Piatigorsky, only 18 years old, traveled from USSR to Germany, studied with Becker and Klengel and found employment
playing in a trio in a Russian cafe in Berlin, frequented by Feuermann and Furtwängler, who hired him as principal cellist of
the Berlin Philharmonic. He kept that post until 1929 (now 26 years old), when he decided to pursue a career as a traveling
concert artist. When Richard Strauss heard him, he said, "I have finally heard my Don Quixote as I thought him to be." That
same year he made his debuts with the Philadelphia Orchestra under Stowkowski, and the New York Philharmonic, with
Mengelberg. He loved the United States, and became a citizen in 1942 . The first Russian cellist of the last century to be
world-acclaimed before Rostropovich.
BRAHMS: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra in A minor, op.102 (1887) 29:59
1. I. Allegro | 2. II. Andante | 3. III. Vivace non troppo
Recorded in New York, June 1961, Angel
SAINT-SAENS: Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra in A minor, op.33 (1887) 19:21
4. I. Allegro non troppo | 5. II. Allegretto con moto | 6. III.Allegro non troppo
Recorded in New York, June 1961, Angel
7. Ernest BLOCH: Schelomo, Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and Orchestra (1915-6) 22:06
Recorded in Boston, 30 January 1957, Angel |
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