1 February

** 1707 - birth of Frederick, Prince of Wales (Cliveden, Taplow, England) d.1751
Royalty - heir apparent to English throne, and keen amateur cellist

** 1712 - first performance of Giovanni Perroni (1688–1748) Cello Concerto No.1 in D minor with Strings, in the Frari Church in Venice to celebrate the accession to the throne of the new Habsburg Emperor Charles VI
With this cello concerto, Perroni is one of the very first composers EVER to write a concerto for cello!

** 1773 - birth of Johann Gottfried Arnold (Niedernhall, Wurtemburg, Germany) d.1806
cellist, theatre orchestra & cello teacher

** 1859 - birth of Victor (August) Herbert (Guernsey or Dublin) d.1924
cellist, conductor & composer

** 1869 - on this date August Christian Prell went into retirement from his position as principal cello in the orchestra of Hannover {Hannover Kofkapelle} - his fine Amati cello later passed into the hands of Grützmacher!

** 1869 - birth of Henryk Waghalter (Warsaw) d.1958
cellist & organist {Nazi Holocaust victim} 

** 1880 - birth of Antonio Guarnieri (Venice, Italy) d.1952
conductor and cellist

** 1898 - at a ‘Mr Halford’s Orchestral Concert’, given at the Town Hall, Birmingham (England) the cello soloist was Carl Fuchs.

** 1908 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist Hugo Becker. Claude Debussy was the conductor, including ‘La Mer’ (first English performance) and ‘L'Après-Midi d'un Faune’ (therefore both conducted by the composer).

** 1926 - Belgian cellist Jeanne Kufferath performed in the Lyceum de Belgique in Brussels, a foundation of the "Union Patriotique des Femmes Belges". 

** 1959 - The Oxford Orchestral Society ‘Popular Evening Concerts’ featured soloists  Ralph Holmes (violin) and Rohan de Saram (cello).

** 1967 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier recorded in one day the Frank Martin - Cello Concerto, with the Orchestra de la Suisse Romande, conducted by Ernest Ansermet

** 1983 - first performance of FeBland - Popular Miniature Suite for cello and piano
David Johnstone/cello and Mark Latimer/piano (Bulmershe College of Higher Education, Woodley, Berkshire, England)

** 1983 - Marçal Cervera/cello and Perfecto García Chornet/piano gave the premiere of Francisco Llacer Plá - ‘Huellas: cronofases sobre Miguel Hernández’, for cello and piano (1979)
Auditorio de la Caja de Ahorros, Valencia, Spain

** 1989 - first performance of Peter Maxwell Davies - Strathclyde Concerto No.2 for cello and orchestra
(Glasgow)

** 1994 - first performance of Sofia Gubaidulina - And: The Feast is in Full Progress, for cello and orchestra
(Las Palmas, Spain)

 ** 1996 - Amparo Lacruz /cello and Emili Brugalla/piano performed Roberto Gerhard - Sonata for cello and piano (1956) in the Auditorio del Centre de Cultura Contemporanea, Barcelona, recorded live by Spanish National Radio.

2 February

** 1691 - birth of Martin Berteau (Valenciennes, France) d.1771
cellist, teacher & composer (‘founder of the French cello school’)

** 1761 - the cellist Graziani gave his debut performance in Paris, a concert which was favourably reviewed in the ‘Mercure de France’

** 1768 - cellist Jean Louis Duport (‘the younger’) makes his debut at the “Concert Spirituel” (Paris), which the musical critic of the “Mercure de France” wrote: 
“M. Duport, the Younger, a pupil of his brother, played a sonata, which ‘the latter accompanied, His execution is brilliant and amazing, certainty characterise his playing, and predict the greatest talent.”

** 1792 - English cellist Robert Lindley performed a concerto as cello soloist in the ‘Professional Concerts’ series in London - it is not known which work was performed but it was under the direction of Pleyel.

** 1845 - birth of Emil Boerngen (Verden, Germany) 
cellist, theatre & orchestra principal cello, chamber musician & teacher

** 1874 - at the London ‘Popular Concerts’ Alfredo Piatti performed his own version of Francesco Maria Veracini - ‘Aria Schiavona’ for cello with piano accompaniment

** 1884 - birth of Adèle Clement (Saint-Gengoux-le-National, France)
cellist, a woman cellist with the chance to play in orchestral concerts with the Chevillard Orchestra in Paris, and the Blüthner Orchestra in Berlin; member of a touring piano trio

** 1894 - first performance of Charles Martin Loeffler - ‘Fantastic’ Concerto for cello and orchestra
soloist - Alwin Schroeder, with Boston Symphony Orchestra (between 1894 and 1908 Schroeder performed the work nearly a dozen times more!)

** 1894 - a solo performance was given by French cellist Marguerite (Anastasie) Baude in the Salle Erard in Paris

** 1896 - the solo debut of English cellist May Campbell Taylor happened on today’s date; a review reported in the ‘Musical Standard’ said:
“Miss May Taylor, a daughter of the organist of New College, made a very successful début here as a violoncellist in Popper’s E minor Concerto and some smaller pieces” 

** 1900 - in her diary on 2nd February, 1900, Alma Mahler reports on a chamber music evening with Adele Radnitzky-Mandlick, at which the young composer performed Robert Schumann's piano quartet in E flat major op.47 with Anton Steeber, Franz Radnitzky and the Austrian cellist Josefine Donat. 

** 1972 - birth of Zoë Keating (Guelph, Ontario, Canada) 
‘modern’ cellist & composer

** 1993 - Mstislav Rostropvich receives the “Medal Defender of a Free Russia” on 2nd February 1993, for courage and dedication shown during the defence of democracy and constitutional order of 19–21 August 1991

3 February

** 1753 - birth of Gregor Hauer (Germany)
cellist & Benedictine monk of the ‘Monastery of Seitenstetten and Ernstbrunn’ - he was a close friend of Michael Haydn (Joseph’s brother)!

** 1839 - Paganini acquires the Stradivarius cello of Vincenzo Merighi for 250 Louis d’or! 
After Merighi and Paganini, Count Louis Charles Georges Corneille de Stainlein-Saalenstein, an amateur musician and a host of musicales, appears to have acquired the cello in 1854, and it then passed to the Countess of Stainlein. After her death in 1908, Paul Grummer, a future cellist in the famed Busch Quartet, took possession. A collector in Aachen, Dr. George Talbot, bought the cello from Grummer in 1938. Nineteen years later, Greenhouse heard about the instrument and tracked it down. “I opened the cello case and fell immediately in love,” he says in Delbanco’s book. He paid what his daughter Elena described as a fortune for the time, although a tiny fraction of what it’s worth today.

** 1906 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist Hugo Becker and Maurice Sons (violin)

** 1917 - first performance of Villa-Lobos - Preludio No.2 for cello and piano, and Elégie for violin or cello and piano
(Salão Nobre do Jornal do Comércio, Rio de Janeiro)

** 1922 - an interesting report appeared on today’s date by the ‘Western Daily Press’ (Bristol, England) with the title ‘“Four Great Artists’. For all cellists with an interest in our past, this snippet surely is of interest!:
“Most people who have heard them will agree that Cassals [sic] and Suggia come first amongst present-day ’cello players, and it is possible that many prefer Suggia. That Cassals is the greater master of the instrument is clear, but there is a sense in which his appeal is more to the artist than to the ordinary concert goer. To splendid technique Madame Suggia adds just the touch of “fire and go” that detracts from her appearance as an artist in finesse, but it makes her performance carry across the footlights and warms up an audience.”

** 1949 - a recital at the Wigmore Hall (London) was given by Luigi Gasparini, accompanied by Gerald Moore

** 1968 - at the Town Hall, Leeds (England) the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra performed with Hilary Robinson as cello soloist.

** 1972 - Keith Glossop was solo cellist, with Edna Arthur - violin, in J. C. Bach - Sinfonia Concertante in A major for violin, cello and orchestra, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilmouth, at the Reid Concert Hall (Edinburgh). Also in the programme were works of Cherubini, Glinka, Haydn, and Lennox Berkeley.

** 1976 - Marçal Cervera/cello and Perfecto García Chonet/piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Manuel Castillo Navarro-Aguilera - Sonata for Cello and Piano (1974); they also performed Rodolfo Halffter - Sonata for cello and piano, Op.26, and Joaquín Nín - Suite Española in the same programme
Casa de la Radio, Madrid

4 February

** 1676 - birth of Giacomo Facco (Marsango, Nr.Padua, Italy) d.1753
violinist, cellist, conductor & composer {based Spain}

** 1754 - birth of Friedrich Shrödel (Bayreuth, Germany) d.1800
cellist

** 1843 - birth of Gebhard Graf (Waal, Buchloe, Bavaria)
cellist, principal cello at Court Chapel of Sondershausen, principal cello Bilse Orchestra, principal cello in Court Chapel of Brunswick

** 1888 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin. The ‘Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung’ thought that it was much better than the other new piece on the concert (Stanford’s “Irish” Symphony):
“The Double Concerto is a classy work with engaging ideas and marvellous sound effects. The solo voices are perhaps too fully worked into the orchestra….The working out is smooth, and the symphony maintains a cool refinement throughout. The anxiously-avoiding-any-sensual-allure Double Concerto by Brahms was actually only a succès d’estime.”

** 1901 - cellist Rosa Brackenhammer performed at the German-American Charity Ball in the Academy of Music in Philadelphia on 4th February, 1901 with an Adagio and Caprice by David Popper - which was even recorded.

** 1904 - at the Broadwood Concerts (London), the famous ‘Bohemian String Quartet’ (Karel Hoffmann, Josef Suk, Oskar Nedbal, and Hanus Wihan) performed with Hugo Becker (cello) the Schubert Quintet in C major. Miss Gwendolen Maude also offered vocal solos.

** 1946 - birth of Maciej Gawin Niesiołowski (Świętochłowic, Poland)
cellist and conductor

** 1951 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Analee Camp, with Ernst Bacon/piano

** 1970 - release date / premiere, in France, of the romantic comedy film “The Bear and the Doll” (‘L'ours et la poupée’) filmed in 1969 featuring a very attractive Brigitte Bardot. What Felicia (her character) mostly does is wear gorgeous clothes, go to parties, and divorce husbands. Then one day, while driving the Rolls-Royce belonging to one of her ex-husbands, she has a minor traffic accident. Surprisingly, the Roller comes off much worse than the other car, a little Citroen 2CV. The Citroen is driven by Gaspard, a ’cello player. Unfortunately Felicia forgets to obtain Gaspard’s signature on the accident report for the insurance, so now she has to find him…

** 1982 - birth of Katrin Auzinger (Linz, Austria)
mezzo-soprano, voice teacher and cellist

** 1986 - birth of Krzysztof Lenczowski (Krakow, Poland)
cellist ,chamber music, guitarist , composer and arranger

** 1990 - first performance of Ursula Mamlok - Lament for cello ensemble (1957)
cellists: ‘Browery Cellists’ (Greenwich House, New York City) 

5 February

** 1747 - birth of Bernardo Maria Aliprando (Munich, Germany) d.1801
cellist & composer

** 1787 - birth of Gilles-Louis Chrétien (Versailles, France) d.1811
cellist…and inventor

** 1846 - birth of Edward Howell (London) d.1898
cellist, orchestra principal cello, musician-in-ordinary to the Queen, member of the Covent Garden Theatre orchestra, and for some years solo violoncellist of the Royal Italian Opera; important London professor of cello at the Royal Academy, Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music

** 1848 - birth of Luigi Mancinelli (Orvieto, Italy) d.1921
conductor & cellist

** 1880 - at the London Philharmonic Society, Alfredo Piatti performed as soloist in his own 2nd Cello Concerto, conducted by Sir William George Cousins

** 1904 - birth of Mischa (Mojzesz) Schneider (Vilnuis, Lithuania) d.1985
cellist, chamber music specialist, director of Licei Musicale and artistic director of Comunale and the Cappella Musicale of San Petronio, Bolonia, conductor in Teatro Real in Madrid

** 1905 - first performance of Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto No.2 in D minor, Op.119    
Cello soloist - Josef Hollman (Paris) 

** 1914 - first performance of Sergei Prokofiev - Ballade for cello and piano, Op.15 
(Moscow)

** 1916 - birth of Amadeo Baldovino (Alexandra, Egypt) d.1998
cellist {based Italy}

** 1940 - in the National Gallery, London, a recital was given by Norina Semino (cello), accompanied by Gerald Moore.

** 1955 - first performance of Villa-Lobos - Cello Concerto No.2, W516
soloist Aldo Parisot with New York Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Walter Hendl

** 1971 - first performance of Havergal Brian - Cello Concerto
soloist - Thomas Igloi with Polyphonia, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult (Queen Elizabeth Hall, London)

6 February

** 1844 - birth of Karl Udel (Varazdin, Croatia) d.1927
cellist, singer (tenor), professor  & composer  {based Austria}

** 1921 - birth of Margaret Moncrieff (Scotland) d. 2008 
cellist, professor & music writer 

** 1936 - a Violoncello Recital was given by Guilhermina Suggia for the Oxford Subscription Concerts (England)

** 1937 - first performance of Albert Roussel - Concertino for cello and orchestra 
(Paris)

** 1939 - the ‘Courtauld-Sargent’ Concerts, given at the Queen's Hall (London), invited Emanuel Feuermann as cello soloist - the first of two consecutive performances. These concerts also included the first English performance of Jean Françaix - Suite ‘Le Jugement du Fou’.

** 1941 - first performance of Hindemith - Cello Concerto
soloist - Gregor Piatigorsky with Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Koussevitsky (Sanders Theater, Boston, USA)

** 1957 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier made a live recording of Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, in Geneva, with the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande conducted by Ferrenc Fricsay

** 1966 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Henri Honegger, with Claire Madeleine Pallard /piano

** 1975 - on this day cellist Janos Starker made a live radio recording of Einojuhani Rautavaara - Cello Concerto No.1, Op.41, with the SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg (Germany)

** 1999 - first performance of Earle Brown - Special Events for cello and piano
(Theaterhaus, Stuttgart, Germany)

7 February
** 1867 - a notable historical concert on this day announced as: Vocalist - Louise Pyne,  solo violin - Mr Joachim, solo violoncello - Signor Piatti, solo pianoforte and conductor - Charles Hallé, in “Mr Charles Hallé's Grand Concerts” (Free Trade Hall , Manchester, England)

** 1887 - Italian master Alfredo Piatti presents at the ‘Popular Concerts’ (London) his own transcription of the Serenata of Franz Schubert (most probably a ‘premiere’)

** 1891 - birth of Bobuš Heran (Ústí nad Orlici in Lázeňská, Czech) d.1968
cellist, orchestra principal cello, competition organizer

** 1899 - cellist Leontine Gärtner performed as invited soloist with the New York Women's String Orchestra under the direction of Carl Lachmund

** 1902 - reporting on a concert given by cellist Elisa Kufferath, a comment in the press of the day possibly alludes to the fact that the cello in the hand of a woman was still perceived as an aesthetic problem: 
"une violoncelliste de force surtout, maniant l'archet avec sécurité et sacrifiant peu à la grâce" ("Above all, a powerful violoncellist who wields the bow with a sure hand and makes little effort to be graceful" (La Meuse, February 7, 1902)

** 1907 - cellist Elsa Ruegger performed as soloist with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra (for the second time; she also performed with them in 1903)

** 1907 - birth of Joachim Stutschevsky (Romny, Ukraine) d.1982
cellist, composer, musicologist {based Germany, Austria & Israel}

** 1908 - first performance of Emanuel Moor - Double Cello Concerto     
soloists Pau Casals and Guilhermina Suggia/cellos, conducted by Louis Hasselmans (Salle Gaveau, Paris) 

** 1912 - birth of Lev Aronson (Mönchengladbach, Germany) d.1988
cellist,  principal cellist for the Philharmonic Orchestra of Libau, teacher in Riga, assistant principal then principal cellist in the Dallas Symphony, professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, professor Southern Methodist University, educational collaborations with Croatian cellist and composer Rudolf Matz {based in USA after World War II)

** 1913 - the ‘Utica Daily Press’ attested in the obituary of cellist Louise Dellmayer her “perfection which she attained in her art” (Feb. 7, 1913).

** 1929 - a Reid Historical Concert at Edinburgh University featured Gladys Clark - violin, Ruth Waddell - violoncello and Mary Grierson - piano. They performed an ample all-Brahms programme consisting of: Cello Sonata in F Major, Op.99, Violin Sonata in A Major, Op.100, and Piano Trio in C minor, Op.101

** 1939 - the ‘Courtauld-Sargent’ Concerts, given at the Queen's Hall (London), invited Emanuel Feuermann as cello soloist - the second of two consecutive performances. These concerts also included the first English performance of Jean Françaix - Suite ‘Le Jugement du Fou’.

** 1978 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording Kodaly - Solo Cello Sonata, Op.8, in the London Abbey Road Studios (the other recording day was 3rd April ’77)

** 1989 - On February 7th, 1989, a cello concert was organized by the Armenian Relief Society and the Volunteers Technical Assistance (VTA) for the victims of the Spitak Earthquake. The cello concert par excellence with Mstislav Rostropovich interpreting a “marathon” of his best cello repertoire, including Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor; Haydn's cello concerti in C and D; Prokofiev's Symphony-Concerto; the two cello concerti of Shostakovich, and others. The evening with Rostropovich raised awareness and helped hundreds of earthquake victims put food on their table. The concert was held at the Kennedy Center and over 2,300 were in attendance.

** 1992 - birth of Ivan Karizna (Belarus)
cellist

** 1997 - first performance of Elaine Agnew - Blur, for eight cellos (1997)
cellists: Dublin Youth Orchestra Cello Ensemble(Mansion House, Dublin)

** 1997 - Rafael Domínguez/cello and Antonio Palmer/piano made a live recording for Spanish National Radio of Antonio Fernández Reymonde - Suite Flamenco No.2 for cello and piano
Auditorio Nacional de Música. Madrid

8 February

** 1783 - cellist James Cervetto gave a recital at the “Professional Concerts” (under Lord Abingdon’s management) at the Hanover Rooms, Hanover Square, London

** 1815 - birth of Louis-Marie Pilet (La Guerche-de-Bretagne, France) d.1877
cellist, orchestra cellist, chamber musician

** 1856 - birth of Sigmund Bürger (Vienna)
cellist, principal cello in orchestra of Baden-Baden, solo cello of the Court Chapel of Munich, member Richter Orchestra of London, in Budapest he was a teacher at the conservatoire, solo cellist at the Opera, and professor of the “Musikverein”

** 1873 - first performance of Saint-Saëns - Allegro Appassionato, Op.43 for cello and orchestra (or piano) 
soloist/ Jules Lasserre {probably in the Société National de Musique, Paris}

** 1887 - a manuscript of the solo part of the Sullivan Cello Concerto in a copyist's hand is dated ‘7/2/1887’, it appears to have been made for a performance that year by cello soloist J. Edward Hambleton - an important English cellist of his day (then 29 years old) - but there are not apparently details as to the documentation of the performance itself

** 1898 - the city of Bergamo dedicated a gold medal to Piatti. The Echo of Bergamo [8.2.1898] reported on this date:
"We had the opportunity to see the coin of the gold medal that for public subscriptions we intend to offer to the illustrious cellist Alfredo Piatti, as a sign of tribute and appreciation for what he has done on the occasion of the great concerts given last year in our city, for the centenary of Donizettiano".
Today the medal is preserved in Milan at the Scala Theatre Museum.

** 1911 - Pau {Pablo} Casals makes his first performance in Budapest - he included three compositions by Popper

** 1925 - included in a trio concert at Synod Hall (Edinburgh) the cellist Bernard Beers and Donald Tovey - piano performed:
Beethoven - Sonata No.3 in A Major, Op.67, and what was announced as “Violoncello solo, concerto (edited by J. Salmond) ... Tartini”

** 1948 - in a concert at Downing College, Cambridge (Music Society), Gethin Wykeham George (cello), performed Edmund Rubbra - Cello Sonata, Op.60 with the composer at piano

** 1973 - Jacqueline du Pré was soloist in Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85, with the New Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta, at the Royal Festival Hall (London). The second part of the concert was a performance of Bruckner - Symphony No.9. 

** 1987 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Selma Gokcen, with Paul Tardif /piano

**1997 - Bistra Cristova/cello and María José Martín/piano performed Mercè Torrents Turmo - ‘Temps Neu’ in a concert recorded by Spanish National Radio
Museo del Prado, Madrid

9 February

** 1792 - a cellist named Menel performed as soloist at a Haydn benefit concert at the Hannover Square Rooms, London - he performed in a concertante work by Gryowetz along with Salmon and Hindmarsh.

** 1851 - birth of Édouard Jacobs (Hal, Belgium) d.1925 
cellist, viola da gamba and professor

** 1862 - birth of Siegmund Glaser (Rokycan, Bohemia)
cellist, two spells as teacher at the Imperial Conservatoire at Charkov (Russia), teacher at the Odessa Conservatoire, principal cello in Charkov Orchestra; composer of cello works

** 1895 - Dvorak completed the full score to his B minor Cello Concerto on February 9, 1895 (at 11:30 a.m.!) though he revised the ending in June.

** 1904 - a special ‘Miss Muriel Foster's Vocal Recital’ at St. James’s Hall (London), given prior to her departure to America and Canada, co-featured with Jean Gérardy (cello) and was accompanied by Miss Kate Eadie and Mrs Charlton Keith.

** 1933 - a Brahms Centenary concert at the Queen’s Hall (London) was given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Thomas Beecham, and featured cello soloist Gaspar Cassado

** 1967 - the cellist Carlotte Moorman achieved widespread notoriety for her performance of Paik’s Opera ‘Sextronique’ at the Film-Makers Cinamatheque in New York City. For this performance Moorman was to perform movements in various states of nudity; she started in the dark wearing a bikini with flashing lights, but the following piece involved just having a black skirt while topless and she was arrested in mid-performance by three plainclothes police officers! She was unable to complete the following two pieces as she was charged with ‘indecent exposure’! This penalty was later suspended, and gained her the title of “the topless cellist”. However it was not all gains - due to this unusual notoriety she was dismissed from her work as cellist in the ‘American Synphony Orchestra’…

** 1971 - the Society of Women Musicians, in its ‘Ivimey Concerts’ (London) , presented a chamber music concert with the soloists Pamela Hind-O’Malley (cello) and Valerie Baulard (mezzo-soprano), accompanied by Roger Vignoles.

10 February

** 1702 - birth of Jean-Pierre Guignon {Giovanni Pietro Ghignone} (Turin, Italy) d.1774 
violinist, but previously a cellist!

** 1792 - birth of Johann Hindle (Vienna)
cellist, but achieved more fame on the double bass

** 1903 - Danish cellist Agga Fritsche travelled to Helsinki with her father, and on February 10, 1903, she played a cello concerto from Saint-Saëns in one of the popular concerts. 

** 1932 - birth of Illarion Cheishvili (Moscow) d. 2012
cellist and professor

** 1956 - first performance of Peter Mennin - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra 
soloist Leonard Rose with the Juilliard Orchestra conducted by Jean Morel (New York)

11 February

** 1839 - birth of Karl Lübbe (Halberstadt, Germany) d.1888 
cellist, orchestra principal cello &composer

** 1850 - birth of Joseph Sulzer (Vienna) d.1926 
cellist solo cellist at the Italian Opera and teacher at the conservatoire at Bucarest, principal cello Imperial Opera Orchestra Vienna, member Hellmesberger Quartet; composer & arranger of cello music

** 1880 - birth of Walter Ferner (Baltimore, Maryland, USA) d.1952 
cellist, orchestra principal cello of San Francisco Symphiny Orchestra & chamber musician (cellist in the Persinger Quartet)

** 1896 - in a concert at St. James’s Hall, London the “Mr Bispham’s Third Concert of the Winter Season” entitled ‘Modern Music of Various Schools’ special solo artists were Miss Fanny Davies (piano) and Signor Piatti (cello).

** 1904 - cellist Elsa Ruegger performed as soloist in THREE concertos in one sole concert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

** 1905 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist Hugo Becker

** 1947 - William Pleeth (cello) and Margaret Good (piano) performed in St. Peter’s Church, Belsize Park, London in a programme including Rubbra - Cello Sonata, Op.60

** 1951 - Leonard Rose made a marvellous live recording of the cello solo from Brahms Piano Concerto No.2 (featuring piano soloist Myra Hess, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Bruno Walter). With such a reputation Rose was shortly afterwards to leave the orchestra and devote himself to a solo and teaching career.

** 1954 - the Oxford Subscription Concerts presented the Oxford Orchestral Society with soloist Amaryllis Fleming (cello).

** 1959 - on this day cellist Henri Honegger finished recording all 6 Suites of J.S. Bach, in Copenhagen (probably completed in just two days!)

** 1964 - birth of Hans Huyssen (Pretoria, South Africa)
cellist and composer (including a cello and piano sonata)

** 1969 - on this day cellist Janos Starker recorded Peter Mennon - Cello Concerto, Op.135, with the Louisville Orchestra conducted by Jorge Mester

** 1996 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a solo recital was given by cellist Anner Bylsma

12 February

** 1752 - birth of Josef Reicha {Rejcha} (Chudenice, Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic) d.1795
cellist, composer & conductor

** 1807 - birth of Friedrich Kraft (Vienna)
cellist, chamber musician in the court orchestra at Stuttgart {son of Nicolaus Kraft}

** 1822 - Once in Vienna Beethoven met Romberg; he was indeed a friend of Romberg's youth. Beethoven's letter to him, dated 12th February, 1822 - on the eve of a Romberg's concert-is a vivid illustration of their friendship”: 
"My dear Romberg, this night I had terrible pains in my ears, as often happens at this time of the year. Even the sounds of your music would have caused me only suffering. That is why you will not see me today. In several days, it might be better and I will be able to bid you farewell. I have not visited you yet -excuse me. It is because my lodgings are too far away, and I have too much work. I have been ill for the entire year, you know, and a lot of new compositions were put aside. Well, why all these ceremonies between the two of us. I wish you financial recognition, to make the success of your brilliant art complete, which happens so rarely nowadays. If there is an opportunity, I hope to see you and your wife and the children, to whom I send my sincere regards. Good-bye, great artist. Truly yours, Beethoven."

** 1867 - first (public) performance of Brahms - Cello Sonata No.1 in E minor, Op.38 in a concert advertised: “Zweite Trio-Soirée” (Basel. Switzerland) 
Maurice Kahnt/cello and Hans Von Bülow/piano (Basel. Switzerland) 

** 1880 - first performance of Hubert Parry - Sonata in A Major for cello and piano
(London)

** 1890 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) the first of two ‘Misses Geisler-Schubert and Fillunger’s Chamber Concerts’ featuring Herr Straus (violin) and Mr Whitehouse (cello).

** 1891 - official professional debut of William Henry Squire, participating in a chamber music concert organized and given by Isaac Albéniz
St. James’s Hall, London

** 1898 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist Mr W. H. Squire and Miss Louise Dale (vocal). This concert included the first London performances of cello solos by Faure and Godard.

** 1914 - Felix Salmond played on this day Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto in A minor at the London Queen’s Hall

** 1939 - the Italian Symphonic Society 1st Chamber Concert took place at the Hyde Park Hotel (London) with cello soloist Attilio Ranzato, conducted by Livio Mannucci 

** 1967- on this day cellist Janos Starker finished recording (in the Lincoln Auditorium, U.S.A.) Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Kritz (probably there were 2 recording days)

** 1983 - birth of Ana Rucner (Zagreb)
cellist (specializes in pop music)

** 1991 - María Mircheva/cello and Perfecto García Chornet/piano performed Francisco Llacer Plá - ‘Huellas: cronofases sobre Miguel Hernández’, for cello and piano (1979) for a CD titled “Concert in honor of Miguel Hernández”
recorded at Palau de la Musica i Congressos de Valencia, Spain

13 February

** 1813 - birth of Kasimir Prince Lubomirski (Czerniejow, Czech)
cellist, curator of a Latin college, composer of lighter music

** 1864 - birth of Hugo Becker (Strasbourg, Alsace) d.1941
cellist, musical writer and pedagogue

** 1866 - Alfredo Piatti was solo cellist in the first Annual Reid Concert, organised by the new Reid Professor, Herbert Stanley Oakeley in the Music Hall, Edinburgh. Piatti played movements of J.S. Bach and an own composition: Fantasia on Scotch Airs for violoncello. There were numerous other invited Italian soloists too, and the orchestra was described as: 
“Orchestra carefully selected from Edinburgh, Glasgow, London etc.”

** 1868 - birth of Ráoul Preumont (Belgium)
cellist, professor in Mons School of Music

** 1877 - birth of Juro Tkalčić (Croatia) d.1957
cellist and composer (including a cello concerto)

** 1899 - cellist Leontine Gärtner performed as invited soloist with the New York Women's String Orchestra under the direction of Carl Lachmund

** 1918 - An Aeolian Hall (London) programme on this day featured May Mukle (cello), Rebecca Clarke (viola) and Katherine Ruth Heyman (piano); cello works included a “Bach Sonata in G for Pianoforte and Violoncello”, an ‘Allemande’ of Lully, Florence Schmidt’s ‘Chant Elegiaque’ and the first performance of Eugéne Goossen - ‘Chinese Folk Tune’. There were also three viola solos, a viola-cello duo by Rebecca Clarke herself, and the evening finished with a viola-cello-piano version of the Brahms Trio in A minor, Op.114

** 1930 - first performance of G. Coleman Young - Cello Concerto
soloist - Lovio Mannucci with London Concert Orchestra, conducted by the composer (Aeolian Hall, London)

** 1957 - first European performance of Walton - Cello Concerto    
soloist Gregor Piatigorsky with Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Malcolm Sargent (London)

** 1970 - first performance of Vivian Fine - Fantasy for Cello and Piano 
(New York)

** 1979 - first performance of Wuorinen - Fast Fantasy, for cello and piano
(Finnish Radio, Helsinki)

** 1979 - first performance of Morton Subotnick - Axolotl for cello and electronics
(Washington, DC, USA)

** 1986 - Andrés Ruiz/cello and Sebastián Mariné/piano gave a performance including Zulema de la Cruz - Nova (1981) for cello and piano, in the Auditorio del Real Conservatorio Superior de Música, Madrid
(this piece was commissioned by the Confederación Española de Cajas de Ahorro “CECA”)

14 February

** 1808 - birth of Franz de Boch (Poterstein, Czech)
cellist, member of the court chapel of Stuttgart, professor in Stuttfart Conservatoire

** 1830 - birth of Valentin Müller (Munster, Westphalia, Germany)
cellist, chamber musician & teacher - occasional composer

** 1838 - birth of Louis Lübeck (The Hague, Holland) d.1904
cellist, orchestra principal cello Gewandhaus Orchestra, professor & composer

** 1888 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in London.
The ‘Times’ newspaper wrote:
“Of Brahms’s concerto it is not easy to speak definitely after a single hearing, for although, as in most of his later works, the composer writes with greater simplicity and with more condensation of thought than in his earlier days, there is much that would require careful study to be thoroughly appreciated….No one but Brahms among living masters could have written this work, which shows all the earnestness of purpose, all the freedom from mere clap-trap, to which this composer owes his leading position. Of the performance it would be difficult to speak in too favourable terms. It was perfect, and final in the sense that all subsequent interpreters will simply have to adopt the reading of Herr Joachim at the violin and of Herr Hausmann at the violoncello.”
The Musical Times especially picked up on the third Movement:
“A rare fault with Brahms, it is patchy in construction, and the composer seems to have felt that he was not doing his best, for he brings the work to an abrupt conclusion without the imposing peroration for which one looks. It would be well for him to subject this portion of the Concerto to revision before submitting it to the world in print. With such distinguished executants the performance could not be otherwise than magnificent, and the reception of the work was nothing short of enthusiastic.” 

** 1893 - Julius Klengel was special invited solo cellist in the Annual Reid Concert of 1893 on this day. He played the Volkmann - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.33 and various short solos with piano accompaniment:   Air (J.S. Bach), Scène pittoresque (J. Massenet) and Tarantella (A. Piatti). In all the rest of this programme was a massively long concert, held in the Music Hall (Edinburgh)

** 1895 - Pau {Pablo} Casals is named Knight of the Royal Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)

**1896 - Antonin Dvorak wote an important letter on today’s date in 1896 to Francesco Berger (director of the London ‘Philharmonic Society’ and acting as its honorary secretary):
“My dear friend Berger, I am sorry to announce you that I cannot conduct the performance of the cello concerto. The reason is I have promised to my friend Wihan – he will play it. If you put the concerto into the program, I could not come at all, and will be glad to come another time. With kindly regards sincerely yours Ant. Dvorak.”
Francesco Berger’s reply letter to Antonin Dvorak three days later, 17 february 1896:  
“My dear friend and honoured Master! We should have been most happy to have had Mr. Wihan to play your Concerto. But as you told me he could not come on the 19 March we thought to please you by including the work and have engaged Mr. Leo Stern who says he knows the Work. [...]”

** 1903 - in the Queen’s Hall Symphony Concerts (London) the performance featured the cello soloist Hugo Becker and Miss Tita Brand (reciter)

** 1926 - birth of Alexander Kok (Johannesburg, South Africa) d.2015
cellist, orchestra principal cellist, chamber musician, session music player, teacher, lecturer, founder of music school {based England}

** 1941 - on this day the Spanish composer Ricard Lamote de Grignon wrote an ‘Elegía’ para cello and piano (a piece from 3 ‘Bagatelas de fin de siglo’)

** 1977 - first performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara - Music for Upright Piano and Amplified Cello 
(Helsinki)

** 1998- first performance of David Del Tredici - Cello Acrostic, for cello
(University of South Florida, USA)

15 February

** 1768 - birth of Sebastin Ludwig Friedel (Neuberg, Germany) d.1857 or 1858
cellist, member of Court Orchestra Berlin, and occasional composer

** 1773 - birth of Johann Gottfried Arnold (Niedernhall, Württemburg, Germany)
cellist, town musician for Wertheim on the Tauber, member of Opera Orchestra in Frankfurt (at Romberg’s recommendation!) & composer

** 1844 - cellist Julius Rietz performed his own ‘Fantasia Appassionata’ at a Gewandhaus orchestral concert on this day

** 1884 - first performance of R. Strauss - Romanze for Cello and Orchestra     
soloist Hans Wihan (Baden-Baden, Germany). It was composed the previous year (1883) but not published until 1978!

** 1903 - duo cello performance in London - Madame Rose Olitzka (cello) and Mr Bertie Withers (cello)
unclear as to whether orchestral or chamber concert

** 1904 - on this day Pau {Pablo} Casals first played at the New York Carnegie Hall.

** 1912 - on this day a performance took place at the Wigmore Hall, London, featuring Beatrice Harrison cello, Hamilton Harty piano/organ and Cyril Scott piano

** 1918 - Former cellist Georgescu made his public debut in the capacity of orchestral conductor on February 15, 1918, leading the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra in Tchaikovsky's Pathétique Symphony, Grieg's Piano Concerto, and Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. He was a promising professional cellist; however, as he travelled by train to an engagement in 1916, a railway carriage door was closed on his hand, causing a painful injury that ultimately precluded his further performance on the cello. So, as one chapter in his life closed, a new one opened…..Richard Strauss and Arthur Nikisch both advised him to take up conducting, advice that he quickly followed after coaching with the latter…

** 1924 - birth of Marion Davies (San Francisco, U.S.A.) d.2012
first cellist with the Kansas City Philharmonic, the Houston Symphony. Dallas Symphony Orchestra principal cellist, and then served as Co-Principal on the orchestra until her retirement. Teaching appointments included positions at Southern Methodist University and the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC.

** 1957 - on this day cellist Enrico Mainardi made a live recording, of Hindemith - Cello Concerto, with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Eugen Jochum

** 1966 - birth of Tanya Anisimova (Grozny, Chechen Republic)
cellist & composer {based U.S.A.}

** 1970 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist George Harpham, with Kyung Sook Lee /piano

** 1975 - at the Town Hall, Leeds (England) the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra performed with Arto Noras as cello soloist.

** 1982 - first performance of Morton Subotnick - Axolotl for cello, chamber orchestra and electronics
(Los Angeles)

** 1993 - a live recorded performance by Victor Ángel Gil /cello and Margarita Soto Viso/piano for Spanish National Radio, firstly of Barja Iglesias - 5 Melodies (1961-66) [this piece is also known as Canciones para cello y piano: Ausencia; Súplica; Noticia; Cuando yo me vaya; Vidalita]. They also performed two pieces by Andrés Gaos Berea - Humoresque and Chant Elegiaque, and Casiano Paredes Romero - Cantiga de Bercé
 (Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid)

16 February

** 1848 - first public performance of Chopin - Cello Sonata in G minor, Op.65
Auguste Franchomme/cello with composer at piano (Salle Pleyel, Paris) {this was Chopin’s last concert appearance in Paris}

** 1868 - birth of Adolf Rehberg (Switzerland) d.1935
cellist & composer

** 1884 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Madame Carlotta Patti (vocal) and ‘Mons. De Munck’ (cello). The programme also included the first English performance of Saint-Saëns - Ballet Divertissement 'Fete Populaire' (Henry VIII).

** 1886 - on today’s date in 1886 Friedrich Grützmacher was sent an angry letter by Abraham Peters (the editor) on their impending publication of the Schumann Cello Concerto…here is part of that letter reproduced:
“When you, most honoured friend, say in your letter yesterday that you have set down the ‘original’ edition, this is a great error…in short you have left barely one bar untouched, quite apart from the changes in parentheses. And this you call an Original - Ausgabe!”

** 1891 - in the Concerthaus-Conventgarten, Hamburg (Germany), an orchestral subscription concert conducted by Hans von Bülow featured the soloists David Popper (cello) and Franz Schwarz (baritone).

** 1905 - on this day a performance took place at the Wigmore Hall, London, featuring:
Victor Maurel baritone, Margaret Huston mezzo-soprano, and Philipp Abbas cello

** 1958 - on this day cellist Antonio Janigro finished recording, at the Decca Studios, England, the Boccherini - Cello Concerto in Bb Major (version Grützmacher) (probably there were 3 recording days, in which he also did some conducting)

17 February

** 1847 - first {private} performance of Chopin - Cello Sonata in G minor, Op.65
Auguste Franchomme/cello with composer at piano (house concert)

** 1854 - a letter from Clara Schumann about her husband’s cello concerto; Schumann had presented the work to the publishers three years after the initial inspiration but by then his mental state had deteriorated significantly:
“The Doctors put him [Schumann] to bed, and he gave no resistance for a few hours. Then he got up again and started making corrections in the cello concerto, feeling that this might relieve him of the interminable sound of the voices.” Clara Schumann wrote this on 17-02-1854

** 1856 - birth of Hendrik Nicolaas (Henri) Bosmans (Amsterdam) d.1896
cellist, orchestra principal cello, chamber musician, viola pomposo & teacher

** 1859 - premiere of the Verdi opera “Un ballo en maschera” - there features an important cello principal solo in the aria ‘Morró, ma prima in grazia’ from Act III.

**1896 - Antonin Dvorak had written an important letter on 14th February 1896 to Francesco Berger (director of the London ‘Philharmonic Society’ and acting as its honorary secretary) about the first performance of his new Cello Concerto.  Francesco Berger’s reply letter to Antonin Dvorak came three days later, on today’s date in 1896: 
“My dear friend and honoured Master! We should have been most happy to have had Mr. Wihan to play your Concerto. But as you told me he could not come on the 19 March we thought to please you by including the work and have engaged Mr. Leo Stern who says he knows the Work. [...]”

** 1909 - in the preparation for the London 1908-09 season there were special recitals planned by Robert Hausmann for February 13 and 17, and each were each to feature a work by Bach, a work by Tovey, and concluding with one of the sonatas of Brahms. They were to be happy occasions - Hausmann was a reverent scholar and arranger of historic works, an ally to English composers, and a central player in the rich Germanic tradition of Brahms. Sadly, these concerts with Hausmann never took place due to his sudden death the month previously (totally unexpected, he passed away in his sleep).
However, Donald (later Sir Donald) Tovey rescued the second of these two dates, and premiered a new original work, the ‘Elegiac Variations’ for Cello and Piano, Op. 25 - a 10-11 minute work of ‘sombre’ Elgar influence, dedicated to the memory of his late friend Mr. Hausmann. The cellist on this day could well have been Pau Casals as he played the work later that same year, but I cannot find proof of this.

** 1917 - the Manchester City News reported on an early performance of Debussy - Cello Sonata, given by the cello-piano duo Hatton & Forbes:
“…There is more than painting in Debussy’s new sonata.  The suggestions of abstraction and spiritual aestheticism in the daring opening are bound up with a logic of conception unfathomable in the conventional musical audience… because it is absolutely apart from the logic dictated by the subject. Mr. Forbes at the piano did his best to make tangible what is, in the light of understanding of Debussy’s music, altogether intangible; and though Mr. Hock was certainly handicapped by the solidity of the pianoforte, his ‘cello playing showed sufficient of the piece to give hope that his next rendering, helped by more congenial atmosphere, will assist to a fairer judgement of the sonata…”

** 1923 - Herman Thomas Canivez was cello soloist. along with Julius Roentgen (junior) - violin and Bram Mendes - viola,  in Julius Roentgen - Triple Concerto for violin, viola, and violoncello, with string orchestra, at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, with The Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey.

** 1930 - first performance of Honegger - Cello Concerto
(Boston. USA)

** 1934 - birth of Anner Bylsma (The Hague, Holland) d.2019
cellist, baroque cellist, orchestra principal cello & teacher

** 1955 - Eldon Fox was cello soloist in the Annual Reid Concert on this day. He performed Tovey - Cello Concerto in C Major, Op.40, with the Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sidney Newman.

** 1964 - first performance of Wuorinen - Chamber Concerto for cello and ten instruments
(New York)

** 1972 - birth of Raphaël Chrétien  (Paris)
cellist & music educator

** 1991 - on this day cellist Janos Starker recorded Robert Starer - Cello Concerto, with the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of Boston conducted by Leob Botstein

** 1994 - first performance of Gwyneth Walker - Journeys for 3 Celli
cellists: Eugene Friesen, Judith Serkin and Zon (Brattleboro, VT, USA) 

18 February

** 1632 - birth of Giovanni Battista Vitali (Bolonia, Italy) d.1692
violinist, cellist & composer

** 1909 - at the Broadwood Concerts (London), a recital was given by Paul Ludwig (cello) and Leonard Borwick (piano), with Miss Phyllis Lett (vocal).

** 1910 - A ‘Special Grand Concert’ at the Guildhall, Cambridge (England) included the solo artists Madame Blanche Marchesi and Edna Thornton (vocal), Arnold Trowell (cello) and Cyril Towsey (piano)

** 1933 - a Recital was given for the British Music Society, Salisbury Centre (England) by Antonia Butler (cello) and Hugh Campbell (baritone) 

** 1952 - first performance of Sergei Prokofiev - Sinfonia Concertante in E Minor Op. 125
soloist Mstislav Rostropovich with the USSR State Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Sviatoslav Richter).

** 1964 - birth of Jan Vogler (East Berlin)
cellist, orchestra principal cello {based U.S.A.)

** 1977 - first performance of Pfitzner - Cello Concerto No.1 in A minor (Op. posth)
soloist - Esther Nyffenegger

19 February

** 1743 - birth of Luigi Boccherini (Lucca, Toscana, Italy) d.1805
cellist, court cellist & composer

** 1880 - birth of Henryk Adamus (Warsaw) d.1950
cellist, composer & conductor

** 1899 - in the series of the Sunday Afternoon Orchestral Concerts given at the Queen's Hall, Langham Place, London, featured soloist was cellist Bertie Withers with ‘Miss Maggie Davies’

** 1914 - first performance of Arthur Foote - Aubade to Alwin Schroeder for cello and piano, Op.77
(Boston, USA)

** 1921 - first performance of Saint-Saëns - Suite in D minor, in version with orchestra, Op.16-bis 
soloist - Joseph Hollmann (at the Concerts Pasdeloup, Paris)

** 1950 - in a concert at Community Centre, Richmond, London (Richmond Concerts Society), Douglas Cameron (cello) was invited soloist performing Edmund Rubbra - Soliloquy, Op.57, with the Community Centre String Orchestra conducted by Rubbra (in his own work) and Irene Swann

** 1989 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a recital was given by cellist Rafael Figueroa, with Wu Han /piano

** 1992 - first performance of Brett Dean - Twelve Angry Men, for 12 Cellos
The 12 Cellos of the Berlin Philharmonic (Philharmonie, Berlin)

** 1997 - first performance of Roger Smalley - Cello Concerto 
(Perth, Australia)

20 February

** 1912 - historical concert of Pau Casals and Eugene Ysaye playing Brahms - Double Concerto in the Great Hall of Vienna's Musikverein

** 1957 - on this day cellist Paul Tortelier finished recording Honegger - Cello Concerto, in Paris, with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française conducted by Georges Rzipine (the other recording day was 15th February ’57)

** 1964 - Peers Coetmore (Cello) and Lee Kum Seng (Piano) appear to have recorded together on today’s date, but exact details are scarce

** 1973 - Peter Racine Fricker completes his Gigue for solo cello (F144)

** 1976 - first performance of Iannis Xenakis - Retours-Windungen, for 12 cellos
(Bonn, Germany)

21 February

** 1795 - birth of Francisco Manuel da Silva (Rio de Janeiro) d.1865
songwriter, teacher, singer & cellist {writer of the Brazilian national anthem}

** 1891 - birth of Teodoro Kotzarew (Hunsach, Dagestán, Caucaus región of old U.S.S.R.) d.1991
cellist, orchestra principal cello, professor {later based in Argentina}

** 1906 - the first reviews of cellist Serge Barjansky (but he should not be confused with Alexander Barjansky!) are to be found on reporting his debut concert on this day:
in the ‘Neue Zeitschrift für Musik’ on 21st February we could read “A young pupil of Klengel’s, the Eussian Serge Narjansky, made his debut on 17 February very happily in front of the Leipzig aydience ….natural-fesh grasp, genuine musical temperament, earmth of feeling and an already highly developed technique, the good geniuses have laid at his feet…one had to be grateful to him for his acquaintance with the cello concertos of Davidov and Lalo”
And on 22nd February 1906 in the ‘Musikalisches Wochenblatt’ the critic Paul Merkel wrote: “The artist, who possesses an excellent bowing technique, praiseworthy dexterity and an easily movable temperament, played the A minor concerto for violoncello by Ch. Davidoff and the D Minor concerto by E. Lalo, as well as the Notturno in D Major and Variations in A minor by Julius Klengel….his tone formation and tone treatment are very promising”

** 1920 - first performance of Delius - Double Concerto in A minor (1915)
soloists May Harrison/violin and Beatrice Harrison/cello, conducted by Henry Wood (London - Queen’s Hall)

** 1920 - Guilhermina Suggia was solo cellist in Dvorak - Cello Concerto in B minor, Op.104, with The Reid Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey, at the McEwan Hall (Edinburgh). She also performed J.S. Bach - Solo Suite No.6 in D Major.

** 1956 - birth of Richard John Campbell (London) d.2011
cellist, viola da gamba, early music specialist

** 1958 - a recital at Queensbury Place, South Kensington (London) was given by Amaryllis Fleming (cello) and Margaret Kitchen (piano), entitled ‘Musiciens Anglais et Francais d'Aujourd'hui’ and included the first performance of Searle - Suite, Op.29.

** 1960 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Ana Drittelle, with Anthony Makas /piano

** 1965 - Lynn Harrell gave an ample recital for The Violoncello Society of New York (at New York Town Hall), performing: Francoeur - Sonata in E Major, Schumann - Fantasy Pieces Op.73, Beethoven - Sonata in A Major, Op.69, Koch - Sonata for Cello and Piano, and Tchaikovsky - Variations on a Rococo Theme. He was accompanied on the piano by Brooks Smith

** 1967 - birth of Michael Sanderling (Berlin)
conductor, cellist & teacher

22 February

** 1761 - birth of Erik Tulindberg (Vähäkyrö, Finland) d.1814
composer, violinist & cellist

** 1892 - in the Concerthaus-Conventgarten, Hamburg (Germany), an orchestral subscription concert conducted by Hans von Bülow featured the soloists Jettka Finkenstein (vocal) and Hugo Becker (cello).

