BPO - The Cellists

[David]

The resonance and sonority of the lower strings in Karajan’s Berlin Philharmonic were one of the great glories of the orchestra.

This page contains a link to the web site of the twelve cellists showing the former members who made up the section during the Karajan years.

It is remarkable that ten of these outstanding musicians were members of the orchestra for over thirty years, with Peter Steiner having achieved forty-six years from 1948 until 1994.

I find that these days I am increasingly listening to Karajan’s performances on video; and it is a source of great interest for me to be able to identify, wherever possible, the musicians who appear in these films.

www.die12cellisten.de/e/oldmembers_main.html

[prahcello]

I've been doing the exact same thing recently! Being a cellist myself, it's even more interesting for me to spot which cellist I recognise in the orchestra. OK, it makes it a lot easier that I know some of them.

On the same note, albeit another instrument, I was in Salzburg for the Easter Festival recently, and all of a sudden I realised that Karl Leister was playing in one of the concerts! He retired a long time ago, and I thought he had stopped playing. My neighbour (who was from Germany), who has been going to Salzburg since 1990, couldn't believe it when I told her. In any case, it was a delight to hear THE solo clarinettist of the Berliner Philharmoniker again, and I can say that he hasn't lost any of that wonderful sound.

Paul

[Rosy]

David and Paul,

when I watch movies of the Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, I recognize all the Musicians. ( of course, I see often live!) Lately, watching BPO, conducting by Herbert von Karajan, I've found that I've many faces now familiar. So, I read with great interest the posts of David and I would like to ask him to continue with the stories about Musicians, which are really interesting. If the conductor is "good", his Musicians must be at his height!

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Among the strings instruments, the violoncello is my favorite, for the sound balanced, baritonale.

Congratulations, Paul!

To Easter Festival, did you see the "Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini" conducted by Riccardo Muti?

Thank you

Rosy