Anner Bylsma
Playing with impeccable technique and a beautiful, unadulterated tone, Anner Bylsma was acknowledged as a master cellist, comfortable in a wide range of music on both period and modern cellos.
As they were for many gifted musicians, Bylsma's first lessons were from a parent, in this case his father, also a multi-talented musician. At the age of 16, he enrolled at the Royal Conservatory, The Hague, to study with Carel van Leeuwen Boomkamp, principal cellist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra Amsterdam. It was Boomkamp who introduced Bylsma to the Baroque cello. Bylsma won the school's Prix d'excellence in 1957, and after becoming the Netherlands Opera Orchestra's principal cellist, he won first prize in the Casals Competition in Mexico in 1959. He himself then became principal cellist of the Concertgebouw in 1962. Six years later he left the orchestra to devote his performing career to solo and chamber ensemble touring. His chamber music collaborators often included period flutist Frans Brüggen, harpsichordist Gustav Leonhardt, and in the 1990s-2000s keyboardists Malcolm Bilson and Jos van Immerseel. Bylsma was also a co-founder of the string chamber ensemble L'Archibudelli. As a solo performer he plays regularly with such orchestras as the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Tafelmusik, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Freiburger Barock, and the 20th century music ensemble Rondom Kwartet.
Bylsma was also a noted scholar and teacher, and author of Bach, the Fencing Master, about the first three of Bach's Cello Suites. His playing was always based on what he found in the composers' manuscripts. However, he quickly admitted that his interpretation of a work was not and should not be the only one, which he also impressed on his students. Although he didn't like to use the term "authentic," it was in keeping with period performance that he avoided the use of steel strings, and this was a major element of his tone. Both his 1695 Gofriller cello and his 1865 Pressenda were strung with gut or silver-wrapped gut. He also had a five-string "violoncello piccolo" that he used to record Bach's solo works.
His recordings can be found on a variety of labels, covering a variety of works, from Vivaldi to Hindemith. Many of his recordings on Sony, both as a soloist and with L'Archibudelli, have won the Edison prize, the Diapason d'or, the Liszt prize, and the Vivaldi prize.
Bylsma was married to violinist Vera Beths. He died in late July 2019.
© Patsy Morita /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Bach: The Six Unaccompanied Cello Suites, BWV 1007-1012
Cello Solos - Released by Sony Classical on 19 Oct 1992
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Sebastian Bach : 6 Suites for violoncelle seul - 3 Sonates pour viole de gambe & orgue
Chamber Music - Released by Sony Classical on 19 Nov 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Handel: Recorder Sonatas
Frans Brüggen, Anner Bylsma, Gustav Leonhardt
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 7 Feb 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Haydn: The Last 4 Piano Trios
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jun 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann: Recorder Sonatas & Fantasias
Frans Brüggen, Anner Bylsma, Gustav Leonhardt
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on 1 Jul 1993
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
French Baroque Music for Flute by Hottetere, Philidor & Boismortier
Frans Brüggen, Anner Bylsma, Gustav Leonhardt
Chamber Music - Released by Warner Classics on 24 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen: Quatuor Pour La Fin Du Temps
Vera Beths, Anner Bylsma, George Pieterson, Reinbert de Leeuw
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anner Bylsma plays Concertos and Duets
Cello Concertos - Released by Sony Classical on 24 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anner Bylsma plays Cello Suites and Sonatas
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 24 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, CPE: Symphonies & Cello Concertos
Anner Bylsma, Orchestra Of The Age Of Enlightenment, Gustav Leonhardt
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 1 Jun 2000
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Boccherini: Cellokonzerte / Sinfonien
Classical - Released by Deutsche Harmonia Mundi on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Franz Schubert : Trio, Op. 100
Trios - Released by Sony Classical on 18 May 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Das Violoncello im 17. Jahrhundert
Classical - Released by Deutsche Harmonia Mundi on 1 Oct 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Cello Sonatas
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 25 Sep 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1,2 & 3
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: 6 Cello Suites
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 1985
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anner Bylsma plays Chamber Music (Vol. 1) : Boccherini, Spohr, Mozart, M. Haydn, Onslow, Duport, Reicha, Romberg, Mendelssohn...
Chamber Music - Released by Sony Classical on 24 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Cello Suites, Vol. 1 (Nos. 1, 2 & 3)
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonatas For Forte Piano and Cello, Vol. 2
Classical - Released by Nonesuch on 1 Jan 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Telemann: Paris Quartets
Frans Brüggen, Jaap Schröder, Anner Bylsma, Gustav Leonhardt
Chamber Music - Released by Warner Classics on 10 Jan 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen: Quartet for the End of Time; Et Expecto Resurrectionem Mortuorum
Vera Beths, George Pieterson, Reinbert de Leeuw, Anner Bylsma, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1980
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo