Today's Birthdays in Music: January 30 (Finley, Harrell)

1960 - Gerald Finley, Montreal, Canada; opera bass-baritone

Wikipedia
Official website

Gerald Finley sings "Batter, my heart" from John Adams's Doctor Atomic (Metropolitan Opera, 2008)



1944 - Lynn Harrell, New York City, U.S.A.; cellist

Wikipedia

Lynn Harrell's Cello Workshop


Lynn Harrell and James Levine play Mendelssohn's Cello Sonata No. 2 in D, 1st mvt.

Today's Birthdays in Music: January 10 (Milnes, Maisky)

1935 - Sherrill Milnes, Downers Grove, IL, U.S.A.; opera baritone

Wikipedia
Unofficial website

Sherrill Milnes sings The Prologue from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci (Arena di Verona, 1985)



1948 - Mischa Maisky, Riga, Latvia; cellist

Official website

Mischa Maisky performs "The Swan" from Carnival of the Animals by Saint-Saëns (introduction by Roger Moore; Richard Hyung-ki Joo, piano; Julian Rachlin and Friends Chamber Music Festival)

Shostakovich Cello Concertos Nos. 1 & 2

Dimitri Maslennikov, cello; NDR Sinfonieorchester / Christoph Eschenbach
Phoenix Edition 128 (67 min 52 s)
**** $$$$

Buy this CD at amazon.com

Daniel Müller-Schott, cello; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks / Yakov Kreizberg
Orfeo C659081A (66 min 31 s)
**** $$$$

Buy this CD at amazon.com

Dmitri Shostakovich wrote what are probably the two most important cello concertos of the past 100 years. They both came late in his career – 1959 and 1966 respectively – and the one grew out of the other. Both are anguished and brooding, except when they lurch forward into a kind of danse macabre. This is music that was inspired by cruelty and ugliness in the Soviet Union and one is left with very dark thoughts indeed after hearing either of these pieces.

Two new recordings have appeared almost simultaneously, each one containing both concertos. And the soloists – both in their twenties – are among the most gifted performers on their instrument to come to prominence in years. Müller-Schott won the Tchaikovsky Competition at age fifteen, while Maslennikov won the International Young Soloists Competition in Moscow at the age of twelve. On the basis of these recordings I would have to say that both cellists are wonderful artists up to the greatest technical challenges and able to make the instrument express the full range of human emotions. What is more, I could not possibly choose between them. The soloists play well, their orchestras and conductors are excellent and the recording engineers have done fine work. And one can’t even choose between the instruments either: both cellists are playing Goffriller cellos made around 1700!

- Paul E. Robinson

Today's Birthdays in Music: January 1 (Verreau, Greenhouse)

1926 - Richard Verreau, Château-Richer, Canada; opera tenor

Biography (Encyclopedia of Music in Canada)

Richard Verreau sings "Du moment qu'on aime" from Zémire et Azor by André Grétry



1916 - Bernard Greenhouse, Newark, NJ, U.S.A., cellist (a founding member of Beaux Arts Trio) (some sources give birthdate as January 3)

Wikipedia
Conversation with Bernard Greenhouse (1998)

Bernard Greenhouse: Introduction



The Beaux Arts Trios (Isidore Cohen, violin, Bernard Greenhouse, cello, Menahem Pressler, piano) plays Ravel's Piano Trio, 4th (final) mvt. (1970s)

Today's Birthday in Music: December 29 (Casals)

1876 - Pablo Casals, El Vendrell, Spain; cellist, composer

Wikipedia
In Search of Pablo Casals

Pablo Casals plays J.S. Bach's Suite No. 1 for Cello Solo (filmed at the Abbaye Saint-Michel-de Cuxa, France, August 1954)


Maynooth Chamber Choir sings "O vos omnes" composed by Pablo Casals


Mendelssohn's Piano Trio No. 1 played by Pablo Casals, cello, Jacques Thibaud, violin and Alfred Cortet, piano (HMV recording, 1927)

Debussy/Poulenc : Sonate pour violoncelle et piano

Jean-Guihen Queyras, violoncelle ; Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Harmonia Mundi HMC 902012 (62 min 47 s)
***** $$$

Le tandem Queyras-Tharaud nous avait donné, il y a deux ans, une interprétation remarquable de la Sonate "Arpeggione" de Schubert. Il lui avait accolé des pièces de Webern et de Berg, comme pour marquer une filiation entre le premier et les seconds, tous trois nés à Vienne mais à un siècle d'écart. Dans ce nouvel enregistrement, les interprètes rapprochent deux compositeurs dont les univers ne se touchaient pas mais qui se réclamaient l'un et l'autre de la grande tradition française représentée par Couperin et Rameau, qu’ils estimaient menacée par l’influence germanique. L’un et l’autre ont écrit une sonate pour violoncelle et piano. Celle de Debussy est souvent jouée. Celle de Poulenc, en revanche, est sous-estimée. Elle présente pourtant des qualités et son deuxième mouvement, une Cavatine, est fort beau. Diverses pièces plus légères, dont des transcriptions, complètent le programme. L’interprétation, autant chez Queyras que chez Tharaud, est d’une finesse toute française. Les notes du livret, très intéressantes, sont signées Anne Roubet.

