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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Bach: The Cello Suites by János Starker
Classica - Pubblicato da Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording il 30 nov 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák: Cello Concerto / Bruch: Kol Nidrei / Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme
Janos Starker, London Symphony Orchestra, Antal Doráti
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 7 ago 2015
La discografia ideale di Qobuz24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Alan Hovhaness : Symphony No. 22 - Cello Concerto / Janos Starker
Janos Starker, Seattle Symphony, Alan Hovhaness, Dennis Russell Davies
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 15 apr 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Sebastian Bach : Suites for Solo Cello
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 21 ott 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Double Concerto / Beethoven: 2 Romances
Henryk Szeryng, Janos Starker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 31 gen 1971
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: 6 Cello Suites BWV 1007-1012 - Sony Classical Masters
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 8 ott 2010
La discografia ideale di Qobuz16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvořák, Haydn, Mendelssohn & Schumann: Works for Chamber Music
Janos Starker, Claudio Arrau, Rudolf Firkusny, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Rafael Kubelik
Classica - Pubblicato da Orfeo il 15 set 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms: Sonatas for Cello and Piano (The Mercury Masters, Vol. 4)
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1965
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Janos Starker: Virtuoso Music for Cello
Classica - Pubblicato da Denon il 1 gen 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Triple Concerto
Claudio Arrau, Henryk Szeryng, Janos Starker, New Philharmonia Orchestra, Eliahu Inbal
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 8 gen 1971
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Pièces romantiques favorites pour violoncelle (David Popper)
Musica concertante - Pubblicato da Delos il 1 gen 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Suites for Unaccompanied Cello (The Mercury Masters, Vol. 7)
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1966
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Œuvres pour violoncelle
Musica da camera - Pubblicato da Delos il 1 gen 1987
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bartók / Chopin / Debussy / Mendelssohn: Cello Sonatas &c
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Concerto Collection
Janos Starker, Santa Fe Festival Orchestra
Classica - Pubblicato da Delos il 1 gen 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kodály: Sonate pour violoncelle seul, Op. 8 (Mono Version)
Generi vari - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 1 gen 1954
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Suites For Unaccompanied Violoncello
Classica - Pubblicato da Period Records il 19 ott 1952
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák & Bartók: Cello Concertos
Classica - Pubblicato da RCA Red Seal il 15 mar 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Three Sonatas for Cello and Piano (The Mercury Masters, Vol. 9)
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1968
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn and Chopin Sonatas for Cello and Piano (The Mercury Masters, Vol. 2)
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach, J.S.: Suites for Solo Cello/2 Cello Sonatas
Classica - Pubblicato da Decca Music Group Ltd. il 1 gen 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo