The soloist and chamber musician died in Basel, Switzerland, following a cancer diagnosis in July
Renowned Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses has died on 3 August in Basel, Switzerland, at the age of 66. He was receiving palliative care since the 7 July announcement that he had been diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer. At the request of Meneses himself, there will be no funeral.
Within just a few hours of the announcement of his death, hundreds of renowned musicians, musical institutions, and fans from across the world have expressed their condolences on social media, as well as their profound gratitude for the legacy he has left behind.
Meneses was one of the most acclaimed soloists and chamber musicians of his generation. Born in 1957 in Recife, Brazil, he was the eldest of five brothers, who were all string players. He was raised in Rio de Janeiro and went on to live in Europe for much of his youth after being asked to join the class of Italian cellist Antonio Janigro, whom Meneses met at the age of 16, in Düsseldorf and later in Stuttgart. Early success came in the form of two major competition wins: first prize at the 1977 ARD International Competition in Munich, Germany, and first prize and the gold medal at the 1982 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
As a soloist, Meneses performed with the world’s leading orchestras in the musical capitals of the world. He worked with conductors including Claudio Abbado, Gerd Albrecht, Herbert Blomstedt, Semyon Bychkov, Riccardo Chailly, Sir Andrew Davis, Charles Dutoit, Neeme Järvi, Mariss Jansons, Herbert von Karajan, Riccardo Muti, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovitch, Kurt Sanderling, Yuri Temirkanov, Zubin Mehta and Daniele Gatti. He also gave solo recitals in venues such as London’s Wigmore Hall.
He was a guest of many of the world’s major classical festivals, including the Edinburgh International Festival, Lucerne Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Prague Spring Festival, and many more. As a chamber musician, Meneses was a member of the Beaux Arts Trio from October 1998 to September 2008 and performed regularly in duos with pianists Menahem Pressler and Maria João Pires. He also collaborated with the Vermeer Quartet on tour.
Meneses recorded extensively throughout his career. He made two recordings for Deutsche Grammophon with Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic: Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote and Brahms’s Double Concerto with violinist Anne-Sophie Mütter. Also with Deutsche Grammaphon, he released The Wigmore Hall Recital, his first recording with pianist Maria João Pires, in September 2023.
With Avie he recorded all of Bach’s Cello Suites, the complete works for cello and piano by Schubert and Schumann with pianist Gérard Wyss, a Beethoven CD with Menahem Pressler, Haydn’s cello concertos and the Concertino by Clovis Pereira with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, and a CD of the Elgar and Gál cello concertos with the Royal Northern Sinfonia and Claudio Cruz, which was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo.
A lifelong advocate for Brazilian music, Meneses also recorded the complete works for cello by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. In 2017, Meneses invited Brazilian composer and pianist André Mehmari to record a CD celebrating his 60th birthday, mixing classical and Brazilian popular music. In 2023, he released a recording of Villa-Lobos’s cello concertos and Fantasia for cello and orchestra with the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra. Meneses also commissioned and performed works by Brazilian composers, such as in 2009, when he asked six Brazilian composers to write pieces inspired by Bach’s suites.
As an educator, Meneses gave masterclasses across the world, and was a professor at the Bern University of Arts from 2008 to 2023. He was also a teacher at Siena’s Accademia Musicale Chigiana and Cremona’s Accademia Stauffer.
Aside from his 1710 Matteo Gofriller cello, which Meneses performed on regularly, he also played on cellos by Luiz Amorim and Filippo Fasser, and a Baroque cello by Fabrice Girardin.
Meneses was featured as The Strad’s cover star in August 2012, and has shared his extensive musical knowledge and experience in various other magazine features such as Masterclass and Life Lessons.
Read: Masterclass: Antonio Meneses on the Franck Violin Sonata (Cello Version)
Read: Advice I would give my younger self - cellist Antonio Meneses
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