Queen Elisabeth Competition Cello Finals Open with Triple Anniversary
The finals of the Queen Elisabeth Competition for cello opened on Monday evening at Bozar in Brussels, with Russian cellist Maria Zaitseva and German cellist Lionel Martin delivering standout performances before an audience that included King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium. The 2026 edition carries exceptional historical weight, marking the 75th anniversary of the competition under its current name, the 150th anniversary of the birth of its founder Queen Elisabeth, and the 150th anniversary of the birth of legendary Catalan cellist Pablo Casals.
A Historic Anniversary Edition
Founded in 1937 as the Concours Eugène Ysaÿe, the competition was renamed after Queen Elisabeth in 1951 following a hiatus during World War II. Now in its 75th year under that name, it remains one of the world’s most prestigious international music competitions, a founding member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions according to the Belga News Agency.
This year’s edition is only the third devoted to the cello, following previous cello competitions in 2017 and 2022. Adding to the historic atmosphere, the winner will receive a four-year loan of the Goffriller “Casals” cello, built in 1733, which Pablo Casals played for more than sixty years. Queen Mathilde, the current patron of the competition, will personally award the first prize—the “Grand Prix international Reine Elisabeth”—worth 25,000 euros.
“The Competition is a bit like the Champions League of Classical Music,” Queen Mathilde has said of the event.
Day One: Zaitseva Radiates in Dutilleux
Maria Zaitseva, 24, trained at the Gnessin School and Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow, was the first of twelve finalists to take the stage. She performed the compulsory piece—“Four Odes to the Tidings of Flowers” by American-Chinese composer Fang Man, written specifically for this year’s final—before choosing the demanding cello concerto “Tout un monde lointain” by Henri Dutilleux for her main programme.
RTBF critic Françoise Brumagne described Zaitseva’s performance as “hypnotizing,” noting that “she is whole and radiates alongside the orchestra.” The critic observed that Zaitseva had “sought sounds, colours” in the compulsory piece, with the orchestra also playing the work for the first time in public as reported by RTBF.
Zaitseva, who won second prize at the Tchaikovsky Competition in 2023 and victory at the ARD Munich Competition in 2024, said she chose the Dutilleux concerto for the emotions that “metamorphose.”
Lionel Martin: Authentic and Formidable
Following the interval, Lionel Martin, 23, from Germany, delivered a performance that Brumagne called “generous, authentic, formidable.” He performed the Fang Man compulsory piece with “more fluidity and sound” before tackling Dvořák’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in B minor, a work known for its sweeping emotional range.
Remarkably, Martin has only owned his cello for two and a half months—it is a loan for the competition. Despite this, the RTBF critic noted that “he makes it sing,” and that he was able to “tell the story of the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák” through his interpretation.
Both finalists had only one week to learn Fang Man’s compulsory piece while in isolation at the Queen Elisabeth Music Chapel in Waterloo, without outside assistance. The work received its world premiere on Monday evening.
The Road Ahead
The finals continue through Saturday 30 May, with two finalists performing each evening alongside the Belgian National Orchestra conducted by Antony Hermus. All tickets for the finals, winners’ concerts, and the closing ceremony are sold out.
Tuesday’s programme features Yo Kitamura of Japan and Ivan Sendetsky of Russia. The remaining finalists include Ettore Pagano (Italy), Clara Dietlin (France), Dilshod Narzillaev (Uzbekistan), Álvaro Lozano Cames (Spain), Leland Ko (USA/Canada), Krzysztof Michalski (Poland), Andrew Ilhoon Byun (Canada), and Tae-Yeon Kim (South Korea), the youngest competitor at 20.
The proclamation of winners will take place around midnight on Saturday 30 May, followed by a series of laureates’ concerts in early June at Flagey and Bozar. Beyond the top prize, the competition offers six ranked prizes ranging from 25,000 to 8,000 euros, with the remaining six laureates each receiving 4,000 euros. A public prize of 2,500 euros, chosen by audience vote, will also be awarded.
For the twelve finalists representing ten countries, the coming days will determine who joins the ranks of previous cello winners Victor Julien-Laferrière (2017) and Hayoung Choi (2022)—and who will take home the historic Goffriller cello that once belonged to Pablo Casals himself.