Christian Tetzlaff, BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds
Biography Christian Tetzlaff, BBC Philharmonic & John Storgårds
Christian Tetzlaff
is highly acclaimed for his expressive, sensitive, and personal interpretations. His individual approach to the score, in which he always seeks the emotional and structural depth of the composition, has earned him a loyal following over the years, who often describe his performances as an existential experience. Since his spectacular debut with Schoenberg’s Violin Concerto in 1988 in Berlin, Munich, and Cleveland, he has performed with leading orchestras of the highest caliber, including the Berlin, Vienna, and New York Philharmonic Orchestras, the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, and many others. His extensive repertoire ranges from Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas to lesser-known concertos by Giovanni Battista Viotti and Joseph Joachim to contemporary works by György Ligeti, Jörg Widmann, and Thomas Ades. In 2023, he took over as artistic director of the SPANNUNGEN Festival in Heimbach, Germany.
During the 2025/26 season, Tetzlaff will appear several times as artist-in-residence with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, performing violin concertos by Berg, Suk, and Dvořák, as well as chamber music with Vladimir Jurowski. In February 2026, he will give the world premiere of Ondrej Adamek’s Violin Concerto No. 2 in Paris, followed by national premieres in Switzerland and the Czech Republic.
Other highlights of the season include duo concerts with Leif-Ove Andsnes, solo recitals in Berlin, Oslo, and London, and concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, and the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
Tetzlaff works with many of the leading conductors, including Herbert Blomstedt, Karina Canellakis, Maxim Emelyanychev, Christoph Eschenbach, Daniele Gatti, Daniel Harding, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, Marie Jacquot, Paavo Järvi, Vladimir Jurowski, Cristian Măcelaru, Andris Nelsons, Gianandrea Noseda, Sakari Oramo, Sir Antonio Pappano, Kirill Petrenko, Sir Simon Rattle, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, John Storgårds, Robin Ticciati, and Juraj Valčuha.
Chamber music is an integral part of his career. In 1994, he founded the Tetzlaff Quartet together with his sister, cellist Tanja Tetzlaff. The ensemble tours every season and will perform in Germany and the UK in 2025/26. The Tetzlaff Quartet was awarded the Diapason d’or l’année in 2015 for its recording of Berg’s Lyric Suite and Mendelssohn. Christian and Tanja Tetzlaff also perform regularly as a trio with pianist Kiveli Dörken.
His extensive discography, mainly on the Ondine label, has been honored with the German Record Critics’ Annual Prize, several Diapason d’or awards, and the Midem Classical Award. Recent highlights include Sibelius with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Nick Collon, and Brahms’ piano quartets, the last recordings of the late Lars Vogt. Elgar and Adès’ violin concertos with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and John Storgårds will be released in fall 2025. He has recorded Bach’s works for solo violin three times, most recently in 2017.
Christian Tetzlaff plays a violin made by luthier Peter Greiner. He teaches at the Kronberg Academy and lives in Berlin with his wife, photographer Giorgia Bertazzi, and their three children.
