Having performed in sold-out arenas across the globe as one-half of renowned duo 2CELLOS, HAUSER now takes the next step in his already successful career with the release of CLASSIC, his debut solo album for Sony Classical. Classic includes some of the most beloved classical melodies ever written, each a personal, longtime favorite of HAUSER he’s carefully curated and rearranged for the cello.

“It’s simple,” says HAUSER when asked to describe Classic. “It’s the most beautiful, the most romantic melodies ever written in classical music – by the greatest composers – played on the cello, the most beautiful and romantic instrument of all.” HAUSER could hardly be blamed for calling each of the compositions on Classic “the most iconic” or “the most beautiful” or “the most romantic” melody in classical music. Because they are. Working alongside arranger Robin Smith and producer Nick Patrick, HAUSER has adopted these immortal compositions for the cello, letting them sing as never before with help from the London Symphony Orchestra.

HAUSER’s story begins as a very young child in the town of Pula, Croatia, where he found himself so transfixed by the sound of a cello that he was moved to gather whatever he could around him to try to make the instrument himself, in the hopes that he could learn its mechanisms and recreate that very same magical sound. His impatience to master the cello survived his childlike attempt to build one, as the dynamic young cellist has since rocketed to fame as half of the global, genre-busting musical sensation 2CELLOS. With the release of Classic, his first solo album for Sony Classical, HAUSER has realized maybe the best of all possible musical dreams that dazzled that little Croatian boy.

“This is what the world needs now – these melodies, this music, with soul and heart, performed on the cello,” HAUSER ultimately concludes about Classic. “I feel like I’m on a mission, because this world has gone crazy in so many ways. I hope I can touch and move as many people as possible. With the passion we put into it and the presentation, I think Classic can do that.”