With his “captivating musical personality and the enchanting beauty of his sound” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung), Orfeo Mandozzi has won over audiences throughout Europe, the United States, Canada, Asia, and South America.
Born in Ticino, Orfeo Mandozzi made his debut as a soloist with orchestra at the Eurovision Competition just four years after beginning his cello studies. He has won first prizes in several international competitions, including Johannes Brahms, Osaka, UFAM Paris, Orpheus, and Illzach.
He continued his studies in cello, composition, and conducting, graduating with highest honors and distinction from the CNSM Conservatory in Paris, the Conservatory of Milan (Como section) with top marks and distinction, the Juilliard School in New York, and the University of Music in Vienna summa cum laude. Orfeo Mandozzi has worked regularly with leading cellists such as Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, Harvey Shapiro, Daniel Shafran, Paul Tortelier, Maurice Gendron, Paul Szabo, Don Jaffe, Boris Pergamenschikow, Wolfgang Herzer, and many others. In addition to a long-standing collaboration with Boris Kuschnir, he shared a close musical and personal relationship with Bernard Greenhouse, who said of him: “Orfeo Mandozzi could be one of the leading cellists of our time, but above all, he is a great artist.”
His international concert career as a soloist includes tours in almost all European countries, the United States, South and Central America, and the Middle East, as well as numerous radio, television, and CD productions. His CD recordings in particular reflect his broad repertoire and include award-winning solo and chamber music performances. The first world recording of Fiala’s concertos has sold over 4,000 copies worldwide. His recordings have received numerous awards, and his playing has been described as “so captivating that it takes one’s breath away” (Pizzicato).
Orfeo Mandozzi performs regularly with Nikolaj Znaider, Julian Rachlin, Lydia Baich, Gérard Caussé, Lawrence Power, Yuri Bashmet, Itamar Golan, Bernd Glemser, and many others. For 31 years, he has also been a member of the Vienna Brahms Trio (Boris Kuschnir, violin, and Jasminka Stancul, piano).
As a soloist, he has performed with conductors including Fabio Luisi, Kristjan Järvi, Gerhard Markson, Andrew Litton, Hermann Breuer, Alfred Eschwé, Ola Rudner, Jesús Amigo, Giancarlo Andretta, Filip Bral, Thomas Briccetti, Mario Venzago, Mikhail Jurowski, Christian Kolonovits, Peter Keuschnig, Georg Mark, Gunnard Mattes, Arid Remmereit, Karolos Trikolidis, Kees Bakels, Simon Blech, and Philippe Entremont.
As an orchestral musician, Orfeo Mandozzi served as principal cellist of the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, followed by 15 years as principal cellist of the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Vienna, and more recently as guest principal cellist at the Zurich Opera. He also spent many years as a substitute at the Vienna State Opera and with the Vienna Philharmonic, where he worked with conductors such as Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado, Riccardo Muti, Carlo Maria Giulini, Bernard Haitink, Georg Solti, Pierre Boulez, Daniele Gatti, Horst Stein, Georges Prêtre, Michael Halász, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Fabio Luisi, Daniel Harding, Christian Thielemann, Lorin Maazel, Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Valery Gergiev, Franz Welser-Möst, Daniel Barenboim, Seiji Ozawa, André Previn, Mstislav Rostropovich, Heinz Wallberg, and many others.
As an arranger, Orfeo Mandozzi has written over 600 arrangements and critical editions performed by renowned orchestras and chamber ensembles worldwide. Other arrangements have been downloaded more than one million times on IMSLP.org.
Orfeo Mandozzi has performed in most of the major concert halls, including the Musikverein Vienna, Konzerthaus Vienna, Cologne Philharmonie, Alte Oper Frankfurt, Stefaniensaal Graz, Wigmore Hall London, Marmorsaal Stuttgart, Casals Hall Tokyo, Izumi Hall Osaka, Auditorio Nacional Madrid, Teatro Colón Buenos Aires, Teatro Montevideo, Tonhalle Zurich, Victoria Hall Geneva, Michael Paul Hall, Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall New York. He has also appeared at festivals such as the Jerusalem Chamber Music Festival, Salzburg Festival, Israel Cello Congress, Divonne Festival, Cervantino Festival, La Coruña Festival, Wigmore Hall Master Series, Schubert Festival, Haydn Festival, Wiener Festwochen, Ancona Festival, Dubrovnik Festival, Langenargen Festival, Austria Festival, Prague Spring Festival, White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Musica Musica, Musica al Castello Bracciano, St. Petersburg Festival, Richter Festival Moscow, Bregenz Festival, Lockenhaus Festival, Ravenna Festival, Magadino Organ Festival, Locarno Concerts, Ceresio Estate, and many others. His recitals are highly acclaimed and in great demand. After a performance of a Boccherini Sonata, Rostropovich remarked: “Orfeo Mandozzi has the most beautiful Italian cantilena I have ever heard.”
In addition to his concert activity, Prof. Orfeo Mandozzi is a highly sought-after teacher internationally. He has held professorships at the Vienna Conservatory and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Würzburg, and currently teaches at the Zurich University of the Arts and the Winterthur Conservatory. Year after year, his students win prizes in national and international competitions and hold prominent positions in renowned orchestras and conservatories.
Orfeo Mandozzi deeply believes in the healing and uplifting power of music. As artistic director of “Live Music Now” in Zurich since 2012—an association founded by Yehudi Menuhin in 1977—he has organized over 800 concerts in retirement homes and hospitals, bringing music to those who can no longer actively participate in cultural life. The same spirit inspires his work with the association “Musica al cuore” in the Ticino region, active since this year. Since 2015, he has also been a member and coach of Musethica in Berlin.
Orfeo Mandozzi plays a cello built by Giovanni Grancino in Milan in 1710.