1 December

** 1888 - 15-year old English cellist Maud Fletcher performed in a quintet on this day; the London “Era” praised the good chamber music work of the Royal College of Music:  
“Great praise may be given to the interpretation of this wonderful work  [Mozart-Quintett g -Moll]. [...]  The youthful performers did their work so well that they might have been taken for mature artists rather than students"

** 1892 - a London Symphony Concert was given at St. James Hall (London) featuring guest soloists Monsieur Gorski (violin), Carl Fuchs (cello), and Miss Evangeline Florence (vocal)

** 1894 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Miss Marie Brema (vocal) and ‘Herr David Popper’ (cello). The programme also included Edward German - Suite from the Incidental music to the Haymarket drama, 'The Tempter' - conducted by the composer

** 1914 - Sibelius finishes writing ‘Cantique and Devotion’, Op.77 for violin or cello and piano (or orchestra)

** 1917 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists Adolf Busch & Paul Grümmer with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Max Fiedler

** 1921 - Pau Casals performed as cello soloist with the Royal Philharmonic Society. This concert also included the first public performance of Holst - Ballet Music from the Opera ‘The Perfect Fool’.

** 1933 - birth of James D. Wolfensohn (Sidney, Australia) d.2020
Australian-American lawyer, investment banker, and economist who served as the ninth president of the World Bank Group (1995–2005) - He led fund-raising efforts as chairman of Carnegie Hall and headed a revival of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. An accomplished cellist under the tutelage of the renowned Jacqueline du Pré, he performed several times at Carnegie Hall. On top, he was also an Olympic fencer (in Australia’s 1956 Olympic team).

** 1999 - live recording of Carmelo A. Alonso Bernaola - ‘Tiempos: Música para un centenario: Casals’, for Spanish National Radio, by José Mará Mañero/cello and Gerardo López Laguna/piano
Foundation ‘Juan March’, Madrid

2 December
** 1781 - birth of Louis Pierre Norblin (Warsaw) d.1854 {father of cellist Emile}
cellist, opera orchestra principal cello, theatre orchestra musician & professor {based in France}

** 1893 - it is quite unusual to find a cellist publicly apologizing for playing wrong notes (have you?!) but coming from someone as fantastic as Alfedo Piatti it is even more unusual - but there was a reason for this admission! It referred to a “Monday Popular Concert” and this letter from the Italian maestro himself was reproduced in ‘The Times’ on 2nd December, 1893 like this:
“It is only right that I should add that I am the only person to be blamed for it, and that want of rehearsing, which would have been an unpardonable negligence, and not in accordance with the respect we all feel for the composer, was not the cause of those imperfections, as your musical critic (very likely out of kindness) inclines to think, but the unfortunate accident of having broken my spectacles a short time before the concert, and the impossibility of finding at the moment a pair that would suit me.”
One cannot complain at honesty!

** 1897 - the last performance of David Popper in London (and also his last performance of Volkmann - Cello Concerto). The programme included Humperdinck - Overture ‘Konigskinder’, conducted by the composer.
soloist - David Popper with London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Alexander Mackenzie (Crystal Palace, London)

** 1899 - birth of Sir John Barbirolli (London) d.1970
conductor & cellist

** 1900 - cello performance in London - Senor Paoli with Monsieur Hollman (cello)
unclear as to whether orchestral or chamber concert

** 1901 - first performance of Rachmaninov - Cello Sonata in G minor, Op.19     
Anotoli Brandukov/cello with composer at piano (Moscow) 

** 1902 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in the Vienna Konzert-Verein by soloists Felix Berber and Julius Klengel

** 1924 - first performance of Webern - 3 Little Pieces for cello and piano
(Mainz, Germany)

** 1944 - only a few months before the end of the war, German cellist Ludwig Hoelscher performed in Krakow with the Philharmonie des Generalgouvernements, an orchestra of Polish players founded by Hans Frank for propaganda purposes. Indeed, Frank noted in his diary: "Krakow concert with Prof. Hoelscher". This concert, conducted by Hans Swarowsky, featured the premiere of Pfitzner's Krakauer Begrüßung, which was dedicated to Hans Frank. Hoelscher spent the last days at the end of World War II at his house in Tutzing, Bavaria.

** 1949 - birth of Sharon Robinson (Houston, Texas, USA)
cellist

** 1954 - on this day cellist Enrico Mainardi made a live recording, in Frankfurt (Germany), of Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major, with the Orchester des Hessischen Rundfunks, conducted by Karl Böhm

** 1972 - in the Purcell Room (London South Bank), a solo recital (the second of two in autumn of that year) of music of J.S. Bach was given by cello soloist Thomas Igloi

** 1975 - Pedro Corostola/cello and Luis Rego/piano performed Félix Obarrondo Ugarte - Au bord d’Abimes, for cello and piano (1975), and the premiere of Claudio Prieto Alonso - Fantasía para cello y piano, in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Teatro Real, Madrid

** 1980 - birth of Bartosz Koziak (Poland)
cellist

** 1987 - a ‘Stradivaruis Gala Concert’ took place on this day at the Barbican Centre, London. Of special interest was the cello soloist Robert Cohen performing the Haydn - Cello Concerto in C Major on the ‘Bonjour’ Stradivari of 1692.

3 December

** 1596 - birth of Nicolò Amati (Cremona, Italy) d.1684
luthier of excellent string instruments {the grandson of Andrea Amati, founder of the Amati family of violin/cello making}

** 1834 - The Banbury Amateur Musical Society (England) programmed a concert featuring soloists Miss Lockey (vocal), Mr Reinagle (cello) and 'several other instrumental performers', conducted by Mr Edwards.

** 1843 - birth of Franz Neruda (Brno, Slovakia) d.1915
cellist, orchestra principal cello & composer {based Denmark}

** 1877 - a notable historical concert on this day: with Joseph Joachim, Louis Ries, Ludwig Straus, JB Zerbini, Alessandro Pezze (Cello), Alfredo Piatti (Cello), Sophie Löwe and Clara Schuman, in “Monday popular concerts” (St James's Hall , London)

** 1883 - birth of Anton {Friedrich Wilhelm von} Webern (Vienna) d.1945
composer, pianist and cellist

** 1891 - birth of Max Steindel (Gladbach, Germany) d.1964
cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher {based USA}

** 1903 - at the Broadwood Concerts (London), a recital was given by Miss Louise Dale (vocal), Misses Mathilde and Adela Verne (piano) and Mr H. Withers (cello), including the first English performance of Ludwig Thuille - Cello Sonata in D minor, Op.22.

** 1970 - birth of Matt Haimovitz (Bat Yam, Israel)
cellist

** 1973- on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording Boccherini - Cello Concerto in Bb Major (version Grützmacher), in the London Abbey Road Studios, with the English Chamber Orchestra conducted by Maude Tortelier (the other recording days were 14th/15th October ’73)

** 1988 - Álvaro Campos/cello and Maruxa Llorente/piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Gaspar Cassadó - Requiebros for Cello and Piano (pub.1931)
Teatro Municipal ‘María Eugenia’, San Sebastian, Basque Country

** 1993 - birth of Christoph Croisé (Filderstadt, Germany - raised in Niederlenz/Switzerland)
French-German-Swiss cellist

4 December

** 1866 - a letter dated this day was written by Auguste Franchomme to R.E. Bockmühl, and he starting it with the words:
“My dear and obliging Mr. Bockmühl, I hasten to tell you as soon as possible how much I am touched, and grateful for all the trouble you have again given yourself on my behalf, I wish it might be in my power to render you some Important service in return. Please believe me I should seize the opportunity with the greatest eagerness. In the meantime receive my sincerest thanks. --- Your devoted Auguste Franchomme”.

