Question: The CD also features Tchaikovsky"s Rococo Variations, another work that has followed you since your early years. You couldn"t have hoped for a better master than Yuli Turovsky to get you started on this work! Has working assiduously with him conveyed some of the Russian spirit to you? Tétreault: Yes, I believe so! It"s really funny you should ask that, because when I played this work in 2010 with I Musici de Montréal under Maxim Vengerov, he was telling everyone that I was Russian but didn"t know it! During rehearsals, Vengerov even began by speaking to me in Russian, forgetting I just couldn"t understand! Question: And what about the rest of the program? Tétreault: It"s rounded off very well with short pieces by Saint-Saëns and Tchaikovsky. Quite unexpectedly, the CD features Saint-Saëns Allegro Appassionato, which holds a peculiar place in my heart. I played it only once before, when I was 12, on a day when I was sick, so it left me with a very bad impression despite the public"s esteem. I had decided never to play it again. It just goes to show... Question: Stéphane, tell us about the wonderful instrument you now play and that we will hear on the recording. Tétreault: The instrument is so much greater than me! It is the Stradivarius known as the Countess of Stainlein, ex-Paganini that was owned for over 50 years by Bernard Greenhouse, the famous cellist of the Beaux-Arts Trio. It is on loan to me by a great Montreal benefactress, Mrs. Jacqueline Desmarais, to whom I am eternally grateful. I have played it now for six months, and I still can"t get over it. This cello is absolutely magnificent, it responds to everything I ask of it! It has an extremely broad range of colors and a sound that develops miraculously in a concert hall. I have to learn to let it sing, without forcing the sound as I sometimes had to do previously. But I can assure you that it"s an honor to let an instrument of this quality shine through. Question: What kind of relationship are you in the course of developing with your cello? Tétreault: Bernard Greenhouse had very intimate ties with this instrument; it seems he even slept with it! I haven t gotten that far yet, but it"s undeniable that I"m developing a unique relationship with this magnificent Stradivarius, through which I express myself, and from which I hope to unleash all the emotions I wish to share. Our bond will never be too close! Question: How was your collaboration with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec (OSQ) and its new music director, Fabien Gabel? Tétreault: It was important for me to undertake this recording on familiar ground. For my first steps in this field, I felt in very good hands with the OSQ. And to record in the Raoul-Jobin hall of the Palais Montcalm in Quebec City was truly a delight! What a magnificent hall! My cello felt completely at home, and so did I! I have so many people to thank for this marvelous adventure, and I hope music lovers will enjoy this all-important first recording of mine, which I have prepared with great care and much love.