Valentin Radutiu

Valentin Radutiu is one of the most prominent cellists to have emerged from Germany in the 2010s. He performs standard concerto and chamber repertory but has also pursued collaborations with contemporary composers as well as jazz musicians. Radutiu has received several of the most prestigious prizes of the German classical music industry. Radutiu was born in 1986 in Munich. His father, Emil Radutiu, was an orchestral cellist in Munich who defected from Romania while on tour, taking only his cello and the clothing he was wearing at a concert. Valentin took lessons from his father, studying later with Heinrich Schiff, David Geringas, and Clemens Hagen. He won several prizes in the late 2000s decade at Germany's Jugend Musiziern competition and went on to take second prize at the International Enescu Competition in Bucharest in 2012, as well as other important honors. Beginning in 2013, Radutiu was supported by a fellowship from Bayer Kultur (the arts patronage arm of the large German drugmaker) and began to concertize and record widely. He has appeared with top ensembles in Germany, Romania, and beyond, including the Deutsches Sinfonie-Orchester Berlin, the Bucharest Radio Symphony Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Symphony. Radutiu is an enthusiastic chamber player whose collaborators have included the Hagen Quartet, Julian Steckel, and the 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic. Radutiu has performed and recorded with jazz pianist Benjamin Schaefer and has an ongoing collaboration with composer/conductor Peter Ruzicka, whose cello concerto and cello chamber music he has premiered on multiple recordings. His 2011 debut recording was a recital with pianist Per Rundberg, featuring works by Schumann, Franck, Ruzicka, and Saint-Saëns. Radutiu has recorded for the premium labels Oehms, Hänssler Classic, and Thorofon, among others. In 2019, he issued an album of cello concertos by Haydn, Johann Christian Bach, and Jean-Baptiste Janson with the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn under conductor Ruben Gazarian on Hänssler Classic.
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