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Biography
Radovan Vlatković (born 1962) is a Croatian born horn player. He is the former principal horn of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra (now Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin). He left that post in 1990 to devote himself to a solo career and has recorded many of the major works for horn. He is now professor of horn at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria and at the Escuela Superior de Musica Reina Sofia in Madrid. Vlatković also participates as a senior artist at the Marlboro Music Festival, has performed in chamber music and solo recital for the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society, and is widely considered to be one of the world's most exceptional horn players.
Already as student Vlatković carried prizes at the International Horn Competition in Liége, Belgien, at the 12th Yugoslavien Music Competition and at the International Competition "Premo Ancona" in Italy. Especially noteworthy was being awarded the First Prize at the ARD International Competition in Munich in 1983 the prize had not been awarded in hornplaying for 14 years.
The career that followed is remarkable. As soloist he travelled most of the European continent, America, Canada, Mexico, Israel, the Near East, East Africa, Japan and Australia. Among his appearances he played with the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin, the Bavarian Radio Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra London, English Chamber Orchestra, Academy of Saint Martin in the Fields, Camerata Academica des Mozarteums, in Japan with the Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra and the NHK Symphony Orchestra.
From 1982 to 1990 Radovan Vlatković was the principal horn at the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. He left the Orchestra to devote himself fully to solo works. In 1992 he accepted a professorship at the "Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst" at Stuttgart.
Since 1998 he is professor at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. Based on his broad experience, Radovan Vlatković has access to an especially wide repertoire reaching from the Baroque period to the 20th century. For EMI Classics he has recorded, together with the English Chamber Orchestra under Jeffrey Tate, all the Concertos for Horn by W.A. Mozart and Richard Strauss. His recording of the Mozart Concertos for Horn was awarded by the German Recording Critics Prize.
Vlatković played first performances of works by Elliott Carter, Sofia Gubaidulina, Heinz Holliger and he premiered the Horn Concerto written for him by Krzysztof Penderecki.
In 2014 Vlatković received an Honorary Membership of the Royal Academy of Music (Hon RAM).
In his personal life he is married to Dinka Migic-Vlatkovic, mother of their 6 children. He lives in Salzburg, Austria with his family.