1 January

** 1719 - Franz Peter Schnautz enters the Imperial Chapel, Vienna, as violoncellist (later switching to violin in 1722)

** 1793 - birth of Johann Nepomuk Huttner (Czech) d.1839
cellist, theatre orchestra principal cello & chamber musician

** 1815 - birth of Ferdinand Christian Wilhelm Praeger (Germany)
cellist & pianist; composer, musical writer & critic (“Neue Zeitschrift fiir Musik,” edited by Schumann) {based in London}

** 1820 - birth of Arnaud Dancla (Bagneres-de- Bigorre, France)
cellist & composer

** 1826 - on this day cellist Louis Pierre Norblin officially became professor of cello at the Paris Conservatoire [another source gives year as 1823]

** 1846 - on this day cellist Auguste Franchomme succeeded Norblin as first professor of cello at the Paris Conservatoire, holding the position until his death in 1884.

** 1869 - birth of Alfons Juslegers (Bruges, Belgium)
cellist, teacher at the conservatoire of Douai

** 1873 - cellist Reinhold Hummer receives his first professional invitation, appointed a member of the Imperial Opera orchestra of Vienna

** 1879 - birth of Rudolf Krasselt (Baden-Baden, Germany) d.1954
cellist, orchestra principal cello, conductor & opera house artistic director

** 1883 - Busoni finishes his Serenata in G minor, Op.34 for cello and piano

** 1884 - birth of Hugo Kreisler (Vienna) d.1929 {brother of Fritz}
cellist

** 1888 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin. cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date at the Leipzig Gewandhaus.
Tchaikovsky’s reminiscences included attending this performance, and he critically wrote:
“Despite the wonderful performance, this concerto did not make the least impression on me. Here it is apparently the wish of the composer, as in his D major violin concerto, not so much to flatter the aspirations of the concertizing virtuoso as to produce new evidence of his symphonic strengths; so the true symphonic construction and design throughout is for the most part admirable, while the thematic material in itself does not pull off any surprises, at the same time the high-quality classiness is never in question; it will take some time and longer study, i.e. require more frequent repetitions, before the work can hope for the prize of warmer support; for the comfortable virtue of “easy listening” is not characteristic of this novelty. Soloists who are only in it for themselves will want to avoid this work.”

** 1899 - in the series of the Sunday Afternoon Orchestral Concerts given at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London, featured soloist was cellist W.H. Squire - the concert also included the first English performance of Glazounov - Symphony No.6, Op.58.

** 1935 - Guilhermina Suggia was cello soloist in Joseph Haydn - Cello Concerto in D major, Hob. VIIb: 2, with BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Henry Wood {Winter Prom Concert, Queen’s Hall, London}

** 1937 - birth of Carlos Prieto (Mexico)
cellist, teacher and writer

** 1942 - first performance of Ross Lee Finney - Cello Sonata No.1
(Pratt Memorial Music Hall, Mount Holyoke College, Northampton, Massachusetts, USA)

** 1942 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists Erich Rohn & Arthur Troester  with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vittorio Gui

** 1946 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) and Nina Musinian (Piano) record ‘Melody’ by Vladimir A. Vlasov

** 1949 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) records Concerto for Cello No.2 in A minor, Op.14 by Karl Davidoff, with the Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Yevgeny Mravinsky

** 1954 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) and Nina Musinian (Piano) record ‘Armenian Dance’ by Artemiy Ayvazian

** 1955 - first performance of Morton Feldman - Structure II for two cellos; Extensions 5 for two cellos & Three Pieces for Piano 
(New York)

** 1970 - birth of Alexander Boyarsky (Kemerovo, Russia)
cellist & professor {based UK}

2 January

** birth of Mily Balakirev ( Nizhny Novgorod, Russia) d.1910
important Russian composer, but also orchestrated Chopin's E-minor Piano Concerto, and assisted Grutzmacher in editing Chopin’s Trio and the Cello Sonata.

** 1857 - birth of Oskar Bruckner (Erfurt, Germany) d.1930
cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher

** 1859 - birth of {Frederic Karl Edouard} Fritz Giese (The Hague, Holland) d.1896 {son of cellist Joseph Giese}
cellist, orchestra principal cello, king’s cellist {based Holland-USA}

** 1913 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Henry P. Schmitt & Leo Schulz with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Stransky

** 1948 - birth of Kerry Churchill Minnear (Shaftesbury, Dorset, England)
cellist/multi-instrumentalist

** 1989 - birth of Benedict Kloeckner (Germany)
cellist

3 January

** 1843 - premiere of the opera ‘Don Pascuale’ of Donizetti on this day in the Italian Theatre of Paris; the beginning of the overture contains a small, but important cello solo

** 1843 - birth of Emil Hegar (Basel, Switzerland) d.1921
cellist, member Gewandhaus Orchestra, professor Basle Conservatoire

** 1873 - birth of William Bennidiet (or Bennidict) Ebann (Bremen, Germany) d.1945
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & professor {based USA}

** 1884 - first performance of George Whitefield Chadwick - Romanze for cello and piano
(Boston, USA)

** 1892 - first performance of Antonín Dvořák - Rondo for cello and piano, Op.94 
(Prague)

** 1916 - birth of Bernard Greenhouse (Newark, New Jersey, USA) d.2011
cellist, chamber music musician& professor (and oboist!)

** 1949 - birth of Jeffrey Solow (Los Angeles, USA)
cellist, teacher & music writer

** 1950 - birth of Frank Sumner Dodge (Boston, Massachusetts, USA)
cellist and artistic director of chamber music ensembles

** Birthday - Damian Martinez Marco Spanish cellist, orchestra principal cello, soloist and professor

4 January

** 1809 - birth of Louis Braille (Coupvray, France) d.1852
educator, inventor of reading/writing system ‘Braille’ & accomplished amateur cellist

** 1871 - according to Dvorak’s notes at the end of the cello part, he finished his Cello Sonata in F minor (B20) on this day
note: we are currently familiar only with a few thematic ideas of the work from Otakar Sourek’s biography of the composer (in 1951 Sourek held the complete cello part in his possession, but now it is lost)

** 1873 - birth of Otakar Berger (Moogrund on the Aupa, Czech) d.1997
cellist, chamber musician

** 1903 - solo cello performance in London - Mr W.H. Squire (cello)
unclear as to whether orchestral or chamber concert

** 1926 - birth of Paul Olevsky (Chicago, USA) d.2013
cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher

** 1951 - in a concert at the Winter Gardens, Bournemouth (England), William Pleeth (cello) was invited soloist performing Edmund Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57, with the Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra conducted by Rudolf Schwarz

** 1955 - birth of Wolfgang Tiefensee (Gera, Germany)
politician, former mayor of Leipzig, ex-Traffic and Transport minister German government … and a cellist with advanced studies completed!

** 1963 - Soon after arriving in San Francisco in 1962 the solo cellist Laslo Varga got an interesting phone call from George Barati, the conductor of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. He also happened to be one of Varga’s earliest cello teachers in Budapest. Barati suddenly called him on New Year's Eve and asked him to give the world premiere of his complex cello concerto on 4th January, 1963 - just FOUR days later! - because the original cellist had broken his arm in Paris and was unable to play. Varga had a certain reputation as "the fastest cello in the West" and, if anyone could learn it in four days, he could!  He was wired the full score over (because the only cello part in existence being in Paris with the cellist) and Varga looked at it all afternoon and accepted. The next morning he was on the plane, copying the cello part from the score! Two hours after arrival the rehearsal started with Barati’s orchestra. The happy ending is that the two performances were a great success and, as a result, Lazlo Varga was able to enjoy playing his concerto many more times!

** 1964 - first performance of Aram Khachaturian - Concerto-Rhapsody for cello and orchestra 
soloist - Mstislav Rostropovich (Gorky, Russia)

** 1997 - first performance of Claudio Prieto Alonso - Caminando por la Aventura, for eight cellos (1994)
cellists: Octeto de Violoncellos Conjunto Ibérico (Centro Cultural, Middelburg, Holland)

5 January

** 1863 - birth of Gilbert Raynolds Combs (Philadelphia, USA) d.1934)
pianist,organist, stringed instruments especially cello; composer, teacher, conductor, founder of the Combs Broad Street Conservatory of Music in Philadelphia

** 1885 - first performance of Piatti - Cello Sonata No.1       
Alfredo Piatti/cello & Madame Haas (Cadennabia, Italy)

** 1918 - the full score of ‘Ballata and Ballabile’, Op 160, for solo cello and orchestra, by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford (1852-1924) was dated in the full score with the completion date today

** 1943 - first performance of Virgil Thomson - Four “portraits” for cello and piano
(Rochester, NY, USA)

** 1944 - birth of Karine Georgian (Moscow)
cellist

** 1948 - William Pleeth was cello soloist in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op 33, with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Basil Cameron {Winter Prom Concert, Royal Albert Hall, London}

** 1948 - birth of Miklós Perenyi (Budapest)
cellist & professor

** 1971 - the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society/Orchestra Tuesday Subscription Series at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall (England), conducted by Charles Groves, featured the soloist Pierre Fournier. The programme also included the first performance of Edmund Rubbra - Symphony No.8.

6 January

** 1817 - birth of Joseph Edler von Portheim (Prague)
cellist, chamber music player, co-founder of Prague Chamber Music Society

** 1830 - birth of Isidore Deswert (Louvain, Belgium)  d-1896
cellist, orchestra principal cello, professor & conservatoire director {he was an elder brother of the more famous Jules de Swert; careful, there is another cellist with the same name!]

** 1858 - birth of Alfred von Glehn (Reval, Russia)
cellist, principal cello of Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, arranger of cello music, inventor of the “tenorgeige” (tenor violin)

** 1859 - birth of Anotoly Brandukov (Moscow) d.1930
cellist & professor

** 1873 - birth of Karl von Skarzynski (Libawa, on the Baltic)
cellist, cello professor at Warsaw Conservatoire; composer of cello pieces

** 1901 - cello performance in London - Mr Charles Knowles with Mr W.H. Squire (cello)
unclear as to whether an orchestral or chamber concert

** 1902 - in January 1902 Belgian-born sisters Fernande and (cellist) Jeanne Kufferath went on a concert tour through the Netherlands - on today’s date they performed in Rotterdam.
The programme included solo compositions for the violoncello by J.S. Bach, Svendsen and Popper; the sisters played works by Marcello, Handel and Boccherini together. 

** 1908 - birth of Sviatoslav Knushevitsky or Knushevitzky (Petrovsk, Saratov Oblast, Russia) d.1963
cellist & pedadgogue

** 1921 - late in 1920 cellist Felix Salmond formed the ‘Chamber Music Players’, a piano quartet with William Murdoch, Albert Sammons and Lionel Tertis. They gave their first concert at the London Wigmore Hall on 6th January 1921.

** 1930 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, a ‘Cello Evening’ was offered by Benito Brandia (cello).

** 1947 - William Pleeth (cello) and Margaret Good (piano) performed in the Concert Hall of Broadcasting House, London (BBC) in a programme including Rubbra - Cello Sonata, Op.60

** 1956 - birth of Alexander Baillie (Stockport, England)
cellist & professor

** 1979 - birth of Gabriel Mesado Estrada (Barcelona)
cellist, orchestra principal cello of Basque National Orchestra

7 January

** 1794 - on 11th December 1790 the Gazetter and New Daily Advertiser first reported that ‘Cervetto has resigned his practice on the Violoncello’. A review of Gunn's ‘Theory and Practice of fingering the Violoncello’ in the Whitehall Evening Post (7th January 1794) confirmed Cervetto's retirement.

** 1902 - in January 1902 Belgian-born sisters Fernande and (cellist) Jeanne Kufferath went on a concert tour through the Netherlands - on today’s date they performed in the Concertgebouw of Amsterdam.
The programme included solo compositions for the violoncello by J.S. Bach, Svendsen and Popper; the sisters played works by Marcello, Handel and Boccherini together. 

** 1979 - first performance, in Calcutta, India, of Naresh Sohal - Shades III for solo violoncello (written 1978), a work composed for Anup Kumar Biswas.
(the UK premiere was 28th February 1979, in Leighton House, London)

** 1980 - first performance of G. Samuel - ‘In Memorian DQ’, for solo cello       
(the soloist probably Zara Nelsova)

** 1986 - birth of Maximilian Hornung (Augsburg, Austria)
cellist, principal cello Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, soloist and chamber musician

** 1989 - birth of Iván Siso Calvo (A Coruña, Galicia, Spain)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, professor

8 January

** 1748 - birth of James Cervetto (London) d.1837
cellist, theatre and orchestra principal cello

** 1808 - birth of Joseph Adam Liebrock (Brunswick, Germany) d.1886
cellist, conductor of theatre at Ratisbon, composer and teacher {possessed an excellent music library}

** 1822 - birth of (Carlo) Alfredo Piatti (Bergamo, Italy) d.1901
cellist, composer & teacher

** 1850 - birth of Alexander Wierzbilowicz (St. Petersburg) d.1911
cellist, orchestra principal cello & professor 

** 1885 - Boris Hambourg (Voronez, Russia) d.1954
cellist, chamber musician & professor  

** 1887 - first US performance of Victor Herbert - Suite for Cello and Orchestra, Op.3 at the Metropolitan Opera House (New York) on this day. The composer was the soloist and the New York Tribune noted that
“The ‘andante, serenade and tantelle’ from a suite of his own show not a little invention and are distinguished by good writing.” Herbert’s playing was also praised as being “infinitely more easy and graceful than that of most ‘cello players.”

** 1890 - in the Concerthaus-Conventgarten, Hamburg (Germany), an orchestral subscription concert conducted by Hans von Bülow featured the soloists Pauline Metzler (vocal) and Hugo Becker (cello).

** 1892 - first performance of Dvorak’s own arrangement of his Slavonic Dance No.8 (Op.46) for cello and piano
Hans Wihan/cello with the composer at the piano (Chrudim, Eastern Bohemia, now Czech Republic)

** 1892 - birth of Hans Kindler (Rotterdam, Holland) d.1949
cellist, orchestra principal cello & conductor {based USA}  

** 1902 - in January 1902 Belgian-born sisters Fernande and (cellist) Jeanne Kufferath went on a concert tour through the Netherlands - on today’s date they performed in The Hague.
The programme included solo compositions for the violoncello by J.S. Bach, Svendsen and Popper; the sisters played works by Marcello, Handel and Boccherini together. 
** 1903 - cellist Jeanne Kufferath received a warm review for a concert in the Netherlands:
"a spirited cellist for whom complicated fingerings and demanding passages are no problem. The tone she pulls out of her knee violin is not big, but softly shiny and beautiful, and the bowing always remains graceful and elegant” - Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad, January 8, 1903. 

** 1912 - birth of Rudolf Escher (De Koog, Holland) d.1980
composer & cellist

** 1936 - birth of Eldee Young (Chicago, IL, USA) d.2007
jazz bassist, cellist, composer & bandleader

** 1942 - birth of Toby Saks (New York City) d.2013
cellist, orchestra cellist &founder of the Seattle Chamber Music Society

** 1948 - William Pleeth performed as cello soloist with the Wessex Philharmonic Orchestra (England)

** 1953 - first performance of Martinu - Cello Sonata No.3      
George Ricci/cello and Earl Wild/piano (Washhington DC, USA)

** 1961 - Daniil Shafran records TWO Cello Concertos on this day:
Concerto for Cello no 2 in D major, Op. 101/H 7b no 2 by Franz Joseph Haydn
and Concerto for Cello in C minor by Henri Casadesus (formerly attr. J.C. Bach)
with the  USSR State Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gennadi Rozhdestvensky

** 1972 - premiere of Shostakovich - Symphony No.15, Op.141 {the second movement features an important orchestral principal cello line}
All-Union Radio and Television Symphony Orchestra, conducted by the composer’s son Maxim Shostakovich (Moscow)

** 1973 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording both Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.1 and Walton - Cello Concerto, in the Guilhall, Southampton (England), with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Paavo Berglund (the otherrecording day was the previous day)

** 1993 - release of the recording ‘The London Cello Sound’ - an orchestra of cellos conducted by Geoffrey Simon, including pieces by Camille Saint-Saëns,  Balcombe,  Leonard Bernstein,  Pablo Casals. The list of performers almost read like a ‘Who’s Who of important London cellists’ of the 1990s:
Susan Monks (Cello), Jocelyn Gale (Cello), Francis Bucknall (Cello), Peter Vel (Cello), Robert Truman (Cello),  Andrew Fuller (Cello), Peter Freyhan (Cello), Emma Pritchard (Cello), Michael Hurwitz (Cello), Clare Hinton (Cello), Caroline Dearnley (Cello), Tamsy Kaner (Cello), William Heggart (Cello), Catherine Wilmers (Cello), Ernest Greaves (Cello),John Lowdell (Cello), François Rive (Cello), Katharine Thulborn (Cello), David K. Jones (Cello), Matthias Feile (Cello), Rhydian Shaxson (Cello), Helen Verney (Cello), Anne Baker (Cello), Ruth Zagni (Cello), Bridget Evans (Cello),  Janice Brodie (Cello),  Mats Lidstrom (Cello), Sarah Hedley Miller (Cello), Graham Bradshaw (Cello), Charles Martin (Cello), Roger Lunn (Cello), Ronald Calder (Cello), Eldon Fox (Cello), Laurence Cromwell (Cello), Nigel Pinkett (Cello), Philip Taylor (Cello), Paul Watkins (Cello), Christopher Irby (Cello), Avis Perthen (Cello), Susan Sutherley (Cello)

** 1996 - first performance of Hallgrimsson - Cello Concerto      
soloist - William Conway with Scottish Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Ivor Bolton (BBC Lunchtime concert, London) 

9 January

** 1651 - birth of Petronio Franceschini (Bologna, Italy) d.1680
cellist & composer

** 1756 - birth of Claude-François-Marie Rigoley, comte d'Ogny (Dijon, France) d.1790
French nobleman, military officer, patron of the arts, Freemason, and founder of the Concert de la Loge Olympique (where he was a third-desk cellist!)

** 1856 - birth of Stevan Mokranjac {Stojanović} (Negotin, Principality of Serbia) d.1914
cellist, educator and composer of choral music

** 1900 - birth of Rudolf Hindemith {Hans Lofer} (Frankfurt, Germany) d.1974
composer, conductor & cellist

** 1902 - in January 1902 Belgian-born sisters Fernande and (cellist) Jeanne Kufferath went on a concert tour through the Netherlands - on today’s date they performed in Leiden.
The programme included solo compositions for the violoncello by J.S. Bach, Svendsen and Popper; the sisters played works by Marcello, Handel and Boccherini together. 

** 1911 - an orchestral concert was given by the Scottish Orchestra at McEwan Hall (Edinburgh) featuring cello soloist Pablo Casals

** 1913 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performed with Jacques Gaillard as cello soloist.

** 1921 - birth of Seymour Barab (Chocago, Illinois, USA) d.2014
composer, cellist, organist and pianist

** 1929 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists Bronislaw Hubermann & Alexander Schuster with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by W.H. Steinberg

** 1937 - Gaspar Cassadó gave a brilliant recital at New York Town Hall, which received a glowing review in the New York Times, with quotes like this:
"One searches in vain to recollect another cellist possessing the fecund imagination, the tonal resourcefulness, and the infinite variety of effects made known by Mr. Cassadó. . . ."

** 1944 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance featured artists from the United States Navy Band - David Soyer/cellist and Earl Wild/pianist 

** 1963 - Pierre Fournier finished recording on this day in Geneva, with pianist  Dorel Handmann, a romantic recital LP, including Schubert - Arpeggione Sonata D.821, Schumann - 3 Fantasy Pieces Op,73 & 5 Pieces in Folkstyle Op.102, and Mendelssohn - Variations Concertante Op.17 - the whole recording was completed in three days

** 1969 - birth of Brinton Averil Smith (Royal Oak, Míchigan, U,S.A.)
cellist, principal cello of the San Diego Symphony (in 1994, while still a student at Juilliard!), principal cello of the Fort Worth Symphony (1996-2002), member of New York Philharmonic (2002-5), principal cello of the Houston Symphony since 2005; a faculty member of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and the Aspen Music Festival and the Sarasota Music Festival; soloist and cahamber musician

10 January

** 1760 - birth of Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg (Sachsenflur, Lauda-Königshofen, Germany) d.1802
cellist, court band musician, conductor & composer especially of cello music

** 1825 - birth of Wulf Christian Julius Fries (Duchy of Holstein)
cellist, orchestra principal cello {based Norway-USA}

** 1866 - on this day the Belgium cellist Elisa Detry made her debut at The Hague, and also afterwards in Paris, with great success on both occasions. However, after marriage she retired from public life…

** 1889 - in the Concerthaus-Conventgarten, Hamburg (Germany), an orchestral subscription concert conducted by Hans von Bülow featured the soloists Joseph Joachim (violin) and Robert Hausmann (cello).

** 1902 - in January 1902 Belgian-born sisters Fernande and (cellist) Jeanne Kufferath went on a concert tour through the Netherlands - on today’s date they performed in Haarlem.
The programme included solo compositions for the violoncello by J.S. Bach, Svendsen and Popper; the sisters played works by Marcello, Handel and Boccherini together. 

** 1909 - birth of Rudolf Kubín (Ostrava, Czech) d.1973
cellist, composer and conductor.

** 1919 - Pau Casals begins a three-week tour of Mexico. The first concert on this date he performed in Mexico City with its Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Josep Rocabruna.

** 1930 - in the Saal Bechstein (Berlin) a programme titled “Cello-Abend” was given by Maurice Maréchal.

** 1948 - birth of Mischa Maisky (Riga, Latvia)
cellist

** 1967 - first performance of Karen Surenovich Khachaturian - Cello Sonata 
(Moscow)

** 1978 - first performance of Lejaren Hiller - Sonata for cello and piano 
(Rome)

** 1982 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Evelyn Elsing, with Nelita True /piano

** 1986 - an extended version of the film ‘Fort Saganne’ was premiered on 10th January 1986 as a TV premiere a film about the French civilization in the desert (the original was released on 11th May, 1984). A French peasant serving the Foreign Legion in North Africa must confront his comrades in arms over their social differences, over a woman and his longing to be considered a hero. He catches the eye of Madeline, the daughter of the regional administrator. He leads a gallant defense against Sultan Omar, is awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour, and marries Madeline. Then the Great War puts at risk his success and happiness.
A beautiful screen music score begins with a heartbreaking cello solo, which gives life to a melody full of feeling and affliction, but also romanticism. The composer alternates, henceforth, martial court music with dramatic themes, especially a requiem of singular delicacy. The music was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra, featuring Xavier Gagnepain as cello soloist.

** 1989 - a Reid Chamber Concert took place on today’s date at Reid Concert Hall (Edinburgh) featuring George Kennaway - cello and Alan Cuckston - piano. The imaginative programme consisted of Kurt Weill - Cello Sonata (1920) and Poulenc - Cello Sonata (1948).

