Paul Meyer
Paul Meyer is one of France's leading clarinetists, with a strong commitment to both contemporary music and neglected historical repertory. He is in demand as both a soloist and a chamber player.
Meyer was born in Mulhouse, France, on March 5, 1965. He studied clarinet as a child and then entered the Mulhouse Conservatory. Showing talent there, he made his debut with the Symphony Orchestra of the Rhine at age 13 and then moved on to the Paris Conservatory the following year. At 16, he won prizes in clarinet and chamber music there, and he went on to the Musikhochschule Basel to complete his education with Hans-Rudolf Stalder. In 1982, he won the Eurovision Song Contest for Young Musicians, and the following year, at 18, he began his professional career as a clarinetist with the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon. A win at the Young Concert Artists Competition in New York in 1984 brought him numerous bookings, and a stint in New York also brought him the acquaintance of jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman, who became a mentor. In the 1980s, Meyer pursued a dual career as a clarinetist with the Orchestre de l'Opéra de Paris and with the Ensemble InterContemporain, conducted by Pierre Boulez. He made his recording debut in 1992 on an Erato album under conductor Kent Nagano, featuring Max Bruch's Concerto for clarinet, viola, and orchestra.
As a concerto soloist, Meyer has appeared with such top orchestras as the BBC Philharmonic, the Dresden Philharmonic, and the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Meyer has championed contemporary music, including works by Stockhausen, Boulez, and Messiaen in his repertory and premiering several new clarinet works, including the Clarinet Concerto of Krzysztof Penderecki, a clarinet version of Penderecki's Viola Concerto. His repertory also includes concertos by such relatively obscure figures as Franz Danzi, Franz Krommer, and Ignaz Pleyel. An enthusiastic chamber music player, Meyer has attracted top-caliber collaborators such as soprano Barbara Hendricks, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, and violinist Gidon Kremer.
Meyer's discography is varied. For some years, he recorded for the Denon label, releasing albums devoted to Pleyel and to 20th century unaccompanied clarinet music, among others. He moved to Erato in 1999 for a recording of the Brahms clarinet sonatas and Weber's Grand Duo Concertante, Op. 48, and has since recorded for ECM, RCA Red Seal, and Alpha, among other labels. He has also been active as a conductor, and in 2012, he recorded a complete cycle of Ludwig Spohr's clarinet concertos with the Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, conducting from his instrument. For Alpha in 2020, he recorded the album Vienne 1900 with a quartet of other chamber players. In 2021, he served as conductor on accordionist Pascal Contet's album Tango, and he conducted the Chamber Orchestra of Mannheim the following year on an album of Mozart piano concertos by pianist Sélim Mazari. In 2023, he returned on the clarinet, joining Eric Le Sage on an album of clarinet-and-piano works by Brahms and Carl Reinecke on the Sony Classical label. For six years, Meyer worked on the development of a new clarinet, the Divine2, for the Buffet Crampon maker.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Stamitz: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 3-5
Paul Meyer, Kurpfalzisches Kammerorchester, Johannes Schlaefli
Classical - Released by CPO on 21 Jun 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Cello Abbey
Nadege Rochat, Weimar Staatskapelle, Paul Meyer
Classical - Released by Ars Produktion on 16 Jun 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lettres Mêlées
Vincent Coq, Raphaël Pidoux, Jean-Marc Phillips Varjabedian, Paul Meyer, Emmanuel Pahud, François Leleux
Classical - Released by Universal Music Division Decca Records France on 1 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres orchestrales (Volume 7)
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Paul Meyer, Alexandre Doisy, Emmanuel Ceysson, Orchestre National De Lyon, Jun Märkl
Classical - Released by Naxos on 1 Nov 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fantaisies lyriques
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 4 Sep 2015
24-Bit 96.0 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 -
Darius Milhaud
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 25 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms & Reinecke
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on 30 Nov 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Klavierwerke & Kammermusik - IX
Eric Le Sage, Gordan Nikolitch, Paul Meyer, Christophe Coin
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 8 Mar 2010
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Milhaud - Concertos
Paul Meyer, Orchestre Philharmonique De Liège
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 23 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chamber Works
Emmanuel Pahud, Eric Le Sage, Paul Meyer
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on 7 Mar 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Litaize: Musique de chambre
Paul Meyer, François Meyer, Denis Pascal, Jihyé Lee, Ronald Noerjadi
Chamber Music - Released by Ligia on 29 Apr 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Terminal: Viktor's Tale
City Light Symphony Orchestra, Kevin Griffiths, Paul Meyer
Classical - Released by Prospero Classical on 9 Mar 2021
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Robert Fuchs & Carl Maria von Weber: Clarinet Quintets
Classical - Released by Denon on 23 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Feels Under Presure (Original Mix)
House - Released by White Island Recordings on 6 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Linalool (Original Mix)
House - Released by White Island Recordings on 29 May 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kenins, T.: Cello Sonata / Concertante for Flute and Piano / Piano Quartet No. 2
David Hetherington, Robert Aitken, Paul Meyer, William Aide, Steven Dann
Chamber Music - Released by Centrediscs on 3 Feb 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The House Is The Spirit Of Dance (Original Mix)
House - Released by White Island Recordings on 29 Sep 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Underwater Live
House - Released by White Island Recordings on 14 Jun 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
No Name (Original Mix)
House - Released by White Island Recordings on 26 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Comunicacion No Verbal (Original Mix)
Miscellaneous - Released by Housearth Records on 15 Dec 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo