New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Having performed in sold-out arenas across the globe as one-half of renowned duo 2CELLOS, HAUSER now takes the next step in his already successful career with today's release of CLASSIC, his debut solo album for Sony Classical. Available everywhere now, Classic includes some of the most beloved classical melodies ever written, each a personal, longtime favorite of HAUSER he's carefully curated and rearranged for the cello. As visually creative as he is sonically, HAUSER also debuts a new music video for album track "Air on a G String," filmed in Budapest and featuring the cellist's stunning performance of the Bach classic - watch here.
Following the release of Classic, HAUSER will once again kick off a new set of international tour dates, performing his newest album and other well-loved classics accompanied by a full orchestra in cities like Paris, London, Berlin, Milan, Budapest, Kiev, and more. Today, HAUSER has announced two North American tour dates this July, performing at Los Angeles' Orpheum Theatre and with the
National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Tickets will go on sale to the public on Friday, February 14th at 10AM local time.
"It's simple," says HAUSER when asked to describe Classic. "It's the most beautiful, the most romantic melodies ever written in classical music - by the greatest composers - played on the cello, the most beautiful and romantic instrument of all." HAUSER could hardly be blamed for calling each of the compositions on Classic "the most iconic" or "the most beautiful" or "the most romantic" melody in classical music. Because they are. Working alongside arranger
Robin Smith and producer Nick Patrick, HAUSER has adopted these immortal compositions for the cello, letting them sing as never before with help from the London Symphony Orchestra.
The resulting timelessness of Classic is further exemplified by the album's lead offering, an interpretation of Tchaikovsky's masterpiece "Swan Lake," which HAUSER introduced alongside a stunning video showcasing his imitable performance style - watch here. "Simple choice," he says of the excerpt from Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake that opens Classic. "I don't think there's a person who hasn't heard it and doesn't recognize it. You play it, and it's like, 'Ah, yes - ballet, Tchaikovsky.' The melody is iconic. And I love the way it showcases the cello with orchestra, when they play the melody together. The same thing is true of the excerpt from Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker."
Another ravishing Russian melody - the Nocturne from Borodin's String Quartet - is also known to the public as the song "And This Is My Beloved" from the Broadway musical Kismet. "It has real Russian soul, and it's so dramatic," HAUSER says, adding, "It really doesn't get better than this." The moonlit reverie of the melody from the slow movement of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 has already yielded a classic pop ballad - Eric Carmen's "All by Myself" - but the soulful sound of the cello adds another dimension to its appeal. "People will know this melody," HAUSER says, "even if they don't know where it comes from."
The composer most represented on Classic, not surprisingly, is Mozart. "He wrote so many unbelievably beautiful second movements that I had a hard time choosing," HAUSER says, "but we selected the slow movements from his Concerto for Clarinet and Piano Concerto No. 21 - both so simple and touching. Also, the 'Lacrimosa' from the Mozart Requiem - one of the saddest melodies ever written, and one of the last he wrote. You don't need a whole choir to sing it. The cello sound is so moving here."
Opera is represented on Classic by the most robust and popular of all tenor arias, Puccini's "Nessun Dorma," as well as Handel's heartbreaking "Lascia Ch'io Pianga" from his opera Rinaldo and the surging, passionate instrumental "Intermezzo" from Mascagni's opera Cavalleria Rusticana. If the song "
Caruso" is not technically a classical tune, it evokes the memory of the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, and it has become a favorite of contemporary operatic tenors. "It's one of the best-known songs from Italy," HAUSER notes, "and singers love to perform it. No one had done it yet on the cello, though, and it's perfect instrument for this beautiful melody."
Classic also features crossover compositions -
James Last's enduring instrumental standard "The Lonely Shepherd" (heard on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume 1) and a more recent favorite, "River Flows in You" by the South Korean pianist/composer Yiruma. The second lead offering from Classic, "River Flows in You" was debuted alongside yet another stunning visual, which features HAUSER drifting along the Adriatic Sea - watch here.
HAUSER's story begins as a very young child in the town of Pula, Croatia, where he found himself so transfixed by the sound of a cello that he was moved to gather whatever he could around him to try to make the instrument himself, in the hopes that he could learn its mechanisms and recreate that very same magical sound. His impatience to master the cello survived his childlike attempt to build one, as the dynamic young cellist has since rocketed to fame as half of the global, genre-busting musical sensation 2CELLOS. With the release of Classic, his first solo album for Sony Classical, HAUSER has realized maybe the best of all possible musical dreams that dazzled that little Croatian boy.
"This is what the world needs now - these melodies, this music, with soul and heart, performed on the cello," HAUSER ultimately concludes about Classic. "I feel like I'm on a mission, because this world has gone crazy in so many ways. I hope I can touch and move as many people as possible. With the passion we put into it and the presentation, I think Classic can do that."
HAUSER - CLASSIC TRACKLISTING
1. Swan Lake
2. Rachmaninov 2nd Piano Concerto
3. Caruso
4. Air on a G String
5. The Nutcracker Suite
6. Concerto for Clarinet
7. Nocturne in C Sharp
8. Intermezzo (Cavalleria Rusticana)
9. River Flows in You
10. Lascia Ch' io Pianga
11. The Lonely Shepherd
12. Piano Concerto No. 21
13. Nocturne
14. Nessun Dorma
15. Lacrimosa
16. Adagio for Strings
The dynamic young cellist who rocketed to fame as half of the genre-busting worldwide musical sensation 2CELLOS, HAUSER releases his new Sony Classical solo label debut album entitled Classic, available now.
Drawn to the cello as a little boy when he first heard it played on the radio in his native Croatia, HAUSER began to learn the instrument at the age of 8. His remarkable potential was recognized not long after, when he began an intense study of music, the cello and classical repertoire that eventually took him to London, Manchester and
Boston for conservatory training. Upon graduation in 2011, HAUSER joined fellow cellist Luka Šulić to become 2CELLOS, creating a viral cello version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal," which catapulted the duo's global success.
In the classical world, HAUSER collected some 21 first prizes in prestigious national and international cello competitions, performing twice in London for
Prince Charles at Buckingham and St. James's Palaces. He was also the last student to play for and perform with the iconic Russian cellist/conductor/humanitarian Mstislav Rostropovich. As a soloist, HAUSER has performed in many of Europe's greatest classical venues, including London's Wigmore Hall and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.
The meteoric rise of 2CELLOS led HAUSER and Šulić to join Sir
Elton John on tour globally, sign with Sony
Music Masterworks and release five successful albums, as well as sell out arena dates around the world. As 2CELLOS, they have performed in iconic venues such as Rome's Colosseum, New York City's
Radio City
Music Hall, London's Royal Albert Hall, Italy's
Arena di Verona, the Olympia in Paris, Tokyo's Budokan and the Sydney Opera House.
HAUSER - TOUR DATES:
APRIL 2020
Thurs, April 2 Paris, France Salle Pleyel
Sat, April 11 Berlin, Germany Tempodrom
Tue, April 14 London, UK Barbican Centre
Thurs, April 16 Bucharest, Romania Sala Palatului
Sat, April 18 Hurghada, Egypt Soma Bay
Wed, April 22 Talinn, Estonia Saku Arena
Tue, April 28 Budapest, Hungary Budapest Arena
Thurs, April 30 Brussels, Belgium Paleis 12
MAY 2020
Wed, May 13 Amsterdam, Netherlands AFAS Hall
Fri, May 15 Milan, Italy Teatro degli Arcimboldi
Sun, May 24 Prague, Czech Republic Tipsport Arena
Wed, May 27 Kiev, Ukraine Ukrainia Palace Concert Hall
Fri, May 29 Moscow, Russia Crocus City Hall
Sun, May 31 Warsaw, Poland Torwar
JULY 2020
Sat, July 18 Sant Feliu De Guixols, Spain Festival de la Porta Ferrada
Tue, July 28 Washington, D.C. The Kennedy Center - with the
National Symphony Orchestra
Fri, July 31 Los Angeles, CA The Orpheum Theatre.
