Janos Starker
Cellist Janos Starker was born in Hungary to music-loving Russian parents. His two brothers were violinists, and he was given a cello before he was six. He made public appearances at ages six and seven. Soon he entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, making his debut there at 11. He had begun teaching other children at eight, and by the time he was 12 he had five pupils. Starker regarded the experience as important to his artistic development. He found himself having to articulate phenomena that students his age rarely grasp, let alone impart to others. Starker was especially influenced by Leo Weiner, a composer who taught chamber music. He said that for more than 50 years Weiner taught every prominent Hungarian musician to learn and understand music as a language.
At 14 Starker made his professional debut playing the Dvorák concerto. He left the conservatory in 1939. After the war, when musical activities resumed, Starker became principal cellist of the Budapest Opera and the Budapest Philharmonic orchestras. Soviet Red Army forces had occupied the country, and the Communist Party was gaining dominance. Starker left the country in 1946 when relatively free travel was still possible.
He gave a successful concert in Vienna, then remained there to prepare for the Geneva Cello Competition, held in October 1946. He won only a bronze medal. "I played like a blind man," he said. "What happens to the bird who sings and doesn't know how it sings? That's what happens to child prodigies." Starker set out to rebuild his technique. He analyzed all aspects of playing, from breathing to the physics of applying muscular force to the bow and the instrument, to phrasing, bowing, and fingering. By October of the following year he had regained his confidence. He decided to stay in the West due to the deteriorating political situation in Hungary, and headed for the United States, where Hungarian musicians had important positions.
Antal Dorati, music director of the Dallas Symphony, made Starker the orchestra's principal cellist. A year later Starker accepted Fritz Reiner's invitation to become principal cellist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. In 1953 Reiner began a brilliant period as music director of the Chicago Symphony, and brought Starker with him to lead the cello section. Starker remained in Chicago until 1958, becoming a U.S. citizen in 1954 and bringing his family to the country. In 1958 he resigned his Chicago position in order to pursue his solo career. In the meantime, he had already begun making important recordings, including an early set of Bach suites. Easing the transition was an offer from Indiana University School of Music to join the faculty on a two-year trial basis. Starker quickly found Bloomington a congenial base, and attracted exceptionally talented students.
Starker's stage demeanor and public persona were rather restrained and undemonstrative. The unwary draw the same mistaken conclusion that also plagued Jascha Heifetz, charging Starker with coldness and lack of emotion. Discerning critics, however, have always tended to speak of the warmth and expressiveness of his playing. Another similarity to Heifetz lies in Starker's very focused tone, with a light, narrow, and quick vibrato. He proclaimed himself happier if, after a concert, people say "What beautiful music Schubert wrote" rather than "How well Starker plays." Similarly, he considered it at least as important to turn out the next generation of fine cello teachers as the next generation of star players.
© TiVo
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Cello Masterpieces: János Starker Plays Beethoven, Martinů, Granados & Debussy (2019 Remaster)
Chamber Music - Released by Jube Classic on 19 Jul 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Vivaldi: Concerto pour violon, RV 230 - Corelli: Concerto grosso, Op. 6 No. 8 & Sonate pour violon, Op. 5 No. 8 (Mono Version)
Janos Starker, Marilyn Meyer, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms Sonatas for Cello and Piano Nos 1 & 2 and Mendellsohn Cello Sonata No. 2
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on 13 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Suites for Solo Cello, Nos 5 & 6 - Sonatas for Cello and Piano, Nos 1 & 2
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on 9 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B Minor - Fauré: Elégie (Stereo Version)
Janos Starker, Philharmonia Orchestra, Walter Susskind
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Corelli: Concerto de Noël - Corelli, Lindner: Sonate pour violoncelle - Vivaldi: Concerto, Op. 3 No. 9 (Mono Version)
Classical - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1957
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Suites for Solo Cello, Nos 1, 2, 3 & 4
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on 9 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 1
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Great Concertos Vol. 6
Classical - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Starker Plays Italian Sonatas (The Mercury Masters, Vol. 8)
Janos Starker, Stephen Swedish
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1967
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johannes Brahms
Janos Starker, Abba Bogin, Jean Fournier, Antonio Janigro, Paul Badura-Skoda
Classical - Released by Altair on 24 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartok Kodaly Weiner
Classical - Released by Period Records on 24 Feb 1951
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonates pour piano et violoncelle, vol. 1 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Triple Concerto
Claudio Arrau, Henryk Szeryng, Janos Starker, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 8 Jan 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Romantic Cello Music Of Spain
Classical - Released by Everest Records on 17 Sep 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Double Concerto - Tragic Overture
Amsterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Emmy Verhey, Janos Starker
Classical - Released by Intermusic S.A. on 10 Aug 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 4
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 1 e No. 2
Chamber Music - Released by Infinity on 2 Jul 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres de Prokofiev, Kodaly & Martinu
Chamber Music - Released by Ina Archives on 28 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Sonates pour piano et violoncelle, vol. 2 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1961
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Six Trios For Piano, Violin And Cello
Agi Jambor, Victor Aitay, Janos Starker
Classical - Released by Period Records on 16 Jul 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo