Cellist Kian Soltani Photo: www.marcoborggreve.com
Where does Dvorak's cello concerto rank? asks RNZ Concert host Bryan Crump.
"Top three," replies the Iranian-Austrian cello star Kian Soltani. Then he thinks again. "No, it's the best."
Soltani has dropped into RNZ's Wellington studio ahead of two performances of the Czech composer's beloved work with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, in Wellington and Auckland. Soltani names three reasons for ranking it top.
First, it shows off the cello in all its glory.
Second, it just gets better and better as it goes along. A lot of concertos have great opening movements, lovely slow movements, but finales that are a bit of an anti-climax in comparison to what came before. Not Dvorak's Cello Concerto.
The third reason comes with a great story. While Dvorak was writing it in the United States, news arrived from home that his first sweetheart had died. He quotes a song he wrote for her in the concerto's slow movement. (There's an added complication that this old sweetheart was also his wife's sister - when things didn't work out with the first love Dvorak married her sibling.)
When not performing classical cello, Soltani composes his own music, making multitrack recordings of himself so that one cello can become 50.
And while he's in New Zealand, he'll be doing his best to see a few of the Lord of the Rings tourist spots - it's his favourite movie series.
His first stop when he arrived in Wellington wasn't the hotel room, but Weta Workshop.
Next tourist stop, Hobbiton down the road from Matamata.
On the itinerary between concerts. Photo: Hamilton and Waikato Tourism
What about some of those South Island LOTR destinations?
Not this time, but hopefully it'll give Soltani a reason to return with his cello before too long.
