Beatrice Harrison (1892-1965), our next featured cellist, lived when the cello was beginning to flourish. Harrison was the leading British cellist of her day— the first woman cellist to play at Carnegie Hall, in 1913, the first woman soloist with

A long, long time ago, the Jade Emperor was looking for 12 animals to become designated as calendar signs. So he sent an immortal being into the world of man and announced that the first 12 animals to pass through

Frenchman Maurice Gendron (1920-1990) was known for his poise and elegant, pristine playing. If Daniil Shafran played with unconventional hand positions, Gendron’s are nearest to the ideal. His hands are cello perfect: rounded, relaxed, symmetrical, and produced a shimmering sound.

Our next featured cellist, Daniil Shafran, was born in 1923 in Petrograd, now Saint Petersburg, and came by his talent honestly. His father was the principal cellist of the Leningrad Philharmonic and his mother Frida Moiseyevna, was a pianist.

Truth be told, as a young aspiring pianist I could never get my head around the music of Alexander Scriabin! Despite the best intentions of my teacher, and supreme technical challenges aside, I simply did not understand his musical syntax.

Portuguese cellist Guilhermina Suggia (1885-1950) best-known for an iconic painting by Augustus John —a chestnut, luminescent cello, a beautiful woman in a dazzling, red gown, bow-arm outstretched, head upturned—was one of the first professional female solo cellists. The mystique surrounding

Before the age of recording, devotion to music was a full-time commitment. Composer Georges Bizet (1838-1875) would say: “Ah, Music! What a beautiful art – but what a wretched profession!”

The musical Fantasy (or Fantasia or Fantasie) has its roots in improvisation and rarely follows a strict musical structure (such as Sonata or Ternary form). In this respect the Fantasy is related to the Impromptu. The term was first applied