** 1898 - Edmund van der Straeten received glowing words on this day from famous cellist David Popper about his new publication “The Technics of Violoncello Playing”; Popper wrote (in exact words):
“Honoured Sir and Friend. --- In sending me your book on The Technics of Violoncello Playing you have given me a real and true pleasure. I know of no work, tutors and studies not excepted, which presents so much valuable material, so much that is absolutely to the point, avoiding - I might say, on principle - all that is superfluous and dispensable. Every earnest thinking violomcello student will in future make your book his own and thereby receive hints which will further and complete the instruction of his master. I congratulate you and ourselves most heartily on the new violoncello book. With kind regards, yours most sincerely, David Popper” [Budapest, February 22nd, 1898]

** 1917 - birth of Adolfo Odnoposoff (Buenos Aires) d.1992
cellist, influential exponent of Latin classical music as soloist, orchestra principal cello {based in Israel, Peru, Chile, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, U.S.A.}

** 1933 - on this day cellist, conductor and composer Konrad Henryk Adamus was awarded the Polish Silver Cross of Merit in 1933

** 1987 - concerto debut of Alban Gerhardt (Haydn Cello Concerto in D Major) 
(Berlin - Berlin Philharmonie)

23 February

** 1891 - Pablo Casals gives his first solo cello recital in Barcelona

** 1920 - on today’s date the ‘Surrey Mirror’(England) was rather unkind to Guilhermina Suggia in the review of her ‘Holmesdale Fine Arts Club Concert’ - usually criticism is for not showing enough emotion and not for showing too much! The exact words were:
“Although Mme. Suggia’s spiritual face allowed full play to the stirring emotions the “Sicilienne” roused in her soul, we blush to confess that Fauré’s sentiment sounded cheap to us, and that Suggia put so much more meaning into it than either composer or listener was capable of, that we were ashamed to look her in the face while she was playing it.”

** 1939 - an Oxford Orchestral Society concert invited Antonia Butler as cello soloist.

** 1947 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Ardyth Walker, with Glory Fisher /piano

** 1949 - Daniil Shafran (Cello) and Nina Musinian (Piano) recorded Malagueña (Recuerdos de Viaje), Op.71 No.9, by Isaac Albeniz

** 1956 - Joan Dickson was cello soloist in a Reid Orchestral Concert - she performed Hans Gal - Cello Concerto, Op.67, with The Reid Orchestra, conducted by the composer

** 1962 - first broadcast performance of Gordon Jacob - Elegy for Cello and Piano (the work had been written in 1958) - the performers were Florence Hooton (cello) and Wilfred Parry (piano)

** 1967 - New York Impresario Sol Hurok presented Mstislav Rostropovich in 8 monumental evenings starting on this day in Carnegie Hall {to be exact, from Feb. 23 to March 12, 1967}. Rostropovich performed 30 cello concertos - offering standard concerto repertoire and new works, several of which were written for him and two were world premieres; many later released on record, including works from Elgar, Brahms, Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich, Respighi, Hindemith, Honegger, Britten, Khrennikov, etc.

** 1988 - first performance of Oliver Pina - Canción y danza montañesas, for cello and piano [the piece was dedicated to the composer´s daughter: Laura]
Rafael Ramos/cello and Josep Colom/piano (Casa Velazquez, Madrid)

24 February

** 1791 - the 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

** 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).

** 1894 - first performance of 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).

** 1923 - birth of David Soyer (Philadelphia, USA) d.2010
cellist, chamber musician

** 1946 - birth of Jiří Bělohlávek (Prague) d. 2017
conductor & cellist

** 1955 - Maurice Eisenberg (cello) and Ivor Keys (piano) gave a cello recital for the University of Nottingham (England)
so he played this concert on his birthday!

** 1956 - birth of Paula Zahn (Omaha, Nebraska, USA)
journalist, television newscaster and amateur cellist!

** 1971 - on this day cellist Janos Starker finished recording Strauss - Don Quixote, in Paris, with the Orchestre National de France conducted by Jascha Horenstein

** 1978 - birth of Serena Tideman (Port Townsend, Washington, USA)
composer & classical and improvisational cellist

25 February

** 1799 - birth of Siegfrid Wilhelm Dehn (Altona, Germany) d.1858
cellist, librarian of the music department of the Royal Library of Berlin, author of theoretical works and a teacher of counterpoint and composition (among his students were Glinka and Rubinstein!)

** 1811 - birth of Carl Schuberth (Germany) d.1863
cellist, solo cellist to the‘Czar’, conductor, professor & composer {based Russia}

** 1860 - birth of Robert Emil Hansen (Denmark) d.1926 {brother of pianist Agnes Adler}
composer and cellist {works include a cello concerto}

** 1865 - birth of Flavie van den Hende (Renaix, Belgium) d.1925
important woman cellist, later based in North America

** 1875 - birth of Francis Touche (Toulouse, France)
cellist, conductor of the ‘Concerts Rouge’ (France)

** 1882 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Madame Patey (vocal) and Robert Hausmann (cello).

** 1891 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) the second performance of three ‘Master Jean Gerardy’s Violoncello Recitals’ was heard, accompanied by Mr Waddington Cooke.

** 1892 - a London Symphony Concert was given at St. James Hall (London) featuring Hugo Becker (cello).

** 1892 - English cellist Maud Fletcher performed on this day the Sonata in A minor Op.36 by Grieg

** 1919 - birth of Frederick “Fred” Katz (New York City) d.2013
jazz cellist & composer 

** 1937 - birth of Frances Steiner (USA)
cellist, conductor & professor  

** 1962 - cellist Frank Miller made a live recording on this day of Saint-Saëns - Cello Concerto in A minor with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (he was their longtime principal cello), conducted by Walter Hendl

** 1962 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Gaspar Cassado, with Chieko Hara /piano

** 1970 - first performance of Wuorinen - Adapring to the Times, for cello and piano
?/cello with the composer at piano (Bowker Auditorium, University of Massachussetts at Amherst, USA)

** 1990 - birth of Alpesh Chauhan
conductor & cellist

26 February

** 1797 - birth of Karl Henning (Halberstadt, Germany) d. about 1866
cellist & several other instruments; composer of educational pieces and tutors for the cello and the violin {his son was a violinist and musicologist living in the U.S.A.)

** 1816 - an Englishman with the name Percivall performed on this day as cello soloist at The Philharmonic Society (London).

** 1844 - premiere of Suppé - Operetta ‘Ein Morgen, Mittag und ein Abend in Wien’ (‘Morning, Noon and Night in Vienna’) {the overture features an important orchestral principal cello line}
(Theater in der Josefstadt, Vienna)

** 1879 - birth of Paul Grümmer (Gera, Thuringia, Germany) d.1965
cellist, chamber musician & professor

** 1881 - at the Crystal Palace Saturday Orchestral Concerts (South London) the featured invited soloists on this day were Mr Edward Lloyd (vocal) and Robert Hausmann (cello).

** 1890 - in the Princes’ Hall, Piccadilly (London) the second of two ‘Misses Geisler-Schubert and Fillunger’s Chamber Concerts’ featuring Herr Straus (violin) and Mr Whitehouse (cello).

** 1891 - an orchestral concert at St. James’s Hall (London) was given to mark the re-appearance in England of Jean Gerardy (cello), with Eleanor Cleaver (vocal), conducted by ‘Monsieur Ysaye’

** 1896 - birth of Tauno Hannikainen (Jyväskylä, Finland) d.1968
cellist, conductor {brother of Ilmari Hannikainen}

** 1903 - Guilhermina Suggia’s cello abilities were noted by Arthur Nikisch, the director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, who warmly supported her official debut on 26th February, 1903, when she played Robert Volkmann’s Cello Concerto Op.33 with the Gewandhaus Orchestra under Nikisch’s direction. With this triumph, her time in Leipzig came to an end. She was now a celebrity! 

** 1916 - a ‘New Reid Concert’ took place on today’s date at the Freemason’s Hall (Edinburgh) featuring the chamber music group: Charles Draper - clarinet, Percy Such - violoncello and Professor D.F.Tovey - pianoforte. The programme consisted of trios (including the Brahms Op.114) and solos: notably Such and Tovey performed Beethoven - Sonata No.3 in A Major, Op.67

** 1922 - birth of George {György} Horvath (Budapest) d.2009 {father of cellist Janet Horvath}
cellist, recitalist, orchestra musician {based Toronto, Canada}

** 1924 - first performance of Bax - Cello Sonata in Eb Major
Beatrice Harrison/cello and Harriet Cohen/piano (Wigmore Hall, London)

** 1925 - the Harrison sisters - Beatrice, cello and May, violin - were specially featured soloists in a Reid Orchestral Concert on this day. They performed two double concertos: Delius - Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra, and Brahms - Double Concerto in A minor, Op.102, with the Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey.

