Thorsten Johanns
A leading wind player, clarinetist Thorsten Johanns is equally in demand as a soloist, chamber player, and educator. He has recorded for Lawo Classics in Norway and for various German labels.
Johanns was born in the western industrial city of Krefeld, then in West Germany, in 1976. He took up the clarinet at eight, studying with Laszlo Dömötör, and later added the saxophone, winning top prizes at the Jugend Musiziert competition on both instruments. In 1996, Johanns enrolled at the Hochschule für Musik in Cologne, studying with Ralph Manno. He held a scholarship from the Studien-Stiftung des Deutschen Volkes. While still a student there, he was named deputy principal clarinet of the Essen Philharmonic Orchestra in 1988, aged just 22. In 2001, he became the principal clarinetist of the WDR Symphony Orchestra in Cologne. Johanns held that position until 2015 and has continued his association with that orchestra as a guest. His first recording of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622, came with that orchestra on Lawo Classics that year.
Johanns has served as guest principal clarinetist with various major orchestras, including the Berlin Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony, the NDR Elbphilharmonie, and, at the invitation of conductor Alan Gilbert, the New York Philharmonic. He has appeared in many countries as a soloist, with the Orchestre de Chambre de Paris, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and the Romanian National Radio Orchestra, among other groups. An enthusiastic chamber player, Johanns has collaborated with oboist Heinz Holliger, pianist Moritz Eggert, and several string quartets. He is a member of Ensemble Raro, the Deutschen Bläsersolisten, and the roster of Spectrum Concerts Berlin. In the COVID year of 2020, Johanns appeared on three separate chamber recordings, on the Wergo label in music by Manfred Trojahn, on CPO in the Clarinet Quintet, Op. 146, and String Sextet, Op. 118, of Max Reger, and on Genuin in the Brahms Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115, with the Aris Quartet. Johanns returned on Capriccio in 2023 with an album of chamber music by composer Josef Labor.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
6 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Frumerie: Clarinet Concerto, Op. 51, Piano Concertino, Op. 78, Musica per nove, Op. 75 & Suite for Small Orchestra, Op. 5b
Thorsten Johanns, Oliver Triendl, Munich Radio Orchestra, Ivan Repušić
Klassiek - Released by CPO on 4 jul. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Josef Labor: Clarinet Quintets & Trios
Kamermuziek - Released by CapriccioNR on 6 jan. 2023
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: String Quartet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 51 No. 1 & Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115
Aris Quartett, Thorsten Johanns
Kamermuziek - Released by Genuin on 2 okt. 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Reger: Clarinet Quintet in A Major, Op. 146 & String Sextet in F Major, Op. 118
Thorsten Johanns, Diogenes Quartet, Roland Glassl, Wen-Sinn Yang
Kamermuziek - Released by CPO on 1 mei 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg: Peer Gynt-Suite Nr. 1 - Mozart: Klarinettenkonzert a-Dur - Dvořák: 9. Sinfonie
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Thorsten Johanns, Eivind Aadland
Klassiek - Released by Profil on 1 jan. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
WDR 3 Lieblingsstücke
WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Eivind Aadland, Thorsten Johanns
Klassiek - Released by Profil Medien on 1 jan. 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo