Torleif Thedéen

Torleif Thedéen

Cello

Representation: worldwide, in co-operation with Robert Gilder & Co.

Contacts:
E: leontien.vandervliet@interartists.nl
T: +31 652468707
E: rgilder@robert-gilder.com

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Swedish cellist Torleif Thedéen is one of the most distinguished instrumentalists in the Nordic countries and enjoys an international profile as a recitalist, concerto soloist, recording artist and pedagogue. He is a first prize winner of international cello competitions, including the Casals Competition. He is Visiting Professor of cello at the Royal College of Music in London and Professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

In a career spanning four decades, Torleif has performed with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, among them the Czech Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic, London Philharmonic, DSO Berlin, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, The Hallé Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic, City of Birmingham SO,Dresden philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic and BBC Philharmonic.

He has worked with conductors including Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo Berglund, Petrenko, Neeme Järvi, Paavo Järvi, Franz Welser-Möst, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä, Mario Venzago and Leif Segerstam. He continues to perform with all the major Nordic orchestras and enjoys a burgeoning relationship with orchestras and festivals in the Antipodes.

As a chamber musician, Torleif is familiar with the prestigious stages of the Wigmore Hall in London, Carnegie Hall in New York, Philharmonie in Berlin and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. He has appeared at the Prague Spring and the Verbier Festivals, and at the chamber music festivals in Schleswig-Holstein, Bordeaux, Oslo, Bath, Stavanger, Kuhmo and beyond. His collaborators have included Janine Jansen, Julian Rachlin, Itamar Golan, Maxim Rysanov, Leif Ove Andsnes, Marc-André Hamelin, Lars Anders Tomter, Henning Kraggerud, Roland Pöntinen and Martin Fröst.

Torleif’s recordings have attracted numerous accolades. He was awarded the Edison Prize in 2018 for his recording of Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time with Martin Fröst, Lucas Debargue and Janine Jansen on the Sony label. His recording of the Shostakovich Cello Concertos won a Cannes Classical Award and his account of the Bach Cello Suites was selected as a ‘Choice of the month’ by BBC Music Magazine. His discography also includes the concertos of Dvořák, Elgar, Saint-Saens, Lalo,Kabalevsky,Lutoslawski and a wealth of contemporary music. He plays the 1783 Guadagnini cello on loan from the Norwegian Dextra foundation, previously owned by M. Rostropovich.

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Repertoire

Torleif Thedéen will focus on the cello concertos of the Swedish composers Sandström en Larsson Gothe. In 2016/17 he will perform the cello concertos of Peteris Vasks, who will celebrate his 80th birthday on 16 April 2026.

In chamber music Torleif will tour with pianist Marianna Shirinyan, with whom he made a CD for which he made his own transcriptions. https://open.spotify.com/album/3pnmko12UHcW7MGt1ByFl5

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Highlights

10 & 12 April 2025 Konserthuset Royal Philharmonic Stockholm, première of the cello concerto by Larsson Gothe

26 August 2025 Stift Festival, performances with Marianna Shirinyan

17 September, Eisenstadt Schloss Esterhazy, Brahms sextet and Schoenberg Verklärte Nacht with Boris Brovtsyn, Mohamed Hiber, Sarah McElavy, Adrien La Marca, Andreas Brantelid, Torleif Thedéen

25 September, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, Sjostkakovitsj concerto no. 1

21 November, Belgrado Philharmonic, Kabalevsky concerto no. 2

13 October en 27 November, Spectrum Ensemble Berlin, Schubert Trio no. 2 op. 100 en Brahms kwartet no. 2 op. 26 met Boris Brovtsyn, Gareth Lubbe, Torleif Thedéen, Eldar Nebolsin

12 & 14 December, Bielefelder Philharmoniker, Haydn concerto no. 1

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Reviews on the premiere of the cello concerto by Larsson Gothe, April 2025

“On Thursday’s all-Swedish evening at Konserthuset, it was Mats Larsson Gothe’s newly written concerto for Torleif Thedéen’s cello that stood out the most. Twenty enchanting minutes that alternated between sweet dreams and angry aggression.
But it was the cello concerto that triggered the imagination. Mats Larsson Gothe has created 20 dreamy minutes for and with Torleif Thedéen’s cello. It sets a high, shimmering A and lights up the orchestra with enchanted glitter. A note that winds around itself in different octaves and Thedéen’s rich tone colours. It alternates between dreamy delights and angry aggression that finally finds its high A - but ends in the middle of a gesture, in the middle of a sentence ... ”

— Dagens Nyheter - Camilla Lundberg

“After that, we hear the evening’s main piece: Torleif Thedéen premieres Mats Larsson Gothe’s cello concerto, dedicated to the musician—a composition that breaks free from the constraints of form, excellence, and displays of strength, and instead becomes a psychological portrait with poetic poignancy. Thedéen impresses with tone and presence, and the interpretation of the solo part feels deeply personal, more so than anything else. Larsson Gothe’s orchestral arrangement is freer than what one usually hears in his operas—it’s unusual for the text to guide and influence the music—and it is tastefully balanced in its sonic economy, where individual ideas are truly placed for the listener.”

— Svenska Dagbladet - Magnus Bunnskog

Review on duo recital o 20 March 2025 at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria

“The program concluded with the monumental “Sonata for Cello and Piano in C Major, Op. 119” by Sergei Prokofiev, a complex and demanding work for performers. During the intense and lengthy first movement, they managed to extract the Russian soul permeating its different episodes—both the tormented and the more jovial, folkloric elements. With sonic intensity, long melodic lines, and sustained vibrato, Thedéen remained focused, supported by the piano’s dense atmosphere. The dramatic final episode built tension with violent pizzicato chords and sound pillars that structured the harmonies, ultimately fading into a quiet conclusion.”

— CANARIAS7 - Dionisio Rodríguez