Austrian-Iranian cellist wins $75,000 Swiss bank prize
mainKian Soltani, 25, has just been named Credit Suisse Young Artist of 2018, netting him 75,000 Swiss francs and a Lucerne concert with the Vienna Philharmonic and Franz Welser-Möst.
It’s turning into a bumper year for Kian. This summer he won a record deal from DG.
I’m glad Kian Soltani’s talent is being recognized. Strangely enough, right now, there’s 3 big cellists who are rising up extremely quickly, winning prizes, competitions, record deals. Most importantly, these cellists deserve what they are getting – just listening to their recitals live proves their talent, without a doubt.
Kian Soltani – Austrian-Persian Cellist
Pablo Ferrández – Spanish Cellist
Santiago Cañón Valencia – Colombian Cellist
Yes! All three are the real deal! Each are individual artists with their own style.
Couldn’t agree more. Kian’s Dvorak concerto is absolutely stunning. Pablo Ferrandez is wonderful, love his playing. Going to start digging into Valencia now.
I saw Valencia here in Brussels during the Queen Elisabeth Competition last year – I wasn’t absolutely stunned by his Schostakovitch Concerto in the Final (hey, it’s not exactly a piece of cake – and either way, he was still absolutely incredible!), but I loved his recital and Haydn Concerto in the semi-finals.
If you manage to find it on Youtube, his interpretation of the Cassado Cello Suite is pretty damn good.
Sol Gabetta?
Haha, yes of course! Since Sol Gabetta is already a major star, it’s difficult to think of her as up and coming 😉
And of course, i’m missing out on a ton of other cellists right now – many french (Bruno Philippe, Aurélien Pascal, Narek Hakhnazaryan, etc. etc.) 😛
…not forgetting Victor Julien-Laferrière, Queen Elisabeth Competition gold medalist!
It’s not a Salzburg concert, it’s a Lucerne concert.
It’s a concert in lucerne not in salzburg
Iranian Austrian, to be clear. He is astoundingly good, as his Strauss Don Quixote with Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra at the Festival Hall proved.