Tetzlaff, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mitsuko Uchida, Lars Vogt, Kathryn Stott, Esther Hoppe and Ronald Brautigam, and with the Auryn and Zehetmair Quartets. Together with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Antoine Tamestit, Christian Poltéra has formed a string trio, the Trio Zimmermann, which performs at most prestigious concert venues and festivals all over Europe.
In 2004 he received the Borletti-Buitoni Award and was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist.
He is a regular guest at renowned festivals (such as Salzburg, Lucerne, Berlin, Edinburgh and Vienna) and made his BBC Proms début in 2007. Christian Poltéra’s discography, which has won acclaim from the international press, reflects his varied repertoire that includes the concertos by Dvorak, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski, Walton, Hindemith and Barber as well as chamber music by Prokofiev, Fauré, Beethoven and Schubert.
Christian Poltéra teaches at the Lucerne University. He plays a Antonio Casini cello built in 1675 and the famous "Mara" Stradivari from 1711.

Neue CD

SACD
BIS BIS-2347
Stereo/Multichannel Hybrid
Classical - Chamber

Bach: Goldberg Variations

Trio Zimmermann:
Frank Peter Zimmermann (violin)
Antoine Tamestit (viola)
Christian Poltéra (cello)

Violin: A. Stradivarius, Cremona 1711, ‘Lady Inchiquin’; Viola: A. Stradivarius, 1672, ‘Mahler’; Cello: A. Stradivarius, 1711, 'Mara'


For close to 300 years Bach’s Goldberg Variations have awed performers as well as listeners, through an unparalleled combination of a dazzling variety of expression and breath-taking virtuosity with stupendous polyphonic mastery. No wonder then that other musicians than harpsichordists have wanted to make it their own – pianists, first and foremost, but also accordion players and guitarists, flautists and harpists.

Having performed and recorded much of the classical as well as the modern string trio repertoire, Trio Zimmermann began working on the Goldberg Variations several years ago, playing an existing arrangement. But in their own words, the three members – among the leading string players of our time – ‘soon became captivated by the original score and its innumerable beauties and details’. As a result they have jointly prepared a performing version which here receives its first recording. Playing an important part on this disc are also the Trio’s instruments – all by Antonio Stradivarius, and featured in close-up on the cover.

  • image description
    Violin Sonata in A major Urtextausgabe, Fassung für Violoncello, broschiert mit bezeichneter und unbezeichneter Streich

    Im Gegensatz zu anderen seiner Spätwerke wurde Francks 1886 komponierte Violinsonate (HN 293) von Anfang an bei Publikum und Kritik freundlich aufgenommen. Unter den zahlreichen Bearbeitungen hebt sich die im Januar 1888 erschienene klangschöne Fassung für Violoncello insofern hervor, als sie ausdrücklich von Franck autorisiert wurde. Der Cellist Jules Delsart, der im Dezember 1887 in Paris eine Aufführung der Sonate erlebt hatte, war so begeistert, dass er Franck um die Erlaubnis zur Transkription der Violinstimme für sein Instrument bat. Delsart hielt sich eng an das Original, ließ den Klavierpart unverändert und transponierte den Violinpart nur wo nötig und passend in die tiefere Lage.

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  • image description
    Ravel: Sonate für Violine und Violoncello Urtextausgabe, broschiert mit einer bezeichneten und einer unbezeich

    At the first performances of this sonata, composed between 1920 and 1922, even close friends of the composer were perturbed: Following the intoxicating sounds of La Valse, the smaller scoring and modern musical language of the sonata were a shock. Yet this pioneering work has now become a permanent fixture on the concert stage. To help the players, we are now presenting two performance scores in which the other instrument’s part is also given. Both parts are included in a marked and an unmarked version. The world-renowned musicians Christian Poltéra and Frank Peter Zimmermann provided the fingerings.

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Forthcoming Concerts — Past Concerts
  • Christian Poltera
  • Christian Poltera
  • Christian Poltera
  • Christian Poltera
General Management
General Management
e.wagner@ks-schoerke.de u.sulser@ks-schoerke.de
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KÜNSTLERSEKRETARIAT ASTRID SCHOERKE
Eva Wagner, Managing Director
Telefon: +49(0)511 26 09 07 54
Mobil: +49(0)172 821 32 58

Ulrich Sulser, Assistant Artist Manager
Telefon: +49(0)511 26 09 07 53
Mobil: +49(0)162 98 99 741
BeNeLux
BeNeLux
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Weinstadt Artists Management
Luc Van Loocke
Bart Verhoeven, Artist Manager
Populierenlaan 3/26
B-2020 Antwerp
Belgium
Christian Poltéra
christianpoltera@yahoo.de
Trio Zimmermann
Trio Zimmermann
jt@nymusartists.com
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Jeroen Tersteeg
Avenue du Beau Séjour 34
B-1180 Brussels
T +32 2 372 3005
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