** 1890 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) a ‘Master Jean Gerardy Violoncello Recital’ took place, aided by Miss Carlotta Elliot (soprano), accompanied by Mr Waddington Cooke.

**1893 - Stefano Giarda, barely 24 years old, received lavish praise in the newspaper ‘La Gazzetta di Treviso’ (Italy) with these words:
"Stefano Giarda is always Giarda. The cellist to whom our pens will never tire of praising him. Yesterday we listened to him as a composer with his work Semplice Storia17, a very fine work, full of feeling, a counterpoint of melodies and musical difficulties that also highlights the mastery of the performer "

** 1918 - first performance (reduced form/piano) of Stanford - Irish Concertino for solo violin, solo cello and orchestra
May Harrison/violin & Beatrice Harrison/cello (London - Wigmore Hall)

** 1930 - a Violoncello Recital by Guilhermina Suggia, accompanied by George Reeves, for the Oxford Subscription Concerts (England)

** 1938 - Raya Garbousova performed as cello soloist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Beecham, at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London)

** 1959 - on this day cellist Daniil Shafran gave a recital in Rome with the pianist Frida Bauer (one of the works was Haydn/Piatigorsky - Divertimento)

 ** 1970- on this day cellist Janos Starker recorded Kodaly - Solo Cello Sonata, Op.8, at the Victor Studio, Tokyo

** 1978 - live performance of Armando Blanquer Ponsoda - Sonata for cello and piano (1977-78) performed by the dedicatees Marçal Cervera /cello and Perfecto García Chornet/piano
(Sala Fénix, Madrid - probably recorded by Spanish National Radio)

** 1983 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Alan Smith, with Diana Smith /piano

** 1985 - the Philharmonia Orchestra (London), conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli, invited Lynn Harrell as cello soloist (? work ?)

5 December

** 1899 - first performance of Hurlstone - Cello Sonata in D Major
Herbert Walenn/cello and Ethel Bauer/piano (Queen’s Hall chamber room, London)

** 1909 - cellist Joseph Malkin performed as soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra

** 1914 - birth of Gabriel Magyar (Budapest) d.2011
cellist, chamber music specialist (Hungarian String Quartet), and teacher {based U.S.A.}

** 1917 - It is nice when great cellists can praise each other! On this date in 1917 in the ‘Belfast Philharmonic Society - News-Letter’ appeared a superlative quote  given by Klengel in assessment of Guilhermina Suggia:
“I am a most ardent admirer of her wonderful talent, and I am firmly persuaded that before long she will be the favourite artist of the musical world, for such masterly execution, united to such an essentially musical soul, exists only in the most richly endowed artists, and they are rare.”

** 1927 - a BBC one hour-long radio programme featured The Daventry Quartet and Kennedy McKenna (tenor) and cello soloist Haydn Rogerson at 12.00 mid-day

** 1948 - first performance of Ernst Bacon - Cello Sonata
Anake Camp/cello and the composer at piano (Syracuse University, New York)

** 1955 - first performance of Martinu - Cello Concerto No.1 (third/final version)       
soloist Pierre Fournier with Orchestre de chambre de Lausanne, conducted by Victor Desarzens

** 1968 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a chamber recital was given by Anne Bartleet (soprano), Martin Bochmann (cello) and Ian Bartlett (piano).

** 1979 - first performance of Vivian Fine - Chamber Concerto for Cello and Six Instruments 
(Putney, VT, USA)

** 1987 - birth of Marcin Zdunik (Warsaw)
cellist

6 December

** 1878 - birth of Jean Gérardy (Liège, Belgium)
cellist, soloist, very regular appearances in England

** 1881 - birth of Elsa Ruegger (Lucerne, Switzerland) d.1924
cellist, chamber musician {based USA}

** 1883 - first performance of R. Strauss - Cello Sonata in F Major, Op.6      
(Hans Wihan/cello and Hildergard von Koenligs/piano (Nuremberg, Germany)

** 1901 - birth of Ippolito {Nievo} Albertelli (Palma, Italy) d.1938
cellist, soloist - artistic director of the Parmense University Music Group, and in the last months of his life he was part of the Quartetto di Firenze .

** 1907 - cellist Carlo de Guaita (1885-1912, originally from Venice, and a student of Hugo Becker) played a recital which included Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations with a piano accompaniment, receiving praise from the critics for his performance. Later an assistant to Becker, Guaita unfortunately died from meningitis on 30 September 1912, aged just 27

** 1913 - in the second concert of ‘The Longy New York Modern Chamber Music Society’, on December 6th  1913, pianist Carolyn Beebe accompanied Boston Symphony Orchestra cellist Josef Keller in a performance of Henry Woollett’s Cello Sonata in C-sharp

** 1921 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by J. Ricart-Matas

** 1928 - The Oxford Orchestral Society performed with cello soloist Ambrose Gauntlett (? work ?).

** 1929 - birth of Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Johann Nikolaus Graf [Count] de la Fontaine und d’Harnoncourt-Unverzagt (Berlin) d.2016
cellist, orchestra cellist, early music specialist & conductor

** 1936 - birth of Bedřich Havlík (Brno, Czech Republic) d.2001
cellist, chamber musician, pedagogue & music edition editor

** 1951 - birth of David Finckel (New Jersey, USA)
cellist & professor

** 1956 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) and Yakov Flier (Piano) record Sonata for Cello and Piano in G minor, Op.19 by Sergei Rachmaninov

** 1963 - US President President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded Casals the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House on this day

** 1963 - the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Yoichiro Omachi  gave a concert in Tokyo featuring the cello soloist Ludwig Hoelscher

** 1969 - birth of Robert de Maine (Oklahoma, USA)
cellist,  Principal Cello of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, teacher

** 1975 - first performance of Phill Niblock - Long Distance for cello
(Albany, NY, USA)

** 1992 - Pedro Corostola/cello and Manuel Carra/piano performed Claudio Prieto Alonso - Caprice for a Party (1992), in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Teatro Monumental, Madrid

7 December

** 1743 - birth of Johann Heinrich Viktor Rose (Quedlinburg, Germany)  
cellist, organist & composer

** 1795 - birth of Vincenzo Merighi (Mila, Italy) d.1849
cellist & professor

** 1811 - birth of Karl Ludwig Dotzauer (Dresden, Germany)
cellist, musician of the Grand Ducal Chapel at Cassels {upon the invitation of Spohr} and recital cellist. He was the younger brother of the more famous Justus Johann Friedrich Dotzauer.

** 1872 - first performance of Saint-Saëns - Cello Sonata No.1 in C minor, Op.32
?/cello - the composer at piano (Paris)

** 1950 - Ennio Bolognini gave a recital with Louis M. Kohnop (piano) at the Steinway Hall (New York) in a programme titled as “Introducing newly missed and transcribed cello compositions”; it included pieces by H. Purcell, J.S. Bach, R. Strauss, J. Haydn, G. Pugnani, G. Sgambati, R. Wagner, M. Moskoesky and some five compositions by Bolognini himself!

** 1976 - first performance of Ustvolskaya - Grand Duet for cello and piano (1959)       
Oleg Malov/cello & Oleg Stolpner (Lenningrad)

** 1982 - a Reid Lunch-hour Concert took place on today’s date at the Reid Concert Hall (Edinburgh) with Louise Paterson - cello and Lucy Carolan - piano. The interesting programme consisted of Janacek - Fairy Tale, Bartok - Rhapsody No. 1, and Brahms -Sonata in E minor

** 1992 - first performance of Isang Yun - Espace I for cello and piano
(Hamburg, Germany)

8 December

** 1877 - on this day cellist Anna (Ludwika) Kull was known to have performed in a charity concert in Graz (Grazer Zeitung December 8, 1877). She died during a visit to Trient Castle in 1923, and bequeathed her cello to the city of Graz.

