Ensemble Explorations
„A mistake that many players make is that the sound of their instrument is too present, and the composer not enough so. What we try to do is to highlight the musical story that the work wants to tell, or the idiom, to clarify the language of the composer." Roel Dieltiens
In 1997, Belgian cellist Roel Dieltiens gathered together a group of high-calibre musicians in order to perform rarely played works by the French 19th century composer Auguste Franchomme. Originally only planning to record one CD, the Ensemble Explorations has been performing and recording for over ten years.
Since its inception, the ensemble has performed works by great masters and by unjustly neglected composers, at times with an investigative fervour. Whether they find music from the baroque period, music from the classical or romantic repertoire, or contemporary music on their music stands, the Ensemble Explorations is always dedicated to a historically accurate and emotionally deep performance. The ensemble, which changes size according to the project at hand, is committed to playing the historical or modern instrument appropriate for each work and - nomen est omen - to exploring the scores with scientific curiosity.
The Ensemble Explorations performs regularly in Belgium and abroad, and is a favoured guest at many renowned festivals. In recent years, they have performed in Spain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan, among other countries. For five years, they have been a mainstay of the program at La Folle Journée in Nantes, one of the biggest classical music festivals.
Many award-winning recordings of the ensemble have been released by Harmonia Mundi, such as the Sonate a Quattro by Rossini, Quintets by Dvorak and Boccherini, and the String Octet by Mendelssohn. Their most current CD, a recording of Antonio Vivaldi's Cello Sonata for the label Klara/ET'CETERA, was recently named Editor's Choice by the British music magazine Gramophone.
Roel Dieltiens, Cello
Belgian cellist Roel Dieltiens studied with André Messens (Antwerpen, Waterloo) and André Navarra (Detmold). Following a multitude of performances, including recitals with René Jacobs and Konrad Junghändel as continuo-player, Dieltiens soon gained an excellent international reputation. Today, he is considered an authority of modern as well as baroque cello playing. His overwhelming musicality and unconventional interpretational perspective have afforded him invitations to the world's most renowned concert stages in cities such as London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, and Tokyo. With Ensemble Explorations, which Roel Dieltiens founded and directs, he has also made a name for himself as a chamber musician.
Dieltiens has recorded CDs in a multitude of styles, of which many are used as interpretational references. These quotes from reviews of his recordings illustrate this point: „Simply the best" (Classic CD USA in reference to Kodaly's Sonata forCello Solo opus 8); „The only significant cello CD that appeared in 1997" (Fanfare in reference to Franchomme's virtuosic cello music); „A great CD, and the best Vivaldi recording in a long time" (Diapason in reference to Vivaldi's Cello Concerto). In May, 2010 his recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites was released.
Roel Dieltiens is a professor of cello at the Hochschule der Künste in Zürich and sits on the juries of several international competitions, such as the Bach Competition in Leipzig and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition. In 2006, the TV-station Canvas filmed a documentary about this extraordinary musician.
In 1997, Belgian cellist Roel Dieltiens gathered together a group of high-calibre musicians in order to perform rarely played works by the French 19th century composer Auguste Franchomme. Originally only planning to record one CD, the Ensemble Explorations has been performing and recording for over ten years.
Since its inception, the ensemble has performed works by great masters and by unjustly neglected composers, at times with an investigative fervour. Whether they find music from the baroque period, music from the classical or romantic repertoire, or contemporary music on their music stands, the Ensemble Explorations is always dedicated to a historically accurate and emotionally deep performance. The ensemble, which changes size according to the project at hand, is committed to playing the historical or modern instrument appropriate for each work and - nomen est omen - to exploring the scores with scientific curiosity.
The Ensemble Explorations performs regularly in Belgium and abroad, and is a favoured guest at many renowned festivals. In recent years, they have performed in Spain, France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Japan, among other countries. For five years, they have been a mainstay of the program at La Folle Journée in Nantes, one of the biggest classical music festivals.
Many award-winning recordings of the ensemble have been released by Harmonia Mundi, such as the Sonate a Quattro by Rossini, Quintets by Dvorak and Boccherini, and the String Octet by Mendelssohn. Their most current CD, a recording of Antonio Vivaldi's Cello Sonata for the label Klara/ET'CETERA, was recently named Editor's Choice by the British music magazine Gramophone.
Roel Dieltiens, Cello
Belgian cellist Roel Dieltiens studied with André Messens (Antwerpen, Waterloo) and André Navarra (Detmold). Following a multitude of performances, including recitals with René Jacobs and Konrad Junghändel as continuo-player, Dieltiens soon gained an excellent international reputation. Today, he is considered an authority of modern as well as baroque cello playing. His overwhelming musicality and unconventional interpretational perspective have afforded him invitations to the world's most renowned concert stages in cities such as London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, and Tokyo. With Ensemble Explorations, which Roel Dieltiens founded and directs, he has also made a name for himself as a chamber musician.
Dieltiens has recorded CDs in a multitude of styles, of which many are used as interpretational references. These quotes from reviews of his recordings illustrate this point: „Simply the best" (Classic CD USA in reference to Kodaly's Sonata forCello Solo opus 8); „The only significant cello CD that appeared in 1997" (Fanfare in reference to Franchomme's virtuosic cello music); „A great CD, and the best Vivaldi recording in a long time" (Diapason in reference to Vivaldi's Cello Concerto). In May, 2010 his recording of the complete Bach Cello Suites was released.
Roel Dieltiens is a professor of cello at the Hochschule der Künste in Zürich and sits on the juries of several international competitions, such as the Bach Competition in Leipzig and the Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition. In 2006, the TV-station Canvas filmed a documentary about this extraordinary musician.
General Management
Roel Dieltiens
Photo: David Maesen