Historical Events of February 24
24 February
** 1791 - a cellist named Menel performed in quartets with Salomon in a ‘New Musical Fund’ concert (London).
** 1817 - English cellist Robert Lindley took part in a concert of a Haydn Quartet with Mssrs. Weichsel, Reeve and Watts; then performed in the Beethoven ‘Septimino’ alongside Weichsel, Lyon, Anfossi, Willman, Petrides and Holmes - probably one of the first-ever performances of the Beetoven septet, and especially in Great Britain.
** 1824 - birth of Ignaz Komorowski (Warsaw) d.1857
cellist, theatre orchestra musician, and composer mainly of vocal songs
** 1865 - birth of Louis Charbonneau (Montreal)
cellist, orchestra principal cello
** 1878 – on this day W.F. Grútzmacher wrote a “Praeludium fúr Violoncell” …. surely his shortest work, consisting of a mere ten triple-stop chords and a low ‘D’!
** 1883 - Miss Edith Santley (vocal) and Herr Hausmann (cello) were invited soloists in a Crystal Palace Saturday Concert (Orchestral), given at the Crystal Palace (South London).
** 1892 - cellist Robert Hausmann performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Schumann – Cello Concerto, Op.129. Concert in Den Haag, conducted by Richard Hol
** 1894 - first performance of Victor Herbert - Légende for cello, harp, and strings
soloist - the composer with the {inaugural} American Symphony Orchestra (Chickering Hall, New York)
** 1900 - birth of Maurice Eisenberg (Königsburg) d.1972
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & pedagogue
** 1910 - at the Broadwood Concerts (London), a recital was given by Madame Le Mar (vocal), Hugo Becker (cello), and Johanne Stockmarr (piano).
** 1911 - Willem Willeke performed J.S. Bach in Louisville, KY. The Louisville Courier-Journal reviewed:
“Willem Willeke gave in the Bach Suite in D major for ’cello alone, a superb demonstration of musicianship and of technique. The suite … is rarely attempted upon the modern four-stringed instrument. It is a work of prodigious difficulty, but of corresponding richness… Mr. Willeke played with assured control, and gave to each of the movements, Allemande, Gigue, Sarabande and two Bourrees [!], an appropriate and interesting. In response to repeated recalls Mr. Willeke played a Bach “Gavotte.”
** 1923 - birth of David Soyer (Philadelphia, USA) d.2010
cellist, chamber musician
** 1946 - birth of Jiří Bělohlávek (Prague) d. 2017
Conductor & cellist. In 1994, he founded the Prague Chamber Philharmonic (today PKF – Prague Philharmonia) and served as its chief conductor until 2005. From 1977 to 1990, he served as chief conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK. Since 1995, he has taught at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. From 2006 to 2012, he was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and from September 2012, he took over the conducting of the Czech Philharmonic. He was famed as a leading interpreter of Czech classical music.
** 1955 - Maurice Eisenberg (cello) and Ivor Keys (piano) gave a cello recital for the University of Nottingham (England)
so, Eisenberg played this concert on his birthday!
** 1956 - birth of Paula Zahn (Omaha, Nebraska, USA)
journalist, television newscaster and amateur cellist!
** 1962 - cellist Tibor de Machula performed as soloist with the Concertgebouw Orchestra, in Schumann - Cello Concerto, Op.129. Four concerts, in Den Haag (24th February) and Amsterdam (28th February, and 1st and 3rd March), conducted by Bernard Haitink
** 1971 - on this day cellist Janos Starker finished recording Strauss - Don Quixote, in Paris, with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Jascha
** 1978 - birth of Serena Tideman (Forks, Port Townsend, Washington, U.S.A.)
American composer, and a classical and improvisational cellist. Serena Tideman is considered minimalist and new wave, and also composes melodramatic popular songs.
She has toured with Múm, an experimental Icelandic music group. She has collaborated in live performances with many other artists such as Rasputina, Eyvind Kang, and Amy Denio. She can fiddle gypsy-style and writes her own songs about many things including parallel universes and fairytales!
** 1976 – on the 19th, 20th and 24th of this month, cellist Lynn Harrell performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Levine), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
** 1987 – on the 19th, 20th, 21st and 24th of this month, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich performed as invited soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (conducted by Shostakovich and Penderecki), in the Avery Fisher Hall (New York)