** 1884 - first performance of Herbert - Cello Concerto No.1, Op.8       
soloist - the composer ? / (Stuttgart, Germany)

** 1887 - The “New York String Quartet” opens its season in Steinway Hall - the cellist is Victor Herbert 

** 1905 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in the Berlin Königliche Kapelle by soloists Alexander Sebald & Hugo Dechert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Weingartner

** 1906 - in the English newspaper ‘Morning Post’ on this day, the critic, reviewing a cello-piano recital of both Brahms cello sonatas, seemed very happy with both cellist and pianist: 
“The violoncello Sonatas were played by Professor Robert Hausmann in a most appreciative spirit, which seemed to find its most congenial field in the two middle movements of the composition in F major. Miss Fanny Davies was the pianist of the afternoon, and no one better fitted to fulfill the office could have been found.”

** 1908 - on 8th December 1908 Felix Salmond appeared at the Bechstein (now named the Wigmore) Hall, taking part in Brahms’s G minor Piano Quartet with his mother, Maurice Sons, and Frank Bridge, and premiering Bridge’s Fantasy Trio. The Times commented that:
“though nominally making his début to a London audience, he was clearly not unknown to the majority of the audience, who greeted his appearance with tumultuous applause” ….

** 1927 - The Royal Philharmonic Society, conducted by Henry Wood, featured Pau Casals as cello soloist. This concert also included the first English performance of Sibelius - Symphony No.7.

** 1936 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by Guilhermina Suggia

** 1943 - birth of Maria Nakeva (Sofia, Bulgaria)
cellist, orchestral principal cello

** 1955 - release date / premiere, in the United Kingdom, of “The Ladykillers” - a British black comedy crime film directed by Alexander Mackendrick for Ealing Studios. It stars Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers, Danny Green, Jack Warner, and a 76-year old star Katie Johnson as the old lady, Mrs. Wilberforce…..and the cello is very present there, even if no one ever plays it!
Mrs. Wilberforce is a staple of society. She receives a visit from a Professor Marcus (Sir Alec Guinness) who is most interested in taking lodgings in her abode. The ‘Professor’ claims to be part of an amateur string quintet that is interested in using the room for rehearsals. However, unbeknown to Mrs. Wilberforce, the ‘musicians’ are actually a gang the Professor has assembled, with the intention to loot a security van at the nearby King’s Cross Station. The second act deals with Mrs. Wilberforce unnerved - one of the gang, an ex-boxer, catches his cello case in the front door during the gang’s attempt to leave the lodgings. A banknote splattered floor and the discovery that the cello case contained no musical instrument at all certainly raised alarm bells for Mrs. Wilberforce! The gang have to devise how to deal with their interfering landlady!

** 1960 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording the 6 Bach - Solo Cello Suites, in Paris (in four days: 5th to 8th  December ’60)

** 1970 - first performance of Wuorinen - Cello Variations I, for solo cello
(Blauvelt Theatre, Philadelphia, USA)

** 1981 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording Haydn - Cello Concertos in C Major and D Major, with Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn, conducted by Jörg Faerber (there were 3 recording days)

9 December

** 1886 - at an unknown venue in London a vocal concert took place, with a number of cello solos offered by Mr F. O. Bower.

** 1891 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) the last of three chamber music concerts featured Messrs Josef Ludwig (violin) and W. E. Whitehouse (cello).

** 1892 - birth of Beatrice Harrison (Roorkie, India) d.1965
cellist

** 1899 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist ‘Monsieur Gerardy’, with vocal soloist Miss Lillian Blauvelt.

** 1903 - birth of Zofia Adamska (Warsaw) d.1988  
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & teacher

** 1921 - birth of Terence Weil (London) d. 1995
cellist, orchestra principal cello & cello teacher

** 1926 - Pau Casals was cello soloist in both Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104, and Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor, in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, with The Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey.

** 1927 - first performance of A. Somervell - Aria in D
cellist/Juliette Alvin (Wigmore Hall, London)

** 1940 - Gregor Piatigorsky performed a recital at New York Town Hall on this day, with Valentin Pavlovsky at the piano - they played music by Eccles, Beethoven, Haydn, Schumann, Peokofiev, Chopin and the very own Mr. Piatigorsky!

** 1944 - in a special ‘Boosey & Hawkes Concert’ at the London Wigmore Hall, cellist William Pleeth premiered the Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57, with the Boyd Neel String Orchestra conducted by Boyd Neel

** 1945 - first European performance of Prokofiev - Cello Concerto
soloist - Maurice Gendron with London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Walter Susskind

** 1946 - James Whitehead (cello) and Harry Isaacs (piano) gave a recital at the Royal Dublin Society Members' Hall, Ball's Bridge (Ireland)

* 1950 - birth of Denis Brott (Montreal)
cellist, teacher, founder of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival {son of Alexander Brott and brother of Boris Brott}

** 1958 - birth of John Sharp (Waco, Texas, USA)
cellist, orchestra principal cello

** 1975 - first British performance of Bernd Alois Zimmermann - Cello Concerto
soloist - ? / Royal Scottish National Orchestra

** 1989 - Mariano Melguizo/cello and Luciano González Sarmiento/piano performed Angel Martín Pompey - Capricho for cello and piano in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio.
Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, Madrid

10 December

** 1786 - birth of Friedrich Müller (Orlamünde, Sachsen-Altenburg, Germany)
cellist, court orchestra member, conductor, clarinettist & composer

** 1890 - first performance of Arthur Foote - Romance and Scherzo for cello and piano, Op.22
(New York)

** 1901 - William Henry Squire finished writing his Bourree, Op.24, on this day, and dedicated it to Joseph Hollmann. It was personally important to him in that it marked Squire’s return to his ‘main’ publisher Augener after experiments with other editors (Boosey, Ascherberg and Bosworth)

** 1925 - birth of Amaryllis Marie-Louise Fleming (Switzerland) d.1999
cellist & teacher

** 1934 - Pau Casals was cello soloist in Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.129, in the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, with The Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey. He also performed J.S. Bach - Solo Cello Suite No.5 in C minor in the same concert.

** 1936 - Gaspar Cassadó gave his New York debut on 10th December, 1936, performing Haydn's Concerto in D Major with John Barbirolli and the New York Philharmonic. Two days later, he was to appear again with the same orchestra

** 1945 - in a concert at the National Gallery of London, Maurice Gendron (cello), Peter Pears (tenor) and Britten (piano) gave a joint recital

** 1950 - birth of Steven Doane (USA)
cellist, recitalist, chamber musician & professor

** 1958 - An orchestra of 32 violoncelli of the Violoncello Society of New York gave a concert at New York Town Hall, featuring, and conducted by, Villa-Lobos: his Bachianas Brasileiras numbers 1 and 5 (with soprano soloist Phyllis Curtin in No.5), Bach Preludes and Fugues transcribed by Villa-Lobos (American premieres in these versions), and the world premiere of his Fantasia Concertante for 32 cellos

** 1981 - birth of Thomas Rann (Adelaide, Australia)
cellist

** 1993 - an orchestral concert was given by the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (London) titled ‘Peter and the Wolf Gala Concert’ featuring Steven Isserlis (cello), conducted by Mark Elder

11 December

** 1834 - back to the year 1824 and cellist Nicolaus Kraft had the misfortune to badly hurt the fore-finger of his right hand in tuning his instrument; in spite of many attempts during a long period to cure the injury he finally had to abandon his public career and retire on a pension on 11th December 1834.

