Anja Lechner and François Couturier’s collaborative undertakings have been comprehensively captured over a string of acclaimed recordings for ECM, both as part of the Tarkovsky Quartet and in duo. The duo albums to date – Moderato Cantabile (2014) and Lontano (2020) – have garnered rave reviews and pushed the two into new musical territories, which they continue to expand on and explore in their new program, Ondas.

Like subtly rising and falling waves, Lechner and Couturier’s interplay reveals fluid exchanges, graced by a quiet and understated elegance as the two venture on a path of trans-idiomatic discovery. The German cellist and the French pianist traverse a wide musical arc that incorporates notated and improvised material, encompassing traditional offerings and inventive contemporary creations of their own. The original compositions work as a unifying element that encourages free-flowing improvisation. Interpretations of music by Federico Mompou, Domenico Gabrielli as well as themes from music for films complete an exciting new chapter in the duo’s long-standing and fruitful partnership.

"The two musicians have refined the art of intense listening. They don’t play a single redundant note and use improvised passages sparingly, but convincingly. They observe each other carefully and patiently, paying microscopic attention to the development of nuanced timbres, and to the overall dynamic design.”, Hans-Jürgen Linke, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

ANJA LECHNER
In addi/on to her classical educa/on, Anja Lechner has developed her capaci/es as an improviser. A variety of projects with musicians of many countries reflects her talent for sensi/ve interpreta/on and improvisa/on. In each of them, her unmistakable, warm and clear sound is always evident. Concert tours and fes/val appearances have taken her through Europe, La/n America, USA and Korea. Anja Lechner has premiered many works dedicated to her, by composers including Arvo Pärt, Valen/n Silvestrov, Tigran Mansurian, Tõnu Kõrvits and Dino Saluzzi. At ECM she has made numerous recordings with, among others, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra under the conductor Tõnu Kaljuste, with the violinist Patricia Kopatchinskaja, the Rosamunde quartet, the Argen/ne bandoneon master Dino Saluzzi, the guitarist Pablo Márquez, the Tarkovsky Quartet and with François Couturier. In 2024 she has released her first solo album „BACH ABEL HUME“. In 2025 she will start touring as a member of the new Anouar Brahem Quartet and his new program „A_er The Last Sky“. She lives and teaches in Munich.

FRANÇOIS COUTURIER
Regarded as a leading pianist in the border zone between contemporary jazz and New Music François Couturier spent many years with the Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem, and has played also with musicians including John McLaughlin, Louis Sclavis and Dominique Pifarély. In 2006 he founded the Tarkovsky Quartet, writing music which references and explores the associative world of Russian filmmaker Andrej Tarkovsky. The group has made three albums for ECM Records. Since 2012 he has also been playing in duo with cellist Anja Lechner. In January 2025, he released a new CD for Ecm “Preludes and songs” in a duet with violonist Domnique Pifarely.
François Couturier has been described as a magician of melody and timbre, with a gift for the subtleties of intuitive design.
He lives in Paris.