On this cello day

** 1794 - birth of Olive-Charlier Vaslin (Montreuil-Bellay, France) d.1889
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & professor

** 1817 - English cellist Robert Lindley took part in a concert of a piano quartet by Dussek with Cipriano Potter, Weichsel and Watts; then in a string trio by Romberg with the last two named.

** 1881 - an extensive chamber music programme was presented at the Cambridge University Musical Society - two string quartets (Beethoven, String Quartet in F major, Op.35 and Brahms, String Quartet in A minor, Op.51/2) were performed by the quartet of Messrs Joachim, Gompertz, Ludwig and Robert Hausmann. Joachim also performed Beethoven - Violin Sonata in G major, Op.26, and a solo by Brahms, whilst Hausmann interpreted Schumann - Märchenbilder for Cello and Piano, Op.113 (probably in the version of Grützmacher). Miss Arnold was the pianist.

** 1894 - after the premiere of Victor Herbert - Cello Concerto No.2, Op.30 the previous day the critic of the New York Times writing on this day certainly seemed very “anti-cello”!! Maybe this damning report even hindered the acceptance of the concerto in soloists’ repertoire during the following decades? His words included:
“The composition of concertos for the violoncello is not compulsory, nor will any man be assaulted with violent language if he declines to play them. But when a man is a composer by natural gifts, and a ‘cello player by choice, he will write concertos for his favorite instrument, and it is not possible to prevent him from doing so. But it does seem that the exercise of a little resolution and gentle force might prevent a man from playing them in public. The ‘cello itself protests loudly against being sawed to make a virtuoso’s holiday. But, unfortunately, arpeggios, chromatics, seventh positions, harmonics, and double-stopping are possible to the player of this instrument, and he has no mercy. It does not seem to concern him that in rapid passages the low strings bark and the high strings squeak, that chords are suggestive of explosions and chromatic descending scales in the upper strata of the first string of the wailing of wandering spirits by the River Styx. He will write a concerto or perish in the attempt; and he usually does both”

** 1903 - a nice review on today’s date for a recent Robert Hausmann recital, that appeared in the ‘Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser’:
“Beethoven’s sonata in A, for piano and ’cello, is one of the finest works extant for that particular combination, and both Mr. Mayer and Mr. Robert Hausmann, who is a professor of the ’cello at Berlin, gave to the performance a character which only mutual sympathy and understanding can supply. In tone and style, Mr. Hausmann’s playing resembles Mr. Fuchs’s, and he may well be content with the comparison. … The two performers again distinguished themselves [in Schumann’s Five Pieces in Folk Style], the balance of tone being correctly maintained, while the precision with which the rapid passages were rendered stood out conspicuously. … In Brahms’s sonata in F, op. 99, the two executants had no easy task, but to players of their calibre this was not a matter of concern.”

** 1903 - at the Liverpool Philharmonic Society (England) featured soloists were Miss Münchoff (vocal) and Mr Hausmann (cello).

** 1908 - at the Liverpool Philharmonic Society (England) featured soloists were Miss Elena Gerhardt (vocal) and Senor Pablo Casals (cello).

** 1913 - cellist Gerard Hekking performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Dvorak – Cello Concerto, Op.104. Two concerts, in Amsterdam (9th March) and Rotterdam (10th March), conducted by Willem Mengelberg

** 1947 – birth of Frederick Zlotkin (Los Angeles, U.S.A.) d.2022
Cellist. He came from the talented Slatkin family – he was one of the sons of the violinist Felix Slatkin and the cellist Eleanor Aller. His brother is the conductor Leonard Slatkin (who adopted the original Russian form of the family name).
For virtually half a century (1972-2021) he was the principal cellist with the New York City Ballet. Among his recordings was a very individual set of the Bach Cello Suites, with interesting decorations in the repeated sections. Cellist of the Nova Trio. A respected pedagogue, Zlotkin taught in various institutions around New York, including at the Manhattan School of Music, Queens College, the Hoff-Barthelson Music School, and the Brooklyn College of Music. He served as president of the Violoncello Society (VCS) Inc. of New York during a couple of years.

** 1951 - birth of Lluis Claret (Andorra la Vella, Andorra)
Solo cellist. At 13 he moved to Spain (Barcelona). He is a founding member of the Trio de Barcelona. Recital duos with the pianists Josep-Maria Colom and Benedicte Palko.
Cello Professor and Co-Chair of Strings at the New England Conservatory (Boston). Cello Faculty at the Liceu Conservatory (Barcelona). A regularly invited jury member for international competitions, such as the Rostropovitch Competition of Paris, the Paulo Cello Competition in Helsinki, Finland, the International Pablo Casals Competition in Kronberg, Germany, and the Adam Cello Competition in Auckland, New Zealand.

** 1953 – birth of Mary Ingersoll (Philadelphia, Pennsilvania, U.S.A.) d.2005
Actress ….and cellist!
She studied cello at Boston University, and graduated in Communications from Stanford University. She then stepped into television as a news reporter and anchor at KGGM and KOB in Albuquerque, New Mexico and KTTV in Los Angeles, California from 1981-1985 before turning to acting. She then pursued acting whilst not forgetting at all the cello whilst studying it generally on her own, and appeared in several TV, stage and movie productions, usually playing strong professional roles. Curiously, she was also an accomplished quilter!

** 1955 - cellist Antonio Janigro performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Haydn – Cello Concerto in D Major. Three concerts, in Amsterdam (9th and 10th March), and Dan Haag (12th March) conducted by Eduard van Beinum

** 1971 - birth of Igor Zubkovsky (born Russia)
cellist {based U.S.A.}. Gold medallist of the 1962 International Tchaikovsky Cello Competition in Moscow.

** 1974 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Michael Haran, with Alexander Fiorillo /piano

** 1979 – Lluis Claret, on his birthday, performed for the first time in his career the Lutoslawski Cello Concerto, with the composer conducting!

** 1983 - cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Dvorak – Cello Concerto, Op.104. Three concerts, in Amsterdam (9th and 10th March), and Rotterdam (12th March), conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas

** 1999 – in just two solid days of recordings (this day and the previous day) Ukrainian cellist Wladislaw Warenberg and pianist Sara Crombach were able to record an extraordinary amount of material; music of Saint-Saëns, Granados, Fauré, Gershwin, Bruch, Schumann, Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Francoeur, Vivaldi, Dvorak and Rimsky Korsakov, in two full CDs reorded in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. All these performances came together with the well-used title “The Romantic Cello”