“The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has been rocked by the tragic and unexpected death of its principal clarinettist, Ernst Ottensamer,” writes Angus McPherson in Monday’s (7/24) Limelight Magazine (Sydney, Australia). “Ottensamer, who was also principal clarinet of the Vienna State Opera, died of a heart attack on July 22 at age 62.… Ottensamer was born in Wallern in Upper Austria in 1955, studying clarinet first at the Bruckner Conservatory in Linz and the Vienna Musikhochschule. He joined the Vienna State Opera Orchestra in 1979 and has been principal clarinet of the Vienna Philharmonic since 1983. He has taught at the Vienna Musikhochschule since 1983 and was made a full professor at the school in 2000.… He founded a number of chamber ensembles, including the Wiener Virtuosen, the Wiener Bläserensemble and the Wiener Solisten Trio.… Ottensamer’s sons Daniel and Andreas are also highly successful clarinetists—Daniel is second principal clarinet with the Vienna Philharmonic while Andreas Ottensamer is principal with the Berlin Philharmonic (they have been referred to as the Viennese ‘Royal Family of the Clarinet’.) Father and sons have released several recordings as trio ‘The Clarinotts’, including a 2016 release on Deutsche Grammophon.”
Posted July 26, 2017
