The Kindler Cello Society of Washington, DC

NEWSLETTER SPRING 2009

Washington has now had a cello club for a quarter of a century. I want to take this opportunity to thank Glenn Garlick for his vision and inspiring leadership for all those years. I must also thank Jean Robbins and Sue Lauscher, recently retired board members, for their service and dedication to the Kindler Society. Glenn is a tough act to follow. Luckily I don’t need to do it on my own. You can see the current line up of officers on the right. I am impressed with the willingness of the membership to take initiative, pitch in, and do whatever is necessary.

The Kindler Society has done great things for DC’s cellists, but it has been a while since we last did some of them. It’s time to start planning for another Cello Day and another cello orchestra event. We should keep in better touch, so I want to get the Newsletter up and running on a regular basis and improve our website (kcswiki.pbwiki.com), keeping the calendar up to date, adding content and links. We will continue to present talks, masterclasses and maybe even an occasional concert, and offer scholarships.

You will still get discounts, or in some cases free admission and yet, it has been a while since we have asked for dues. Some of you have been loyally sending them in anyway for which you have our deep gratitude. For the rest of us, there is a very special offer: we can bring your dues up to date through the end of 2009 for the special rate of just $10 ($5 for students (through college). This is an amazing

offer. Of course, we’re all welcome to make a donation too.

When you send your dues, we also need you to update your information, and, give us your e-mail address. We are trying to update our records and hope to be able to put out a new membership directory in the near future. Don’t worry; we won’t send out tons of messages, but your e-mail address will facilitate faster communication, for information about last-minute events, or eventually even the Newsletter. Also, with the membership form is a survey, so we can find out more about what our members want and we can try to plan activities appropriately.

Now is the time to become more involved. We need members who can help with the Newsletter, the website, event planning, or whatever you want to offer. If you know about cello performances that we have not listed on our online calendar, please let us know. We want as complete a listing as possible. We also all need to get word out about the Kindler Cello Society, so tell other cellists about it, students, amateurs, and pros alike.

I look forward to meeting those of you I do not already know and seeing as many of you as possible at cello events in the near future.

— John Moran

Officers (elected 11/11/08)

● John Moran President lusion@earthlink.net 703 351 7852● Gary Fitzgerald Vice-President for Administration● Laurien Laufman Vice President for Programs● Ron Costell Treasurer● Phyllis Gestrin Secretary Calendar moderator phyllis.gestrin@verizon.net 202 362 2325

Board of Directors (with term expiration)

● Dorothy Amarandos 2009● Bob Battey 2009● Tom Blackburn 2009● Ron Costell 2009● Evelyn Elsing 2009● Gary Fitzgerald 2010● Ann Franke 2009● Glenn Garlick 2009● Phyllis Gestrin 2009● Ralph Greenhouse 2009● David Hardy 2009● Laurien Laufman 2009● John Moran 2010● Polly Panitz 2009 Cello Circle moderator ● Bob Park 2009● Martha Vance 2009●Alice Vierra 2009● Rachel Young 2009

The Kindler Foundation (1952) and the National Capital Cello Club (1984) merged to become the Kindler Cello Society of Washington, DC in 1997

Masterclass by Steven Isserlis

Sponsored jointly by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Kindler Cello Society of Washington

October 25, 2008, 11 a.m., at the Kennedy Center

British cellist Steven Isserlis, wearing a tee shirt featuring a dog, gave a masterclass attended by about 70 area cellists and other music lovers on Saturday, October 25, 2008. Isserlis was in Washington for his debut with the National Symphony Orchestra, playing the Haydn C major concerto to outstanding reviews. Before the class, the audience gave sustained applause to NSO assistant principal cellist Glenn Garlick, who was concluding 24 years of exemplary service as president of the Kindler Cello Society.

The first performer, Jessica Hu, studies with Laurien Laufman. Hu performed the S. Tsintsadze’s Chonguri for Solo

Cello. The piece appears in the collection Cello World by Steven Isserlis. Isserlis worked with Hu on rhythm and the placement of accents. He pointed out that “when a composer repeats something three times, it’s because he really means it.” Repetition was a theme to which Isserlis would return several times during the class. (Repetition on repetition!)

The second performer, Julia Henderson, is a student of Loran Stephenson. She played the Allegro movement of the Dvorak cello concerto, with pianist Miriam Avalos Teie. Isserlis wryly offered his opinion that there’s nothing wrong with International editions, especially in the winter for starting fires. He asked Henderson, rather cryptically, “Have you been having trouble with your cello lately?” She replied no, and Isserlis continued “Has your cello tried to run away? Then why are you looking at it? Pianists have to look down. We can pick someone in the audience to look at.” “When I look down,” he continued, “my hair gets stuck under the string, then my nose gets stuck.”

Describing the introduction as heroic, he compared it to Saint George slaying the dragon. He complimented Henderson for sounding like a heroine, at least until

she looked down. He commented on repeated figures, observing that when a composer repeats something, it’s for emphasis, not for passagework. Dvorak was, in Isserlis’ words, “a very silly man.” Isserlis wrote about him in one of the children’s books he has authored.

“If playing the cello was difficult, I wouldn’t do it,” Isserlis declared. He worked with Henderson on flexibility of the wrist and cautioned her against being “just a cellist.” As self-assessment, players should consider whether their bow is helping or hurting them. “On January 1, we’re starting a tax on wasting

bow.” He also declared it illegal to change the bow in the middle of a note and cautioned that false accents can spoil a beautiful phrase. “Internal rhythm is so important to this piece,” he added. “It’s alive.”

The third performer, Eric Adamshick, also studies with Loran Stephenson. With Miriam Teie, he played the Moderato movement of the Haydn C major concerto. Isserlis complimented Adamshick on his good feeling for the piece and then encouraged him to sustain the mood. “You play it like ‘It’s a happy day….but my dog just died.’”

Isserlis made a mournful face. He continued, “My dog always liked C major.” Isserlis commented that the music must dance. He chided Adamshick for the edition he used, saying that a “proper” edition makes all the slurs completely unnecessary. Isserlis also worked with Adamshick on wrist flexibility. “Hold your own wrist and see how legato you can play.”

Haydn was the kindest of men, who wrote the happiest music. For classical music, dress up in your fancy clothes, and then be expressive. In playing Haydn, Isserlis explained, you never make an ugly sound, “but you can express everything.”

The fourth player was Paolo Meliksi, from the Peabody Conservatory, with pianist Hye-Yeon Park, playing the Andante grave movement from the Prokofiev sonata, opus 119. Isserlis explained that the piece was written after the 1948 trials in which Shostakovich and others were accused of writing music too complicated for the people. “What is simpler than C major?” Isserlis asked. Yet in the opening, “there are no two equal notes.” The work is a ballad which needs to tell a story. It must flow, it must suggest something. Isserlis, urging greater

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“If playing the cello was difficult, I wouldn’t do it.”

connections, quipped, “Your notes don’t know their neighbors. They live in their little houses without knowing the people on the left and the right.”

According to Isserlis, Rostropovich once said “The tempo must be like the nose on the dog, pointing forward.” In rushing, one loses a sense of drama. The bow, Isserlis continued, is not a stick of wood. It’s a live, speaking, breathing animal. “Listen with your bow.” There is a great correlation between the shape of a sentence and the shape of a musical phrase. Equal notes, Isserlis observes, “are the real enemy of legato.”

In a question-and-answer period that followed the performances, Isserlis reported that he uses Pirastro Eudoxa gut strings. He spoke briefly of his son, Gabriel, also a cellist, who in his father’s opinion, doesn’t practice enough. That is not, however, the worst of it. With a sorrowful expression, Isserlis spoke of a recent great disappointment. “My son is changing to a steel A string,” he said, evoking much audience laughter. Isserlis mentioned that in performing with the NSO, for the first concert he tuned flat and for the second he tuned sharp. He wondered what would happen that night. He likened playing a concerto to a very big chamber piece. Haydn’s soloist would have played along with the section. Isserlis would rather be thought of as a chamber music player than a soloist. “You need a very special personality to play in a strong quartet.”

His musical influences include, among others: cellists Pablo Casals and Daniel Shafran; conductor Sandor Vegh; pianist Andras Schiff’s performances of Bach; and his own mother, father, grandfather, and nieces. “I’m a magpie,” Isserlis said, explaining that he draws inspiration from many sources. His insights and humor provided rich inspiration and food for thought for the appreciative audience.

— Ann Franke

BACH SUITES on DVD

Mischa Maisky (Deutsche Grammophon 0040 073 4337, 2 discs, $39.98)Miklós Perényi (Hungaroton 32421, 1 disc, $33.98)Mstislav Rostropovich (EMI classics 99156, 2 discs, $37.98)Paul Tortelier (VAI 4481, 1 disc, $34.95)Wen-Sinn Yang (Arthaus Musik 101 419, 2 discs + 2 audio CDs, $45.98)

Lord only knows how many audio recordings have been made of the Bach Suites since Pablo Casals first set down several movements of the the 3rd in 1915. When I was a child, the old Schwann catalogue listed perhaps a dozen. The number mushroomed starting in the 1970s, and now there’s no keeping track. Partly because of their inexhaustible genius and partly because of the many unanswerable questions of interpretation raised by the lack of a dependable original source, virtually every cellist worth his or her salt (and some who aren’t) has felt the need to put forth an interpretation. And it is indeed a Tower of Babel out there, a far wider range of styles and expression than one finds when listening to recordings of the solo violin works.

This of course is all to the good, a testament both to the power of the music written nearly three centuries ago in an obscure German town and not published until the 1820’s, and to the vitality and vibrancy of our art today (we won’t even talk about all the transcriptions out there). But for music lovers, students, and musicologists, it’s hard to know where to begin; there’s so much material out there that winnowing is necessary. This overflow occurred first in printed editions, then audio recordings, and someday there will be too many video versions to keep track of. At this juncture, though, I am aware of only the five offerings listed above, so examination

and comparisons are still doable. I omit Yo-Yo Ma’s set since it’s a unique multi-media work encompas-sing much more than just cello playing.

One final prelim-inary is to mention

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SAVE THE DATE !

Leonard Rose Presentation

Sunday afternoon, June 28

NSO cellist Steven Honigberg who has recently finished a biography of Leonard Rose will give an extensive audio-visual presentation on this first cellist of America’s Golden Age. Free to Kindler Society members. Time & place TBA

that there are also stray videos of single Suites available. There’s an old film of Casals doing the 1st; Janos Starker, Pierre Fournier, and Jean-Guihen Queyras have taped the 3rd; and Anner Bylsma has a video of the 1st and 5th . All very worthwhile, but this review confines itself to the complete sets listed above.

Being able to watch the artist in action is of course a boon. But this aspect multiplies the additional technical elements, personnel, and possibilities for flaws. Now, instead of enjoying an elegant turn of phrase, you gnash your teeth at the stupidity of the cameraman who focuses on the bow right when you want to see a particular fingering. I have turned away from watching certain portions of these because the video/audio synchronization was so poor. In short, more information brings more problems. What Bach gave us was only notes, and until recently we only dealt in the medium of sound. Now there is a wholly new element, usually conceived and controlled by non-musicians, and one that can make or break the underlying musical message.

Who are these videos for? How many laymen do you know who would watch an entire Suite more than once? Absent additional layers of cinematic elements to draw in non-musicians, as Ma offers, the production must be about the cello playing and the interpretation. And in that context, the less glitz the better.

The people who are most likely to buy and view these discs are cellists. We want to see how the cellist plays. Camera angles and distances can vary, but both hands should be visible 90% of the time. We don’t need a slow tracking shot from a beautiful fresco down to the artist’s head. We are unimpressed with an extended shot of the instrument’s bridge with the bow hair passing back and forth on it. A tight close-up on an artist’s face when he registers the pathos of a minor-key episode can be cringe-inducing. Rapid cutting a la rock videos nauseates most of us.

Most frustrating of all is the all-too-frequent lag between the DVD’s audio and video tracks—the tiniest fraction of a second makes the difference between watchable and unwatchable in a fast movement. Unfortunately, my sensibilities and those of most of the producers at issue here appear to be different. But all these videos are frustrating in one way or another to cellists, and there’s surely little market for them out in the general public. So for the present we still wait for the first great Bach Suite

videographer. On to a discussion of the five (in alphabetical order).

MAISKYFans of this artist will be disappointed in his conservative dress. Rather than a billowy, open-collared artist shirt, a different color for each Suite (which is how he presents them in concert), here he soldiers through in a plain tuxedo, albeit with some bling on his right hand. The videos were made in 1986 in several different rooms of a lovely 16th-century Italian villa. Although the surfaces are marble, the rooms are not too large, and the acoustic is very pleasing.

Maisky is in his prime here, age 40, and his playing is of the highest technical finish. It is easy to cavil about his romantic interpretations, which ignore not only fairly settled matters of baroque interpretation but even basic musical tenets such as steady pulse. But the sound is full-blooded and majestic. He is comfortable in every part of the bow, does not stint on vibrato, and employs a wide dynamic range. This is the last version a baroque scholar would be interested in, but it offers the most consistently impressive playing of the five sets.

The production is fully professional. There are three cameras, with occasional slow, unobtrusive pans. The direction here suffers from the same misconception as most of the others—the belief that we don’t mind seeing only one hand at a time. It’s irritating, but there are also extended wider shots from a stable camera.

PERÉNYIThis is a strange production indeed. Made in 1996 in a Hungarian tv studio, it places the artist in a rather creepy set, surrounded by over a dozen empty chairs with cellos leaning on them. The lighting and color scheme changes from Suite to Suite and the lighting design sometimes changes within a movement. The acoustic is really hard to take; between the dry studio, the close-up miking, and the artist’s constricted sound, this is only for Perényi fans.

He was a protégé of Casals, and has made many fine recordings (in proper recording studios and concert halls) over the years. He clearly knows and loves these pieces. But his posture, like several other Hungarian cellists, looks awkward, often hunched forward and to his right. Many times his head is below his left hand, and he plays most of the six Bach Suites in the 2nd quarter of his bow. I fast-forwarded

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through the disc to see if I could spot a single instance of him playing either at the tip or drawing a full bow, and could find none. The dynamic range is extremely limited—many movements are played mf throughout—and his fast movements tend to plod. Perényi plays with his eyes closed and a kind of hang-dog expression that quickly gets old.

The camera work is mixed. Although there are not too many close-ups of one hand alone, there is too much panning. When the camera isn’t in a close-up of the artist’s face it is almost always moving, often peering over the heads of the audience of cellos. There are also annoying tricks like double exposures and overlays. And audio/video synchronization is sometimes off. There’s a certain peasant honesty to the playing, but overall this is hard to recommend.

ROSTROPOVICHFor many of this immortal artist’s fans, nothing I might say will matter; but this is just a mess. Unlike the other DVD’s, this is a hybrid production—a video session done months after a 1991 audio recording, with the artist basically trying to play along with himself for the cameras. Slava was then in his mid 60’s and well past his prime. While there are certainly vestiges of his fabled technique, particularly in the fluency and ease of his bow-strokes, the playing is often effortful, labored, and out of tune.

As for the video, he of the legendarily prodigious musical memory could not get through the filming for many of the movements without having music up on a stand. His expression is often beleaguered and there is none of the freedom and intensity with which he had once conquered the world. He sometimes does fingerings that are plainly different from those on the audio recording, and the audio/video synchronization was hopeless from the outset.

The large French cathedral in which the sessions took place is imposing, but the camera crew is too awed by it. Many shots are so wide that the artist is barely noticeable. Otherwise, the camera work is shoddy. I would guess that two cameras were used, but this was obviously patched together from many different takes, and it’s just impossible to tell. Like the Maisky, there are too many shots of only one hand, but the camera moves around much more than in the Maisky; rarely is there a good, stationary, tight shot of both hands for any length of time.

The one bright spot of the DVD is the spoken introductions Slava gives for each Suite. Illustrating

from the piano, he speaks extemporaneously and entertainingly, showing the charm and humility that so endeared him to so many people.

TORTELIERThis is a remarkable, poignant document. Tortelier was present at the original Casals Festival in Prades in 1950. He worshipped Casals, particularly his Bach interpretations, and when he was invited to play the six Suites in the same venue on the fourtieth anniversary of the first festival, he was deeply honored. Shortly before the concerts, his cardiologist diagnosed a potentially fatal heart condition and recommended immediate surgery. Knowing that this would force him to withdraw, Tortelier declined. He played the concerts and was dead a few months later.

This is the only live, unedited performance of the Suites, and the sense of occasion is palpable even without knowing the backstory. There, in the old stone Abbey of Saint-Michel de Cuxa, where the historic Casals concerts had taken place, the artist holds the audience rapt. His unorthodox technique is all there; using the thumb in the lower positions and the pinky in the upper ones. The sound is remarkably strong for anyone, let alone a man in his mid-80s and virtually at death’s door. While there are certainly many flaws, this is a true demonstration of the performer’s art. Unlike all the other performers discussed here, Tortelier is playing for a real audience, and scales his sound and expression accordingly. His face is a study in intensity, with sometimes the light of madness in his eye. An unforgettable experience.

The camera work is limited, almost amateurish, given the setting. There are three cameras; one from way over on the side, one almost directly below him in the audience, and another farther back. The latter should have been the principal shot, but there is too much reliance on the two closer cameras, both offering less-than-ideal vantage points.

YANGThis elaborate offering from 2005 (both DVD’s and audio CD’s) includes fairly extensive printed notes as well as spoken introductions and a short opening documentary. I have mixed feelings about it. A Swiss-born Taiwanese cellist, Yang became principal of the Bavarian Radio Symphony in his early 20’s, and has made several other recordings, including the Dvorak concerto and modern works. He is a skillful player with a light touch and very good intonation; he is also

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the only one to play the 5th Suite in scordatura. The venue—a small medieval chapel in the Bavarian Alps—has lovely acoustics and the camera work is usually good (though sometimes there are extended shots of wall paintings during the music). But why Arthaus Musik settled on this virtual unknown for such a costly, elaborate production is a mystery—in Germany alone there are a number of cellists with major international careers (Vogler, Müller-Schott, Kliegel, Gerhardt, and Hagen) and certainly more name recognition among potential customers. I wonder if they’ll ever make back their investment.

Does Yang say anything especially new or unique with his music? Not really. Everyone who studies and plays this literature at a high level reveals his/her personality and sensibility. Yang’s is not particularly interesting, although his playing is faultless in its gentle way. But I’m slightly put off by his attempt to conceal that he has only some of the Suites memorized; for some others, he sneaks furtive glances at an off-camera music stand. His spoken introductions (in German) are also read off cue cards, unlike Slava’s, and constitute more of a lecture than a conversation. The concepts expounded upon are platitudinous rather than enlightening—for most of us, anyway.

The camera work is of a piece with all the others; the irritating close-ups of one hand plus the added annoyance of slow tracking shots of frescoes while Yang plays. Audio/video synchronization good but not always perfect. For this, the most modern, technically-advanced production, it shouldn’t happen at all.

✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴ ✴

Comparing different interpretations via recordings is an old graduate performance thesis tactic; it will now be far easier with these video productions. How much actual enjoyment a cellist or music-lover will get from these DVD’s is another question. I’m sure I’ve listened to my Casals recording of the Suites over 100 times, and will listen to it many more times yet. Preparing this article was quite interesting, but will I voluntarily watch any of these DVD’s again? Depends. Certainly not often.

— Robert Battey

This Just In.. .On Saturday, March 14, young string players from around the world competed in the final round of the Johansen International Competition. Held every three years, the event is open to players ages 13 to 17. First prize for cello ($10,000) went to 15-year old Sang Eun Lee from Seoul, South Korea, who studies with Myung-Wha Chung. Gabriel Cabezas from Illinois, who is 16 and a student of Hans Jorgen Jensen, won second prize ($7,000). The third cello prize ($5,000) went to Matthew Allen of Florida, age 17, who studies with Greg Sauer. Held at the Sumner School in Washington, the competition also awards prizes to violinists and violists. The judges were cellist Ralph Kirshbaum, violinist Pamela Frank, and violist Atar Arad. To learn more about the competition visit www.fmmc.org

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C A L E N D A RDid you know the Kindler Society keeps an online calendar of cello performances and other events of special interest to cellists? It can be viewed on our website at kcswiki.pbwiki.com/CalendarPlease help keep the calendar up to date and as comprehensive as possible. If you’re performing or know of an upcoming event that isn’t listed, send details to Phyllis Gestrin, our calendar moderator (phyllis.gestrin@verizon.net or 202 362 2325) so everybody can know what’s happening.

