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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Bloch Schelomo, oice in the Wilderness and Rimsky-Korsakov Capriccio Espanol Op. 34
Janos Starker, Zubin Mehta, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on 13 Jun 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
À travers l'Espagne (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Sonates pour violoncelle et piano Nos. 1 & 2 (Mono Version)
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1960
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto for Cello and Orchestra in C Major, Hob. VIIb
Janos Starker, Syracuse Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Mezzoforte on 8 Jun 2018
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 8
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 6
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 3
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mozart & Boccherini: Concertos pour violoncelle (Mono Version)
Janos Starker, Castle Hill Festival Orchestra, Maximilian Pilzer
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1956
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B Minor - Fauré: Elégie (Mono Version)
Walter Susskind, Philharmonia Orchestra, Janos Starker
Miscellaneous - Released by BNF Collection on 1 Jan 1958
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 2
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 10
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
MLP34 Schumann Cello Concerto in A Minor, Lalo Cello Concerto in D Minor and Saint-Saens Cello Concerto in A Minor
Janos Starker, Stanislaw Skrowaczewski, Antal Dorati, London Symphony Orchestra
Classical - Released by Mangora Classical on 3 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Cello in a Minor, Op.102
Wolfgang Schneiderhan, Janos Starker, Ferenc Fricsay, Radio-Symphonie-Orchester Berlin
Classical - Released by Classically on 10 Jan 2024
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Janos Starker, cello: Shostakovich • Bach • Haydn • Couperin
Janos Starker, Marc Andreae, Rudolf Baumgartner, Orchestra RTSI, Festival Strings Lucerne
Classical - Released by Ermitage Records on 2 Feb 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: cello sonata no. 3 - no. 4 - no. 5
Chamber Music - Released by Infinity on 21 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Milestones of a Legend - Janos Starker, Vol. 7
Classical - Released by Documents 2 on 14 Jul 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ludwig Van Beethoven
Classical - Released by Altair on 25 Jul 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Janos Starker
Orchestra della Radiotelevisione della Svizzera Italiana, Marc Andreae, Janos Starker
Classical - Released by Mangora Classic on 1 Jan 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Double Concerto / Beethoven: 2 Romances
Henryk Szeryng, Janos Starker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 31 Jan 1971
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók - Weiner - Kodaly
Chamber Music - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Darius Milhaud : Cello Concerto No. 1 - Serge Prokofiev : Cello Concerto (Starker) (1956)
Janos Starker, Philharmonia Orchestra, Walter Susskind
Classical - Released by Naxos Classical Archives on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo