A perfect dream

“… The Vogler Quartet and Daniel Müller-Schott played with an intensity which never exceeded the boundaries, which played its part in achieving the enormous effect of this rarity (Arensky’s Quartet No. 2) … In the first and third movements of Schubert’s quintet, the five ideally-matched musicians ventured to play harsher, more painful notes …. By contrast, the transcendental solace of the slow movement was dreamlike perfection, showing the cellists in symbiotic fusion and revealing a wonderful synthesis of restraint and intensity. (Süddeutsche Zeitung - May 22, 2006)

Glowing melancholy

Arensky’s Quartet in A minor with only one violin, but two cellos, is permeated with Russian folklore, yet keeps its distance from musical clichés. The three “Voglers” – here with Frank Reinecke – and Daniel Müller-Schott immersed themselves in this darkly glowing melancholy in an extremely noble fashion. And then Schubert …. The almost inconceivably beautiful adagio … vibrated with tension, yet the filigree nature of the work was always present. As a result of this ultimate perfection, the applause – appropriately languid after Haydn - became frenetic. (Stuttgarter Zeitung - May 19, 2006)

A fine togetherness characterized the work, the work that was the reason most of the audience had come to the Mozartsaal. In Schubert’s string quartet the Voglers and Müller-Schott revealed themselves to be true brothers in spirit who played the scherzo in such a manner that it almost disintegrated, and, in the manner of virtuosi, played the final dance-like movement to extremes. (Stuttgarter Nachrichten - May 19, 2006)

Schubert’s realm of shadows

“ … Although Daniel Müller-Schott sensitively adapted himself to Anton Arensky’s Quartet in A minor, the melodious sound of his cello (Venice, 1700) was unmistakable, especially when he coquettishly and elegantly countered his colleague’s deep booming sound. The four musicians played with a certainty of touch, without hesitating to play emotionally and with dramatic intensity … In the adagio of Schubert’s String Quintet, growing under maximum tension yet simultaneously standing still, the intensity became palpable. The five came together in a vibrant exchange and relished the jaunty rhythmic turbulence of the scherzo, but in the finale they also skirted Schubert’s realm of shadows before finishing with a wild stretta. (Münchner Merkur – May 18, 2006)

… These emotions found their most personal and intimate expression in the playing of Daniel Müller-Schott, the young cellist. With enormous intimacy and a warm fullness of tone, as early as the introductory adagio he allowed his instrument to play a lament like the voice of someone who is lonely and suffering. With somnambulistic agility, in the moderato Müller-Schott created not a cheerful, but a benumbing dance. In the lento, by means of an elegiacally flowing legato he increased the level of melancholy once more, and in the finale, with the themes circle around each other, he succeeded in creating a whirl of sadness. At all times, Müller-Schott’s playing was at the heart of Elgar’s last important work. … (Nürnberger Zeitung, May 4, 2006)

Large and small miracles of intimacy

... Large and small miracles of intimacy took place, of sentimentality, of the experience of being lost in a dream world, miracles which brought sudden and unexpected insight into this frequently-heard piece of music: the listeners were treated to beauty, romantic indulgence, but also darkness and harshness which they had not noticed before. And how did all this come about? The first reason was, of course, the soloist, Daniel Müller-Schott, who presented dramatic passion just as convincingly as passionate steeliness, Slavic ardour as convincingly as fanciful dreaming. The 27-year-old can play individual notes in such a lively, passionate, colourful way that they tell him a complete, musical story. Even with the tenderness, every forte, every pianissimo has substance. He selects his tempos very freely, but they are harmonious. That makes his musicianship exciting, thrilling. It speaks for him that his encore was not one of the magnificent “hits” so beloved of soloists – instead, he chose to play Bloch’s intimate “Gebet”. (MAINPOST, edition dated 03.05.2006)

Elementary swing and major contrasts

The BBC Manchester Philharmonic Orchestra with Gianandrea Noseda in Frankfurt and Wiesbaden

No less delicate were the contributions by soloists on both evenings. In Wiesbaden’s Kurhaus, cellist Daniel Müller-Schott immersed himself in the melancholy world summoned up by Edward Elgar, in his concerto for cello and orchestra in E minor, Op. 85. In Frankfurt, Müller-Schott was the soloist in Brahms’ concerto for violin, cello and orchestra in A Minor, Op. 102. … While Daniel Müller-Schott immersed himself, in his usual way, in the romantic welter of sounds, Mirijam Contzen provided the counterpoint with a transparent interpretation, pure in intonation, while creating an effect of distance – a thrilling performance. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 02.05.2006)

The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Gianandrea Noseda

… the interpreter of Edward Elgar’s concerto for violoncello and orchestra was Daniel Müller-Schott, a soloist who formed this piece of music, carried by a strongly resignatory tendency, in the rare concordance of intellectual penetration and sensitive preparation. By way of thanks for the enthusiastic applause, the cellist played a habanera by Ravel, and a superbly mastered toccata by George Crumb. (Wiesbadener Kurier, May 1, 2006)

An evening full of magical sounds.

The BBC Philharmonic impresses the audience with first-class quality.

The soloist for the evening was on an equally high plane: in perfect harmony with the orchestra and conductor of Edward Elgar’s elegiac cello concerto, the young German cellist Daniel Müller-Schott played with lean yet noble intonation and perfect technique, with the staying power and the tonal intensity required for the lines of his wide-ranging solo part. He expressed his thanks for the enthusiastic applause by playing Ernest Bloch’s “Gebet”. (Aachener Nachrichten, dated May 1, 2006)

The public was very impressed by the fast tempi of the work, which, as a whole, was tightly conducted, but most of all by the soloists, Mirijam Contzen on the violin, and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott. Both of them were surrounded by autograph hunters during the intermission. In Brahms’ Concerto in A minor for violin, cello and orchestra, they showed themselves to be real bundles of energy. Their musical dialogue was such that the luxurious sound, the perfect technique of the two young musicians seemed completely natural. (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, April 29, 2006)

In spirited hands

The BBC Philharmonic with violinist Mirijam Contzen, cellist Daniel Müller-Schott - and Brahms in the “Alte Oper”

The cellist from Munich, to whom Brahms had given the more passionate notes, was clearly the more involved of the two. In this way, the two musicians never got in each other’s way, and the emotional layers built up without endangering each other. On the contrary, they complemented each other – Mirijam Contzens clarity of tone, Daniel Müller-Schott’s spirited approach, a splendid mixture. (Frankfurter Rundschau, April 29, 2006)

Quixotic elegance
Daniel Müller-Schott Liederhalle, Stuttgart

... as early as the first decisive solo, Daniel Müller-Schott showed his audience that for him it is not a matter of the remarkable use of bow and fingers but of freedom to improvise. He is technically able to realise his perceptions of the sound – a high level of musicality which culminates in indulgent charm. ... However, in the adagio, as in the finale, Daniel Müller-Schott was free to evoke the romantic dream of beauty and Dvorak’s longings. Enormous enthusiasm and two encores ... (Stuttgarter Nachrichten, April 27, 2006)

Thorough Frenchness

On Friday night, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center put on a very attractive program...Mr. Müller-Schott and Ms. Hewitt gave an enjoyable and mature reading of the Debussy Sonata. The cellist made a beautiful sound. .. Debussy's second movement is a little freaky, spooky, weird, and the players caught those qualities. They employed a variety of colors and payed close attention to rhythm. The third movement should begin with a kind of flying sensation, which it indeed did. Mr. Müller-Schott and Ms. Hewitt introduced this movement wonderfully. (The New York Post, 27 February 2006)

Glistening colourful sounds

"Cellist Daniel Müller-Schott and Robert Kulek, his partner at the piano, were the guests at the lunch-time concert of the Hessischer Rundfunk radio station.

... A Schumann straight out of the romantic picture book, with powerfully colourful sounds and plenty of esprit. The three Fantasiepieces (op. 73), as well as the Adagio and Allegro (op. 70) demonstrated Schumann’s mastery of great chamber music, which with apparent effortlessness carried over to the two musicians. The interpretation of Beethoven’s sonata in A major, with its introverted and finely drawn beginning as played by the two musicians, heralded close atmosphere and impeccable interaction .... " (Frankfurter Neue Presse, Gemeinsame Ausgabe, November 24th, 2005)

"That so many high-quality instrumentalists have decided to devote themselves to chamber music is a gratifying trend .... One of them is cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, who is exceptionally important internationally. In the course of the lunch-time concert of the Hessischer Rundfunk radio station, he was able to unfurl his remarkable talent. His tonal and creative fantasy displays complete originality, inspiring each tone individually. In Robert Kulek he had a kindred partner at the piano,…" (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, G.S., November 23rd, 2005)

"For quite some time now, the world has opened up to Daniel Müller-Schott for playing music and making records. Müller-Schott has a slender, blossoming tone which is, on occasion, bewitchingly beautiful. He need not, and he never will, exaggerate with excessive sonority. Müller-Schott does not pump up the notes for effect, he intonates cleanly, uses the vibrato with intelligent restraint … What is more, and as further proof of his intelligence, he has selected as his accompanist not some well-behaved, low-cost slavish journeyman pianist, but the subtle and remarkably musical Robert Kulek. " (Süddeutsche Zeitung, Joachim Kaiser, October 7 th, 2005)

Saratoga-Festival, USA
Thrilling performances at Tchaikovsky Spectacular

….The Rococo Variations ….is a wonderful showcase for the Cello and it made for a nice change of pace in this concert. Müller-Schott went at it with a warm, buttery sound, inviting vibrato and a confident approach. His fingers are quick and his playing was remarkably clean. The work is filled with trills, slides, double stops and harmonics and it has some scary cadenzas. Nothing along the way seemed to trouble this cellist one little bit. (Daily Gazette, Bill Rice, 12th August 2005)

Vancouver Chamber Music Festival

In a series within a series, Müller-Schott performed all the Bach solo cello Suites. Clearly informed by historical practice, Müller-Schott’s style has none of the over-heated fetish for tone …. His playing was neither academic nor unemotional, rather, a suave elegance and an abiding sense of underlying dance rhythms animated his performances…. (The Vancouver Sun, David Gordon Duke, 26th July 2005)

Then, came a chance to hear one of the greatest of all chamber works, as Scott St. John, Daniel Müller-Schott and Angela Cheng were re-unites in Schubert’s monumental Trio D.898. For all its exquisite lyricism, this work makes exceptional emotional demands on its players as unexpected windows open onto a profound, underlying melancholy. Almost by definition, this was a festival highlight. (The Vancouver Sun, David Gordon Duke, 30th July 2005)

Daniel Müller-Schott commands a seemingly natural technical sovereignty, and a tone of magnificent mellifluousness. (NZZ, May 28/29, 2005)

The aspect of the combativeness is dominant, and cellist Daniel Müller-Schott’s approach towards the solo part (of Dimitri Shostakovich’s first cello concert) was also bold and powerful. He immediately captivated the audience with the brilliance of his ability and the intensity of his playing

... In his highly expressive interpretation of the second movement, what was most noticeable was Müller-Schott’s subtle treatment of the vibrato which he allowed to develop, imperceptibly, from the motionless non-vibrato – or the other way round – he allowed it to become broader, narrower, warmer, cooler, so characterising emphasis, colour and the expression of the notes and motifs. Just as incomparable was the soft dream sequence of the flageolet, to which the orchestra contributed wonderful sounds which recalled a mirage. (Der Landbote, May 27, 2005)

During her second performance at the “Pfingstfestspiele” at the concert hall in Baden-Baden, together with her husband, André Previn, at the piano, and young, up-and-coming cellist Daniel Müller-Schott, the star violinist played four piano trios by the master from Salzburg.

... Although KV 254 hardly represented a challenge, in the trio’s KV 502 in B-flat major, KV 542 in E-major and KV 564 in G-major, Daniel Müller-Schott showed himself to be an excellent cellist who was able to charm sonorous sounds from the instrument, and whose expressive cantabile playing delighted the audience.

In all the nine movements of these three trios, which provide convincing proof of Mozart’s mature chamber music artistry, the audience marvelled at the highly concentrated and outstanding playing which, in the first movement, was characterised by very conclusive, formal diversification, and in the slow sections by movingly expressive fulfilment, and in the finali by animating, rhythmic spiritedness. (Pforzheimer Zeitung, May 19, 2005)

One of Europe’s finest orchestras

WAZ Dortmund. The opportunity to experience this orchestra is always a great joy, because when it comes to music, the Warsaw National Philharmonic is one of the very best orchestras. The performance in Dortmund’s “Konzerthaus” was a triumph.

Admittedly, it was a conventional programme, but the performance itself set standards. The main reason for this was the cellist and soloist, Daniel Müller-Schott, whom we came to know in this part of the world when he appeared with Anne-Sophie Mutter and André Previn as part of a piano trio. This time he approached Dvorak’s concert with fascinating vitality, with a bewitching sound, with creative elegance, and with no sign of routine boredom. This is a cellist who is an exceptional talent, for whom a casual approach is never an option because he involves himself so deeply in the music ... (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, January 25, 2005)

Sublime wellness for the season ticket holders
The Warsaw Philharmonic was the guest

When Wit unleashed his Warsaw musicians on the Italian Schiller “thunderstorm”, it was clear that this was going to be an evening of sublime concert enjoyment. Another reason was that the orchestra, steeped in tradition, was joined by a very modern musician, the 27-year-old star cellist. This did not represent a contradiction in any way – on the contrary, it was a triumph. There were almost one hundred bars by way of a prelude before Müller-Schott started to play Dvorak’s cello concerto, the most beautiful, the most difficult piece of all. An effervescent attack, a wonderfully cantabile lyric with a voluminous tone.

There was no trace of musty late romanticism – instead, the young musician from Munich masters the stirring dramaturgy of all three movements, presents an interpretation which is fresh as the morning dew, exactly as the orchestra does with its yellowing notes. As the conductor, Wit generously responds to all the phrasing and rubato of his soloist, to his powerful lines, to a poetry laden with emotion, which manages without excessive complacency. Everywhere it is Müller-Schott’s devoted colourfulness of play which captivates the listener, the way he identifies with the original, and the uninterrupted integration into the orchestral context

With this extremely intelligent, intensive performance, Müller-Schott reaches for the stars of the best predecessors. In the lyrical abgesang of the final rondo, he focuses all the attention on himself again, leaves himself all the time in the world for Dvorak’s painful memento – concluding with the trombones. ... (Nürnberger Nachrichten, January 24th, 2005)

Antoni Wit with the Warsaw Philharmonia in Nuremberg: Cellist Daniel Müller-Schott was the star

... The 28-year-old musician, who, without any interruption to his career, has made the transition from admired talent to sovereign master, continues to combine his youthful, spirited temperament with a stylistic maturity which can take advantage of every freedom. In Müller-Schott’s case, this certainly results in the extremes of “top” and “bottom”, embedded in a cultural breadth of introverted and explosive sound which still finds itself in the affected pose of poetry. The switch to the clear Bach encore, so refreshing to the ears, was a very special experience. ...” (Abendzeitung, Nuremberg, January 24, 2005)

The art of control

... Daniel Müller-Schott’s performance of Dvorak’s concert for cello and orchestra in B-minor op.104 encountered an appropriately frivolously animated public, yet within a few bars the exceptional 28-year-old cellist succeeded in achieving the necessary concentration for this work, certainly the most demanding for this instrument.

He mastered the high technical requirements with a virtuosity which was sublime beyond all doubt, making it easy to concentrate on the fully mature interpretation of this composer’s later work which involves so much yearning. A sense of buried hopes and past triumphs, a touch of finality characterised this interpretation .... (Nürnberger Zeitung, 24. January 2005)

The letter of a French musician to Daniel Müller-Schott, after the concert together with Anne-Sophie Mutter and Kurt Masur (translated):

... As you may know, Brahms hasn't always had things easy here in France. What you and Anne-Sophie Mutter achieved here in your double concert was something of a miracle: really breathtaking, perfect interplay, so much romantic fire and depth made the concert into the kind of musical event which has become very rare indeed and which the audience will long remember. Thanks to the talent and skills of the two of you, and of the magnificent Kurt Masur, Brahms celebrated a magnificent triumph.

You ought to know that nowadays audiences here are not often so enthusiastic. That they applauded so frenetically on this particular evening, and virtually forced the soloists to repeat a complete movement (and in my opinion, the andante was even more beautiful on the second occasion!), is quite exceptional. We can only be grateful for this incomparable performance ...

Müller-Schott/Kulek
By Hilary Finch
Concert
Wigmore Hall

THERE for the spotting in a sizeable audience was the cellist Steven Isserlis - and, for a moment, it seemed as though he had tied his hair in a ponytail and got up on stage as well. Isserlis was there to hear his pupil, the young Daniel Müller-Schott: they certainly share the same distinctive body language - head thrown back, body rocking from side to side as an extension of the cello, and a dashing sweep of the bow as a phrase is conjured into reverberant new life.

Müller-Schott was the youngest first prize-winner of the Tchaikovsky
International Competition when he was 15, and his own musical character is still being formed. The musical moulding has been helped by the personal sponsorship of Anne-Sophie Mutter, whose foundation has lent him a cello. So, one way and another, he would appear to be on the fast track to success.

His opening piece, Beethoven’s Variations on Mozart's Bei Männern , certainly etched his fastidious and highly intelligent musicianship clean and clear on the memory. Short bowing, deftly inflected phrasing, and a true chamber-musician’s sensitivity to the imagination and character of his pianist, Robert Kulek, distinguished this particular performance.

Müller-Schott is a natural Schumann player, too. The Three Romances epitomise the composer as dreamer. While Wagner was joining the Dresden demos in 1849, Schumann retreated ever further into himself. It was that sense of deep privacy, of a fragile spirit drifting in and out of consciousness which was captured so well by Müller-Schott. He blended colour and register almost imperceptibly, each miniature song tremulous with fast vibrato and supple melodic contours.

Debussy's Cello Sonata focused on the classicist within the composer: there was élan enough for the passages of rhetoric, but also a taut grasp of their development... When Pierrot pouted in front of the moon in the central danse macabre, the sheer expressive range of his pizzicato conjured up an entire commedia dell’arte.

César Franck's Sonata in A took up the entire second half, but this was a gentle giant. Kulek pedalled and sustained a rainbow of resonances on the piano, as Müller-Schott’s silky melodic lines slipped between his fingers. More languid than lithe, there were times when this performance lacked just that edge of tension and intensity which is vital to this arrangement of a work originally conceived for violin. But watch this space: Müller-Schott is travelling fast.

On the thoroughness of the virtuoso

Daniel Müller-Schott and Robert Kulek play works by Schumann, Beethoven, Franck and Sir André Previn in Munich

...
Daniel Müller-Schott, the cellist born in Munich in 1976, is a prototype of contemporary virtuosity. Müller-Schott sits at the cello in an exemplary way and masters it completely. From the first note to the last during this extrodinary evening, nothing sounded casual or uncommitted. Other cellists may increase the volume by means of a mighty vibrato and the power of a Stentor, yet in doing so they run the risk of losing the contour and body of the tone in favour of shapeless rumbling volume.

This is not the kind of thing you will find with Müller-Schott. His tone always maintains its stylishness; the certainty of stop and accuracy of intonation are captivating, but primarily it is the attention he pays to finding colours of sound, communicating very well with Robert Kulek, who provided a wealth of poetry and nuances.

Müller-Schott captured the pensive, supposedly cheerful melancholy of Schumann's fantasy pieces without bridling them with cello bravura. He was able to demonstrate this superbly in Previn's three-movement work, in which the many musical characters sometimes only flash for a moment, then appear again in plaintive cantilenas, or appear in the amusing costume of a pizzicato bass.

...Finally the pair triumphed with the César-Franck sonata. True, one cannot forget the violin, the original instrument for this sonata, but the way in which Müller-Schott and Robert Kulek visualized the construction, spirit and colour of this work without the sentimentality or pathos was impressive. The musicians expressed their thanks for the rapturous applause in Munich's sold-out "Herkulessaal" by playing Ravel's Habanera. (HARALD EGGEBRECHT, January 16th, 2004)

MDR-"Magic of Music"
Fine differentiation

... But it was only as a result of the continuous performances of Shostakovich’s works that the listeners gained access to the master’s music. In this concerto for cello, the vitality of the outer movements captivate the listener just as much as the depth of ideas contained in the slow movement and the solo cadenza. An additional factor is the way Daniel Müller-Schott, the young soloist, masters the part, which was written for Mstislaw Rostropovich. He does not employ his immaculate technique in a superficial way, but uses it for the musical presentation. One might have wished that Hartmut Haenchen, the guest conductor, had restrained the orchestra somewhat. Daniel Müller-Schott responded to the enthusiastic applause by playing Bloch's "Gebet". (Werner Wolf, Leipziger-Volkszeitung, 16.09.2003)

German cellist shows promise of extraordinary ability

BY OCTAVIO ROCA

A great cellist, like a great tenor, should sound like no one else.

