Piatigorsky Archives

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: ICS, 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|

Castelnuovo-Tedesco Cello Concerto Revival — by Brinton Averil Smith

June 8, 2018 marked the Naxos release of a live recording of the first professional performance of Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco's 'lost' cello concerto in over 80 years. Castelnuovo-Tedesco's career in his native Italy was cut short by Mussolini's rise, and he spent the latter half of his life in Hollywood, where he scored nearly 200 films, while continuing to compose classical works and teaching students including Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, André Previn, Jerry Goldsmith, and John Williams (André Previn tells the story of Mario forcing him to orchestrate Mozart's 40th symphony from memory, and then comparing his orchestration to the economy of Mozart's). Gregor Piatigorsky and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, August 1935 (source unknown) Mario relates that Piatigorsky asked “Castelnuovo, a great many cellists play your works as well [...]

By Brinton Smith|2018-12-19T17:54:18-05:00June 13th, 2018|Categories: Repertoire|Tags: Castelnuovo-Tedesco, cello concerto, korngold, Naxos, New York Philharmonic, Piatigorsky, premiere|

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: Paul Katz, humor, Heifetz, Piatigorsky|

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

Rambling About Tanglewood: Tales of a BSO Survivor

Reposted from The Berkshire Eagle. LENOX—It's been two times 50 for Jules Eskin this summer: the conclusion of 50 years as the Boston Symphony Orchestra's principal cellist, coinciding with the conclusion of the Boston Symphony Chamber Players' 50th anniversary season. That automatically identifies him as a founding member of the chamber ensemble. He's the only founding member still in it, in fact. Eskin, 82, is a survivor. After five months out for cancer treatments, he came back to active duty at Tanglewood on July 6 to play one of his trademark solos, the big, lyrical one in Brahms' Second Piano Concerto. He's also back to doing his pull-ups and sit-ups and hikes up Lenox Mountain to the fire tower, he says. He's tough even when it comes to producing a [...]

By Blogmaster|2017-10-30T05:11:08-04:00August 27th, 2014|Categories: Artistic Vision, Interviews, Orchestra|Tags: BSO, Piatigorsky, Tanglewood, Jules Eskin, Lenox, The Berkshire Eagle, cellist, chamber music|

Pezzo Capriccioso, Transitions, Alterations, and Rosin (Edited Version) — by Robert Battey

I am indebted to Aron Zelkowicz for correcting factual errors in the first version of this article, and to Peter Close for locating an on-line version of the original score. Today’s ruminations are on Tchaikovsky. And his congenital weakness regarding transitions. It’s kind of endearing, that such a genius would have this Achilles’ heel; for some reason, his muse regularly deserted him when he needed to stitch together two sections of music. It could be in a placid spot, such as the transition to the jerky second theme in the first movement of the Piano Concerto . . . or the connecting “music” preceding the waltz variation in the A minor Trio. It could also be in a transition meant to increase tension, like the second return to the [...]

By Robert Battey|2018-03-18T04:39:36-04:00September 8th, 2013|Categories: Repertoire|Tags: cello, repeated notes, alterations, glissando, Rococo Variations, Piatigorsky, gummed-up fingers, options, sections, compositions, increased tension, melody, show piece, transitions, Leopold Auer, Rostropovich, sticky problem with shifting, rosin, lyrical, recordings, Tchaikovsky, sections of music, master, composer, trill, Achilles’ heel, modern artists, effects, charming, musical transitions, Battey, difficulty, opening material, robert, experimenting with rosin, creativity, Pezzo Capriccioso, virtuoso, flawed works|

Passing It On — by Brant Taylor

A few weeks back, I was having a post-concert drink with my friend and colleague Joshua Gindele, cellist of the Miro Quartet, and the conversation turned to teaching. Though we are both associated with ensembles that perform dozens of concerts every season, teaching the cello is an important component of both of our musical lives. (Josh teaches at the University of Texas at Austin, and I teach at DePaul University.) Discussions on the general relationship between performing and teaching often give rise to interesting questions, some without straightforward answers. Many performers teach even though the skill sets required for good teaching and good performing are far from identical. If great teaching is something that is learned, when and how are the skills acquired? If a performer is a big star [...]

By Brant Taylor|2017-08-08T01:49:47-04:00February 20th, 2012|Categories: Bernard Greenhouse, Interpersonal Relationships, Janos Starker, Teaching|Tags: Experience, Development, Taylor, Quartet, Janos, inspiration, Awareness, Starker, Teaching, performance, cello technique, cello, Gregor, cellobello, David, Piatigorsky, Katz, perspective, Popper, music, Bernard, Paul, Brant, Greenhouse|