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Felix Klieser

FRENCH HORN

"Klieser must rank as one of the most inspiring figures on the concert scene today, and someone who will become a beacon for young people striving to overcome physical challenges to make music."

BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

THE TIMES (LONDON)

BIOGRAPHY

Felix Klieser has always been a problem solver who focuses on the art of the possible. Born without arms to a non-musical family, at the age of four he determined that he would learn to play the French horn. He took his first lessons at the age of five and became a junior student at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media at the age of thirteen. In 2014, he received the ECHO Klassik Award as Young Artist of the Year and also the Music Prize of the Association of German Concert Directors. His second book, “Imagine It’s Not Possible - Yet Someone Does It Anyway”, was published by Ullstein in the summer of 2024. He received the Leonard Bernstein Award at the 2016 Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. In the summer of 2022, he made his debut at the Ravenna Festival at the invitation of Maestro Riccardo Muti and the following year made his highly acclaimed debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall, marking the conclusion of his two-year residency with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. The concert was broadcast live on radio and television. Last season he made debuts with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, both conducted by Alexander Shelley, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra under John Butt, the Antalya State Symphony Orchestra, and his first appearance in Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. He also returned to the Nuremberg Symphony and toured with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, appeared in renowned concert halls such as the Berlin Philharmonie, the Cologne Philharmonie and the Vienna Konzerthaus, and played the world premiere of Rolf Martinsson's Soundscape, a work dedicated to him, with the Robert Schumann Philharmonic Orchestra. Highlights of the 2024/2025 season include his debut with the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, the Musikkollegium Winterthur under the baton of Anna-Maria Helsing, and with the O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra under Hugo Ticciati in Stockholm. He will return to the Prague Symphony Orchestra for a tour and play several concerts with the Bavarian Chamber Orchestra. In December 2024, he will perform as a soloist at the official Advent concert of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. In March 2019, Felix Klieser released his recording of the complete Mozart horn concertos with the Camerata Salzburg on Berlin Classics, which subsequently spent three months in the top 10 of the German classical music charts. His most recent album, “A Golden Christmas”, which was recorded together with the Wiener Concert-Verein, was released in December 2023. His recording of the horn concerto “Soundscape” by Swedish composer Rolf Martinsson is scheduled for spring 2025 and will also be released on Berlin Classics. His debut album Reveries with works for horn and piano was released in 2013 and received the ECHO Klassik award. It was followed in 2015 by Horn Concertos, Klieser's first orchestral CD with works by Mozart and the brothers Joseph and Michael Haydn. This Album was recorded together with the WKO Heilbronn and Ruben Gazarian. His album Horn Trios, produced by BR and released in 2017, features Felix with his chamber music partners, Andrej Bielow and Herbert Schuch, exploring Brahms’ profound Trio for Horn, Violin and Piano and lesser-known works for this exciting combination of instruments. His recording with CHAARTS Chamber Orchestra (Beyond Words with arias arranged for horn and orchestra) has been a huge digital success on platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music. Orchestras that Felix Klieser has performed with in the past include the Camerata Salzburg as well as the Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, the Orchestra Sinfonica Milano Giuseppe Verdi (Milan), the Orquesta Filarmónica de Gran Canaria, the Slovenska Filharmonija (Bratislava), the Chamber Orchestra of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and the Kammerakademie Potsdam. He has also performed as a chamber musician at the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, in the Philharmonie in Essen, in the Glocke in Bremen, the Beethovenhaus Bonn, the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Oxford Chamber Music Festival, the Gstaad Menuhin Festival and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Felix Klieser likes to share his everyday life as an artist with his audience on social media and at concerts also gives them a peek behind the scenes. His horn “Alex”, a model 103 from the manufacturer Gebr. Alexander (Mainz), leads a life of its own on Instagram and Facebook and can be seen engaging in activities such as cooking, reading, and vacationing. He regularly shares his expertise in the form of masterclasses.

RECORDINGS

Felix Klieser

Felix Klieser

PRESS ACCLAIM

BOURNEMOUTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

"Klieser must rank as one of the most inspiring figures on the concert scene today, and someone who will become a beacon for young people striving to overcome physical challenges to make music.”

THE TIMES (London)

 

"A spellbinding and remarkable performance as the soloist on Mozart's Horn Concerto No 4."

BOURNEMOUTH ECHO

 

BBC PROMS

 "...challenging perceptions of what we all can achieve in life and settting an engaging example to aspiring young musicians everywhere."

THE OBSERVER

 

"It was mesmerising, to see Klieser's toes moving with the deftness and precision of fingers."THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

REPERTOIRE LIST

R. GLIÉRE

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, op. 91, B-Major

 

M. HAYDN

Concertino for Horn and Orchestra in D-Major MH 134 (P. 134)

 

J. HAYDN

Concerto for Horn and String Orchestra No.1 in D-Major Hob. VIId:3

Concerto for Horn and String Orchestra No. 2 in d-minor Hob. VIId:4

 

P. HINDEMITH

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra

 

W. A. MOZART

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 1 D-Major KV 412/514

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 2 E flat-Major KV 417

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 3 E flat-Major 447

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 4 E flat-Major 495

 

A. ROSETTI

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra in d-minor RWV C38

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra in E-flat Major RWV C49

 

C. SAINT-SAËNS

Concert Piece for Horn and Orchestra f-Major op.94

 

F. STRAUSS

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, op. 8, in c-moll

 

R. STRAUSS

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 1 , op. 11, in E-flat Major TrV 117

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra No. 2 in E-flat Major TrV 283

 

G. P. TELEMANN

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra in D-Major TWV 51:D8

 

R. MARTINSSON

(*1956) Soundscape – A Walk in Colours

DISCOGRAPHY

A Golden Christmas

Vienna Concert Society

Berlin Classics

 

MOZART Horn Quintet, K. 407

HAYDN Horn Concertos No.1  & No. 2

Zemlinksky Quartet

Berlin Classics

 

BACH, HANDEL, VIVALDI, GLUCK

Beyond Words - Baroque Arias for Horn

with CHAARTS Chamber Artists

Berlin Classics

 

MOZART Horn Concertos 1-4

Camerata Salzburg

Berlin Classics

 

DUVERNOY, KOECHLIN, KAHN, BRAHMS Horn Trios

with Andrej Bielow,violin and Herbert Schuch, piano

Berlin Classics

 

J. & M. HAYDN Horn Concertos

MOZART

Horn Concerto in E-Flat Major, K. 370, Allegro

Horn Concerto in E-Flat Major, K. 371, Rondo

Würtemberg Chamber Orchestra

Ruben Gazarian, conductor

Berlin Classics

 

SCHUMANN, SAINT-SAENS, GLIERE, GLASUNOV, RHEINBERGER, STRAUSS

Reveries - Romantic Music for Horn and Piano

Christoph Keymer, piano

Berlin Classics

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