On this cello day

** 1800 - birth of Carl Dreschler (Camenz, Germany) d.1873 {father of cellist Louis}
cellist, solo cello ‘concertmaster’ & teacher

** 1827 - birth of Heinrich Böver (Germany) d.1875
cellist (formerly violinist) and composer

** 1881 - birth of Théodore Verguet (Villefranche, Saône-Rhône, France)
cellist, principal cello in Grand Theatre Orchestra of Tours, professor at the National School of Music

** 1897 - first performance of Raff - Cello Concerto No.2 in G Major
soloist Yves Savary, conducted by Giovanni Bria (Catholic Church, Lachen, Germany)

** 1898 – While not the first to perform the Pietro Locatelli - Sonata in D Major in the United States (that distinction goes to Lino Mattioli, Cincinnati 1894), cellist Alwin Schroeder introduced the work in Baltimore (November 1897), New York City (25th January, 1898), and in West Coast cities such as San Francisco (27th May, 1898). Schroeder subsequently played it in many cities throughout the US. Originally for violin, the sonata is known to cellists thanks to Alfredo Piatti, who unveiled his version in January 1879 and performed it many times on London concerts before publishing it in 1894.

** 1899 – the then famous composer Camille Saint-Saëns departed for Argentina, for what was to become a triumphant tour of concerts, recitals, and chamber music with the violinist Cernicchiaro, the violist Gravenstein and the cellist Niederberger.

** 1911 - on this day a performance took place at the Wigmore Hall, London, featuring Jean Gerardy - cello and Leopold Godowsky - piano

** 1920 - birth of Gwyneth George (The Mumbles, Wales) d.2016
cellist & teacher
In 1950 she made her debut at the Wigmore Hall, and during the 1950s gave concerts around the UK. In the early 1960 she was a professor of music in Kingston, Jamaica. Returning to Britain, she taught at the Trinity College of Music, London, and regularly performed with the Argentine pianist Alberto Portugheis from 1967 to 1972, in the UK and elsewhere in Europe.

** 1941 - William Pleeth - cello & Margaret Good - piano, record for Decca amid the worst bombing in London of the whole 2nd World War - in West Hampstead - Tuesday, 27th May 1941 (they had probably recorded the same pieces in March but wished to improve them!).
Featured works were by Grieg - Sonata in A minor for Cello and Piano and Lyric Pieces, Op.38 No.1 - Berceuse (arranged Joachim Stutschewsky & Isco Thaler)

** 1945 - first performance of Rodrigo - 2 Piezas Caballerescas for 4-voice cello orchestra
Cello Ensemble of students of Juan Ruiz Casaux (Madrid)

** 1948 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) and Nina Musinian (Piano) record the Sonata for Cello and Basso Continuo in G Major by Jean-Baptiste Breval

** 1949 – birth of David Gwyn Seymour (Ynysybwl, in Mid Glamorgan, Wales) d.2016
A master cello arranger.
After some time working in Canada, he returned to the United Kingdom in 1977 as a senior registrar in geriatric medicine in Dundee. In 1982, he became senior lecturer in geriatric medicine at the University of Wales College of Medicine. He published many academic papers and textbook chapters on a wide range of other topics related to health in old age.
Gwyn’s love of classical music flourished in Scotland and he became, after tuition from a professor of cello in London, a very capable cellist himself who played in a number of local trios, quartets and orchestras. However, his greatest musical talent was arranging music for the cello, which he pursued with enthusiasm after his retirement and established an international reputation.

** 1950 - on this day cellist Enrico Mainardi made a live recording, of Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Eugen Jochum

** 1951 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished the recording in the Abbey Road studios of London of Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major (version of Gendron), with the Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Rafael Kubelik (he started the recording the previous day)

** 1973 - Paul Tortelier was soloist in Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104, with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Franz Paul Decker, at the Royal Festival Hall (London). The second part of the concert was a performance of Schubert - Symphony No.9.

** 1982 – cellist Erling Blöndal Bengtsson recorded a live performance playing Johan Svendsen’s (1870-1871) Cello Concerto Op.7, on Danish Radio.

** 1990 - first performance of Alfred Schnittke - Concerto No.2 for Cello and Orchestra
(Philadelphia, USA)

** 1996 – a record release on this date featured German cellist Maria Kliegel performing Harald Banter (b.1930) “Phädra”, a rhapsodic concerto for cello and orchestra composed in 1993, with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie conducted by Michail Jurowski