Cellist

The cello is the big, booming baritone of the violin family, and it takes a young and husky man to play it. From 17th-century Italian Domenico Gabrielli to 20th-century Russian Gregor Piatigorsky, successful cellists have been men of brawn. Lesser cellists, like Composer Jacques Offenbach, Composer Victor Herbert, and Conductor Arturo Toscanini, have often become famous for other things than cello playing. But the greatest cellists have usually spent a whole lifetime taming the thick strings and finger-defying dimensions of their instruments. Such were France's owl-faced Jean Louis Duport (1749-1819), Germany's muscular Bernhard Romberg (1767-1841), Russia's handsome, dashing Charles Davidov (1838-89), bearded Alsatian Hugo Becker (1767-1841), and 78-year-old Saxon Julius Klengel.

Ten years ago the undisputed title of No. 1 living cellist was held by a stocky, bald-headed Spaniard named Pablo Casals. The aging Casals has not played in the U. S. for nearly a decade. Three years ago, when Austrian-born Cellist Emanuel Feuermann made his Manhattan debut, he set the cello fans' heads to wagging. Short, roundheaded Feuermann not only drew a powerful, well-modulated tone from his recalcitrant instrument, he could play it with a rippling facility that put most violinists to shame. Last week Cellist Feuermann finished the most ambitious cellistic venture ever witnessed in Manhattan concert halls. In a cycle of four concerts with the National Orchestral Association he had played 13 large-scale compositions for cello and orchestra. Critics and public were agreed that if 61-year-old Casals' crown could be claimed by anyone, most impressive claimant was 35-year-old Feuermann.

Cellist Feuermann, born in a family of musicians at Kolomea, Galicia, started to play the cello at the age of seven, played it in concerts at eleven, and at 16 taught it as a professor at the Cologne Conservatory. Ousted by Nazis from his position as teacher in Berlin's Hochschule fuer Musik in 1933, he embarked on two world tours, was nailed on four continents as one of the greatest living virtuosos. While traveling, Cellist Feuermann never lets his $30,000 Stradivarius cello out of his sight, always buys an extra berth for it when forced to spend the night on the train.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.