Isabelle Faust inspires her audiences through first-class musical interpretations characterized by profundity and intensity. She approaches each work with respect for and understanding of its musical context and its authentic instrumentation.
Since her youthful experiences as a prize-winner in the International Violin Competition Leopold Mozart, and the Premio Paganini in Genoa, she has appeared regularly with the most prestigious orchestras in the world, such as the Berlin Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Les Siècles and the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra. This has resulted in close collaborations with conductors including Giovanni Antonini, John Eliot Gardiner, Daniel Harding, Philippe Herreweghe, Jakub Hrůša, Klaus Mäkelä, François-Xavier Roth, Robin Ticciati and Simon Rattle.
Isabelle Faust’s artistic curiosity encompasses all epochs and musical forms. As well as performances of the great violin concertos, her highlights have included interpretations of Schubert’s Octet on original instruments, György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments with Anna Prohaska and Stravinsky’s L‘Histoire du soldat with Dominique Horwitz. In addition, she is a notable interpreter of contemporary music. Works she has recently given premieres of include compositions by Peter Eötvös, Brett Dean, Ondřej Adámek and Rune Glerup.
Highlights of the 2024/25 season have included concerts with the Bamberg Symphony, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin and the Tonhalle Orchestra, Zurich, as well as a tour with Il Giardino Armonico.
She appears as a chamber musician with her long-term duo partner Alexander Melnikov and in a trio with Tabea Zimmermann and Jean-Guihen Queyras.
Isabelle Faust’s numerous recordings have won prizes such as the Diapason d’Or, the Gramophone Classical Music Award and the Choc de l’année. Recent recordings include Britten’s Violin Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and works by Pietro Locatelli with Il Giardino Armonico. Her other important recordings include Bach’s solo sonatas and partitas and the Beethoven and Berg violin concertos under Claudio Abbado.