At their best, Pablo Casals was the equal of Caruso and, in our time, Mstislav Rostropovich's timbre and intensity is eerily like the late Peter Pears' gorgeous middle voice. These are rarities, not rules. And I bring them up only to suggest that young Daniel Müller-Schott may soon be in that league.

The German cellist joined the New World Symphony Saturday night at the Lincoln Theater for Tchaikovsky's Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 33, conducted by David In-Jae Cho. It was an extraordinary performance.

Tchaikovsky's love of Mozart informs the score, but his romantic ardor is constantly at odds with his respect of Mozartian order. Müller-Schott embodied that dialectic: his tone was seductive, his technique insolent and his phrasing by turns elegant and passionate.

His cello seemed to sing, with exquisite legato and expression that would be as welcome in bel canto as in the instrumental repertory. ...One could only marvel at the crystalline articulation, at the teasing rubatos in the cadenza, at the commanding expressiveness of his line.

Cho and the New World players often matched Müller-Schott, from Lisa Bergman's sweet horn in the opening right through the wild woodwind interjections and especially the oboes' wily chatter.

For his concert on July 8, 2003, in which he played with the Chamber Orchestra of the Bayerische Rundfunk, Daniel Müller-Schott is awarded the "tz-Rose" for exceptional artistic achievements. The concert represented the re-opening of the concert hall in Schloss Nymphenburg. The recording will be shown on television in September of 2003.

Pristine - spick and span
"The overall sound in Haydn's cello concerto in C major is superior, played by Daniel Müller-Schott, the marvellous cellist from Munich. With his vivid tones, pureness of technique and bewitching musical freshness, he demonstrates that in no way should Haydn be thought of as being out-dated. In the free adaptation of the adagio, a lavish introductory moderato and a furioso finale, Müller-Schott extracts many colourful nuances from the piece. Sheer joy." (TZ-München, July 10, 2003. Julia Waldstein)

There was a great deal of amazement in the Bach year 2000 when Daniel Müller-Schott, not yet 24, ventured to play this holiest of cello music and to record it on CD. The reactions were pretty similar: so young, so courageous, so mature. And this is still the case. However, the evaluation in the notes which accompany the CD now seems to be just a little bit over-cautious: "Today, Daniel Müller-Schott is among the outstanding cellists of his generation"- it would suffice to say "outstanding cellists". The supposed caveat "of his generation"does at the same time give an indication of why he plays Bach the way he also played during the Bach week. Daniel Müller-Schott does not need to get involved in the dogmatic contest between those who took a historical approach and the romantics, a contest which lasted well into the 1980s. Perhaps this is why his interpretations - he played the second, fourth and sixth Suites - sound so effortless and natural. He approaches nothing in a rigid, schematic way, he incorporates the individual movements in comprehensive contrasting dramaturgy and forms even the tiniest details in the most delightful manner, - a culinary delight among the sensuality of the sounds, but one in which he differentiates in his awareness of the epochs.

In doing all this, Müller-Schott brings together what seemed impossible 20 years ago: a superior and extremely finely shaded tone and a basis which renders audible what the Suites consist of, namely of dances - and not of the conversations of a lonely genius with the soul of the world. But there is something else that Müller-Schott can demonstrate - dances can also be metaphysical sounds - and Preludes, that goes without saying. You only need to hear from what infinite distance the D-minor Prelude wafts towards us before it manifests itself. Or the way in which he interprets the Sarabandes in the three Suites, the first tentatively, the second engrossed in thought, the third enraptured. Perhaps it is even more difficult to introduce humour into the music - humour, not comic effect, satire or parody. In Daniel Müller-Schott’s case, it is found in the second Bouree. The width of the young cellist’s range is hinted at - after the ovations - in the two encores, an amusing piece for guitar, and above all, Ernest Bloch's "Gebet". Lavishly sonorous espressivo. Then: spellbound silence. (Fränkische Landeszeitung, July 28, 2003, Thomas Wirth)

On the Sunday morning it was a matter of the contest between harpsichord and piano, and also between viola da gamba and cello, which, more than ten years ago, reached its peak as part of the movement to recreate the original sounds. In this respect we are more conciliatory today and no long consider the use of other instruments to be sacrilegious - provided that they are played well.

