Tetzlaff, Christian
Tetzlaff, Christian
Tetzlaff, Christian, German violinist; b. Hamburg, April 29, 1966. He began violin lessons at age 6 with Maren Tanke, and then pursued training with Evelyn Distler at the Hamburg Hochschule für Musik. At 14, he made his debut as soloist in the Brahms Violin Concerto in Hamburg. He then studied with Uwe-Martin Haiberg at the Lübeck Hochschule für Musik, where he also received training in theory and composition. In 1984 he took 2nd prize at the Munich Competition; then held a scholarship for further study with Walter Levin at the Univ. of Cincinnati-Coll. Cons, of Music (1985-86). In 1988 he won particular notice as soloist in the Schoenberg Violin Concerto with Celibi-dache and the Munich Phil. at the Berlin Festival, and then made his U.S. orch. debut in the same work with Dohnányi and the Cleveland Orch.; thereafter he was engaged as a soloist with the foremost orchs. of the world and also toured extensively as a recitalist and chamber music artist, appearing throughout Europe (1992-93) and then widely in North America (1994-95). Tetzlaff has won merited praise for his fine musicianship in which he displays a remarkable balance between virtuosity and refinement of expression. In addition to his performances of the standard literature, he frequently performs works by such 20th-century masters as Schoenberg, Stravinsky, Janácek, Ravel, Bartók, and Hartmann.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire