Yoshii, Kentaro

Cellist from Tokyo, Japan, who took his first lessons with his father at six years of age. His mother was a pianist and this early experience informed his later career as a chamber and orchestral musician. He attended Tokyo University of the Arts High School and, the Conservatory and University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. His teachers included Emmanuel Feuermann, Wolfgang Herzer, Nikolaus Huebner, Keishi Miki and Ushichi Omura.

His break came when the Vienna Symphony Orchestra hired him as an extra in 1973. This led to an audition and eventual full-time membership in the orchestra in 1975.

In 1977, he and his wife pianist Renate Yoshii-Cordis and violinist Werner Ehrenhofer recorded Johannes Brahms’ “Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8” at Schloss Esterhazy in Eisenstadt.

In a husband-and-wife effort, he and Renate appeared at Konzerthaus Klagenfurt on 15^th December 1978 when they performed Brahms’ “Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99”, Francois Francoeur’s “Cello Sonata in E major” and Franz Schubert’s “Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano in A minor, D. 821”.

On 26^th June 2003, he and violist Herbert Muller, violinist Akiko Tanaka and pianist Mihaela Ursuleasa interpreted Brahms’ “Piano Quartet”, and were joined by concertmaster Fuminori Maro Shinozaki for Antonin Dvorak’s “Piano Quintet, Op. 81”.

He and clarinetist Wilfried Gottwald, pianist Maria Pagliafora and violist Ulrich Schonauer assembled in Brahmssaal at Musikverein on 12^th December 2005. Their program comprised Beethoven’s “12 Variations on a Theme from Judas Maccabaus by G.F. Handel”, Brahms’ “Trio, Op. 144”, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s ‘Trio, K. 498” (“Kegelstatt-Trio”) and Robert Schumann’s “Fantasy Pieces, Op. 73”.

On 25^th April 2006, he and violinist Helmut Lackinger and pianist Naomi Suzuki performed in the same venue. Their recital included Brahms’ “Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 38”, Edvard Grieg’s “Violin Sonata in G major, Op. 23”, Felix Mendelssohn’s “Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49” and Mozart’s “Piano Trio in B major, K. 502”.

The Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Eroica Trio interpreted Beethoven’s “Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56” (“Triple Concerto”) in Foellinger Great Hall at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on 8^th November 2011. The concert concluded with Brahms’ “Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 73”.

Recordings on which Kentaro appears include Christmas with Placido Domingo and Klarinetten-Facetten with Wilfried Gottwald.

He retired from the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in the 2010s.

Placido Domingo recordings
A Medley of Christmas Carols
(Joy to the World, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Good King Wenceslas, O Little town of Bethlehem, The First Noel)
FM 37245 (CD: Christmas with Placido Domingo)
Orchestra – Vienna Symphony Orchestra
Conductor –Lee Holdridge

Sources:

Yoshii, Kentaro

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