TORLEIF THEDÉEN
BIOGRAPHY
Swedish cellist Torleif Thedéen is one of the most respected musicians in the Nordic countries, who has won several first prizes in international cello competitions, including the Casals Competition. He is Visiting Professor of Cello at the Royal College of Music in London and Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.
During his career spanning four decades, Torleif has performed with some of the world's greatest orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic, the Netherlands Philharmonic,
Photo: Nicolaj Lund
With the London Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, Birmingham City SO, Dresden, Royal Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic. He has worked with, among others, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo Berglund, Petrenko, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Franz Welser-Mösti, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä, Mario Venzago and Leif Segerstam.
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As a chamber musician, Torleif knows the prestigious stages of London's Wigmore Hall, New York's Carnegie Hall, the Berlin Philharmonic and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. He has performed at the Prague Spring and Verbier Festivals, as well as chamber music festivals in Schleswig-Holstein, Bordeaux, Oslo, Bath, Stavanger, Kuhmo and other regions.
His collaborators have been Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Itamar Golan, Maxim Rysanov, Leif Ove Andsnes, Marc-André Hamelin, Lars Anders Tomter, Henning Kraggerud, Roland Pöntinen and Martin Fröst. Torleif's recordings are received numerous recognitions. He was awarded the Edison Prize in 2018 when he recorded Messiaen's Quartet for The End of Time with Martin Fröst, Lucas Debargue and Janine Jansen on the Sony label. His recording of Shostakovich's Cello Concertos won the Cannes Classical Music Award, and his interpretation of the Bach Cello Suites was BBC Music Magazine's "Pick of the Month". His discography also includes concertos by Dvořák, Elgar, Saint-Saens, Lalo, Kabalevsky, Lutoslawski and plenty of contemporary music. He plays a 1783 Guadagnini cello on loan from the Norwegian Dextra Foundation, formerly owned by M. Rostropovich.
From 2020, Torleif is represented by Nordic Artists Management.