Heifetz Archives

Leonard Rose Remembered (January, 2004)

by Tim Janof Leonard Rose was one of the greatest cellists of all time. Many of the recordings he made in the prime of his career continue to be viewed as the ultimate model of gorgeous cello playing. His greatest recordings have a timeless, unmannered quality that sound as fresh today as they did when they were first released. He also had tremendous success as a teacher. His former students are now leading cellists around the world, and include principal and section cellists in professional orchestras, highly regarded pedagogues, and revered soloists. Leonard Rose was a cellist's cellist, who excelled in every aspect of cello playing -- teacher, soloist, orchestral cellist, and chamber musician. While researching for this article, I had the tremendous fortune of finding Barbara Rose-Schirota, who is [...]

By Tim Janof|2024-07-05T20:20:36-04:00December 15th, 2021|Categories: Historical, Artists, Internet Cello Society Archive, Performance, Repertoire, Teaching|Tags: Yo-Yo Ma, Internet Cello Society Archive, Felix Salmond, Sergei Rachmaninoff', New York Philharmonic, Leonard Rose, Glenn Gould, ICS, Frank Miller, Fritz Reiner, NBC Orchestra, Heifetz, Lynn Harrell, Cleveland Orchestra|

Conversation with Paul Katz (October, 2005)

Interview by Tim Janof Paul Katz is known to concertgoers the world over as cellist of the Cleveland Quartet, which during an international career of 26 years, made more than 2,500 appearances on four continents. As a member of the celebrated ensemble from 1969-1995, Katz performed at the White House and on many television shows, including "CBS Sunday Morning," NBC's "Today Show," "The Grammy Awards" (the first classical musicians to appear on that show,) and in "In The Mainstream: The Cleveland Quartet," a one hour documentary televised across the U.S. and Canada. In collaboration with the country's largest PBS station, WGBH Boston, and the New England Conservatory of Music, Katz has recently embarked on an extensive DVD/Website project on cello pedagogy, an endeavor that will occupy much of his next [...]

By Tim Janof|2020-08-03T09:05:46-04:00August 5th, 2019|Categories: Internet Cello Society Archive, Interviews|Tags: Greenhouse, Schoenfeld, chamber music, Victor Sazer, Starker, Primrose, Heifetz, USC, Piatigorsky, Casals, Lesser, Paul Katz, Tim Janoff, Gabor Rejto, New England Conservatory, Internet Cello Society, string quartet, Cleveland Quartet, ICS|

My First Lessons with Gregor Piatigorsky — by Paul Katz

In 1961, Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky and William Primrose joined the faculty of the University of Southern California where I was a cello student studying with the highly inspiring Gabor Rejto. As fate would have it, Rejto was leaving on sabbatical that year and so I auditioned for Piatigorsky and was admitted to his first class at USC. Two amazing years with him followed—he was truly a creative genius, a great psychologist, and a supportive father figure that cared deeply about everyone that he taught. We were a new class of students, however, and as we entered the room that first day, none of us knew what to expect: Excited that I was going to be studying with the 'Great Grisha,' I bought a new short-sleeved, bright orange shirt for this special occasion. Made from [...]

By Blogmaster|2019-11-18T15:01:24-05:00January 24th, 2018|Categories: CelloFun, Interpersonal Relationships|Tags: Heifetz, Piatigorsky, Paul Katz, humor|

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: arnold schoenberg, Ernst Toch, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Miklós Rózsa, korngold, Franz Waxman, Sergei Rachmaninoff', Heifetz, Leopold Godowsky, Piatigorsky, brinton smith, igor stravinsky|

The View from Both Sides — by Robert Battey

Critic. n.: one who walks out onto the field after a battle to shoot the wounded. As a still-occasionally-performing cellist as well as a regular music critic for the Washington Post and STRINGS magazine, I feel exquisitely the sentiment expressed by the wag above. There are few things more discouraging than to give a concert of which one is proud, only to later read that you “had an off night, with wayward intonation and a pinched sound.” On the other side, to judge from the press quotes sprinkled in concert flyers and musicians’ bios, one might think that everyone is incredible. In such a subjective realm as the performing arts, these anomalies and injustices will always be with us. No two people hear the same thing at a [...]

By Robert Battey|2021-03-08T16:24:07-05:00January 7th, 2013|Categories: Artistic Vision, Beyond the Traditional, Performance|Tags: Battey, Beethoven, robert, traveling, critic, commitment, Strings Magazine, problems, patience, Philosophy, expertise, Heifetz|

The Eyes Have It (Part 1) — by Selma Gokcen

One of the most valuable indicators of well-functioning coordination is eye movement. I have noticed for a long time now that there are different types of gaze in musicians. The "well-trained" musician of today often exhibits what I call blinkered attention, the result of years of too much effortful practice. The strain around the eyes is visible and often accompanied by laboured breathing. Caught by inward feelings and sensations, this musician is "concentrating." In the words of my Alexander teacher, the original meaning of concentration used to be: to relate a set of factors to a central point. It has been increasingly misused in our educational system to encourage the shutting out of everything else out to focus on a single thing. Concentration therefore as a useful aim has been [...]

By Selma Gokcen|2017-10-09T02:04:27-04:00October 22nd, 2011|Categories: Playing Healthy, Self Discovery|Tags: music, Gokcen, Awareness, concentration, relationships, Selma, practicing, attention, communication, seeing, Coordination, effort, exploration, Feuermann, Casals, Listening, Heifetz, cello, relaxation, strain, cellobello, Alexander Technique|