Sixteen months after he broke his elbow, the cellist Raphaël Merlin has ended his 24-year career in the Quatuor Ebène, one of the world’s elite ensembles.
They have replaced him with the Japanese soloist, Yuya Okamoto, who is not yet 30.
Merlin will focus now on conducting.
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Heard Yuya in the first Queen Elisabeth cello competition and loved his playing. Hadn’t heard from since so I’m happy to hear this!
A couple of years ago the quartet recorded an album Round Midnight of Schoenberg, Duitilleux and Merlin! His work was ostensibly designed to bridge the two other pieces but it was a mini masterpiece in my opinion.
Agreed. He showed himself to be a really outstanding cellist in that competition (his Haydn D major in the semi-final was just sensational). Good news both for him and for the group.
This quartet is wonderful. New appointments are tricky so hoping the best for them. Even trickier in America, where the young Dover Quartet had their problems. I wonder if the legal disputes between Joel and Milena are still going on. Is it true that he still lives with his brother at such an old age?
I thought he was trying to sack the current cellist because Joel was complaining about how poorly the cellist’s wedding was planned and put together.
I also heard him live at the Queen Elisabeth, in the demi-finales (Incredible Haydn concerto) and finals (his Dvorak, heart-warmingly tender chamber-music rather than virtuosic bravado, brought some tears to my eyes). Look forward to hearing the new team!
Congrats to them all!
Well, he just played the Schubert quintet with Belcea at the quartet biennale in Amsterdam Sunday.