And this was the case! The three Sonatas BWV 1027 - 1029 for viola da gamba and harpsichord are rarely played, quite simply because the viola da gamba is an instrument for only a few specialists, and the cello, with its reduced number of strings, is more demanding from a technical point of view. This means that the cellist must compensate for the lack of - mostly - two strings. In some parts the piano, with its glassy, often hard notes, seemed overpowering, but in the Andante at the latest, the two upper parts intermeshed, and Daniel Müller-Schott and Robert Kulek came together again in a peaceable dialogue.

One spirit - one interpretation
However, successful correspondence is only possible when both musicians come together to present an identical interpretation and when both share the same creative intent. The Sonata in D-major requires particularly detailed agreement on the part of both musicians. But here, too, a spirit breathed in the playing of Müller-Schott and Kulek, the spirit of musical maturity, embellished with tones which are rich in substance and colour. Although in the case of Bach and his three Sonatas for viola da gamba, both instruments are more or less of equal importance in their dialogue, for his son Carl Philip Emanuel the cello clearly enjoys a special position. With its fullness of feeling and softness, this Sonata points the way to a new era. The fact that both musicians, playing in unbearably tropical temperatures, were also persuaded by the frenetic applause to play Schumann's first fantasy piece as a dreamy encore deserves a special "Bravo!". (Fränkische Landeszeitung, July 28, 2003, Gabi Zahn)

Vogler Spring Festival 2003
The monuments of Western art can have the air of museum pieces, petrified under layers of respectability, but in the performances of the Vogler Quartet and its guests they become not only alive but also dangerous. One feels they might kick if one comes too close. ... Daniel Müller-Schott, with Priya Mitchell (violin) and Robert Kulek (piano), was just as powerful in Brahms's Piano Trio No 1 in B, Op 8, a youthful work revised with no loss of youthful generosity 35 years later, and the three of them soared and swooped in a crescendo of mounting excitement.

The late-night concert on Sunday was perhaps the most overwhelming of the festival; it was certainly unforgettable. Müller-Schott played Britten's Cello Suite No 3 with burning intensity, each movement seeming the condensation of a lifetime's experience, a centre of gravity into which the audience was inexorably drawn. ...

It was in Schoenberg's string sextet Verklärte Nacht (Vogler with Lars Anders Tomter and Müller-Schott) that the players excelled themselves. Its often dense textures were made clear and its melodic lines were kept taut, so it sounded less like the last faded flower of romanticism than a precursor of a more austere style. It was a bracing intellectual experience.

The weather was disappointing, but the star of music shone brighter than ever at the Vogler Spring Festival. (The Irish Times, 09 May 2003, by Douglas Sealy)

Latest review from the Charleston Post & Courier:

A Night of Emotional Music
Charleston Symphony Masterworks Concert, February 1st, Gaillard Auditorium

Beethoven, Overture to Fidelio, Op.72b
Beethoven, Symphony No. 4 in B-flat Major Op.60
Dvorak, Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra - Daniel Müller-Schott, cellist

It was in the second half of the CSO concert however, that the Romantic spirit fully came forth. The Dvorak 'Cello Concerto in B minor comes late in the nineteenth century and is already a conventional piece by the stylistic standards of its day. But Dvorak¹s music is concerned less with innovative matters than with an exploration of the heart. Sensual and warm, by turns nostalgic and tragic, it captures the essence of the Romantic spirit. To bring the Charleston audience this piece, so full of mature emotion and lush sentiment, a young cellist, already hailed in the classical world, Daniel Müller-Schott, shared the stage with the CSO at the Gaillard Auditorium. This was the second time that Charleston has been graced by the visit of this amazing musical artist of international stature. His memories of his last concert here still lingered. He remembered Charleston as a beautiful city with enthusiastic audiences and lavish post-concert parties.

Müller-Schott is a young man with a lot of talent, a new voice. The freshness of his interpretative powers is evident in his recording of the Bach suites for solo Œcello as well as in other performances of the Romantic composers. He also displays an affinity for more contemporary works, especially Shostakovitch, Penderecki, Prokofiev, Crumb and others. He is acutely interested in bringing yesterday's masterpieces into the present through his interpretations, a process he describes as essential to any classical performer. This young artist believes that classical music must find a refreshing new approach. He is aware of the fact that less and less people of his generation frequent classical music concerts and this troubles him. The impact of modern consumerist society with its emphasis on instant gratification and quick punchline entertainment goes against the grain of Western European concert music, particularly in the latter's exploration of deep and serious emotions and intellectual depth. Still, Müller-Schott who began music at an early age and attributes his connection with J.S.Bach to the fact that his mother was an accomplished harpsichordist, exposing him to baroque music from the very beginning of his life, he finds inspiration all around him and in every city he visits. "There is more to life than just music," he says. His travels often serve to inspire him and he looks for pleasures and attractions wherever he goes. On the other hand he also wonders if he'll feel the same way twenty years from now about touring. Winning the Tchaikovsky competition in Moscow at the tender age of 16 caught him by surprise. Though he'd been playing the cello since he was six years old it had not completely sunk in that he might be doing this for the rest of his life and at the highest levels of the profession. After some adjustment to the reality of his talent, and with concert invitations pouring in he took to the life of the performer with gusto. The Israel Symphony Orchestra broke out in spontaneous ovations for him during rehearsals of the Dvorak Œcello concerto. This from an orchestra that performed with cello giants such as Rostropovitch. As a soloist Müller-Schott has performed throughout the world recently sharing the stage with violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter who has also provided support for the talented young cellist. In 2001, following a series of highly successful concerts in Israel and Australia, Daniel Müller-Schott celebrated a much-applauded debut with the Chicago Symphony orchestra conducted by Christoph Eschenbach. Concerts and tours with the London Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Poppen, the National Philharmonic Orchestra Warsaw under Tadeusz Strugala, the NDR Symphony Orchestra under Christoph Eschenbach and the Netherland Philharmonic under Hartmut Haenchen are planned for the 2002/2003 season. Müller-Schott made his recording debut in the fall of 2000 with the Six Suites for Solo Cello by Bach. Critics placed him in the vanguard of the interpreters of Bach's music. But ultimately one must see Müller-Schott live to appreciate not just his absolutely flawless intonation and his smooth bowing technique but the maturity and deftness of touch. On this past Saturday it was easy to see why the Israel Symphony Orchestra lauded his Dvorak performance. With Maestro Stahl giving him plenty of room to stretch out on the solo lead passages Müller-Schott brought Dvorak's fabled masterpiece to life. His physical body language spoke volumes of his approach to the music. Looking to the back of the theater he seemed to await the arrival of each entrance of the cello as if the music would flow into him from above, from the spirit of the composer perhaps, then the energy of execution would overtake him and posess him. He would hand off each final phrase of the solo to the orchestra, not quite letting go or dismissing the music but sending it on for orchestral commentary in a true connective sharing with the rest of the musicians. In the third movement his duo with Isabella Lippi, the CSO's concertmaster, was a remarkable display of wonderful ensemble playing. Surely this passage was particularly significant to the composer whose longing and unrequited love for his sister-in-law Josefina must have found musical fulfillment in this lavish though brief duet. After five applause call-backs from the audience Muller-Schott granted the need for an encore with a surprising piece which made no use of the bow and which was as sharply rhythmic as it was brief, a piece which revealed that this artist has a unique and multi-faceted approach to music. That a young man like Daniel Müller-Schott, his long hair bound up in a fashionable and most contemporary pony tail, can, like the wonderful CSO musicians accompanying him on stage, still decide to make classical music his life leads one to believe that the need for what this music provides is not yet dead in the world. Maybe some things are just destined to survive no matter how hard the forces of banality, ignorance and stupidity strive to defeat the need for beauty and truth in the human heart.