** 1899 - birth of Benar Heifetz (Mogilev, Russia) d.1974
cellist, orchestra principal cello & chamber musician {based USA}

** 1955 - accompanied by Marta Montañez, Pau Casals visited Puerto Rico for the first time, his mother's homeland

** 1955 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Analee Camp, with Lionel Nowak /piano

** 1971 - Daniel Barenboim (piano) and Jacqueline du Pré (cello) finish recording Chopin - Cello Sonata & Franck - Sonata in A Major
(Abbey Road, London)

** 1976 - Anna Shuttleworth performed as soloist in Edmund Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57, with the Newbury String Players conducted by Christopher Finzi at Hungerford Parish Church (England).

** 1993 - José María Mañero/cello and Gerardo López Laguna/piano performed Carlos Villasol - ‘Un no sé qué que se halla por ventura’ para cello and piano, in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid

** 1996 - François Moncierro/cello and Albert Nieto/piano performed Roberto Gerhard - Sonata for cello and piano (1956) in the Foundation ‘Juan March’, Madrid, recorded live by Spanish National Radio.

12 December

** 1753 - birth of Prince Christian von Wittgenstein-Berleberg (Germany) d.1800
singer, clavier, patron of music orchestra, serious cello study in later years

** 1875 - birth of Fritz Gaillard (The Hague, Holland) d.1939
cellist, orchestra principal cello {based Holland and USA}

** 1889 - in the Concerthaus-Conventgarten, Hamburg (Germany), an orchestral subscription concert conducted by Hans von Bülow featured the soloists Ernst Skalitzki (violin) and Wilhelm Kufferath (cello).

** 1896 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Mademoiselle Jeanne Greta (vocal) and Mr Leo Stern (cello).

** 1905 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Dresden by soloists Alexander Sebald & Hugo Dechert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Steinbach

** 1919 - birth of Antonin Kohout (Czech Republic) d.2013
cellist & chamber music player

** 1923 - unusual programme in recital of John Barbirolli (cello) and Ildebrando Pizzetti (piano), including the Cello Sonata by Pizzetti and including his Cradle Song, Op.8 No.1 and Jesukin, Op.4 No.2
 (Concert of the London Contemporary Music Centre, Queen Square Hall, London)

** 1930 - birth of Saša Večtomov (Czech Republic) d.1989 {son of cellist/composer Ivan Večtomov}
cellist & chamber music player

** 1936 - Gaspar Cassadó gave his second New York performance on 12th December, 1936 (just two days after his debut), this time performing his own transcription of Weber's Clarinet Concerto, Op. 74, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra

** 1950 - first performance of Ross Lee Finney - Cello Sonata No.2 in C Major
(Anne Arbor, Michigan, USA)

** 1977 - first performance of Sofia Gubaidulina - Ten Etudes for cello
(Moscow)

** 1984 - Angel Luis Quintana/cello and Lourdes Gallego/piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Gaspar Cassadó - Requiebros for Cello and Piano (pub.1931)
Casa de la Radio, Madrid

** 1986 - first performance of Hans Werner Henze - Sieben Liebeslieder for cello and orchestra
Soloist: (probably) Alexander Baillie (Cologne, Germany)

13 December

** 1890 - on this day a rather unusual review appeared about the very young cellist Jean Gérardy (just 13 years old!) which seemed to show Londoners were getting tired of pianists! The ‘Musical Standard 39’, No. 1376 wrote this article titled “Master Jean Gérardy”:
“The succession of young musical “prodigies” does not seem likely to end just yet. One after another they troop over to unmusical England, where they find more appreciation and earn more money than among the more richly-endowed and highly cultured musical intellects of the continent. The prodigy pianist, however, was beginning to pall upon the jaded appetites of London concert goers, and young Gérardy, the talented ’cellist, who has set the town talking, comes as “a boon and a blessing” to wonder-lovers who were getting just a little tired of listening to youthful and immature renderings of Bach’s “Fantasia Cromatica” and Beethoven’s Opus 57”
So it always had advantages in playing the cello!

** 1907 - cellist Elsa Ruegger (1881-1924) played the first of two important Berlin recitals, the other took place four days later (in fact, she had already made her Berlin debut in 1895). Both concerts (with pianist Paul Goldschmidt were warmly endorsed by the critics: on the first concert’s programme of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, her performance of the 5th Bach Suite was described as “absolutely perfect.”

** 1914 - Casals gives his first concert at New York's Metropolitan Opera House, where he plays Saint-Saëns' Concerto and Bruch's Kol Nidrei with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra under conductor Richard Hageman.

** 1920 - birth of Pavel Kohn d.1944
cellist & trumpet player - Auschwitz Holocaust victim

** 1924 - birth of Laszlo Varga (Hungary) d.2014
cellist & professor

** 1931 - first performance of Martinu - Cello Concerto No.1 (first version)       
soloist Gaspar Cassadó (Berlin)

** 1938 - German cellist Ludwig Hoelscher played the Brahms Double concerto with the violinist Max Strub and the Vienna Symphony under Karl Böhm in Vienna

** 1970 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Luis Leguia, with Robert Freeman /piano

** 1974 - first performance of Walter Piston - Duo for cello and piano
(Washington, DC, USA)

** 1975 - first performance of Michael Braunfels - Symposion, for 12 Cellos, Op.59 N.1
The 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic (WDR, Cologne, Germany)

** 1976 - Marçal Cervera/cello and Perfecto García Chornet/piano performed Tomás Marco - Maya, for cello and piano (1968-69), and Manuel Palau Boix - ‘Canción del Mar’ and ‘Coplas de mi tierra’ also for cello-piano, for Spanish National Radio
Casa de la Radio, Madrid

** 1979 - first performance of Ginastera - Cello Sonata, Op.49
(Alice Tully Hall, New York)

** 1991 - birth of Jay "Bluejay" Greenberg (New Haven, Connecticut, USA)
composer and cellist

14 December

** 1778 - birth of Nikolaus Kraft (Esterhazy, Hungary) d.1853
cellist, opera orchestra principal cello & composer [son of Antonin Kraft]

** 1879 - birth of Robert Purcell Jones (Ruabon, North Wales)
cellist (formerly violinist!), orchestra principal cello and chamber musician

** 1885 - birth of Marcel Ringeisen (Dyon, France)
cellist, professor at the Toulouse Conservatoire, solo cellist of the concert society of Toulouse

** 1888 - birth of Michel Penha (Amsterdam, Holland) d.1982
cellist, orchestra principal cello & studio musician  {based USA}

** 1901 - in the concert series “Mr Joseph Ivimey´s Chamber Concerts”, held in the Assembly Rooms, Surbiton, Surrey, England, the 100th Chamber Concert was given on this date and featured Madame Marian McKenzie (vocal) with Miss Fanny Davies (piano) and then H. Trust (cello) accompanied by Miss Dora Robinson.

** 1904 - first performance of Reger - Cello Sonata No.3 in F Major, Op.78
composer at piano (Museumssaal im Palais Portia, Munich, Germany)

** 1905 - birth of Mervyn Vicars
cellist, orchestra musician, many other instruments, conductor & composer

** 1908 - birth of Morey Amsterdam (Chicago, USA) d.1996
comedian & cellist!

** 1921 - in a chamber music concert at the Banbury and District Musical Society (England) a cello recital was given by Felix Salmond

** 1944 - birth of Heidi Litschauer (Vienna)
Austrian cellist and professor, principal cello Camerata Académica de Salzburg, cellist of Vienna Trio & Vienna Flute Trio, head professor in Mozarteum on Salzburg

** 1977 - first performance of Galina Ustvolskaya - Grand Duet for piano and cello
(St. Petersburg, Russia)

** 1979 - Release Date of the Frederico Fellini film “Orchestra Rehearsal” / “El Ensayo de Orquesta” / “Prova d'Orchestra”, first publicly screened on this day in Spain. The important role of the cellist was portrayed by actor Ferdinando Villella.
An orchestra assembles for a rehearsal in an ancient chapel under the inquisitive eyes of a TV documentary crew, but an uprising breaks out. At first, the musicians had arrived, joking and teasing. A union shop steward explained to them that a TV crew is there, and that talking to them is optional, and there will be no extra compensation for that. So the musicians were talking about their instruments. The German conductor duly arrived and put them through their paces. However, he yelled at them, insulting the players. The shop steward called a 20 minute break. The conductor retreated to his dressing room and talked about how the world of music has changed, moving away from the real respect for the conductor. He returns to the rehearsal to find the orchestra in full revolt. What can bring them back to the music? 

** 1980 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Nicholas Anderson, with Jacqueline Divenyi /piano

** 1992 - first performance of Iannis Xenakis - ‘Paille in the wind’, for cello and piano
Jacopo Scalfi/cello and Roger Woodward/piano (La Scala de Milan, Milan, Italy)

15 December

** 1831 - birth of Friedrich Gustav Jansen (Germany) d.1910
cellist, professor  at Gottengen, organist and royal music director for the Verden Cathedral. Jansen published cello-piano arrangements of Romberg's Sonatas Op. 38 (originally for solo cello plus viola and cello) and Op. 43 (for two cellos). 

** 1883 - first public performance of Fauré - Elegie, Op.24      
Jules Loeb/cello with composer at piano (Paris - Société National de Musique)

** 1892 - birth of José María Castro (Avellaneda, Argentina) d.1964
cellist, composer & conductor

** 1918 - on this day cellist Philip Abas performed as soloist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (with conductor Ossip Gabrilowitsch) in the 1st Cello Concerto by Camille Saint-Saëns.

** 1939 - in the National Gallery, London, a cello recital was given by Beatrice Harrison (cello) and John Simons (piano).

** 1943 - a historic recording was made in this day of Gregor Piatigorsky playing the Hindemith Cello Concerto (written three years previously) with the composer conducting the CBS Symphony Orchestra

** 1950 - birth of Jerry Grossman (Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA)  
cellist, orchestra principal cello

** 1957 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Guy Fallot, with Monique Fallot /piano

** 1974 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Paul Tobias, with Elizabeth Moschetti /piano

** 1997 - Gheorghe Motatu/cello and Assumpta Coma/piano performed Joaquím Homs Oller - Impromptu for cello and piano (1971), Frederic Wort Collado - 5 momentos musicales, and Josep María Pladevall i Fontanet - Sonata per a Violoncel i Piano (1997), recorded live by Spanish National Radio
Centro de Cultura Contemporánea, Barcelona, Catalonia

 16 December

** 1688 - on this day Giuseppe Maria Jacchini was made a member of the Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna. His interest in it was apparently musical only, for there were members who objected that he did not attend to the spiritual exercises and sacred functions of the organization!

** 1848 - birth of Richard Vollrath (Sonneberg, Saxe-Meiningham, Germany) 
cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher  

** 1880 - first performance of Klengel - Cello Concerto No.1
soloist Julius Klengel with Gewandhaus Orchestra (Leipzig, Germany)

** 1882 - birth of Zoltán Kodaly (Kecskemét, Hungary) d.1967
composer, cellist, ethnomusicologist, pedagogue & philosopher

** 1883 - birth of Alexander Barjansky (Odessa, Russia) d.1946
cellist

** 1893 - world premiere of Symphony no.9 “from the New World” by Antonín Dvorák, in Carnegie Hall, New York to great acclaim.
At the insistence of the composer, the cello section is led by Victor Herbert 

** 1894 - first performance (in orchestral version) of Dvorak - Rondo in G minor, Op.94; in the same concert the orchestrated version of Dvorak’s ‘Silent Woods’ with cello soloist was also heard for the first time
soloist - Moritz Kahnt, conducted by Alfred Volckland (Basle, Switzerland)  

** 1911 - John Barbirolli makes his public debut as solo cellist at a concert at the Queen’s Hall, London

** 1922 - the conducting debut of cellist Janos Scholz on this day included the humorous anecdote that at one point he fell off the conductor’s podium, and into the ranks of the first violin section!

** 1927 - first performance of Florence Schmitt - Introït, récit et conge, for cello and orchestra
(Paris)

** 1955 - on this day the Hans Kindler orchestration of Cassadó’s ‘Toccata in the style of Frescobaldi) (and note, not by Frescobaldi himself!) was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra, presumably conducted by cellist/conductor Kindler himself.

** 1983 - birth of Joshua Roman (Oklahoma, USA)
cellist. orchestra principal cello

** 1994 - birth of Brannon Cho (New Jersey, U.S.A.)
cellist

17 December

** 1786 - auditions and applying for positions has always been hard! On this day in 1786 Thomas Hennerlein (youngest son of cellist Anton) applied for the second time (a month after the first) for a permanent engagement at the court of Bamberg or to be allowed to ‘go to Salzburg’; he was told he might go to “Salzburg unmolested or seek service at any other court” - hardly a positive response! What eventually became of him is unknown.

** 1866 - soloist Alfredo Piatti performed Sullivan - Cello Concerto in D Major in Edinburgh on this date - it was almost surely only the second performance ever of the work.

** 1901 - at a ‘Mr Halford’s Orchestral Concert’, given at the Town Hall, Birmingham (England) the soloists were Miss Theresa Rassam (vocal) and Willy Lehmann (cello).

** 1913 - at Milton Hall, Deansgate, Manchester on 17th December, 1913, a “Miss Gertrude Haworth's Student's Vocal Recital” took place; the programme was assisted by solos on the cello by Ernest Thorley

** 1930 - a Cello Recital was given for the Windermere Chamber Concerts by Antonia Butler at St. John’s Room, Windermere (England)

** 1932 - release date of a Mickey Mouse film of interest to cellists; “Mickey's Good Deed” (also called Mickey's Lucky Break and Mickey Plays Santa in certain home video releases) is a 1932 animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by United Artists. Set during the Christmas season and the contemporary Great Depression, the cartoon centers on Mickey's act of charity to bring Christmas to a poor family. The film was directed by Burt Gillett and features the voices of Walt Disney as Mickey and Pinto Colvig as Pluto. It was the 50th Mickey Mouse short, and the 14th of that year. At one point in the film Mickey drops his cello and a horse-drawn sleigh runs it over destroying it. The apparently oblivious party in the sleigh calls out a cheerful "Merry Christmas!" to Mickey…

** 1966 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier made a live recording of Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, in Paris, with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française conducted by Jean Martinon

** 1972 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Yehuda Hanani, with Emanuel Krasovsky /piano

** 1976 - birth of Mark Kosower (Eau Claire, Minneapolis, USA)
cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher {based USA-Germany}

** 1988 - on December 17th, 1988, Rostropovich gave a special concert at Barbican Hall in London, after postponing a trip to India for the Armenian Earthquake relief program. The event was part of an effort called Musicians for Armenia

18 December

** 1848 - birth of Karl/Carl Schröder {II} (Zurich) d.1935 {father was Karl Schröder I, violinist}
cellist, composer & conductor

** 1873 - Belgian cellist Gabrielle Platteau performed in the Amsterdam Felix Meritis, among others at the side of the soprano Marie Monbelli. 

** 1905 - birth of (Hans) Richard Strurzenegger (Zurich) d.1976
cellist, orchestra principal cello, teacher & composer

** 1906 - the Trio Cortot-Thibaud-Casals makes its debut in a concert, in Lille, France

** 1907 - Monroe Bostelmann (lived 1880-1920, originally from New York) made his Berlin debut playing cello sonatas of Beethoven and Brahms, with the pianist Josef Weiss. It appears that the pianist upset the critics; one (Arthur Laser) wrote: “It is time to make an energetic protest against the kind of playing that Herr Weiss favors. If he does not take art seriously, he should practice his craft where caricatures are fully appreciated, namely in the Variéte-Theater”. The cellist returned to the US in 1909, where he apparently abandoned his musical career, and died very young.

** 1927 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Guidi & Scipione with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Mengelberg

** 1941 - first performance of William Busch - Cello Concerto
soloist - Florence Hooton with the Oxbridge RAF Orchestra. The second performance, also with Florence Hooton, was with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult (who was very complimentary about the piece!).

** 1947 - birth of Rafael Ramos (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain)
cellist, orchestral principal cello & profesor

** 1948 - birth of William Boughton (Birmingham, England)
cellist and conductor (founder English String Orchestra & English Symphony Orchestra)

** 1955 - first broadcast performance of Gordon Jacob - Divertimento for Unaccompanied Cello (the concert premiere was in April 1955 at the Royal Festival Hall) - performances were by Florence Hooton

** 1987 - birth of Žana Miniotaite (Vilna, Lithuania)
cellist, chamber music, artist & writer

** 1993 - José María Mañero/cello and Gerardo López Laguna/piano recorded Federico Mompou - El Pont (1982), for cello and piano for Spanish National Radio
Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid

19 December

** 1790 - on this day The Elector Maximilio Franz (Electorate of Cologne) engaged Bernhard Romberg for his Royal Band at Bönn.

** 1840 - birth of Pierre Joseph Ernest de Munck (Brussels) d.1915
cellist & composer {son of cellist-composer François de Munck}

** 1900 - a ‘Historical Concert’ at Edinburgh University  on this day included David Millar Craig - cello and Scott Jupp (accompanist), who performed Haudn - Cello Concerto in D Major Second Movement, and two pieces by Julius Klengel: Intermezzo and Mazurka

** 1912 - first performance of Klengel - Double Cello Concerto, Op.45
soloists Julius Klengel & {daughter} Eva Klengel with Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Artur Nikisch (Leipzig, Germany)

** 1958 - birth of Steven Isserlis (London)
cellist

** 1962 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier made a live recording of Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No.1. in Geneva, with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Jascha Horenstein

** 1964 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished the recording in Zurich of Haydn - Cello Concerto in D Major, with the Festival Strings Lucerne, conducted by Rudolf Baumgartner (the other recording day was two days previously)

** 1966 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier recorded live Strauss - Don Quixote, in Munich, with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Rudolf Kempe (with viola soloist Georg Schmid)

** 1969 - Rodríguez Uria /cello and Elisa Ibañez /piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Gaspar Cassadó - Requiebros for Cello and Piano (pub.1931)
Auditorio del Ministerio de Información y Turismo, Madrid

** 1988 - birth of Astrig Siranossian (Lyon, France)
cellist

20 December

** 1680 - Domenico Gabrielli is appointed cellist at S. Petronio, Bologna (Italy)

** 1857 - birth of Emile Blume (Hanover, Germany)
cellist, member of Hanover Court Orchestra (at aged 15!), ‘Royal chamber musician and the Order of the Crown’, principal cello Royal Theatre of Hanover, member of Hänflein String Quartet (during 15 years), member Riller Quartet, professor & cello music composer

** 1874 - cellist Gabrielle Platteau was heard - alongside Marie Monbelli - in Arnhem; indeed this was the last known concert of Gabrielle Platteau. Shortly afterwards, the Belgian “Guide Musical” reported that the cellist was “en ce moment très-dangereusement malade” ( “currently dangerously ill”)

** 1882 - birth of Arnold Földesy (Budapest) d.1940
cellist, orchestra principal cello, recording artist

** 1886 - first performance of Brahms - Trio in C Minor, Op.101 (programme also featured Brahms - Cello Sonata No.2 in F Major, Op.99)
with David Popper - cello, Jenö Hubay - violin and composer at piano (Budapest)

** 1899 - the cello soloist Hans Wihan performed the Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor on this date with the composer conducting. Although Dvorak wrote the great work for Wihan, the cellist was unable to give the world premiere (seemingly for professional diary commitments that he was unable to cancel) and therefore this concert in Budapest was the first time that cellist and composer shared stage together with this work. However, it should be mentioned that Wihan had performed the work months earlier (January, 1899) at The Hague to great acclaim.

** 1903 - birth of János Scholz (Sopron, Hungary) d.1993
cellist, orchestral principal, chamber music player
principal cellist Budapest Symphony Orchestra (under Dohnányi), Budapest Opera Orchestra, from 1932 the cellist of the Roth Quartet (they took up US residence the following year) - In addition to being a cellist, Scholz was an accomplished viola da gamba performer and os credited as the first performer to record the Bach Gamba Sonatas (Columbia 1938) on this instrument.

** 1907 - cellist Sara Gurowitsch (from a Russian family living in the Bronx) made her Berlin debut after finishing her education in Berlin at the Hochschule and receiving a Mendelssohn Prize stipend in 1906. Critics of her December concert found her sound inadequate for a large hall, however she shortly afterwards made her American debut playing the d’Albert Cello Concerto, which was very popular at this time, and other solo performances with orchestras before the First World War. After her solo career, she taught for many decades (d.1981).

** 1991 - first performance of Peter Sculthorpe - Threnody for solo cello 
(Sydney)

** 1999 - first performance and live recording of Carmelo A. Alonso Bernaola - Ofrenda, for Spanish National Radio, by Pedro Corostola/cello and Manuel Carra/piano
Teatro Real, Madrid (a concert in honour of Félix Hazen).

21 December

** 1827 - at a Private Concert, in Birmingham (England) an unusual concert programme featured Madame Puzzi and Mr Phillips (vocal), with Signor Puzzi (horn), Mr W. Lindley (cello) and Mr Mori (violin).

** 1861 - birth of Otto Köhler (Neuhaldensleben, Mereseberg, Germany)
cellist, orchestral principal cello in Neustrelitz.

** 1904 - Richard Strauss accompanied cellist Carl Fuchs, in a performance of his Cello Sonata in F Major, Op.6
(Manchester, Great Britain)

** 1914 - birth of Francesc {‘Gabby’} Gabarró Solé (Verdú, Urgell, Catalonia) d.1990
cellist and trombonist, member London Symphony Orchestra  (1949-54), Hirsch String Quartet, Trio Virtuosi, Philharmonia Orchestra, The Alan Drew Otchestra, The Freddie Alexander Cello Orchestra, Ther London Jazz Chamber Group, The Patrick Halling String Quartet, Bill Le Stage Directions in Jazz Unit. He collaborated as cellist in the recording of the Beatles song “Yesterday”

** 1919 - birth of Nelson Ripley Cooke (Bellbird, New South Wales, Australia) d.2018
cellist, orchestral principal cello London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Pholharmonic Orchestra, Florida Orchestra; head of Strings Canberra School of Music, Australia  {largely based England}

** 1921 - birth of Joan Dickson (Edinburgh) d.1994
cellist, chamber musician & professor 

** 1931 - birth of David Nathaniel Baker Jr. (Indianapolis, USA) d.2016
jazz composer, conductor, trombonist & cellist 

** 1939 - on this day a famous recording was made! Jascha Heifetz and Emanuel Feuermann were soloists in the Brahms - Double Concerto in A minor, with the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy. Incredibly, everything was made and set down in a little over two hours, yet it has been in the RCA catalogue for over eighty years!

