Göran Söllscher
Biographie Göran Söllscher
Göran Söllscher
From his live performances and remarkable recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Swedish guitarist Göran Söllscher has earned resounding praise for his exceptional musicality as well as his dedication to expanding the solo guitar repertoire. Since winning the 1978 Paris International Guitar Competition, has performed throughout the world – Europe, North and South America, China, Japan, Scandinavia – in recitals and as guest soloist with symphony orchestras, often playing on a hgihly unusual 11-string guitar. He regularly performs with all the major Scandinavian orchestras, and has played with the Japan Philharmonic in Tokyo, Camerata Bern, the English Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London, New York’s Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe under such conductors as Claudio Abbado, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Sixten Ehrling, Woldemar Nelsson and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
Among many career highlights, he was selected to perform the ”Concerto di Aranjuez” at the “International Hommage to Joaquin Rodrigo” in Madrid, honoring the composer’s 90th birthday in 1991, also produced that year in Puerto Rico. November 2008 brought his 12th successive tour in Japan where he gives annual recitals and masterclasses and will return in 2011. A major Japanese tour in June 1996 included recitals and duo concerts with the Japanese flutist Shigenori Kudo and violinist Gil Shaham. His collaboration with the American violinist led to joint tours in the United States and Europe and a recording for Deutsche Grammophon. Söllscher has been a regular guest performer at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, and at other important international festivals in Europe. He appeared at the Istanbul Festival in June 2009 in both a solo recital and as a duo with Jian Wang and at the Belgrad Festival in Serbia in February 2010.
Mr. Söllscher has an exclusive recording conctract with the prestigious German classical label, Deutsche Grammophon who have to date released some 20 plus solo recordings, including a boxed set of the complete works of J.S. Bach’s for lute. In 1990 DG released his recordings of three major works for guitar and orchestra, Rodrigo: "Concierto de Aranjuez" and "Fantasía para un gentilhombre" and Villa-Lobos: ”Guitar Concerto", with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra from New York, which has sold more than 150,000 copies. His 1994 duo-recording with Gil Shaham "Paganini for Two" was on Billboard Magazine’s top ten best selling classical albums chart in the US. In 1995 he released Here, there and everywhere – a CD with music by The Beatles arranged for solo guitar. 1996 saw the release of another duo album, with the French flutist Patrick Gallois playing music by Astor Piazzolla. Eleven String Baroque was released in 2004 and The Renaissance Album in 2005 - it won a Grammis Award, the SwedishGrammy in 2006 as ”Classical Artist of the Year!” Reverie, a recording with cellist Jian Wang, was released to much acclaim in 2007 and his reccording, Cavatina, released in 2008, was a Grand Prix.
Göran Söllscher holds Sweden’s sole professorship in guitar. He is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and frequently appears on Swedish and international radio and television. In January 2006 Mr Söllscher was awarded the Royal Medal Litteris et Artibus.
