Zara Nelsova Archives

Conversation with Steven Isserlis (May, 1998)

Interview by Tim Janof British cellist Steven Isserlis performs regularly with the world's leading orchestras, including the London Symphony and the Philharmonia, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago and San Francisco Symphonies, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Japan's NHK Orchestra, collaborating with conductors such as Ashkenazy, Eschenbach, Gardiner, Norrington, Slatkin, Solti, and Tilson Thomas. He has enjoyed working with authentic instrument orchestras such as the English Baroque Soloists, the London Classical Players, and l'Orchestre Revolutionnaire et Romantique, and he has also been an inspiration for composer John Tavener, who as a result has written many works for cello. Admired for his expertise in the chamber music repertoire, Isserlis has been responsible for programming and participating in successful chamber music festivals both at London's Wigmore Hall and at the Salzburg Festival, [...]

By Tim Janof|2023-09-16T03:04:15-04:00September 27th, 2021|Categories: Internet Cello Society Archive, Artistic Vision, Interviews, Performance, Repertoire, Self Discovery|Tags: trills, Schelomo, Zara Nelsova, Bach, Jane Cowan, vibrato, Ornamentation, Interpreation, gut strings|

Conversation with Bonnie Hampton (September, 1996)

Interview by Tim Janof Bonnie Hampton leads an active life as a chamber musician, soloist, and teacher. Ms. Hampton has been involved in performances of new music since the beginning of her career and has been active in contemporary music groups. She has also been the cellist of the Francesco Trio for 32 years. A student of Pablo Casals, she participated for many years in the Casals and Marlboro Festivals. Ms. Hampton teaches at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, and, during the summer, at the Banff Centre and the Tanglewood Music Center. She has served as president of Chamber Music America. TJ: You studied with the great cello pedagogue, Margaret Rowell. What was she like as a teacher? BH: I started my study with her when I was 8 [...]

By Tim Janof|2023-01-30T12:51:24-05:00February 8th, 2021|Categories: Internet Cello Society Archive, Artistic Vision, Chamber Music, Interviews, Pablo Casals, Performance, Repertoire, Teaching|Tags: Interpretation, Contemporary Music, Margaret Rowell, Technique, Colin Hampton, chamber music, Pablo Casals, Zara Nelsova|

Conversation with Raphael Wallfisch (July, 2004)

Interview by Tim Janof Raphael Wallfisch was born in London in 1953 into a family of distinguished musicians, his mother the cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, and his father the pianist Peter Wallfisch. At an early age, Raphael was greatly inspired by hearing Zara Nelsova play, and, guided by a succession of fine teachers, including Amaryllis Fleming, Amadeo Baldovino, and Derek Simpson, it became apparent that the cello was to be his life's work. While studying with the great Russian cellist Gregor Piatigorsky in California, he was chosen to perform chamber music with Jascha Heifetz in the informal recitals that Piatigorsky held at his home. At the age of twenty-four he won the Gaspar Cassadó International Cello Competition in Florence. Since then he has enjoyed a world-wide career playing with such orchestras [...]

By Tim Janof|2020-10-07T20:56:36-04:00September 29th, 2020|Categories: Internet Cello Society Archive, Artistic Vision, Interviews, Janos Starker, Performance, Teaching|Tags: Zara Nelsova, Mischa Maisky, Amaryllis Fleming, Gregor Piatigorsky, Cassado Competition, Janos Starker, Technique|

Conversation with Zara Nelsova (June, 2000)

Interview by Tim Janof The second generation of a distinguished Russian musical family, Ms. Nelsova was born in Canada, educated in England, and is a citizen of the USA. She made her debut with the London Symphony at age 12, and since that time has regularly toured every continent, including her triumphant tour of the Soviet Union in 1966 as the first to be made by an American soloist. Zara Nelsova has appeared with virtually every major orchestra in North America including those of New York, Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia. She has appeared with numerous European orchestras including the Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam, Royal, Berlin, and London Philharmonics, the BBC and London symphony orchestras, and in Warsaw and Poznan with the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra. She has collaborated with such [...]

By Tim Janof|2022-05-09T13:53:00-04:00October 27th, 2019|Categories: Internet Cello Society Archive, Interviews, Performance|Tags: Barber, Bloch, Schelomo, Zara Nelsova, Pablo Casals, Concerto, Pierre Fournier, soloist|