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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Carl Stamitz: Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1, 6 & 8
Paul Meyer, Kurpfalzisches Kammerorchester
Classical - Released by CPO on Mar 27, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Gabriel Fauré (vol. 1) : Œuvres pour violoncelle & piano - Trio
Eric Le Sage, François Salque, Paul Meyer
Chamber Music - Released by Alpha Classics on Sep 29, 2011
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Stamitz: Sinfonia concertante Nos. 2, 9 & 12
Kurpfalzisches Kammerorchester, Paul Meyer
Classical - Released by CPO on Sep 2, 2023
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven : Trios for Clarinet, Cello & Piano
Eric Le Sage, Paul Meyer, Claudio Bohorquez
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Jul 20, 2018
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Hartmann: Funèbre
Isabelle Faust, Paul Meyer, Christoph Poppen, Münchener Kammerorchester, Petersen Quartett
Classical - Released by ECM New Series on Aug 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jarrell: …prisme / incidences...
Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, François Leleux, Ernest Ansermet, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Classical - Released by AEON on Sep 13, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music for Dreaming
Chamber Orchestra Mannheim, Paul Meyer
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Jul 15, 2022
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Crystal Palace
Paul Meyer, Magali Mosnier, Pierre Génisson, Jean-François Verdier, Orchestre Victor Hugo
Classical - Released by Indésens on Jun 3, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Double
Michel Portal, Paul Meyer, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Sep 11, 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Double Concerto & Quintette avec clarinette
Renaud Capuçon, Gautier Capuçon, Paul Meyer, Myung-Whun Chung, Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Oct 15, 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tango
Pascal Contet, Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia, Paul Meyer
Tango - Released by Aparté on Feb 5, 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Louis Spohr : The Forgotten Master (The 4 Concertos for Clarinet)
Paul Meyer, Orchestre De Chambre De Lausanne
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Jun 12, 2012
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Thierry Escaich : Baroque Song
Classical - Released by Sony Classical on Apr 28, 2017
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
John Corigliano - Elliott Carter : American Clarinet Concertos
Eddy Vanoosthuyse, Brussels Philharmonic, Paul Meyer
Classical - Released by AEON on Oct 22, 2012
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Messiaen: Quatuor pour la fin du temps
Gil Shaham, Paul Meyer, Jian Wang, Myung-Whun Chung
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Solos
Christophe Desjardins, Frédérique Cambreling, Paul Meyer, Hae-Sun Kang
Classical - Released by AEON on May 16, 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lefrançois: Balnéaire (Chamber Music)
Paul Meyer, Quatuor Parisii, Magali Mosnier, Ria Ideta, Cyril Guillotin
Chamber Music - Released by Evidence (LTR) on Nov 4, 2014
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Clarinet Concordia
Classical - Released by Denon on Sep 16, 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vienne 1900
Daishin Kashimoto, Emmanuel Pahud, Paul Meyer, Eric Le Sage
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on Jul 10, 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Bruch: Concerto for Clarinet and Viola, 8 Pieces for Clarinet, Viola and Piano & Romance for Viola and Orchestra
Paul Meyer, Gérard Caussé, François-René Duchable, Kent Nagano, Orchestre de l'Opéra de Lyon
Classical - Released by Warner Classics International on Jan 1, 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rencontre. Duos pour clarinettes de Mozart, Haydn, Yost, Rousseau & CPE Bach
Classical - Released by Warner Classics on Nov 6, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo