Biography

Tatjana Vassiljeva-Monnier

Cellist

"A phenomenon"

Tatjana Vassiljeva is known for her irreproachable technique and irresistible range of sonorities. Her superlative virtuosity is secondary to her strong musical personality and ability to communicate ideas.

Tatjana's innate musical curiosity is reflected in her extensive repertoire, ranging from baroque to contemporary music, including several world premieres.

Early Life and Education

Tatjana Vassiljeva was born into a musical family in Novosibirsk, Russia and began studying the cello at the age of six with Eugenij Nilov at Novosibirsk's Specialized Music School. From 1989 to 1995 she was in the class of Maria Zhuravleva at the Central Music School in Moscow and, having won the second prize at the ARD Munich Competition in 1994, she moved there to study with Walter Northas at the Music High School. After graduating with distinction, she completed her postgraduate degree with David Geringas at the Hanns Eisler Music College in Berlin.

Competitions and Early Achievements

From the onset of her performing career at the age of twelve, Tatjana Vassiljeva has graced stages all across Europe and Asia. She won prizes at many prestigious international competitions: International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians, in Moscow (1992), ARD Munich Competition (1994), International Adam Cello Competition in New Zealand (Grand Prix, 1999), Pablo Casals Competition in Kronberg, Germany (2000), International Izuminomori Competition in Osaka, Japan (Grand Prix and the Audience Award, 2001). In the same year Tatjana came to prominence as first Russian to be awarded the First Grand Prix de la Ville de Paris at the 7th Concours de Violoncelle Rostropovitch. In 2004 Tatjana was named the 'Revelation' at the 2005 Victoires de la Musique Classique.

In 2005, Tatjana was invited to join the prestigious Berliner Philharmoniker as a principal cellist. She has been a member of the orchestra since 2006.

Career Highlights

2005

Beethoven Performances and 'Revelation' Award

Performed the complete collection of Beethoven's works for cello and piano with Paul Badura-Skoda in Paris. Named the 'Revelation' at the 2005 Victoires de la Musique Classique.

2006-2007

Philharmonisches Streichquintett Berlin and collaboration with Mstislav Rostropovich

In 2006, Tatjana Performed Beethoven's Triple Concerto with Claudio Abbado in Venezuela. Joined the prestigious Berliner Philharmoniker as a principal cellist. In 2007, Tatjana founded the Philharmonisches Streichquintett Berlin along with four string members of the Berlin Philharmoniker. Since then, the ensemble has been playing on extensive tours across Europe and Asia. Other highlights of these two years were several performances under Mstislav Rostropovich: a tour of Spain, concerts in Germany and Holland, and concerts with the Orchestre de Paris devoted to Shostakovich at the Salle Pleyel, Paris, and at the Philharmonie Luxembourg. In May 2007, she participated in the concert in memory of the great Maestro given by the same orchestra.

2008-2009

Collaboration with Krzysztof Penderecki

Tatjana is closely associated with several composers, notably with Krzysztof Penderecki whose Concerto Grosso she has performed many times with various musicians. In 2008 she gave the world premiere of the revised version of the Largo, led by the composer, and recorded his Second Concerto. Their collaboration persisted into 2009 with joint concerts held in Spain.

She is a welcome guest of many festivals, including the Edinburgh Festival, Prague Spring Festival, the Folle journées in France and Japan, La Grange de Meslay festival, Lockenhaus, Verbier, Kronberg, Colmar.

2009-2010

Bach's Six Suites and Award-Winning Recordings

In 2009 and 2010 respectively Tatjana recorded Bach's Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello for which she received the 'Choc' (the highest recommendation) from Classica Magazine and the Alkan and Chopin cello sonatas with Jean-Frédéric Neuburger for Mirare.

Her most recent releases are the Penderecki Concerto No. 2 with Antoni Wit and the Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra on the Naxos label, which received the Contemporary Award at the 2012 International Classical Music Awards, and a CD of works by Dvorak with the Philharmonisches Streichquintett Berlin on Pentatone.

2014

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

In 2014, Tatjana made the decision to join an orchestra and became the principal cellist of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Amsterdam. Despite this, she continues performing as a soloist: with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra she played Dvorak's Cello Concerto under Herbert Blomstedt and Haydn's C Major under Daniel Gatti, with the NHK Symphony Orchestra she performed Tchaikovsky's Rocco Variations, and with the Orchestre National de Lyon she rendered Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1, just to name a few.

Additionally, she maintains her involvement with the Philharmonisches Streichquintett Berlin. The quintet has showcased its talent across various international stages, including performances in Spain, Italy, France, Korea, Japan, and China.

2023

Professor at Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, Germany

Since 2023, Tatjana has held a position of professor at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, Germany.

Collaborations

Tatjana has built a formidable reputation as one of the leading cellists of today, performing with the most prestigious orchestras including the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Sinfonieorchester Basel, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, DSO Berlin, Munich Philharmonic, Lithuanian Philharmonic, Jerusalem Chamber Orchestra, Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, and Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra under such distinguished conductors as Tugan Sokhiev, Paavo Järvi, Herbert Blomstedt, Yuri Temirkanov, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Claudio Abbado, Valery Gergiev, David Zinman, Daniele Gatti, Vladimir Spivakov, Yuri Bashmet, Dmitri Kitaenko, Michail Jurowski, Jiri Kout, Sakari Oramo, Christoph Eschenbach, Bertrand de Billy, Vassily Sinaisky, Vladimir Fedoseyev and Krzysztov Penderecki.

Discography highlights

Since her first recordings with the label Naxos, with works by Stravinsky, Britten, Dutilleux and Debussy, Tatjana has made three CDs for the Accord/Universal label. The first, demonstrating her passion for solo contemporary music (Shchedrin, Dutilleux, Saariaho, Schnittke, Stroppa and Penderecki) was awarded the Diapason d'Or and was followed by a recording of works by Franck, Schubert and Stravinsky. However, it was her next CD with works for cello solo by Kodaly, Ysaÿe, Tchérepnine and Cassado that she stunned critics and firmly established herself as 'the new diva of the cello.'

Instrument

Tatjana performs on a 1690 Matteo Goffriller cello, generously loaned by the Willem Mengelberg Foundation in Switzerland and the Concertgebouw Orchestra Foundation.