** 1928 - on this day Pau Casals gives his last concert as a recitalist in the United States, at the New York Town Hall, a recital with Nicolai Mednikoff at the piano

** 1933 - the London Philharmonic Orchestra gave a performance with soloist Gaspar Cassado (cello), conducted by Basil Cameron, at the Queen’s Hall (London).

** 1945 - Martinu finishes writing his Cello Concerto No.2 (not premiered until 1965)       

** 1948 - the Oxford Subscription Concerts presented the Oxford Orchestral Society with soloist James Whitehead (cello).

** 1951 - the first performance of Howard Swanson’s ‘Suite, for violoncello and piano’ was given by cellist Bernard Greenhouse, with pianist Anthony Makas (in the U.S.A.)

** 1956 - in the National Gallery of Art, in Washington D.C., a performance was given by cellist Guillermo Helguera, with Richard Corbett /piano

** 1985 - Peter Racine Fricker completes his ‘Aspects of Evening’ for cello and piano, Op.90

** 1969 - first performance of Einojuhani Rautavaara - Concerto for Cello and Orchestra (Helsinki)

** 1969 - birth of Alban Gerhardt (Berlin)
cellist

** 1994 - first performance of José Luis - Invisible, for eight cellos
cellists: Octeto de Violoncellos Conjunto Ibérico, conducted by Elias Erizcuren (Madrid)

** 1994 - first performance of Agustin Charles Soler - Divertimento, for eight cellos
cellists: Octeto de Violoncellos Conjunto Ibérico, conducted by Elias Erizcuren (Madrid)

** 1994 - first performance of José Luis Greco -Invisible, for eight cellos
cellists: Octeto de Violoncellos Conjunto Ibérico, conducted by Elias Erizcuren (Madrid)

27 February

** 1734 - birth of Prince Karol Stanisław Radziwiłł  (Nieśwież, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) d.1790
Prince, nobleman, politician, diplomat …and amateur cellist, singer & composer!

** 1863 - first performance of Popper - Andante and Rondo {these were to be the base of his Cello Concerto Mo.2. movements II and III}
with the composer as cello soloist {Musikverein Euterp, Leipzig, Germany)

** 1891 - 18-year old English cellist Maud Fletcher performed on this day the Sonata in G minor Op. 5/2 by Beethoven, and Kol Nidrei Op.47 by Max Bruch

** 1892 - first performance of Bazzini - Concertstück for cello and orchestra  
soloist - Hugo Becker, conducted by August Manns (London - Crystal Palace Concerts)   

** 1900 - Danish cellist Agga Fritsche performed in Finland with pianist Télémaque Lambrino (1878–1930), appearing in a charity concert organized by the Fruntimmersföreningens in the Universitetets Solennitetssal. They performed performed Richard Strauss - Cello Sonata in F major, Op.6, the Cello Concerto in G minor, Op.29 by Fritz Kauffmann, Alfredo Piatti - Tarantella, Op.23 and César Cuis -Cantabile Op.36/2

** 1907 - birth of Massimo Amfitheatrof (Paris) d.1990
cellist, chamber musician  

** 1938 - Marjorie Ballantyne was cello soloist  in Robert Schumann - Cello Concerto in A minor, Op.129, at the Usher Hall, Edinburgh, with The Reid Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey.

** 1950 - the first performance of Elliott Carter - Sonata for cello and piano was given by cellist Bernard Greenhouse with pianist Anthony Makas at the ‘Steinway Hall’ (New York)

. The recital also included works by J.S. Bach, Boccherini and Schumann.

** 1969 - first performance of Hoddinott - Nocturnes and Cadenzas, Op.62 for cello and orchestra
soloist Raphael Sommer with the BBC Welsh Orchestra, conducted by Norman del Mar  

** 1980 - at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (London) the London Chanticleer Orchestra, conducted by Ruth Gipps, featured cello soloist Alexander Baillie.

** 1987 - cellist Daniil Shafran was soloist/director with the Concert Avenna Baroque Orchestra in Poland - in this programme he performed the J.C. Bach : Cello Concerto in C Minor and Vivaldi’s Cello Concerto in B minor, and played several encores

** 1991 - birth of Julian Schwarz (Seattle, Washington, USA)
cellist & teacher

28 February

** 1808 - birth of Moritz Hanemann (Löwenberg, Germany) d.1884
cellist, member of Royal Chapel of Berlin; teacher of violoncello, piano and flute; produced witty and sparkling contributions to music papers!

** 1814 - Charles Neate performed as cellist in a quartet giving the premiere of a string quartet by Griffin.

** 1845 - on this day Anton Träg was engaged as cello professor at the Conservatoire of Prague

** 1864 - birth of Rudolf Glickh (Vienna)
cellist, professor at the church music school of the Votiv-Church in Vienna, teacher of the violoncello and musical theory at the music school of L. Liebing; Capellmeister at the Votiv Church, composer of church music

** 1873 - an interesting review appeared on this date from the Birmingham Daily Post (Birmingham, England), not only for the interpretation but for the instrumental presentation!:
 “M. Van Biene, whose violoncello playing seems to combine with the tenderness and refinement of Daubert, much of the breadth and power of Piatti, played the Bach Sarabande with harmonium accompaniment, in the German fashion, by Dr. Heap, with such telling effect as to elicit a recall.”

** 1875 - birth of Agga Fritsche (Copenhagen)
cellist, probably the first woman Danish cellist to give solo performances

** 1888 - first performance (private concert) of Tchaikovsky - Nocturne, in the version for cello and piano
soloist Anatoly Brandukov with composer at piano (house concert at home of M.P.Benardaky, Paris)

** 1888 - first performance of Tchaikovsky - Pezzo Capriccioso, in the version for cello and piano
soloist Anatoly Brandukov with composer at piano (house concert at home of M.P.Benardaky, Paris)

** 1900 - at the Curtius Concert Club, Piccadilly (London), the Willy Hess String Quartet gave a chamber music concert. An interesting anecdote is that ‘Herr Grützmacher (cello) was replaced by Herbert Walenn for this concert and the programme was revised as a result - the listeners finally heard string quartets by Beethoven, Smetana, and Schumann.

** 1921 - the Brahms - Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra was performed on today’s date in Berlin by soloists Gustav Havemann & E. Feuermann with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

** 1924 - Felix Salmond plays as soloist in the New York Carnegie Hall - probably he was thinking of the Elgar Cello Concerto, but either the orchestra or the conductor insisted on the Dvořák Cello Concerto. The concert was with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Willem Mengelberg

** 1929 - Beatrice Harrison was solo cellist in a Reid Orchestral Concert on this day. She performed two concertos: Delius - Cello Concerto and Haydn - Cello Concerto (of course, the D Major, because the C Major hadn’t yet been discovered!), with the Reis Symphony Orchestra conducted by Donald Tovey.

** 1931 - at the Beethoven Hall, Berlin, an ‘Only Cello Evening’ was offered by Gregory Peker (cello).

** 1980 - a Reid Chamber Concert took place on today’s date at Reid Concert Hall (Edinburgh) featuring a chamber music group that included Rohan De Saram - cello, who opened the recital playing the Finale to the Kodaly - Solo Cello Sonata, Op.8

** 1981 - first performance of Dr. Ruth Gipps MBE - Sonata for Cello and Piano; Op.63 (written in 1978)
cellist/Lorraine Nagioff (?)/ pianist ? - London

29 February

** 1840 - birth of Albert Rüdel (Wittstock, East Priegnitz, Germany)
cellist, royal chamber musician, orchestra principal cello & composer

** 1956 - on this day cellist Pierre Fournier made a recording with violinist David Oistrakh of part of the Brahms - Double Concerto, with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Alceo Galliera, at the Kingsway Hall, London (finished on 2nd March ’56)

 ** 1980 - the Prague Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jiri Belohlavek, featured cello soloist Stanislav Apolin in Leeds Town Hall (England)

** 1988 - Rafael Ramos/cello and Josep Colom/piano recorded for Spanish National Radio, Xavier Montsalvatge - Sonata Concertante (1971-72) and they also performed Joaquín Nín - Suite Española in the same session
Casa de la Radio, Madrid