brinton smith Archives

CelloChat: Brinton Averil Smith – Interpretive Principles Learned from Recordings of the Masters of the Golden Age of String Playing

Critics have described American cellist Brinton Averil Smith as a “virtuoso cellist with few equals,” hailing him “a proponent of old-school string playing such as that of Piatigorsky and Heifetz.” Smith’s debut recording of Miklós Rózsa’s Cello Concerto with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra received widespread international critical acclaim, with Gramophone praising Smith as a “hugely eloquent, impassioned soloist,” and continuing “The sheer bravura of Smith’s reading is infectious” while the American Record Guide praised his recording of chamber music of Fauré with Gil Shaham as “Stunningly beautiful,” continuing “I cannot imagine a better stylistic match for Shaham.”

By CelloBello Webmaster|2022-01-20T07:23:47-05:00January 12th, 2022|Categories: CelloChats, Virtual Events|Tags: brinton smith, Houston Symphony, Brinton Averil Smith, Rice University|

The Origins of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major (Part 2 of 2)

My research into this topic was inspired by upcoming concerts this weekend with the Houston Symphony. The Saturday January 30th performance is viewable on livestream at 8pm Central time. I am heavily indebted to Thomas Tolley and Dr. George Kenneway, whose groundbreaking research I only survey in this article. Their papers should be read in their entirety for the rich level of background and detail they provide. Unlike most of Haydn’s symphonic commissions, the cello concerto would stay unpublished for two decades. The market for cello concerti was more limited than for piano and violin concerti and was focused on works playable by advanced amateur musicians. Although there was a general increase in the difficulty of published cello writing in the late 18th century, only the concerti of Boccherini rivaled [...]

By Brinton Smith|2024-02-26T13:30:32-05:00January 27th, 2021|Categories: Historical, Artistic Vision, Performance, Repertoire|Tags: brinton smith, Anton Kraft, James Cervetto, Franz Joseph Haydn, Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Origin of Haydn's Cello Concerto, Houston Symphony|

The Origins of Haydn’s Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major (Part 1 of 2)

My research into this topic was inspired by upcoming concerts this weekend with the Houston Symphony. The Saturday January 30th performance is viewable on livestream at 8pm Central time. I am heavily indebted to Thomas Tolley and Dr. George Kenneway, whose groundbreaking research I only survey in this article. Their papers should be read in their entirety for the rich level of background and detail they provide. Haydn’s 1783 D major cello concerto (Hob VIIb:2) suffered a checkered reception for much of its early history, with aspersions cast both upon its authenticity and its compositional quality. Even when it finally gained popularity among cellists in the late 19th century, it did so in performing editions that significantly altered both its style and substance. The reception of the concerto was further [...]

By Brinton Smith|2024-02-19T13:25:56-05:00January 26th, 2021|Categories: Historical, Artistic Vision, Performance, Repertoire|Tags: brinton smith, Anton Kraft, James Cervetto, Franz Joseph Haydn, Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Origin of Haydn's Cello Concerto, Houston Symphony|

Exiles in Paradise: on the “Hollywood Renaissance” and Finding New Repertoire for the Cello: Part 1

This article is the first installment in a two-part series As cellists, we tend to think of much of the repertoire that we play as European cultural traditions that we have assimilated. We generally associate American musical tradition with Copland, Ives, Gershwin and perhaps a few brief years in the life of Antonin Dvorak. Many musicians are unaware, however, that in the first half of the 20th century, an influx of European refugees, fleeing war and persecution, rapidly formed, within a few square miles near Hollywood, one of the most talented and prolific communities in music history. As they attempted to rebuild their lives in this exotic paradise, they indelibly altered the course of American culture. Performers living in Los Angeles during this era included Jascha Heifetz, William Primrose, [...]

By Brinton Smith|2020-09-17T02:35:33-04:00March 15th, 2020|Categories: Artistic Vision, Performance|Tags: Los Angeles, cello, Jascha Heifetz, igor stravinsky, arnold schoenberg, Sergei Rachmaninoff', Leopold Godowsky, brinton smith|

Not Enough

The long drive from Aspen gave me a chance to refine a bit what I said to my students there to end our last class: I have been almost as lucky as you can be in this business. I've had countless disappointments of course- some deserved, some not. That is the nature of the business. But I have a good job, a happy reputation, a balance between solo, chamber, orchestral playing and teaching, the good fortune to be friends and colleagues with some of the musicians I admire most in the world, and the respect of some of the peers that I care the most about. I've had the chance to travel, play concerts, enjoy the camaraderie and live some of the enviable life. I haven't had everything, but I've [...]

By Brinton Smith|2019-10-31T15:41:49-04:00September 4th, 2019|Categories: Self Discovery|Tags: unattainable, love, brinton smith, not enough, back to school, finding meaning, purpose|

LA Story: A Recital of New & Unusual Works for Cello & Piano from Hollywood’s Golden Age — by Brinton Averil Smith

Like many string players I grew up loving the Heifetz recording of the Korngold Violin Concerto, and a general obsession with Heifetz led to an interest in the composers he championed, in particular composers like Korngold, Rózsa, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and others who lived in Los Angeles during the mid-20th century. This inspired a project last April to revive the Castelnuovo-Tedesco cello concerto for its first performance since its 1930s debut performances with Piatigorsky and Toscanini. The recording of our 'reboot' will be released this June on Naxos, but reading and studying about Castelnuovo-Tedesco's relationships with the film studios, Heifetz, Piatigorsky, and the other musicians and composers living in LA gave me a new appreciation for the incredible depth of musical talent that existed in Los Angeles in the middle of the [...]

By Brinton Smith|2023-10-30T13:35:52-04:00January 4th, 2018|Categories: Beyond the Traditional, Performance, Repertoire, Videos|Tags: Franz Waxman, Sergei Rachmaninoff', Heifetz, Leopold Godowsky, Piatigorsky, brinton smith, igor stravinsky, arnold schoenberg, Ernst Toch, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Miklós Rózsa, korngold|