** 1946 - birth of Étienne Péclard (Deux-Sèvres, France)
cellist, orchestra principal cello

** 1963 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier finished recording the Couperin - Pièces en Concert (version Bazelaire) with the Lucerne Festival Strings, conducted by Rudolf Baumgartner (the other recording day was the previous day)

** 1963 - first performance of Khachaturian - Cello Concerto-Rhapsody      
soloist Mstislav Rostropovich, with London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by George Hurst (London Royal Festival Hall)

** 1974 - first performance of Britten - Solo Cello Suite No.3, Op.87      
soloist Mstislav Rostropovich (England - Snape Maltings Concert Hall)

** 1982 - Pedro Corostola/cello and Manuel Carra/piano recorded Antón Larrauri Riego - Soiñua, for cello and piano for Spanish National Radio [the work is also possible for cello and orchestra, tenor and orchestra, and tenor and piano]
Estudio Música I, Madrid

** 1984 - Release date (premiere screened in U.S.A.) of the film “Micki and Maude”
directed by Blake Edwards, starring Dudley Moore, Amy Irving, Ann Reinking, Richard Mulligan, George Gaynes & Wallace Shawn
Micki & Maude is a 1984 American comedy film. Rob (Dudley Moore) interviews a young cellist, Maude Guillory (Amy Irving). He is smitten with her and begins a relationship with her. Rob prepares to confess to Micki and get a divorce. The film ends with the women pursuing their careers: Micki as a judge presiding in a courtroom, Maude playing cello in a symphony orchestra. Amy Irving took cello lessons for the film and learned cello to a passable degree!

22 December

** 1723 - birth of Carl Friedrich Abel (Cöthen, Germany) d.1787
cellist, viola da gamba and composer

** 1822 - birth of Charles Joseph Lebouc (Besançon, France) d.1893
cellist, chamber musician, professor & composer 

** 1850 - Carl Leopold Boehm made a piano score from a Concertante in D Major, for two violoncellos, originally by Dotzauer, abd it was signed at the end “Strassburg, der 22 December, 1850, Boehm,” and was probably written out for a piano performance in that town.

** 1874 - birth of Franz Schmidt (Bratislava, Slovakia) d.1939
cellist, pianist, conservatoire director, teacher & above all composer 

** 1885 - birth of Felix Fleischmann (Berlin)
cellist, trombonist & drummer (light music) {Nazi Holocaust victim} 

** 1900 - a Marie Altona's Vocal Recital took place at the Salle Erard, London, with the assistance of special guests Hans Dressel (cello) and Signor Clerici (piano).

** 1919 - young British solo cellist Beatrice Harrison was entrusted by Edward Elgar to record his Cello Concerto in E minor. In the recording session at Hayes (West London) on 22nd December she recorded all the work finely, setting down three definitive movements successfully with Elgar himself conducting, although she had to later re-make the Adagio

23 December

** 1783 - birth of Heinrich Aloys Praeger (Germany) d.1854
cellist, guitarist and conductor; cello compositions {father of cellist Ferdinand Christian Wilhelm Praeger) 

** 1873 - cellist Gabrielle Platteau was a guest artist invited at court to play before the queen of Belgium

** 1889 - birth of Juan Ruiz Casaux (Cadiz) d.1972
cellist & teacher

** 1900 - cello performance in London - Madame Lilian Eldée with Mr W.H. Squire (cello)
unclear as to whether orchestral or chamber concert

** 1918 - birth of Zara Nelsova (Winnipeg, Canada) d.2002
cellist

** 1933 - birth of Akihito - Emperador de Japón
amateur cellist!

** 1982 - birth of Han-Na Chang (Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea)
cellist & conductor {based in the U.S.A.}

24 December

** 1805 - birth of Sebastian Lee (Hamburg, Germany) d.1887
cellist, opera orchestra principal cello & professor {based Germany-France}

** 1827 - birth of Lisa B. Cristiani (Paris) d.1853
cellist, chamber ‘virtuosa’ to the King of Denmark / Her early death was the result of contracting cholera while on a tour of Russia. She played a Stradivari cello of 1720, which instrument still bears her name.

** 1841 - birth of Theodor Krumbholz (Dietendorf, Duchy of Saxe-Gotha, Germany) d.1878
cellist, chamber musician in the court chapel of Meiningham, cellist of Gewandhaus and Theatre Orchestra of Leipzig (later principal cello), member of Stuttgart Royal Chapel and chamber virtuoso, professor Stuttgart Conservatoire

** 1896 - after a performance that featured various artists, the young Belgium-born cellist Flavie van den Hende received a magnificent review on this day from the ‘Standard Union’ in the U.S.A. - they wrote:
“Of these three, Mme Van Den Hende is the more matured artist and perhaps it is not too much to say that she is the best woman ’cellist in this country at the present time. For a woman, Mme. Van Den Hende’s bowing is remarkable, and her tone is wonderfully rich and beautiful”

** 1913 - birth of Halina Kowalska , daughter of Abram (Suwałki, Poland) d.1998
cellist

** 1951 - birth of Lubomir Georgiev (Varna, Bulgaria) d.2005
cellist, orchestral principal cello, teacher and composer {based U.S.A.} principal cellist with the Sofia Philharmonic for nine years, principal cellist with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra; Associate Professor of Cello Florida State University. The "Valentino Bucchi" Prize of Rome, Italy, was awarded to his ‘Double Bass Concerto’ in 1986.

** 1966 - Jacqueline Du Pré meets Daniel Baremboim, shortly after to become one of the most famous musician couples of the second half of the 20th century

25 December

** 1761 - birth of Caspar Gottlieb Scholz (Nürnberg, Germany)
cellist, composer and ‘music seller’

** 1883 - birth of Jean Bedetti (Lyon, France) d.1973
cellist, orchestra principal cello of  Colonne Concerts {later based USA}; Opéra Comique Principal cello in Paris. Bedetti first recorded for Pathé in 1908.

** 1917 - Richard Strauss finishes writing the orchestral suite “Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme”
{the work features an important orchestral principal cello line}

** 1934 - first performance of Shostakovich - Cello Sonata in D minor, Op.40      
Victor Kubatsky/cello with composer at piano (Moscow)

** 1968 - at a ‘Young People's Concert’ broadcast, aired on Christmas Day, 1968, Lorne Munroe gave a performance of Richard Strauss - Don Quixote with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leonard Bernstein 

26 December

** 1831 - birth of Charles Meerens (Bruges, Belgium)
cellist & musical writer;  acoustician and author on various musical subjects: managed a music shop initiated by his father

** 1832 - birth of Louise Auguste Jacquard (Pont-le-Roy, France)
cellist, orchestra musician

** 1870 - birth of G. Henri Haagmans (Rotterdam, Holland)
cellist, principal cello New York Philharmonic Club; upon return to Holland a professor in the “Maatschappij tot Bevordering van Toonkunst" at Dordrecht, and conductor of choral societies in Kinderdyk and Breda; chamber music player

** 1898 - birth of Yvette Lamontagne (Montreal) d.1992
cellist, chamber musician & teacher 

** 1900 - on this day cellist Louise Dellmayer married John Greene Kasson, an "interior designer" in Utica, U.S.A. She had emigrated from her native Austria three years earlier.

** 1920 - birth of Maurice Gendron (Nice, France) d.1990
cellist, conductor, arranger & teacher 

** 1972 - first performance of Boris Blacher - Sonata for 2 Cellos and 11 Instruments ad Libitum
cellists: Wolfgang Boettcher and Eberhard Finke with Berlin Philharmonisches Orchester, conducted by Walter Gillessen (Berlin)

** 1977 - birth of Michał Dmochowski (Warsaw)
cellist, professor {based in Spain)

27 December

** 1734 - birth of Stephen Paxton (Durham, England) d.1787
cellist & composer; brother of William Paxton (1737–1781), and due to imprecise attribution methods of the time, the works of the two brothers are often confused or improperly attributed.

