Ex-clarinetist wins Solti competition
mainThe Russian Valentin Uryupin, winner of the Solti conducting competition, has previously won the ARD and Geneva competitions in clarinet.
Now 31, he is permanent conductor at Theodor Currentzis’s opera house in Perm and artistic director in Rostov.
Like Osmo Vanska, he knew when the tootling had to stop.
He was far better than the Chinese and American finalists. From Ukraine not Russia.
I certainly hopes he keeps up both, on top of the clarinet technique, which he’s got more than enough to spare, he is a very musically intelligent and sensitive soloist, and as he matures as both conductor and clarinetist, I think we could expect what could become classic recordings of the repertory clarinet concerti from him.