 ** 1991 - a performance and live recording for Spanish National Radio of Salvador Brotons Soler - Sonata for Cello and Piano, Op.19 (1978)
Lluis Claret /cello and Alberto Giménez Attenelle/piano (Auditorio Nacional de la Música, Madrid)

 ** 1993 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Nancy Green, with Frederick Moyer /piano

11 January

** 1755 - birth of Frederick Rousseau (France)
cellist, opera orchestra cello, composer and founder of music school

** 1896 - cellist/composer Stefano Giarda received lavish praise in the newspaper ‘La Nazione’ of Florence (Italy):
"The beautiful concerto began with the Beethoven Trio Op. 11 performed by Oswald, Pente and Giarda. All admirable. Then Davidoff's Concerto in A minor for cello, full of enormous difficulties that Giarda managed to overcome with admirable serenity and sure intonation. In Popper's brilliant Tarantella, Giarda showed the perfect school of bow that he possesses. Three works for Giarda's string quartet were also performed: Romanza, Minueto and Allegro, in which the composer achieved spontaneity, inspiration and very good taste. A great success"

** 1904 - The Grimson Quartet with special guest artists Mademoiselle Sandra Droucker (piano), Percy Such (cello) and Agnes Witting (mezzo-soprano) performed at the ‘Monday Popular Concerts’ (promoted by Johann Kruse). The programme included the first London performance of Glazunov - Variations in F sharp minor for solo piano.

** 1919 - first performance of Delius - Cello Sonata      
Beatrice Harrison/cello and  ?/piano (London)

** 1925 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, a recital was offered by Francesco von Mendelssohn (cello)

** 1928 - in the Queen’s Hall (London) an ‘Insurance Orchestral Society of London’ concert took place with soloists Flora Woodman and Thorpe Bates (vocal) and Harold Triggs (cello)

** 1937 - first British performance of Alan Bush - Concert Piece, Op.17
Norina Semino/cello and composer at piano (Mercury Theatre, London)

** 1981 - birth of Ciro Hernandez (La Orotava, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands)
cellist, chamber musician (member Tellelit Duo) & professor

** 1983 - first performance of Penderecki - Cello Concerto No.2     
soloist Mstislav Rostropovich (Berlin)

12 January

** 1758 - birth of Joseph Antony (Rengersbrunnen, County Rheineck, Germany)
cellist, organist & church composer

** 1871 - birth of Max Wünsche (Warnsdorf, Germany)
cellist, member Gewandhaus Orchestra & teacher at Royal Conservatoire (Leipzig?) 

** 1882 - first performance of Arthur Foote - ‘Drei Stücke für Pianoforte und Violoncell’ Op.1
cellist ? / with the composer at piano - (Boston, USA)

** 1904 - official United Stated ‘soloist’ debut of Pau {Pablo} Casals
Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major, with American Symphony Orchestra, at New York’s New Lyceum Theatre

** 1916 - birth of William Pleeth (London) d.1999
cellist & professor

** 1929 - on this day cellist Philip Abas {Abbas} married the pianist and harpsichordist Vivian Trivette Parke. Together they performed, with collaborations from other musicians, as the ‘Philip Abas Ensemble’. In this context Abas played the viola da gamba in addition to the cello.By the way, their son Leonard Parke studied cello with his father in Detroit

13 January

** 1824 - birth of Ignacy Marceli Komorowski (Poland) d.1857
cellist, theatre orchestra & song composer

** 1872 - a wonderful review on today’s date in history for Auguste van Biene from the Dewsbury Reporter ( West Yorkshire, England) reporting on a recital in the ‘Mr. Walter Shaw’s Classical Chamber Concerts’; comments flowing like this:
“In this solo, the player roused the audience to a pitch of excitement seldom witnessed, and it was surprising to see how eagerly every note was caught up. Herr Van Biene has a perfect mastery over the mechanical difficulties of his instrument, coupled with considerable taste.”

** 1923 - birth of Daniil Shafran (St. Petersburg, Russia) d.1997
cellist

** 1946 - birth of Bogdan Trochanowski {also known as Dan Savicha} (Warsaw) d.2009
cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer and artistic adviser at the Center for Contemporary Music {based Venezuela}

** 1973 - in a concert in Leeds, England: “A Supportive Concert for Leeds Youth Orchestra American Tour”, Gretchen Miller (cello) and Richard Kessler (piano) performed Edmund Rubbra - Cello Sonata Op.60

14 January

** 1811 - birth of Karl Graedener/Grädener (Rostock, Germany) d.1883
composer, conductor, cellist & teacher {father of Hermann Graedener] 

** 1863 - birth of Th. C. de Maaré (Holland)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, opera orchestra principal cello (at aged only 22 he was appointed second solo violoncellist of the Amsterdam Orchestral Union, and later on first solo violoncello at the French Opera at Amsterdam.

** 1875 - Alfredo Piatti performed at the Charles Hallé’s concerts in Manchester, along with Miss Antoinette Sterling (voice), Madame Norman-Neruda (violin), and Mr. Charles Hallé (piano and director)

** 1932 - Gregor Piatigorsky gave a performance in the US White House, before President Herbert Hoover 

** 1946 - in a concert at the National Gallery of London, William Pleeth (cello) and Margaret Good (piano) gave a joint recital

** 1971- on this day cellist Janos Starker made a live recording of Hindemith - Cello Concerto, in Stuttgart (Germany), with the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR conducted by Andreas von Lukacsy

** 1982 - first performance of Walker - Cello Concerto  
soloist Lorne Munroe, with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Zubin Mehta

15 January

** 1689 - on this day Domenico Gabrielli finishes the writing of his “Ricercari e Sonate per Violoncello”. There are ten ricercari and one canon, but no sonata as such (but resembling the sonata of Corelli) despite the name appearing in the title of the book.

** 1811 - birth of Pierre Alexandre François Chevillard (Antwerp, Belgium) d.1877
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician, professor & composer of cello music

** 1887 - first performance of Neruda - Cello Concerto No.2
soloist - Davidov? (Vienna)

** 1890 - premiere of the ballet ‘Sleeping Beauty’of Tchaikovsky on this day in the Mariinsky Theatre St. Petersburg; there is a famous cello solo in this music

** 1904 - private recital of Pau {Pablo} Casals invited to the White House by President Theodore Roosevelt

** 1910 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra performed with soloists Emmy von Linsingen (vocal) and Gerald Maas (cello).

** 1914 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists B. Hubermann & Hugo Becker with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Steinbach

** 1933 - in a ‘Professor Tovey's Sunday Concert’ in the Usher Hall (Edinburgh) Luigi Gasparini - violoncello gave performances of Valentini - Sonata No.10a in G Major, Beethoven - Sonata for pianofote and violoncello, in A major, and cello solos by Borntoft - Celtic legend and Sinigaglia - Humoresque, accompanied by Mary Grierson - pianoforte. The pianist also gave solo items, and John Tainsh - singer was also invited.

** 1941 - Olivier Messiaen’s Quatuor pour la fin du temps [Quartet for the End of Time] for clarinet, violin, cello and piano premiered in Stalag VIII-A prison camp in Zgorzelec, Poland

** 1959 - birth of David Johnstone (Reading, England)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer, arranger {based Spain}

** 1965 - first performance of Kabalevsky - Cello Concerto No.2 in C minor     
soloist Daniel Shafran, with Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by composer

** 1970 - Joan Dickson was cello soloist in a Reid Orchestral Concert - she performed Hindemith - Cello Concerto with The Reid Orchestra, conducted by Sidney Newman

** 1971 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished recording the duo sonata in A Major of Cesar Franck, with pianist Jean Fonda, in Munich (the other recording days were the previous two or three days)

** 1985 - birth of Fabrice Millischer (Toulouse, France)
trombonist, sackbutist & cellist, orchestra principal trombone & professor

16 January

** 1893 - Alfredo Piatti performed at the Monday Popular Concerts in London, along with Mdlle Clotilde/Kleeberg (piano), Lady Hallé (Madame Norman-Neruda - violin), Ludwig Strauss (violin) and Mr. Reynolds (viola). 

** 1900 - at a ‘Mr Halford’s Orchestral Concert’, given at the Town Hall, Birmingham (England) the cello soloist was ‘Signor Ronchini’.

** 1903 - the New York Times give a rave review to cello soloist Alwin Schroeder, performing the Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto in A minor in the Carnegie Hall (phrases such as “supreme mastery”) whilst being unimpressed by the work itself!

** 1936 - first performance of Bridge - Oration {‘concierto elegaico’} for Cello and Orchestra (1929-30)    
(soloist Florence Hooton, BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by composer)

** 1940 - in the National Gallery, London, a cello recital was given by Leily Howell (cello) and Clifford Curzon (piano).

** 1944 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier made a live radio recording of Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, in Paris, with The Grand Orchestre de Radio-Paris conducted by Willem Mengelberg

** 1944 - birth of Gunnar Kvaran (Seltjarnarnes nr. Reykjavík, Iceland)
cellist, chamber musician & professor

** 1976 - first performance of Gian Carlo Menotti - Fantasia for cello and orchestra
(RAI radio, Turin, Italy)

** 1976 - birth of Jakob Kullberg (Aarhus, Denmark)
cellist

** 1982 - first performance of Werner Egk - Canzone for cello and orchestra
conducted by the composer (Großes Festspielhaus, Salzburg, Austria)

** 1983 - birth of Benyamin Sönmez (Bremen, Germany) d.2011
cellist

17 January

** birth of Karl Romberg (St. Petersburg, Russia)
cellist, member of the Russian court band, member of the Imperial Private Band of Vienna {son of the famous Bernhard Romberg}

** 1817 - birth of Wilhelm Lotze (Berlin) d.1890
cellist, court cellist & chamber musician

** 1866 - birth of Rudolph Ehrlick (Prague)
cellist, professor Moscow Conservatoire, member of the Moscow Trio

** 1876 - birth of (Joseph Marcel) Rodolphe Plamondon (Montreal) d.1940
singer (tenor) and also professional cellist

** 1892 - a solo performance was noted by French cellist Marguerite (Anastasie) Baude in Angers on this day

** 1911 - first performance of Reger - Cello Sonata No.4 in A minor, Op.116
(Hamburg, Germany)

** 1929 - the Royal Philharmonic Society at the Queen's Hall (London) conducted by Sir John Barbirolli, gave a performance featuring the soloist Alexandre Barjansky (cello).

** 1945 - in a concert at the National Gallery, London, cellist William Pleeth performed the Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57 for the second time, with the Boyd Neel String Orchestra conducted by Boyd Neel. Pianist Myra Hess (née Johnstone) also featured in the programme as a soloist.

** 1947 - birth of Thomas Igloi (Budapest) d.1976
cellist, chamber musician

** 1949 - Paul Tortelier gave a cello recital at the Royal Dublin Society Members' Hall, Ball's Bridge (Ireland)

** 1954 - birth of Michal Kaznowski (Gooderstone, West Norfolk, England)
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & professor {son of a professional orchestral cellist}

** 1959 - birth of Salome Kammer (Nidda, Hesse, Germany)
actress, singer and cellist

** 1963 - Joan Dickson was cello soloist in a Reid Orchestral Concert - she performed Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104, with The Reid Orchestra, conducted by Sidney Newman

 ** 1988 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Yosif Feigelson, with Masha Tishkoff /piano

18 January

** 1762 - birth of Camillo Barni (Como, Italy)
cellist, orchestra first cello & composer

** 1795 - birth of Joseph Merk (Vienna) d.1852
cellist, teacher& composer

** 1868 - birth of Paul Friedrich Theodore Miersch (Dresden, Germany) d.1956
composer, cellist, orchestra principal cello {based U.S.A.}

** 1873 - first performance of Piatti - Cello Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.26 
soloist - Alfredo Piatti, conducted by August Manns (London - Crystal Palace Concerts)   

** 1876 - birth of (Joseph Marcel) Rodolphe Plamondon (Montreal) d.1940
Singer (tenor), teacher, cellist - worked professionally as both Singer soloist & cellist

** 1899 - the cellist Willy Bender, with Mrs Benda at the piano, gave a concert in the University Music Class Room (Edinburgh) which also included a vocal quartet. In the programme composer-cellists were well represented, featuring:
Ninth concerto, in B minor, Op.56 ... Bernhard Romberg
Divertimento, on Austrian songs, Op.46 ... Bernhard Romberg
Fantaisie sur des airs nationaux Eccosais et Irlandais, Op.137 ... Justus Johann Dotzauer
Abend-Empfindung ... Friedrich August Kummer
Schmerz und Heiterkeit ... Friedrich August Kummer
Concertstück, Op.14 ... Adrien François Servais

** 1909 - on this day in 1909 Julius Klengel gave a ‘massive’ recital at the Bechstein Hall, London. The programme consisted of the 4th Bach Solo Suite, the Haydn D Major Cello Concerto, an Aria by Reger, some pieces of his own, finishing with ther Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations - all with piano accompaniment! Here are a couple of quotes on the event by the critic “L.P.C.”:
“The first movement of Haydn’s Concerto was rendered with beautiful finish and excellent tone….as a cellist Professor Klengel stands in the front rank, but we cannot avoid noticing that the tremendous cadenzas and with which he embellishes the compositions of other are occasions where tone gives way to execution…”

** 1921 - birth of Gordon Epperson (Williston, North Dakota, U.S.A.) d.2006
cellist & pianist, concert cellist and teacher with symphony orchestras in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Seattle, Rochester; faculty member at the University of Puget Sound 1946-1952, Louisiana State University 1952-1961 and Ohio State University 1961-1967; professor emeritus of cello at the University of Arizona from 1967 onwards.

** 1924 - Journalist Lucienne Darrouy (“L'Echo d'Alger”) revealed the secret of a remarkable folding and removable study cello instrument that was invented and bore the mark "Adèle Clément" (important French cellist in the first half of the 20th century), which was revealed in public on Friday January 18th, 1924 in Algiers during a second and last concert at the Salle des Beaux-Arts:
“We know that Miss Clément is the inventor of a mute (or almost) cello that can be dismantled. She played this practical instrument as a demonstration, of course; because its role is rather to serve traveling artists, who want to play scales in hotel rooms without incurring intolerance from profane eardrums, than to enthuse crowds for the benefit of concert performers”
Even without the sound, the columnist of L'Echo d'Alger appreciated the cellist's style:
“in the hands of this artist with deep faith, only the opportunity to admire the united inventive meaning, in a remarkably balanced nature, with the most exquisite artistic feeling…. 'Practical and poetical' ” 
Two years earlier, in November 1922, the “Popular Science Monthly” magazine published in New York promoted this curious, slender and elegant object with an illustration to support….

** 1948 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Paul Olefsky, with Eileen Flisser /piano

** 1948 - cellist Georg Horvath gave a most difficult recital of works by Vitali, Haydn (Concerto in D Major), R. Strauss (Cello Sonata), Ravel, Mouusorgsky, Davidoff and Popper with Jul. Karr-Bertoli in the ‘International concert tour concerts in Munich
(the fine print on the poster said “under the auspice is of the military government” Munchen 1948).

