Cello whisperer Kian Soltani debuts in Sydney

By Zoltán Szabó, 03 November 2025

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Reviewed at Sydney Opera House: Concert Hall, Sydney on 1 November 2025

Janáček, Sinfonietta, Op.60

Dvořák, Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104

Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition (orch. Ravel)

Kian Soltani, Cello

Sydney Symphony Orchestra

Simone Young, Conductor

Mahler survives unusual pairing as Sydney Symphony opens new season

Jeremy Eccles, 25th February

Putting Gershwin up against Mahler is a challenge, but Simone Young and Jean-Yves Thibaudet bring it off in the Sydney Symphony's 2026 season opener.

****1

Daniel Müller-Schott plays Tchaikovsky with the Sydney Symphony

Zoltán Szabó, 22nd October

A delightful programme welcomes conductor Lionel Bringuier and returning cellist Daniel Müller-Schott to Sydney.

****1

Sublime Burleske in the Sydney Symphony's Strauss concert

Zoltán Szabó, 3rd September

Three very different works from the long life of Richard Strauss are performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Simone Young.

****1

18th-century fireworks from Stephen Layton and the Sydney Symphony

Sandra Bowdler, 23rd August

Stephen Layton conducts Haydn and Handel, and is joined by soprano Sara Macliver for Bach and Mozart for a joyful evening.

****1

Majestic Brahms from Sir Stephen Hough and Elim Chan in Sydney

Zoltán Szabó, 17th May

Elim Chan expertly conducts the SSO through a varied programme featuring an Australian fanfare, Russian ballet music and Brahms' First Piano Concerto with Sir Stephen Hough.

****1

This Rite was just not right: Vasily Petrenko and the Sydney Symphony

Zoltán Szabó, 27th November

After so many terrific concerts in the last few months, Petrenko's performance with the SSO does not quite fulfill expectations.

***11

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Zoltán Szabó

Zoltán Szabó is a cellist and musicologist. Having migrated from his native Hungary to Australia in 1985, he worked with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in Sydney until 1991, when he became Principal Cello with Opera Australia. In 2017, he was awarded with a Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD). Currently, he is teaching music history and musicology at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.