Historical Events of May 23
23 May
** 1828 - birth of Petrus Rudolf Bekker (Winschoten, Holland) d.1873
cellist, court ‘solo violoncellist’ to King of Holland & teacher
In 1849 he tried to get a music school off the ground in Middelburg with the music master Abraham Izaak van Emden. He then settled in Amsterdam and in 1855 moved to Utrecht.
In 1861 he was appointed court cellist of King William III of the Netherlands. In Utrecht he continued to teach cello and piano, and ran a music school together with Richard Hol. He was a member of the Utrecht Municipal Orchestra, and was a member of the ‘Association for Chamber Music’ and the ‘Wind Orchestra’.
** 1841 - In a concert featuring the young Anton Rubinstein at the Pleyel Hall, Paris, the then famous cellist Auguste Franchomme helped out by playing his own piece ‘Fantasia’
** 1890 - at the Town Hall, Kensington (London) a Grand Evening Concert took place, with invited soloists Mademoiselle Jeanne Douste (piano), Joseph Hollmann (cello) and the Euterpe Quartet, conducted by Mr Fountain Meen and Mr Wilfred Bendall.
** 1895 - birth of Jean Witkowski (Lyon, France) d.1953 {son of Georges Martin Witkowski}
choral conductor, cellist, orchestra cello, timpanist & pianist {he volunteered and was seriously wounded at the Battle of the Somme in 1916}
** 1902 - birth of Hideo Saito (Akashicho, Chūō, Tokyo) d.1974
cellist, conductor & lecturer
A renowned Japanese cellist, conductor, and influential music educator who was considered a key figure in introducing Western classical music to Japan. He
co-founded the Toho Music School where he taught cello and conducting. He produced the "Saito Conducting Method," which focuses on controlling the motion of the arm (later mentoring prominent musicians such as conductor Seiji Ozawa).
** 1903 - birth of Joseph Schuster (Constantinople, Turkey) d.1969
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber recitals
** 1908 - A festival of works of Camille Saint-Saëns was given in Bourges. Saint-Saëns performed there with his friends, of whom it was noted that he joined the cellist Pierre Destombes and his pianist wife.
** 1909 - birth of Arnold Rezler (Moszczenica, Poland) d.2000
cellist, conductor & composer
** 1912 – cellist Diran Alexanian performed in the premiere of Jean Huré - Quintet for strings and piano with Georges Enesco (violin), Robert Krettly (violin), Drouet (viola), and Andrée Gellée (piano).
** 1938 - the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini gave a concert in the London Music Festival featuring soloists Emanuel Feuermann (cello) and Bernard Shore (viola).
** 1951 – on this day Czech cellist Milos Sadlo gave a performance of Thchaikovky’s Rococo Variations, Op.33, with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hermann Abendroth. This live performance was recorded.
** 1969 - birth of Maria-Eugenia Maffi (Italy)
cellist, orchesrtral and chamber music player, professor, violin maker, She has published educational collections for bowed strings, in particular for the cello and for cello ensemble at 'Éditions da Camera and Éditions Robert Martin'.
** 1977 – French composer’s André Amellér’s “6 Animal Pieces” (1975) for cello and piano, Op.223, were premiered today in the Salle Cortot of Paris, by members of the ‘Ensemble Jean Brizard’. Curiously, in 1981, the composer wrote a further nine animal pieces for cello; alone, or in duo or trio, which became his Op.277.
** 1990 - Ignacio Martínez Esparza/cello and Juan Padrosa/piano performed Tomás Garbizu Salaverría - Two Basque Pieces for cello and piano on a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Church of Capuchinos, Renteria, Basque Country
** 1992- on this day cellist Janos Starker finished recording (in the London Abbey Road Studios) Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor and Walton - Cello Concerto, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Leonard Slatkin (the other recording day was two days earlier)