- Alexandre Lazaridès

Today's Birthdays in Music: December 19 (Isserlis, Reiner)

1958 - Steven Isserlis, London, England; cellist

Wikipedia
Personal website

Steven Isserlis gives a masterclass on Schumann's "Fantasy Pieces"



1888 - Fritz Reiner, Budapest, Hungary; conductor

Wikipedia
Reminiscences

Fritz Reiner conducts the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in two movements from Respighi's Pines of Rome

Today's Birthdays in Music: December 6 (Górecki, Harnoncourt)

1933 - Henryk Górecki, Tschirne, Germany (now Czernica, Poland); composer

Wikipedia

Symphony No. 3 ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs") - Lento e Largo (Isabel Bayrakdaraian with the Sinfonietta Cracovia, conducted by John Axelrod; taken from "Holocaust - A Musical Memorial Film from Auschwitz")


Górecki Piano Sonata, 1st mvt. (Roger McVey, piano; Mercer University, Georgia)



1929 - Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Berlin, Germany; conductor, cellist, violist

Wikipedia
Biography and Pictures
Interview (November 2000)

Nikolaus Harnoncourt leads the Concentus Musicus Vienna and the Arnold Schoenberg Choir in J.S. Bach's Cantata BWV 147 "Heart and mouth and deed and life" (Advent Concert, Benedictine Monastery of Melk)

Today's Birthdays in Music: December 2 (Callas, Barbirolli)

1923 - Maria Callas, New York, U.S.A.; opera soprano

Wikipedia

Maria Callas sings "Suicidio" from Ponchielli's La Gioconda



1899 - John Barbirolli, London, England; conductor and cellist

Wikipedia
Biography and pictures

John Barbirolli conducts the Hallé Orchestra in Berlioz's Le Corsaire Overture

Today's Birthdays in Music: October 7 (Dutoit, Ma)

1936 - Charles Dutoit, Lausanne, Switzerland; conductor

Wikipedia
In Conversation
A Glance Back (La Scena Musicale, April 2002)

Charles Dutoit talks about the music of Debussy and Ravel


Charles Dutoit conducts the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal as Ewa Podleś sings "La Mort de Cléopâtre" by Berlioz (2003)



1955 - Yo-Yo Ma, Paris, France; cellist

Wikipedia
Official website

Yo-Yo Ma plays the first movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto (Chicago Symphony Orchestra, conducted hy Daniel Barenboim, 1997)

Today's Birthdays in Music: July 5 (Starker, Landowska)

1924 - János Starker, Budapest, Hungary; cellist

Wiki entry
Portrait

János Starker plays Cassadó's Suite for Solo Cello, 1st mvt. (1989 recital, Tokyo)



1879 - Wanda Landowska, Warsaw, Poland; harpsichordist

Wiki entry
Biography

Wanda Landowska plays:

Bach, Prelude & Fugue no. 21 from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1 (recorded 1949-51)


Folk Dance

Today's Birthday in Music: June 24 (Fournier)

1906 - Pierre Fournier, Paris, France; cellist

Wiki entry
Brief biography

Pierre Fournier plays Schumann's Cello Concerto Op. 129 (ORTF National Orchestra, conducted by Jean Martinon)


Pierre Fournier and Jean Fonda play Chopin's Introduction and Polonaise Brillante for cello and piano, Op. 3 (Paris, 1965)

Todays' Birthdays in Music: April 17 (Piatigorsky, Jerusalem)

1903 - Gregor Piatigorsky, Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipropetrovsk), Ukraine; cellist

Wiki entry

Piatigorsky plays Fauré's Elegie (Bell Telephone Hour, 1959-61)



1940 - Siegfried Jerusalem, Oberhausen, Germany; opera tenor

Wiki entry

Siegfried Jerusalem in concert singing "Winterstuerme" from Wagner's Die Walküre (1979)

Today's Birthdays in Music: April 14 (Vivier, Lloyd Webber)

1948 - Claude Vivier, Montreal, Canada; composer


Wiki entry

Bio

Analyse de Zipangu (La Scena Musicale, March 2008)

1951 - Julian Lloyd Webber, London, England; cellist

Wiki entry

Official website

Julian Lloyd Webber plays Bach's 'Arioso'

Today's Birthdays in Music: March 27 (Rostropovich, Labadie)

1927 - Mstislav Rostropovich, Baku, Azerbaijan; cellist and conductor

Wiki entry
Interview
Slava (La Scena Musicale, May 2007)

Rostropovich plays Bach Cello Suite No.1 - Allemande



1963 - Bernard Labadie, Québec City, Canada; conductor (Les Violons du Roy)

Bio
Short bio/pictures
Interview (La Scena Musicale, Sept. 1997)

Bernard Labadie conducts Pieter Wispelwey and Les Violons du Roy in Haydn's Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, 3rd mvt.

Today's Musician Birthday: February 1

1859 - Victor Herbert, Dublin, Ireland; composer, conductor, cellist

Wiki entry

Mason & Hamlin AMPICO reproducing piano plays Victor Herbert Favorites




1922 - Renata Tebaldi, Pesaro, Italy; opera soprano

Wiki entry


Renata Tebaldi sings "Un bel di vedremo" from Madama Butterfly, telecast of February 2, 1959

Today's Musician Birthday: January 30

Born on January 30:

1944 - Lynn Harrell, NYC, cellist

Wiki entry

Today's Musician Birthday: January 26

Born on January 26:

1945 - Jacqueline du Pré, Oxford England, cellist

Wiki entry

Documentary about Jacqueline du Pré