** 1955 - Francesca Vidal, who had been Pau Casal's romantic partner and his great secret love for many years, died in Prades on 18th January, 1955. They had not been able to marry because Casals had not yet divorced Susan Metcalfe

** 1974 - first performance of Alberto Ginastera - Serenata for baritone, cello and nine instruments
(New York)

** 1984 - first performance of Wolfgang Rihm - Erster Doppelgesang for viola, cello and orchestra
(Baden-Baden, Germany)

** 1991 - birth of Julian Schwarz (Seattle, Washington, USA)
cellist & teacher

** 1997 - first performance of Arthur Butterworth - Cello Concerto Op.98
(Huddersfield, England)

19 January

** 1808 - birth of Joseph Menter (Daudenkofen, nr. Landshut, Bavaria) d.1856
cellist, Kapelle musician in Munich, and composer {he was the father to Sophie Menter, the first wife of David Popper!} [another source gives 17 January 1808]

** 1870 - birth of Jean-Baptiste [Alphonse] Dubois Ghent, Belgium) d. 1938 
cellist, orchestra principal cello, composer & teacher

** 1873 - first performance of Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor with orchestra 
soloist - Auguste Tolbeque  (Paris Conservatoire orchestral concert)

** 1895 - birth of Otto Van Koppenhagen (Arnhem, Holland) d.1978
cellist & teacher

** 1903 - in a concert advertised as ‘Miss Rhoda von Glehn’s Vocal Recital’, the singer was accompanied by Henry Bird, and the concert was (quote) “given with the assistance of Mr Percy Such (cello)”

** 1925 - birth of Valentin Berlinsky (Irkutsk, Siberia, Russia) d.2008
cellist, chamber musician

** 1946 - Marie Dare was cello soloist in a Reid ‘Saturday Night Concert’ - she performed the Tchaikovsky - Rococo Variations, with The Reid Orchestra, conducted by Muir Mathieson - it was an all-Tchaikovsky programme.

** 1946 - Peers Coetmore gave the first concert performance of Moeran - Cello Concerto with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Sargent
(she had premiered it over Radio Eire in Dublin a few months previously, and as the new wife of this composer!)

** 1973 - birth of Antero Manninen (Finland) 
classical and ‘modern’ cellist (Apocalyptica)

20 January

** 1783 - birth of Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer (Haselrich, Germany) d.1860
cellist, composer and pedagogue

** 1862 - birth of Jan Van Unen (Zwille, Holland)
cellist, second cellist at the “Paleis for Volks vlijt’; principal cello of the Orchestral Union at Arnheim, chamber musician and teacher.

** 1868 - Alfredo Piatti performed in the Monday Popular Concerts in London, in a programme including Mendelssohn - Cello Sonata No.1 in Bb Major

** 1870 - birth of Heinrich Apunn (Frankfurt, Germany)
cellist, teacher Frankfurt School of Music, member of quartet ‘Frankfurter Quartet Vereinigung)’, occasional composer of cello pieces

** 1873 - birth of Christian Bertram (Heddesdorf, Germany)
cellist, principal cello at the Elberfeld Opera, principal cello in the court orchestra at Biickeburg, member of Sahla String Quartet

**1886 - birth of Philip Robert Abas {occasionally spelt Abbas} (Amsterdam , Netherlands) d.1945
cellist, orchestra principal cello, viol player and music teacher

** 1901 - the first London performance Eugen d’Albert - Cello Concerto in C major, Op.20, with soloist W.H. Squire (? conducted by Mr Thomas Meux)

** 1920 first performance of Bridge - Morning Song for cello and piano
(Royal College of Music, London)

** 1951 - Lorne Munroe gave a soloist performance of Strauss - Don Quixote, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Pierre Monteux, in Carnegie Hall, New York.  There was unanimous positive reaction; Virgil Thomson wrote the title line in the Herald Tribune: 'Lorne Munroe, the cellist, impressed”

** 1963 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Luis Garcia-Renart, with Marta Garcia Renart/piano

** 1972 - Moray Welsh was solo cellist, in Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.1 in Eb Major, Op.107, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Leighton, at the Reid Concert Hall (Edinburgh). Also in the programme were works of Dorward and Tchaikovsky.

** 1977 first performance of Berio - Il ritorno degli snovidenia, for cello and 30 instruments
(Basle, Switerland)

21 January

** 1766 - birth of Vincent Houška {Hauschka} (Mies, Bohemia) d.1840
cellist, Kapell orchestra musician, mandolin player & composer  

** 1786 - Luigi Boccherini is appointed chamber composer to Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia.

** 1847 - on this day Joseph Moralt (born in 1775) makes a belated debut as a cello soloist in the Gewandhaus Concerts on Leipzig

** 1892 - birth of Ernst Cohn (Cologne, Germany) 
cellist, trombonist & banjo (light music) {Nazi holocaust victim}

** 1905 - on this day Guillherminia Suggia was invited soloist at the Curtius Concert Club - she was said to have given a ‘brilliant’ rendering of Dvorak’s (then new) Cello Concerto, and also performed the Piatti Tarantella, Svendsen - Romance, and Victor Herbert’s Serenade [Alfred Curtius, was a German-British classical music impresario who was active primarily in continental Europe and the United Kingdom from the 1870s until the 1910s]

** 1918 - birth of Antonio Janigro (Mila, Italy) d.1989
cellist & conductor

** 1949 first performance of Rawsthorne - Cello Sonata in C Major
Anthony Pini/cello and Wilfred Parry/piano (Wigmore Hall, London)

** 1957 - Ernest Bloch completed writing his Suite for Solo Cello No.3

** 1982 - birth of Silver Ainomäe (Estonia)
cellist, orchestral principal cello (Minnesota Orchestra, Colorado Symphony Orchestra, and Guest Principal with Concertgebouw Orchestra); based in the U.S.A.

** 1986 - Andrés Ruiz/cello and Gonzalo Moreno/piano recorded for Spanish National Radio the work: Emilio Molina Fernández - ‘Oh Tempora’ for cello and piano
Casa de la Radio, Madrid

22 January

** 1902 - in January 1902 Belgian-born sisters Fernande and (cellist) Jeanne Kufferath went on a concert tour through the Netherlands - on today’s date they performed in Breda.
The programme included solo compositions for the violoncello by J.S. Bach, Svendsen and Popper; the sisters played works by Marcello, Handel and Boccherini together. 

** 1907 - at the Liverpool Philharmonic Society (England) featured soloists were Dr Theo. Lierhammer (vocal) and ‘Senor Pablo Casals’ (cello).

** 1918 - Stanford completed on this day his “Irish Concertino” for solo violin, solo cello and orchestra

** 1939 - birth of Alan Silva {aka Alan Treadwell da Silva} (Bermuda)
jazz bassist, cellist, keyboard player & bandleader

** 1950 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Bernard Greenhouse, with Anthony Makas/piano

** 1978 - Recording Release date of epic ‘cross-over’ project of Andrew Lloyd Webber - Variations, for solo cello and rock band and classical instruments, featuring cello soloist Julian Lloyd Webber

** 1989 - Rafael Ramos/cello and Miguel Zanetti/piano premiered José Luis Turina de Santos - Dos Duetos (1988) [this piece was commissioned by Rafael Ramos who is its dedicatee]
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

** 1995 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Benjamin Shapira, with Sevgi Topyan /piano

** 1999 - Release date in the United Kingdom of the film “Hilary and Jackie”
directed by Anand Tucker, starring Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths and James Frain -  CAROLINE DALE played as cello soloist in the sound recording

23 January

** 1864 - concerto debut of David Popper in Berlin (soloist in Volkmann - Cello Concerto & Servais - Cello Concerto)
concert conducted by Hans von Bülow (Berlin)

** 1896 - a London Symphony Concert was given at St. James Hall (London) featuring guest soloists Madame Marie Duma (vocal), Leonard Borwick (piano), Senor Arbos (violin) and Paul Ludwig (cello).

** 1916 - birth of Gabor Rejto (Budapest) d.1987
cellist, chamber musician & teacher

** 1922 - first performance of Pujol Pons - Una maravillosa fábula, for cello and piano
Gaspar Cassadó/cello and Blai Net/piano (Asociación de Amigos de la Música, Barcelona)

** 1940 - in the National Gallery, London, a recital was given by Isobel Baillie (vocal), Florence Hooton (cello) and Kendall Taylor (piano)

** 1947 - first performance of Alexander Mosolov - Concerto for cello and orchestra
(Moscow)

** 1956 - birth of Tiziano Ricci (Pesaro, Italy)
cellist and bassist (member of Italian progressive rock band ‘Banco del Mutuo Soccorso’)

** 1972 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Luca Di Cecco, with Joseph Kitchen /piano

** 1982 - Release date (premiere screened in U.S.A.) of the film “Gauche the Cellist” (Sero hiki no Gôshu)
directed by Isao Takahata, starring Hideki Sasaki, Fuyumi Shiraishi, Masashi Amenomori 
Goshu, originally a 1934 short story by Japan’s Miyazawa Kenji, featuring a professional cellist. During the rehearsal for the recitals, his coach becomes angry with him because he is not playing well enough. Goshu seems to feel nothing for the music. Luckily, he finds some very special friends: a cat will help him understand the feeling of the music, the importance of practicing will be shown by a cuckoo, rhythm by a badger, and tenderness by a little mouse. Thanks to them, Goshu will learn the true meaning of music, to finally become a fantastic performer.

24 January

** 1801 - birth of Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Schlick (Germany) d.1874
cellist, member of the Royal Chapel of Dresden; also a violinist and fine instrument maker of violins and cellos {awarded the gold medal at the Saxonian Industrial Exhibition of 1840}

** 1863 - birth of Ferdinand Hellmesberger (Vienna) d.1940
cellist, conductor and teacher {son of Joseph Hellmesberger, Sr., and brother of Joseph Hellmesberger, Jr.}

** 1864 - first performance of Volkmann - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.33     
soloist David Popper, conducted by Hans Von Bülow (Berlin)

** 1921 - Julien Paul Blitz (cellist and founder conductor of the Houston Symphony Orchestra) married pianist Flora Briggs on this day in 1921. The couple had one child, Edouard Marquis Blitz, also an important cellist, who was to become the assistant principal cellist of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

** 1924 - cellist Jean Gerardy played a concert in the US White House, before President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge

** 1936 - Maurice Eisenberg gave a cello recital with pianist George Reeves at the Wigmore Hall, London (promoted by the concert agency Ibbs and Tillet)

** 1952 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier made a live recording of Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major (version of Gendron), at Munich, with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunk, conducted by Eugen Jochum

** 1953 - Daniil Shafran (Cello), Nina Musinian (Piano) record two pieces - ‘Souvenir d'un lieu cher’, Op. 42 No.3, Mélodie by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Valse sentimentale (Op.51 No.6) by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

** 1954 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Bernard Greenhouse, with Anthony Makas/piano

** 1959 - there is some confusion on Antonio Janigro on this day; he is said to have made a live recording, in Rome, of the Boccherini - Cello Concerto in Bb Major (version Grützmacher), with the Orchestra Sinfonica de Napoli, Italy, conducted by Franco Caracciolo…..but ALSO on this day making a live recording, in Rome, of Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major, with the Orchestra Sinfonica della RAI conducted by Rudolf Kempe - surely one source is confused here?!

** 1974 - Micheline Cumant/cello and Jean Pierre Dupuy/piano performed Joan Juinjoán - Duo for cello and piano (1970) [there is also a transcription of this for viola and piano made by Emilio Mateu]. The duo also performed Tomás Marco - ‘Maya’, for cello and piano (1968-69), and Josep María Mestres Quadreny - ‘Tres Peces per violoncel i piano’ in this concert which was recorded by Spanish National Radio
Liceo Francés, Madrid

25 January

** 1907 - cellist Louise Dellmayer was at this time gaining euphoric reviews in the U.S.A.; after a solo concert in the First Prebyterian Church in Utica, the ‘Utica Daily Press’ wrote:
“There is no more talented [artist in this] section of the state than Mrs. Kassoon [she was married to John Greene Kasson] and she is heard with pleasure wherever she plays in public " (Utica Daily Press Jan 25, 1907)

** 1941 - a Reid Chamber Concert took place on today’s date at Edinburgh University featuring Ruth Waddell - cello, Peggie Sampson - cello, and John Tainsh - tenor. The programme included works for two cellos: Klengel - Suite for two cellos, Op.22, Couperin - Concert for two cellos, and Handel - Sonata for two cellos and figured bass

** 1946 - first performance of Richard Strauss - Metamorphosen for ten violins, five violas, five cellos and three basses
(Zurich, Switzerland)

** 1956 - birth of Joan Jeanrenaud {née Dutcher} (Memphis, TN, USA)
cellist, session player, Kronos Quartet

** 1957 - first performance of Walton - Cello Concerto    
soloist Gregor Piatigorsky with Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Charles Munch (Boston, USA)

** 1970 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Ervin Klinkon, with Sarah Klinkon /piano

** 1994 - Rafael Ramos/cello and Josep Colom/piano performed the premiere of Gonzalo de Olavide Casenave - “Precipiten: para violonchelo y piano” (1993) in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Ciclo de cámara y polifonía de INAEM, Auditorio Nacional de Música, Madrid

26 January

** 1902 - the very last mention of a performance by French cellist Marguerite Baude in the French specialist press concerned her participation in a quartet by Alexander Fesca on January 26th, 1902.

** 1905 - at the Broadwood Concerts (London), a recital was given by Percy Grainger (piano) and Herman Sandby (cello) with Miss Evangeline Florence (vocal).

** 1936 - Bloch finishes writing his “Voice in the Dessert” (Voix dans le desert) in its orchestral version (Châtel, Haute Savoie, France) 

** 1945 - birth of Jacqueline Du Pre (Oxford, England) d.1987
cellist

** 1958 - birth of Frédéric Lodéon (Paris)
cellist, conductor and radio personality

** 1958 - birth of Christophe Coin (Caen, France)
cellist, viola da gamba, conductor

** 1963 - a recital at the Wigmore Hall (London) was given by Paul Olefsky (cello).

** 1986 - first performance of William Bolcom - Fantasia Concertante for viola, cello and orchestra
(Vienna)

** 1992 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Jeffrey Solow, with Irma Vallecillo /piano

** 1993 - first performance of Roger C. Vogel - Fantasy, for eight cellos
cellists: ?

27 January

** 1815 - birth of Christian Kellerman (Randers, Denmark) d.1866
cellist, orchestra principal cello & occasional composer

** 1869 - birth of Johannes Smith (Arnheim, Holland) 
cellist, concert artist; solo violoncellist and chamber virtuoso in the court Chapel at Bückeburg, and member of the Sahla Quartet; professor at the Royal Conservatoire at Dresden

** 1897 - birth of Sergei Zakharovich Aslamazyan {Aslamazian} (Armenia) d.1978
cellist & composer 

** 1900 - Danish cellist Agga Fritsche she was in Norway and played there on Jan. 27th in the Oslo ‘Logens store Sal’. 

** 1921 - on this day in 1921, John Barbirolli, still known as Giovanni, played the Elgar Cello Concerto in Bournemouth with the Municipal Orchestra conducted by Dan Godfrey. This was before he embarked on a glorious conducting career!

** 1946 - An interesting recital given on today’s date by Gaspar Cassadó with Luigi Franchetti, piano
Programme: Handel-Cassadó - Aria, Gavotta [from keyboard suites] // Boccherini - Concerto in B-flat // Chopin - Sonata // Schubert-Cassadó - Introduction and variations, Op. 82 [originally for piano 4-hands] // Debussy-Cassadó - Minuetto // Tscherpine - Ode // Cassadó - Dance of the Elves [supposing originally by Popper, or a mistake and should have read ‘Dance of the Green Devil’?]

