Mario Brunello is one of the most accomplished and charismatic Italian musicians of his generation. A soloist, conductor, chamber musician, and pioneer in exploring new soundscapes with the violoncello piccolo, he was the first European to win the International Čajkovskij Competition in Moscow in 1986. Since then, he has pursued an international career that combines virtuosity, interpretative depth, and a continuous search for new artistic paths.
He has worked with conductors such as Antonio Pappano, Valery Gergiev, Myung-Whun Chung, Yuri Temirkanov, Zubin Mehta, Ton Koopman, Manfred Honeck, Riccardo Muti, Daniele Gatti, Seiji Ozawa, Riccardo Chailly, and Claudio Abbado, performing with some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the London Symphony and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Filarmonica della Scala, the Munich Philharmonic, and the Venice Baroque Orchestra.
His concert activity regularly takes him to major international venues. Recent engagements have included performances at Wigmore Hall in London, the Gstaad Festival, the Fundação Gulbenkian in Lisbon, the Bachcelona Festival in Barcelona, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Kioi Hall in Tokyo, the Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven, the Berliner Philharmonie, Vredenburg in Utrecht, Istanbul Sanat Concert Hall, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Sala Verdi in Milan, Auditorium Lingotto in Turin, and Parco della Musica in Rome.
He plays a precious early 17th-century Maggini cello, and for several years has also performed on the four-string violoncello piccolo, tuned an octave below the violin. Widely used in the Baroque era, and by J.S. Bach in numerous cantatas, the instrument has inspired Brunello to explore early violin repertoire from a new timbral and interpretative perspective.
Among his most significant collaborations is his work with Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica, with whom he recorded The Protecting Veil by Tavener and Searching for Ludwig (2020), a project that brings together two Beethoven string quartets in versions for string orchestra and contemporary works by Léo Ferré and Giovanni Sollima inspired by the German composer.
For ARCANA/OUTHERE, he has recorded a trilogy dedicated to Bach: the complete Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin performed on the violoncello piccolo (2019); Sonar in Ottava, with Giuliano Carmignola, Accademia dell’Annunciata and Riccardo Doni (awarded Best Concert Recording 2020 by BBC Music Magazine); and Bach Transcriptions (2023), dedicated to Bach’s concertos transcribed for violoncello piccolo and orchestra. To these are added Sei Suonate a cembalo certato e violino solo by Bach, transcribed with Riccardo Doni, and an album dedicated to Giuseppe Tartini (2020), which received the Diapason d’Or.
In 2024, ARCANA/OUTHERE released his album dedicated to Weinberg’s Four Sonatas for Solo Cello. It was met with broad international critical acclaim, receiving five-star reviews from Rondo Magazine, Diapason, and Musica, the “Amadeus D’Or” from Amadeus magazine, the “Exceptional” rating from Scherzo magazine, and a nomination as a finalist for the 2025 ICMA Awards.
His latest recording, forthcoming, is dedicated to Mansurian’s Cello Concerto No. 4 and Weinberg’s Cello Concerto Op. 43, with the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sergej Smbatyan.
Mario Brunello is Artistic Director of the Arte Sella and I Suoni delle Dolomiti festivals, and since 2020, of the Stresa Festival, succeeding Gianandrea Noseda.