Featured Item

The Library of Congress will present cellist David Geringas in TWO special events:

Friday, April 24 at 8 p.m.Library of CongressCoolidge Auditorium

David Geringas & Jens-Peter Maintz, cellists, and Hartmut Rohde, violist, will play duos & trios by Tomasini, Rossini, Paganini & Haydn. Tickets on sale through TicketMaster.

Saturday, April 25, 10 a.m.Library of Congress, Coolidge Auditorium

Cello workshop with David Geringas.No tickets are required.

A M O M E N T I N C E L L O H I S T O R Y

Through expressive playing and an uncanny ability to stay in Beethoven’s good graces, Josef Linke (1783-1837) managed to be part of the composer’s inner circle through a most fascinating period in music history. He was born in the Silesian city of Trachenberg (present day Żmigród in Poland) and had his first musical instruction from his father on the violin and soon also began to learn the cello. At ten he was orphaned, and supported himself by copying music. At twelve he became a chorister and violinist in a monastery where he began studying with the first cellist at the theater in Breslau. Upon his master’s death, Linke replaced him at the opera, playing under Weber.

In 1808 he went to Vienna and almost immediately was invited by the violinist Ignaz Schuppanzigh to join the resident quartet at the palace of Count Razumovsky. It was here that Linke came to be friends with Beethoven and played much of his music under the composer’s supervision. Linke and Schuppanzigh played with Beethoven in the 1814 premier of the op. 97 “Archduke” piano trio, which would be Beethoven’s last public performance at the piano. The two op. 102 sonatas were written for Linke. These sonatas were the first chamber music with piano to be published in score, so that the pianist could read both parts.

An entry in one of Beethoven’s conversation books from 1825, referring to a performance of the op. 59 quartets states, “Linke played splendidly, the cello is kept very busy, he was enthusiastically applauded.” Linke had a rather small tone, but his musicianship was highly valued in Vienna. He was the first cellist known by name to have played with an endpin. He did so because of a foot injury and it would be many decades before the practice was widespread, so it is fascinating to wonder whether or how this might have affected his technique and sound.

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KINDLER SCHOLARSHIPS FOR CELLO STUDENTSThe Board of Directors has again authorized a program of small scholarships to cello students to assist with their studies during 2009. The Board will consider applications for grants in aid of up to $300 to defray the cost of special study opportunities, music camps, transportation to competitions, coaching, and similar needs. Grantees must be students under the age of 21 years, and members of the Kindler Cello Society. Students may join at the time of application by paying the $5 (special price for this year) student membership dues. Preference will be given to students who have not received grants in past years. Application materials may be obtained by writing to: Thomas R. Blackburn/ 1504 Irving St. NE/Washington DC 20017or e-mailing t_r_blackburn@hotmail.com

Visit our website frequently:kcswiki .pbwiki .com

Look for our next Newsletter in the fall.

Reminders. . .Send in your dues at the special reduced rates & include your e-mail.Complete our survey and return it.Encourage friends to join.Get in touch to tell us what you think.Consider becoming more active. We need people interested in the Newsletter, the website, and organizing events.

Guilhermina Suggia

It’s time to get reacquainted.

Inside you’ll find:

● membership renewal/application form Take a look inside. We’ve got a great deal for you, literally. ● member survey We need to know what you think and what you want. ● articles Isserlis masterclass & Bach on DVD.

● information about scholarships Maybe you or someone you know is eligible.

● and MORE! Check it out.

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Kindler Cello Societyc/o John Moran814 N. Daniel StreetArlington, VA 22201

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