Classical Principle Weekly
June 13, 2023
Last week, we celebrated the 140th birthday of the Czech conductor Václav Talich. The episode ended with a recording of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104, B. 191, featuring Rostropovitch, conducted by Talich. We think it was one of the best recordings of Dvorak’s Cello Concerto.
This week, we’d like to share the masterclass given by the incomparable Pablo Casals, of this famous concerto. Born December 29, 1876, and living to October 1973 at the age of 96, Pablo Casals was not only The greatest cellist of the 20th century, he was one of its greatest humanist. At the height of his career, Casals withdrew from public performance in protest of Franco’s fascist regime in his native country of Spain. He never went back in his lifetime.
Here is one of our favorite quotes by Don Pablo who said:
"I do not feel--nor have I ever felt--that music, or any form of art, can be an answer in itself. Music must serve a purpose; it must be a part of something larger than itself, a part of humanity; and that, indeed, is at the core of my argument with music today--its lack of humanity. A musician is also a man, and more important than his music is his attitude towards life. Nor can the two be separated."
Here are the three YouTube link to his masterclass on Dvorak’s Cello Concerto
Appropriately, we share the recording of Don Pablo’s performance of that very concerto under the banner of Alexander Schneider and the Festival Casals Orchestral of Puerto Rico in 1960 (at age 84).
Enjoy!