Christian Poltéra
Cello | Swiss | b. 1977
About Christian Poltéra
Christian Poltéra was born in Zurich and studied in Salzburg and Vienna with Heinrich Schiff. As a soloist, he collaborates with many of the world’s leading orchestras, under the direction of eminent conductors such as Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Christoph von Dohnányi, Andris Nelsons and Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Alongside his solo activity, Christian Poltéra is deeply devoted to chamber music and has collaborated with artists including Christian Tetzlaff, Leif Ove Andsnes, Mitsuko Uchida and Ronald Brautigam, as well as with the Auryn, Zehetmair and Hagen string quartets. Together with Frank Peter Zimmermann and Antoine Tamestit, he is a founding member of the Trio Zimmermann, one of today’s leading string trios, which performs regularly in Europe’s most prestigious concert halls.
In 2004, Christian Poltéra received the Borletti–Buitoni Trust Award and was selected as a BBC New Generation Artist. He is a regular guest at major international festivals, and made his BBC Proms debut in 2007. His extensive and internationally acclaimed discography includes cello con–certos by Dvořák, Dutilleux, Lutosławski, Walton, Hindemith and Barber as well as chamber music by Prokofiev, Brahms, Beethoven and Schubert. Christian Poltéra is Professor of Cello at the Lucerne University. He plays an Antonio Casini cello built in 1675 and the famous ‘Mara’ Stradivari from 1711.