# Famous Cellists?



## mikeber (Feb 19, 2012)

While browsing the classical recording section at Amazon, I noticed many young, relatively new violinists, pianists, guitarists, even 2 female trumpeters! Innumerate recent recordings of Vivaldi's 4 seasons. Too many to count. New trios and quartets are getting enthusiastic reviews. 
On the other hand, I noticed the lack of young solo cellists. Endless reissues of Ma, Rostropovich and Jacqueline du Pré. Recent recordings of Dvorak's cello concerto? Only one, by Alexander Melnikov.
Is it a trend, or is my observation wrong?


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

One question: how do they get to be both new and famous?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Overall I think that you are right, there´s comparatively little hype around younger cellists. The same I think applies to the middle-aged ones - Perenyi, Wallfisch, Mørk and Georgian for instance could deserve a lot more re-issues and attention than they get, whereas the hype around Ofra Harnoy is commercially, not artistically, motivated.

*Andreas Brantelid *is a young cellist quite talked of here (Denmark). He is giving concerts abroad (England etc.) and records for EMI. Another one is *Jakob Kullberg*.


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## kv466 (May 18, 2011)

Really,...some of these folks that already play in orchestras should just step up and give it a shot...the slots are apparently there, although perhaps it is the market that is not.


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## mikeber (Feb 19, 2012)

Hilltroll72 said:


> One question: how do they get to be both new and famous?


That's the magic of internet and 21st century media... 

Really,...some of these folks that already play in orchestras should just step up and give it a shot...the slots are apparently there, although *perhaps it is the market that is not.*

I think you nailed it.* Market* is the magic word. But why Bach Branderburg concertos, or the partitas or Vivaldi's seasons would be in such high demand yet others not? That is a little strange.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Ophélie Gaillard and Sol Gabetta are two cellists both fairly new and famous, not all hype either


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Daniel (Daniil) Shafran is, ah, not young. Not nearly as famous as he should be either. The David Oistrakh of the cello.

The cello is a great instrument, an idealized bass-baritone-tenor-voice. There is not enough good music for it, and even less music that makes both cello and cellist 'show what they got', e.g. Kodaly's Opus 8.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

kv466 said:


> Really,...some of these folks that already play in orchestras should just step up and give it a shot...the slots are apparently there, although perhaps it is the market that is not.


There's only a market if you look like a model and your album covers can sell CDs.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

It is ALL marketing, though performers have to come up with the goods, and those goods, especially in the 'youth marketing' are all going to be the 'chestnuts' of the literature.

The near criminal pity is all that is affecting what people think of music, what gets performed and recorded. There is, in the opinion of a slightly older generation of performers, a very real and threatening new approach and attitude in the promotion of classical music and musicians which is undermining the standard of what is thought of as good musicianship.

This shift of degrees of quality and the promotional machinery behind it are the point of this more than interesting document:

Letter from Violinist Gidon Kremer to the Director of the Verbier Music Festival, explaining why Mr. Kremer resigned from being in any way associated with the festival
"Why I quit the celebrity rat-race."
https://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2011/07/gidon-kremer-why-i-quit-the-celebrity-ratrace.html

You too, are part of the problem, looking for 'famous' cellists  That is only half in jest, really, but it does show the current climate / conditioning that has crept into the business over the last few decades.

It ain't pretty, and is less than promising for the state of music and musicianship.


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## Olias (Nov 18, 2010)

Two words:

*Alisa Weilerstein*

http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...829l8461l0l10237l11l11l0l0l0l0l85l823l11l11l0


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## Guest (Mar 16, 2012)

Not sure how young they are, but some names come to mind:
Zuill Bailey
Jean-Guihen Queyras
Pieter Wispelwey
Steven Isserlis
Truls Mork


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## mikeber (Feb 19, 2012)

"*You too, are part of the problem, looking for 'famous' cellists * That is only half in jest, really, but it does show the current climate / conditioning that has crept into the business over the last few decades"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*I confess being guilty as charged!*

Back to my bad behavior - a most recent release:
http://www.amazon.com/Dvorak-Cello-...=sr_1_4?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1331932388&sr=1-4


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## SuperTonic (Jun 3, 2010)

Olias said:


> Two words:
> 
> *Alisa Weilerstein*
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/results?sear...829l8461l0l10237l11l11l0l0l0l0l85l823l11l11l0


I have to second this. I just got back from hearing Alisa play the Elgar concerto with the Fort Worth Symphony. She was amazing. Her technical mastery of the piece alone was amazing, and her interpretation of the piece was wonderful as well. I suspect we will be hearing much more of her.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

It is sad that there isn't a market for such an amazing instrument as the cello.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Cnote11 said:


> It is sad that there isn't a market for such an amazing instrument as the cello.


There really isn't a lot of music with a cello solo part. After its introduction (17th C.?) it never gained the status that the viola da gamba had as a solo instrument. It was an orchestral instrument, or the continuo part in chamber music. Haydn gave it status in the string quartet, but seldom a solo run. Even Boccherini was sort of 'a voice in the wilderness'.

The cello isn't common in 'popular' music either. Nearly all of the solo cello parts and music I've heard in the pop genres has been sticky-sweet on my ear. Yo Yo Ma has done his thing 'out there', but his ideas almost never work for me.

Ah well, at least it's recorded more often than the mountain zither.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

There are subsections of popular music where cello is very much prominent, such as in "neo-classical" styled ambient/electronic types, as well as Post-Rock and various other "popular" instrumental genres. I do think there is quite a bit of cello music out there for the classical idiom, but of course not nearly as much as, say, piano and violin, which is to be expected for me. It would be nice to see a fresh batch of new composers elevating the status of the cello. Its sound truly is one of my favorites.


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## Guest (Mar 28, 2012)

Listen to Therapy?'s cover of the Husker Du song Diane - accompanied by cello.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Cnote11 said:


> There are subsections of popular music where cello is very much prominent, such as in "neo-classical" styled ambient/electronic types, as well as Post-Rock and various other "popular" instrumental genres. I do think there is quite a bit of cello music out there for the classical idiom, but of course not nearly as much as, say, piano and violin, which is to be expected for me. It would be nice to see a fresh batch of new composers elevating the status of the cello. Its sound truly is one of my favorites.


As one member of my old boozing outfit used to say: "Sure but, ah..." (the rest of the thought usually flew away)

My concept of popular music includes it being _popular_.


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## Cnote11 (Jul 17, 2010)

I'm with you on that one, Hilltroll.  There is quite a large variety of opinions on that topic here.


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