Olar iElts |
Double Bass Concerto by Eduard Tubin was written on commission for the Estonian double bass virtuoso, Ludvig Juht, a long-time bassist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Present performance is dedicated to his 120th birthday. Gunārs Upatnieks studied at the music academies of Riga and Brno, where he was a pupil of Miloslav Jelinek. From 2005 to 2009 Upatnieks was principal bass in the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra; during the 2010/11 season he was assistant principal bass in the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, currently he works in Berliner Philharmoniker. A prize-winner at numerous competitions (includng 1st Prize and Audience Award in the 58th ARD International Music Competition (2009), 1st Prize and Audition Award in the 5th International Johann-Matthias-Sperger-competition for Double Bass (2008)), he has also appeared as a soloist and with ensembles including the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Nordic Symphony orchestras and with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Neeme Järvi and Mstislav Rostropovich. |