Christophe Coin (; born 26 January 1958) is a French cellist,

viola da gamba The viola da gamba (), or viol, or informally gamba, is a bowed and fretted string instrument that is played (i.e. "on the leg"). It is distinct from the later violin family, violin, or ; and it is any one of the earlier viol family of bow (m ...

player and conductor active in the field of

historically informed performance Historically informed performance (also referred to as period performance, authentic performance, or HIP) is an approach to the performance of Western classical music, classical music which aims to be faithful to the approach, manner and style of ...

. He is the cellist of the Quatuor Mosaïques and is the director of the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges.

Career

Born in

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

, Coin studied with Jacques Ripoche. At the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

, he studied cello with André Navarra and graduated in 1974. From 1976, he studied on a scholarship in Vienna. He was influenced by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, among others. From 1978, he studied viola da gamba with

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish Conducting, conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol ...

at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He worked first mainly as a soloist. In 1984, he founded the ''Mosaïques Ensemble'' and in 1987 the string quartet '' Quatuor Mosaïques'' with Erich Höbarth, Andrea Bischof and Anita Mitterer, all players members of the Concentus Musicus Wien. The quartet has performed mostly works of the classical period on period instruments, with a focus on less known works. After a 2012 concert in New York, their playing was reviewed as "balancing period instruments and historically informed performance practice with contemporary interpretive impulses like no other". Since 1991, Coin has been director of the ''Ensemble Baroque de Limoges'', for performances of cantatas, oratorio and operas of the 17th and 18th century on period instruments. Since 1988, Coin has been a teacher for Baroque cello and viola da gamba at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris and at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. He has organised workshops on the building and playing of historic instruments. In 1991 he played as part of the sound-track to the French film '' Tous les Matins du Monde''.

Selected recordings

Coin has recorded some 50 CDs, both as a soloist and with ensembles. Several of them were awarded prizes. He recorded Purcell's trio sonatas and Haydn's cello concertos with

Christopher Hogwood Christopher Jarvis Haley Hogwood (10 September 194124 September 2014) was an English Conducting, conductor, harpsichordist, and Musicology, musicologist. Founder of the early music ensemble the Academy of Ancient Music, he was an authority on h ...

. The Quatuor Mosaïques recorded Luigi Boccherini's quintets with Patrick Cohen playing

pianoforte A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an action mechanism where hammers strike strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a chromatic scale in equal temp ...

. Beginning in 1993, Coin conducted and played Bach's ten

cantatas A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning ...

with violoncello piccolo within three years at the church of Ponitz, Thuringia, using its 1737 Gottfried Silbermann organ. Some cantatas feature the Leipziger Concerto Vocale, some the Chœur de Chambre Accentus, all the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges and soloists Barbara Schlick, Andreas Scholl, Christoph Prégardien and Gotthold Schwarz, including ''Jesu, nun sei gepreiset'', BWV 41 for

New Year's Day In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Day is the first day of the calendar year, January 1, 1 January. Most solar calendars, such as the Gregorian and Julian calendars, begin the year regularly at or near the December solstice, northern winter ...

. A review notes: "As the piccolo cello soloist the supremely talented Christophe Coin plays with authority displaying exceptional control of phrasing and dynamics". In 2004, he recorded with the Quatuor Mosaiques

Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

's six string quartets Op. 64.

References

External links

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Christophe Coin
Ensemble Baroque de Limoges

bach-cantatas.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Coin, Christophe 1958 births Living people French classical cellists French male conductors (music) French viol players Musicians from Caen 21st-century French conductors (music) 21st-century French male musicians 21st-century French cellists