“Music transcends differences”
You took out Gaia. In a few words, make our mouths water…
It is an album that pays homage to the Earth, to its vibrations, its emotions, its joys and its concerns. It brings together 17 unpublished works, specially written by 16 contemporary composers. It is a record of hope and life.
What does it reveal about the artist that you are?
My taste for musical exploration and my desire to transmit and introduce this music to an ever-widening audience.
With which cellists – living or dead – would you dream of playing in a duo?
The British Jacqueline du Pré, for this ability she had to transmit emotion. But also Pablo Casals, the father of all cellists. And Mstislav Rostropovitch of course, who gave the instrument its finest letters of nobility.
Does anything special happen when you play with your brother, the violinist Renaud Capuçon?
Beyond blood ties, we share memories and a common passion for art. On stage, we are in symbiosis.
We offer you an hour of silence, what do you do with it?
I breathe and contemplate nature.
A place that crosses generations in your family?
Bourg-Saint-Maurice, cradle of our family in Savoie. I recharge my batteries there after my tours, and my daughters already feel at home there.
Your guilty pleasure?
Good cheese. Especially when I return to Savoie, after a tour.
The last time you cried?
On the day of the reopening of Notre-Dame de Paris, before playing, I heard the master sing. The emotion overwhelmed me: I shed tears of happiness.
What cause would you march for?
Education. I benefited from exceptional training. I would like everyone to have the same opportunities.
If you met Pope Leo XIV, what would you ask him?
To use his aura so that all children have access to learning music. It transcends differences and can help ease social and political tensions.
You are offered immortality. Do you sign?
At 44, it would be tempting to want to freeze time. But I prefer to trade immortality for a world without disease, where every child has a roof and something to eat.