** 1891 - Dvorak arranges in one day his Slavonic Dance No.8 (Op.46/8) for cello and piano for a cello premiere 10 days ahead with Hans Wihan

** 1902 - birth of Yves Chardon (Villier-sur-Marne, France) d.2000
cellist, orchestra principal cello & conductor {based Greece then USA}

** 1907 - birth of Willem Van Otterloo (Bilthoven, Holland) d.1978
conductor, cellist & composer

** 1909 - an orchestral concert was given by the Scottish Orchestra at McEwan Hall (Edinburgh) featuring cello soloist Jean Gerardy

** 1947 - A tenderly worded telegram was sent to Pau {Pablo} Casals in Prades, France, jointly from eminent cellists Diran Alexanian, Raya Garbousova, Mischa Schneider and Berard Greenhouse in honour of Casal’s birthday (being unable to be there in person).

** 1960 - birth of Gerald Eckert (Nurembrrg, Germany)
composer, cellist, and painter. 

28 December

** 1725 -Karl Fr. Drenger enters the Imperial Chapel, Vienna, as violoncellist

** 1812 - birth of {August Wilhelm} Julius Rietz (Berlin) d.1877
composer, conductor, cellist & teacher

** 1900 - on this day cellist Louise Dellmayer married John Greene Kasson, an "interior designer" in Utica, U.S.A. She had emigrated from her native Austria three years earlier.

** 1905 - a notable historical concert on this day: the Joachim Quartet (Joachim, Kruse, Wirth, Hausmann on cello), with Moser on 2nd viola, and Hugo Dechert on 2nd violoncello. The programme included Beethoven - Quartet in D Major, Op.18/3, Brahms - Quartet in C minor, Op.51/1, and Schubert - Quintet C Major, Op.163 (Sing-Akademie, Berlin)

** 1906 - birth of Adolphe {Clémont Jules Louis} Frezin (Lessines, Belgium) d.1978
cellist, orchestra principal cello & chamber musician {based USA}

** 1907 - The 20-year-old Amsterdam-born cellist Max Orobio de Castro (1887-1962) made an important debut in Berlin, playing both D’Albert’s Cello Concerto and the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations with orchestra (under conductor Landon Ronald). Nine years later he would become principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, later undertaking a long career teaching at the Amsterdam Conservatory.

** 1922 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date by soloists Paul Kochanski & Pablo Casals with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Damrosch

** 1931 - first performance of Arthur Farwell - Land of Luthany op.87 for cello and piano

** 1947 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist David Soyer, with Marcia Soyer /piano

** 1956 - a concert “Homage to Pablo Casals on the eve of his 80th Birthday”, organized by the London Bach Group of which Casals was the President. The performers on this evening included "An Ensemble of distinguished cellists" of which 14 out of the 16 cellists signed the program {the names were: Anthony Pini, John Shinebourne, Raymond Clark, Peter Beavan, Frank Ford, Francisco Gabarro, Ambrose Gauntlett, Kenneth Heath, Martin Lovett, Willem de Mont, John Moore, Peter Muscant, Bernard Richards and Derek Simpson)

** 1956 - birth of Ludmil Vassilev (Plovdiv, Bulgaria)
cellist, professor {based in Colombia}

** 1988 - first performance of Alfred Schnittke - Klingende Buchstaben for cello
(Moscow)

** 1994 - first performance of Krzysztof Penderecki - Divertimento for cello
(Cologne, Germany)

29 December

** 1876 - birth of {Pablo} Pau Casals (Vendrell, Tarragona, Catalonia) d.1973
cellist, teacher & conductor

** 1887 - birth of Kiyoshi Nobutoki (Osaka, Japan) d.1965
composer, teacher and cellist

** 1899 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Frankfurt by soloists Hugo Heermann and Hugo Becker      

** 1900 - a lovely review on today’s date for Belgium-born cellist Flavie van den Hende after a solo concert in Baltimore, this by ‘The Sun’:
“Her tone is rich in volume, clear and broad, and her command of the difficult instrument shows genuine virtuosity” 

** 1908 - birth of Edmund Kurtz (St. Petersburg, Russia) d.2004
cellist, orchestra principal cello {based Germany-USA}

** 1923 - first performance of André Caplet - Cello concerto ‘Epiphanie’
(Paris)

** 1924 - in a rich six weeks work and relax, Bloch completes:  Méditation hébraïque for cello and piano, and Three Jewish pieces for cello and piano (From Jewish Life)

** 1929 - cellist Gregor Piatigorsky played the Dvorak Cello Concerto in B minor with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, eliciting great praise for the performance

** 1946 - birth of Csaba Onczay (Budapest)
cellist, chamber musician & contemporary music specialist

** 1947 - release date / premiere of the film “The Paradine Case”  is an American film noir courtroom drama film, set in England, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and produced by David O. Selznick. The screenplay was written by Selznick and an uncredited Ben Hecht, from an adaptation by Alma Reville and James Bridie of the 1933 novel of the same title by Robert Smythe Hichens.
The film stars Gregory Peck, Ann Todd, Alida Valli, Charles Laughton, Charles Coburn, Ethel Barrymore and Louis Jourdan. It tells of an English barrister who falls in love with a woman who is accused of murder, and how it affects his relationship with his wife. Almost every Hitchcock film has a brief cameo appearance by Alfred Hitchcock. In this film, he can be seen leaving the Cumberland train station, carrying a cello, at about 38 minutes into the film.

** 1963 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Francoise Vetter, with Lilian Freundlich /piano

30 December

** 1749 - birth of Antonin Kraft (Rokycany, Bohemia) d.1820
cellist & composer [father of cellist Micolaus Kraft]

** 1901 - birth of Isadore Gusikoff (New York) d.1962
cellist, orchestra principal cello

** 1922 - birth of John Kennedy (London) d.1980
cellist, orchestral principal cello & teacher [son of cellist Lauri Kennedy]

** 1923 - in the Shanghai Municipal Orchestra (China) performance on today’s date on 1923, the invited cello soloist was Mr I. Shevtzoff - conducted by Mr Arrigo Foa.

** 1942 - birth of Santiago Carvalho (Sao Joao del Rey, Minas Gerais, Brazil)
cellist, member of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden from 1969-1972, and to the London Philharmonic Orchestra from 1972-2017; also Glyndebourne Festival Opera (England)

** 1965 - birth of Tomasz Strahl (Cieplice Śląskie, Poland)
cellist

** 1998 - Release date in the U.S.A. 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

31 December

** 1860 - birth of Aurel Czerwenka (Karansebes, Hungary) 
cellist, orchestra principal cello {based Germany}  

** 1897 - singer (tenor) and cellist Rodolphe Plamondon made his official professional debut as a solo singer 31st December 1897 at a concert at the Dominicans' Church in the Faubourg St-Honoré in which the baritone Jean-Baptiste Faure and the organist Charles-Marie Widor also participated. He also worked almost simultaneously as a cellist at the Casino de Paris!

** 1900 - first performance of Piatti - Danza Moresca, for cello and piano (Piatti’s last composition!)       
soloist - Alfredo Piatti (Italy)

The story is: the Danza Moresca was finished on the last day of 1900 and was then performed by Alfredo Piatti with his daughter Rosa, "with all of his usual brilliance" at a party for friends at his daughter's house on New Year's Eve of 1901. Alfredo Piatti was seventy-nine at the time.

** 1963 - on this day composer Roberto Pineda Duque (Colombia) finished his ‘Triple Concerto’ for violin, cello, piano and orchestra

** 1963 - birth of Maya Beiser (Gazit, a kibbutz in Israel)
cellist, performing artist and producer {based U.S.A.}