Ophélie Gaillard
Her “technical fluency is unimpeachable. Her intonation … is impeccable. She plays with a ripe, absolutely luscious tone. Her use of vibrato is circumspect and period- appropriate. She is scrupulous about observing repeats and her use of ornamentation is elegant and understated. The fluidity and unself-conscious physicality of Gaillard's playing keeps the listener aware that, except for the preludes, this is sunny, dance-based music.” So wrote the critic Stephen Eddins (Allmusic) of her recent Bach recording (2011), while back in 2007 The Times hailed her “wizard fingering, big lyrical heart and kaleidoscope of colours”.

An insatiable curiosity, a taste for risk, an immoderate appetite for the whole of the concertante cello repertoire, complete disregard of limits and petty quarrels: these are no doubt the features that have always set this brilliant Franco-Swiss musician apart.

Voted ‘Revelation: Solo Instrumentalist of the Year’ at the Victoires de la Musique Classique in 2003, she has since appeared in recital at many prestigious venues.

Ophélie Gaillard is a child of Baroque. In her studies she specialised from a very early age in the early and classical cellos and was soon sharing the stage with Christophe Rousset, Emmanuelle Haïm and Amaryllis, before founding in 2005 Pulcinella, a ‘collective’ of virtuoso soloists with a passion for performance on period instruments. The recordings devoted to Vivaldi (Cello Sonatas and Concertos), Boccherini (Cello Concertos) and Bach (Arias and Cantatas with violoncello piccolo) reaped excellent ratings and several awards.

In 1998 she was the winner of the Leipzig Bach Competition, then in 2000 she recorded Bach’s complete Cello Suites for the Ambroisie label to great critical acclaim. She renewed that exploit in 2011, this time for the Aparté label, and received maximum ratings from Diapason, Strad Magazine, etc.

Ophélie Gaillard also performs modern and contemporary works. She has made successful recordings of Britten’s complete Cello Suites and Piano Sonatas with Vanessa Wagner and of Pierre Bartholomée’s Oraison for solo cello.

The Romantic repertoire is not neglected: she has successfully recorded the complete cello works of Schumann, Fauré, Chopin and Brahms.

She appears as a soloist with the Orchestre de Cannes-Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur, the Polish Radio Orchestra (under Gabriel Chmura), the Orchestre de Picardie (Edmon Colomer), the European Camerata, the Franz Liszt Orchestra of Budapest, the New Japan Philarmonic under the baton of Werner Andreas Alpert, the Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de Chambre de Toulouse, the Romanian Radio Orchestra.

Greatly in demand as a teacher, she gives master-classes in Asia and in Latin and Central America. In 2010 she was a member of the jury for the ARD International Music Competition in Munich.

Her solo album Dreams, made with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, proved to be a great public success.

She is heard regularly on radio (France Musique, France Culture, France Inter, Radio Classique, Espace 2, BBC Radio 3) and often appears on television (France 2, Mezzo, Arte).

Ophélie Gaillard plays a cello by Francesco Goffriller (1737), generously loaned to her by CIC, and also a Flemish violoncello piccolo (anonymous).

She has just been appointed Professor at the Haute Ecole de Musique in Geneva.