Bourée 1 and 2 from Suite No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1009 by J.S. Bach

Recital at Lauderdale House in Highgate / London
Susanne Beer with pianist Frederic Bager

[andyjacobs]

Susanne Beer (1967-2019) was born in Passau in Bavaria into a family of musicians. She started her studies at the Mozarteum in Salzburg in Austria with Winfried Tachezi, where she continued later with Heidi Litschauer. Susanne moved on to study at the Hochschule fur Musik in Munich where she did her Finals with Walter Nothas and finished with a Master’s Degree at the Hochschule fur Musik in Wurzburg with Xenia Jankovic.

 

Susanne went on to London in 1993 to study further with William Pleeth. With her first performance under the baton of Sir George Solti, playing the obbligato cello solo in Mozart's Don Giovanni, which was later released as a live CD,  she was offered the co-principal cello position at the London Philharmonic Orchestra which she held for almost 20 years.

Before and during her years with the London Philharmonic Orchestra she was guest leading the cello sections of The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Halle Orchestra in Manchester, the Northern Sinfonia, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, the Antwerp Philharmonic Orchestra amongst others and she was invited by Sir George Solti to guest lead the cello section of the ‘World Orchestra for Peace’ which later was taken over by Valery Gergiev.

 

Susanne specialised in Continuo playing, having worked with Sir Charles Mackerras, Vladimir Jurowski, Sir Andrew Davis, Louis Langree and Robin Ticciati amongst others. From 1995 - 2012 she was the continuo cellist in Glyndebourne.

 

Susanne played as a recitalist and chamber musician in the Wigmore Hall as a member of the ‘Soloists of the London Philharmonic Orchestra’ and performed chamber music with members of the ‘World Orchestra for Peace’ sponsored by Credit Suisse.

 

She played piano trio concerts with flautist Gisela Mashayekhi and pianist Mika Mori in venues such as the Bunka Kaikan Hall in Tokyo and duo concerts in the Konzerthaus in Vienna as well as solo recitals in the Kaisersaal of the Munich Residenz to name a few.

 

For two years Susanne was the principal cellist in the contemporary ensemble ‘Ensemble Wien 2001’, which gave her the opportunity of working as a soloist with composers such as Hans Zender and Nader Mashayekhi.

 

Previously she was the cellist in the Goldschmidt ensemble, during which time (1993-96) she worked closely with the composer Berthold Goldschmidt and performed the world premiere of 'Duo with Cordelia' for clarinet and cello in the Purcell Room.

 

Susanne’s debut recording was of Britten’s Solo Suite No.1 for Hessischer Rundfunk in Frankfurt, and she has recorded chamber music for the BBC, EMI, Opera Rara, Chandos, the London Philharmonic Label and Radio Milano.

 

Divine Art released her solo first album ‘Cello Diverse’, Garat Records her second solo album ‘Cinemacello’.

 

Susanne has coached at The Guildhall School for Music and Drama, she has deputised and taught at the Royal Academy of Music and given master classes in Spain, the USA, the UK and Japan.

I

IIn 2012 Susanne founded 'The Cello Corner',  a Suzuki method teaching studio, in Highbury & Islington, London. Through her inspirational teaching, she trained over sixty young cellists, many to a high level. Susanne passed away in December 2019 at the age of 52, from melanoma cancer. Towards the end of her life, she decided to create 'The Susanne Beer Cello Corner Foundation', so that she could continue to support young musicians well into the future.

[anastasiagilsa]

My daughter forgot how to play this bourree you really helped her !

[pawesawicki]

I love when you play in that background❤❤

[eunaekim]

If you know anyone who is an advanced player on a bowed string instrument and lives in the United States, Canada or Japan, they probably know how to play this!