Antônio Meneses

Born in Recife, Brazil, in 1957 into a family of musicians, Antonio Meneses began his cello studies at the age of ten. At 16, he met the famous Italian cellist Antonio Janigro and was asked to join Janigro's classes in Düsseldorf and later in Stuttgart. He won the first Prize at the 1977 ARD International Competition in Munich and was awarded First Prize and Gold Medal at the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. Appearing in the music capitals of Europe, the Americas and Asia, Antonio Meneses performs with most of the world's leading orchestras (in Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Vienna, Paris, Prague, Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Munich, New York, Philadelphia Washington D.C. or Tokyo. Among the conductors with whom he has collaborated are Claudio Abbado, Gerd Albrecht, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Daniele Gatti, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Herbert von Karajan, Riccardo Muti, Eiji Oue, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Kurt Sanderling, Yuri Temirkanov or Christian Thielemann. A devoted chamber musician, Antonio Meneses was a member of the legendary Beaux Arts Trio between October 1998 and September 2008. He has collaborated with the Vermeer Quartet on tour and gives chamber music concerts and duo recitals with pianists such as Menahem Pressler and Maria João Pires. As a recording artist, Antonio Meneses has made two recordings for Deutsche Grammophon with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (Brahms' Double Concerto with Anne- Sophie Mutter and Richard Strauss' Don Quixote). He has released the complete works for cello by Villa-Lobos (Auvidis France and Bis), David Popper and CPE Bach (Pan Records).