Alban Gerhardt (born 1969) is a German cellist. He has performed as a soloist with many internationally known orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
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Gerhardt was born in Berlin, where his father was a violinist in the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. He took up both the piano and the cello at the age of eight.[1]
Gerhardt's first public performance came on February 22, 1987, when he played Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 2 in D as part of a chamber orchestra for the Berlin Philharmonic.[2] In 1994 he won the Young Concert Artists International Auditions.
Gerhardt's work has generally been well received by critics worldwide. On March 30, 2004, a writer in the Berliner Morgenpost wrote "Once again, the cellist proved himself an artist of great conviction." A December 9, 1994, review in Der Tagesspiegel lauded his playing, saying it was full of "an elegance[;...]spirit; a highly civilized, cultured, and fine sound; extraordinary sensitivity; and an incredible weightless vividness." A music critic in the New York Times wrote on February 7, 1996: "Alban Gerhardt. . . is an intensely serious artist. . . . His cello playing is bold, technically resourceful and rhythmically incisive." In addition, The Independent said of one of his performances: "Gerhardt is a slight man but his sound is big, his musical intelligence without question as he sensitively coaxed the music to sing." [3]