Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Jean-Jacques Kantorow is a modern exemplar of the great French-Belgian violin school, with a dash of influence coming from his Russian ancestry. He has also become noted across Europe in his second career as a conductor.
Kantorow was born in Cannes, France, on October 13, 1945. He showed talent in childhood and enrolled at the Nice Conservatory and then, at 13, at the Paris Conservatory, where he took home a top prize in 1960. Throughout the '60s, he remained one of Europe's most consistent competition prize-winners, and his performance career became worldwide in scope, focusing on the standard concerto repertory. Among the many figures in the musical world who hailed his playing was Glenn Gould, who called Kantorow a "staggering" talent and the most original violinist he had ever heard. Grove dictionary noted his playing "combines the best features of the French and Russian schools." In 1974, Kantorow made his recording debut on the soundtrack to the film Un coeur en hiver.
Kantorow grew into conducting as an orchestra leader, serving in that capacity with the Orchestre de Paris in 1977 and 1978 and with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra from 1978 until 1984. He became the principal conductor of the Auvergne Chamber Orchestra in 1985. Kantorow also held substantial conducting engagements with various ensembles outside France, including the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, the Tapiola Sinfonietta, and the Helsinki Chamber Orchestra, serving as artistic director of the Helsinki group.
As a violinist, Kantorow has recorded much of the standard concerto repertory, with a special emphasis on virtuoso Russian works. Of his more than 160 recordings, dozens remain available. Many of his violin recordings were released on the Denon label; as a conductor, he has often been associated with BIS in his capacity as conductor of the Tapiola Sinfonietta. In 2019, he released a recording with that group of the Piano Concertos Nos. 3, 4, and 5 of Saint-Saëns, a composer for whose work he has had an affinity as both violinist and conductor. The soloist on that release was his son, pianist Alexandre Kantorow. Kantorow's CV has included major teaching positions at conservatories in Strasbourg and Rotterdam and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris. Kantorow remained active during the COVID-19 pandemic, releasing albums devoted to Saint-Saëns as conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and the Tapiola Sinfonietta on BIS. He moved to the Avie label in 2024, leading the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra on a recording by violinist Philippe Graffin of recently rediscovered violin-and-orchestra works of Eugène Ysaÿe.
© James Manheim & Uncle Dave Lewis /TiVo
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Mozart - Beethoven
Liya Petrova, Sinfonia Varsovia, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Concertos - Released by Mirare on 26 Feb 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Lalo: Concertante Works for Violin, Cello & Piano
Liège Royal Philharmonic, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 18 Mar 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Works for Piano & Orchestra
Alexandre Kantorow, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Apr 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sibelius & Rautavaara: Violin Concertos
Tobias Feldmann, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 25 May 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Les Concertos
Orchestre Symphonique de Douai, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by Indésens Calliope Records on 22 Sep 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Sonates françaises
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Alexandre Kantorow
Classical - Released by NoMadMusic on 28 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart - Beethoven
Liya Petrova, Sinfonia Varsovia, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by Mirare on 26 Feb 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Piano Concertos Nos. 3-5
Alexandre Kantorow, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by BIS on 3 May 2019
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Liszt: Piano Concertos & Malédiction
Alexandre Kantorow, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by BIS on 1 Jun 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ysaÿe : Neiges d'antan
Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Svetlin Roussev, Amaury Coeytaux
Concertos - Released by Musique en Wallonie on 20 May 2016
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saëns: Symphonies
Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by BIS on 21 May 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ysaÿe : Harmonies du soir
Tatiana Samouil, Thibault Lavrenov, Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by Musique en Wallonie on 6 May 2014
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Pierre Wissmer: Musique Symphonique & Concertos
Orchestre de Douai - Région Hauts-de-France, Orchestre Symphonique de RTL, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by Claves Records on 16 Apr 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pierre Wissmer: Musique Symphonique & Concertos
Paul Meyer, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Thibault Cauvin
Concertos - Released by Claves Records on 7 May 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Debussy, Ravel & Faure: Piano Trios
Jacques Rouvier, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Philippe Muller
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
L'Art du Violon
Patrice Fontanarosa, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Régis Pasquier, Gérard Poulet
Classical - Released by Arion on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Schumann: Violin Concerto in D Minor - Franz Schubert: Concerto, Polonaise, Rondo
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Emmanuel Krivine, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann
Classical - Released by Denon on 1 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8 (revised version, 1889)
Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Philippe Muller, Jacques Rouvier
Chamber Music - Released by Sarastro on 1 Mar 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Saint-Saens: Violin Concerto No. 3 / Caprice Andalous
Classical - Released by BIS on 22 Apr 1997
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
3 SONATES CLAVECIN
Brigitte Haudebourg, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by Arion on 15 Feb 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Part: Tabula Rasa / Frates / Collage Sur Bach
Tapiola Sinfonietta, Jean-Jacques Kantorow
Classical - Released by BIS on 31 Mar 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo