Presto Editor's Choice
August 2020

BBC Music Magazine
October 2020
Concerto Choice

Kian Soltani (cello), Staatskapelle Berlin, Daniel Barenboim

Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
Dvořák: Four Songs, Op. 82: No. 1, ‘Leave Me Alone’
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 'From the New World', IV. Largo. Goin' Home (Arr. Koncz For Solo Cello and Cello Ensemble)
Dvořák: Songs My Mother Taught Me, Op. 55 No. 4
Dvořák: Romantic piece, Op. 75, No. 1
Dvořák: Waldesruhe (Silent woods) for cello and orchestra, Op. 68 No. 5

Two years after his successful Deutsche Grammophon Debut Album “Home” Kian Soltani returns with a Dvořák Album featuring the famous cello concerto and five arrangements of some of the greatest pieces Antonin Dvořák composed. Dvořák‘s Cello Concerto op. 104 hasn’t been recorded for the yellow label since 2002 (Mischa Maisky with Mehta and Berliner Philharmoniker).

Maestro Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin accompany Kian Soltani in the concerto, while for the other pieces (three of which have been arranged by Kian Soltani himself) he is joined by six cellists of the Staatskapelle Berlin.

"As well as playing in the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the young Iranian cellist performs regularly in recital with Barenboim, and it shows: the Concerto comes across here as chamber music writ large, with some especially delicious, almost improvisatory interplay with the Berlin horn and clarinet (both excellent). Soltani’s own arrangements of several Dvořák evergreens for cello ensemble are attractive and unhackneyed, though Stephan Koncz’s transcription of the ‘New World' Largo takes the palm." - Katherine Cooper, Presto Classical, August 2020.