** 1979 - birth of Rosamund {Mary Ellen} Pike (Hammersmith, London)
actress and former cellist

** 1994 - Wendy Warner was cello soloist with the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Andrè Previn (the work and venue not yet noted)

28 January

** 1843 - birth of Ferdinand Böckmann (Hamburg, Germany) d.1913
cellist, member of Court Chapel of Dresden, royal chamber virtuoso & editor of old cello music

** 1900 - cello recital in London by Mr W.H. Squire (cello) and Herr Georg Liebling (piano)

** 1907 - birth of Lev Ginsburg (Mogilev, Belarus) d.1981
cellist, orchestra principal cello, teacher, musicologist, historian & author  

** 1945 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance  was given by cellist David Soyer with Irving Owen /piano

** 1989 - María Mircheva/cello and Perfecto García Chornet/piano gave the premiere of Francisco Llacer Plá - La otra Trova Heptafónica, Op 39, for cello and piano
Palau de la Musica de Valencia, Spain

29 January

** 1839 - birth of Hippolyte {François} Rabaud (France) d.1900
cellist, composer & professor {father of composer Henri Rabaud}

** 1879 - Robert Hausmann for the first time performed the Schumann Cello Concerto in Leipzig on 29th January, 1879. His previous concerto performances there had been of more popular-style, now largely forgotten works (Lindner, Dressler, Raff etc.). He played the Schumann concerto in London the following year, for the first time since Piatti had played it on a Music Society concert in 1866.

** 1897 - The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first subscription concert performances of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto were given at the Auditorium Theatre on 29th and 30th January, 1897, with Leo Stern as soloist and Theodore Thomas as conductor.

** 1898 - birth of Fernand Quinet (Belgium)
cellist, composer and conductor

** 1899 - in the series of the Sunday Afternoon Orchestral Concerts given at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London, featured soloist was cellist W.H. Squire with ‘Madame Kate Bemberg’ 

** 1927 - at the Haslemere Chamber Music Concerts (England) a recital was given by Gaspar Cassado (cello) and Nicolas Orloff (piano).

** 1949 - in a concert of the Howard Jones Music Club (Wimbledon, London), Edmund Rubbra - Cello Sonata, Op.60 was performed by William Pleeth (cello) and the composer on piano

** 1953 - Muriel Taylor was solo cellist, along with Robert Masters (violin) and Ronald Kinloch Anderson (piano), in Beethoven - Triple Concerto in C Major, Op.56, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Sidney Newman, at the Reid School of Music (Edinburgh).

** 1961 - The Oxford Orchestral Society ‘Popular Evening Concerts’ featured soloist Rohan de Saram (cello).

 ** 1985 - Joaquim Alabau/cello and Alberto García Demestres/piano recorded live for Spanish National Radio: Albert García-Demestres - ‘Siete Canciones de Soledad’ (‘Seven Songs of Solitude’ - 1982) for cello and piano
Casa de la Radio; RNE, Madrid

30 January

** 1827 - birth of Charles Montigny (Brussels) d.1866
cellist, solo cellist to the Duke of Saxe-Cibourg, principal cello of E. Stumpf’s orchestra at Amsterdam; cello professor at the Imperial Conservatoire at St. Petersburg.

** 1829 - Mendelssohn completes his ‘Variations Concertantes’, Op.17

** 1852 - birth of Joseph Siemamm (Münster, Westphalia, Germany)
cellist, solo cello of the “Allgemeine Musikgesell schaft” (General Musical Society) on Basle, principal cello for the “ Concerts Classiques” in Paris (from 1880), solo cello of the Atheneum Concerts in Nice, professor in Aix-La-Chapelle

** 1858 - on this day the Hallé Orchestra of Manchester gave its first ‘inaugural’ concert conducted by the founder Mr. Charles Hallé at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester; amongst the sixty musicians contracted was Ernst Vieuxtemps playing as principal cello (he was then living in London). Other mentioned cello section players were Herr Grieben (London), Mr. Thorley (local), M. St. Salvy (Paris) and Mr. Weston (Leicester) 

** 1876 - at the Saturday ‘Popular Concerts’ of London, Piatti shows his usual willingness to collaborate, performing as the cellist in the Sextet in F# minor, Op.8 (written in 1835), by Sterndale Bennet for String Quartet, Double Bass and Piano

** 1891 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) the first performance of three ‘Master Jean Gerardy’s Violoncello Recitals’ was heard, accompanied by Mr Waddington Cooke.

** 1893 - in the Concerthaus-Conventgarten, Hamburg (Germany), an orchestral subscription concert featured the soloist Jean Gérardy (cello), conducted by Max Erdmannsdoerfer.

** 1897 - The Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first subscription concert performances of Dvořák’s Cello Concerto were given at the Auditorium Theatre on 29th and 30th January, 1897, with Leo Stern as soloist and Theodore Thomas as conductor.

** 1927 - birth of Aleksander Bronisław Ciechański (Poznań, Poland) d.2012
cellist , member of the Warsaw Quintet.

** 1935 - birth of Wolfgang Boettcher (Berlin) d.2021
cellist, orchestra principal cello (Berlin Philharmonic), cello professor, recording artist and festival artistic director - member of ‘The 12 Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic’ 

** 1944 - birth of Lynn {Morris} Harrell (Manhattan, New York) d.2020  
cellist, orchestra principal cello, soloist, chamber musician, teacher, music conservatoire principal

** 1949 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Bernard Greenhouse, with Paul Ulanowsky/piano

** 1961 - Daniil Shafran records Concerto for Cello No.2 in G Major, Op.126 by Dmitri Shostakovich, with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yuri Temirkanov

** 1975 - David Edwards was cello soloist, along with David Nicholson - flute, Philip Greene - clarinet, and Miles Baster - violin, in a Reid Orchestral Concert; they performed Hans Gal - Symphony no. 4 (a Sinfonia Concertante for flute, clarinet, violin, violoncello and small orchestra).

31 January

** 1873 - birth of Maud Fletcher (Southampton, England) d.1947
cellist (recitalist and soloist) {daughter of respected violinist and conductor Charles Fletcher 1846–1916} 

** 1899 - cellist Josefine Donat (b.1867 Vienna) took part in a charity concert for the benefit of the Brahms Memorial Fund with the pianist Adele Radnitzky-Mandlick, to whom she was apparently particularly connected.

** 1907 - a notable historical concert on this day: the Joachim Quartet (Joachim, Halir, Karl Klingler substituting for Wirth, Hausmann on cello), and Hugo Dechert on 2nd violoncello. The programme included:
Haydn - Quartet No.34 in G Major, Op.64/4, Beethoven - Quartet Bb Major, Op.18/6, and Schubert - Quintet in C Major, Op.163 (Sing-Akademie, Berlin)

** 1923 - first performance of Delius - Cello Concerto (1920-21)     
soloist Barjansky, conducted by Ferdinand Lowe (Vienna)

** 1935 - first performance of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco - Cello concerto  
Cello soloist - Gregor Piatigorsky (New York)

** 1955 - on this day cellist Enrico Mainardi finished recording Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Fritz Lehmann

** 1965 - birth of Ofra Harnoy (Hadera, Israel)
cellist {based Canada}

** 1966 - on this day cellist Daniil Shafran gave a recital in Rome with the pianist Nina Musinyan (one of the works was J.S. Bach - Gamba Sonata No.1)

** 1967 - birth of Shauna Rolston (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)
cellist, contemporary music specialist & music educator

** 1974 - in a concert in the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford, Rohan de Saram (cello) and Michael Hill (piano) performed Edmund Rubbra - Cello Sonata Op.60

** 1984 - a Reid Lunch-hour Concert took place on today’s date at the Reid Concert Hall (Edinburgh) with the duo of cellos John Gwilt - cello and Dawn Gwilt - cello (husband and wife!). The very unusual programme consisted of:
Manfred J M Nedbal - Sonatine, Op. 5, D. F Tovey - Sonata in G, and David Gwilt - Conversations for two cellos

** 1985 - birth of Patrick Laird (USA)
cellist, popular music (Break of Reality)

** 1988 - The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra performed at the Royal Festival Hall (London) with soloist Julian Lloyd Webber (cello), conducted by Witold Rowicki, given as part of the NEC International Series.