Kian Soltani

Plenty of charisma, a melting cello sound and, of course, utmost virtuosity: Kian Soltani combines it all. He appears in Hamburg with three top orchestras, exquisite chamber music and even some classical Persian music

Kian Soltani
Kian Soltani © Marco Borggreve

Melt-in-the-mouth beautiful: »As soft and creamy as caramel,« enthuses the Washington Post about young cellist Kian Soltani’s beautiful, warm sound. After making a flying start to his global career, the Austrian of Persian origin has long been playing in the very top cello league. Personally sponsored by Anne-Sophie Mutter and Daniel Barenboim, he was given an exclusive contract with the glossy Deutsche Grammophon label in his mid-twenties as well as a Stradivarius cello from 1694 that once belonged to the composer Luigi Boccherini. Time and again, Soltani impresses audiences not only with his noble sound, but also with his breathtaking virtuosity, deeply moving musicality and artistic curiosity.

Soltani now pulls out all the stops for his residency, performing three solo concerts in the Elbphilharmonie Grand Hall with accompaniment from well-known orchestras. »It’s always impressive coming back to this concert hall,« he says happily, while the Hamburger Abendblatt wrote some years ago that »he really makes full use of the Elbphilharmonie’s acoustics«. He also pays a visit to the Laeiszhalle as part of an all-star piano trio. For the finale of his residency, he presents classical Persian music together with his father Khosro Soltani and his father’s ensemble Shiraz – an exciting formation that will also be part of the community project at the Hamburg International Music Festival.

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