Gautier Capuçon plays cello while suspended on a zipline in the French Alps

7 November 2025, 15:54

Gautier Capuçon has taken his music to new heights, quite literally, in his latest music video. The French cellist can be seen playing while suspended on a zipline high above the French Alps to promote his new Warner Classics album Gaïa.

In the video Capuçon can be seen scaling the snowy white mountain on skis with his cello (in its case) on his back before playing mid-zipline above a cavernous drop.

The album features new commissions from a range of contemporary composers, including Einaudi, Bryce Dessner, Abel Selaocoe and more, and seeks to explore humanity’s relationship with nature. Capuçon has described the music as a “hymn to this threatened beauty, a prayer for future generations”.

Read more: Alphorn world record broken as 1,006 players give epic performance in Swiss Alps

Sequence for Gaïa - Max Richter - Gautier Capuçon

“Each track gives its own voice to the cello, immersing us in the power and depth of nature and the Earth, the source of life,” says Capuçon.

“In each piece, it is the Earth that expresses itself in music: sometimes fragile, sometimes majestic, always essential. This album is also a song of warning, a hymn to this threatened beauty, a prayer for future generations.”

Behind-the-scenes footage shows the challenging logistics of filming the video altitude as well as the personal significance of the setting – the French Alps form Capuçon’s childhood landscape.

Gautier Capuçon plays cello from a zipwire

Capuçon isn’t the first musician to perform in a perilous setting. Back in 2017, Australian violinist Glen Donnelly celebrated his 30th birthday playing The Lark Ascending in the nude while doing a skydive. However, his stunt was performed in the slightly warmer climes of New South Wales so Capuçon can be forgiven for keeping his clothes on for this one.