In May 2019, Estonian music production company Estonian Record Productions released a brand new album of 20th century French music for clarinet, performed by married couple clarinetist Selvadore Rähni and pianist Tuuli Rähni. The CD presents Camille Saint-Saëns’s Clarinet Sonata in E flat major, Op. 167 (1921), Claude Debussy’s Première Rhapsodie (1909–1910), Francis Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata (1962) and pianist and composer Pierre Sancan’s Sonatina (1963). The music has been recorded in 2018 at Historischer Reitstadel, Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, Germany.This CD is the second joint CD of Selvadore and Tuuli, the first one, released in 2015, featured clarinet music by Johannes Brahms.
Selvadore Rähni is one of the most famous Estonian clarinetists in the world. Active as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, he is well-known in Japan, where he served as the principal clarinetist of the Kyoto Symphony Orchestra from 1997. He hold that position until 2005. As guest principal clarinet Selvadore has played with Württemberg, Pforzheim, Polish and Czech chamber orchestras as well as with Osaka and Yamanamy festival orchestras and the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra. As a member of various orchestras, he has performed all over Europe and Japan. As a chamber musician, Rähni has had musical collaborations with the Leipzig String Quartet, and with cellists David Geringas and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, pianists Michie Koyama, Petras Geniusas, Albert Atenelle, Tuuli Rähni, Kalle Randalu, and others. Selvadore has been invited to perform at many festivals in Estonia and abroad.
From 1983 to 1986, Rähni studied clarinet with Aleksander Rjabov in Tallinn Georg Ots Music School and continued with Rein Karin and Vahur Vurm in Tallinn State Conservatory from 1986 to 1991, having meanwhile studied at the Estonian Humanitarian Institute (1990−1991). From 1991 to 1997, he studied at the University of Music Karlsruhe with Prof Wolfgang Meyer, where he completed his postgraduate and doctoral studies, graduating with honors in 2001. In 1996, he assisted Prof Meyer at the University of Music Karlsruhe. He also improved his skills further through additional studies under the guidance of Prof Alain Damiens in Paris from 1993 to 1997. Selvadore Rähni has given clarinet master courses in Japan, Spain, Estonia, and Germany. As a composer, he has released the piano album Snapshots from My Life. Currently, Selvadore Rähni lives in Iceland.
Pianist Tuuli Rähni began her musical studies at the age of three. From 1986 to 1991, she studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre under the guidance of Professor Peep Lassmann, and she graduated cum laude. During her studies at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre, she also worked there as a piano accompanist for singers. In 1991, she began to further her piano studies as a postgraduate student in Germany at the Musical University of Karlsruhe under Prof Gunther Hauer and Prof Werner Genuit, where she was a student until 1997. She graduated with two Masters Degrees: as solo-pianist and as a piano-chamber musician. Tuuli won scholarship awards from Germany, Sweden, and Estonia. After graduating with honors in 1997, she moved with her husband, the clarinetist Selvadore Rähni, to Kyoto, Japan, where she lived until 2005. There, as a piano teacher in high demand, Tuuli taught at the Kyoto Conservatory of Music. Valued as a soloist and ensemble partner, she has performed in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia, the former Yugoslavia, Estonia, Spain, Ireland, Iceland, and Japan. She has recorded for German and Estonian Radio and for Estonian TV. Tuuli has performed chamber music with her husband Selvadore Rähni for over 30 years. Currently, Tuuli lives and works with her family in Iceland.
Look also: ERP