Talented and progressive German cellist Anja Lechner is a champion of contemporary composers Valentin Silvestrov, Günter Bialas, Tigran Mansurian, Misha Alperin and Dino Saluzzi. She is a diverse performer, playing as a concerto soloist, in classical and contemporary chamber works and using improvisation, particularly influenced by folk music and in the genre of tango.

Lechner studied with Heinrich Schiff in Cologne and Basle and then in America with Jànos Starker with the aid of a scholarship from the Deutsche Studienstiftung. In 1992 she formed the Rosamunde Quartett with violinists Andreas Reiner and Diane Pascal and violist Helmut Nicolai. The quartet made many performances and recordings until they disbanded in 2009, particularly the internationally acclaimed New Series for ECM which included premier performances by composers Emil Frantisek Burian, Tigran Mansurian, Thomas Larcher and Boris Yoffe. Lechner's first three album releases were with the pianist Peter Ludwig and contained a selection of tango music. The first, 'Tango Mortale', was released in 1986, followed by 'Magnetique Tango' in 1995, and they were joined by violinist Andreas Reinier for 'Tango à Trois', also in 1995. With the Rosamunde Quartett she released an album of works by composers Anton Webern, Dmitri Shostakovich and contemporary composer Emil Frantisek Burian in 1997. This was the first of many works of modern composers that she recorded, both as a soloist, with orchestras and in chamber groups.

Highlights of Lechner's recordings include the Grammy-nominated album of works by Valentin Silvestrov titled 'Leggiero, Pesante' (2002) on which she featured as a soloist with pianist Silke Avenhaus, as part of the Rosamude Quartett, and in a chamber group with Avenhaus, soprano Maacha Deubner and violinist Simon Fordham. The composer himself also performed solo piano piece 'Hymn 2001' on the album. In 2004, Lechner recorded an album of works by Georges I. Gurdjieff called 'Chants, Hymns and Dances' with pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos, which went to number one in the US Classical Albums Chart. She also has a long term collaboration with bandoneonist/composer Dino Saluzzi, with whom she released the albums 'Ojos Negros' (2007), 'El Encuentro' (2009) and 'Navidad de los Andes' (2010).

Lechner joined forces with French jazz musicians François Couturier, Jean-Marc Larché and Jean-Louis Matinier in 2006 to release the album 'Nostalgia - Song for Tarkovsky' and then went on to release two more albums with the same group, 'Il Pergolesi' in 2013 and 'Moderato Cantabile' in 2014. She released a further album of works by Valentin Silvestrov with fellow cellist Agnès Vesterman in 2017 titled 'Hieroglyphen der Nacht', returning to her classical roots in 2018 with album 'Die Nacht' which contained arrangements for cello and guitar of works by Franz Schubert and Friedrich Burgmüller. She was accompanied on the album by guitarist Pablo Márquez.

Anja Lechner

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