Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Cellist known for his recordings and performances.
On the island
Eight records
And this was the first pop record that made any kind of impression on me, and I still feel that it was the greatest pop record ever made
I think it's one of the most marvellous examples of cello playing that I know. It's Rostropovich playing a work that was written for him, which I love very much and I wish was played a great deal more
String Quintet No. 4 in G minor, K. 516
Griller String Quartet with William Primrose
I think is a marvellous piece of music ... The reason that I chose this is because at a certain point when I was about eighteen, Sidney Griller himself was a great influence on me.
Hallé Orchestra conducted by Sir John Barbirolli
You've always been very fond of Delius, haven't you? Yes, I have. ... And this particular piece, La Calinda, is one of my favourites.
NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini
Funnily enough, I think the conductors that have always made the most impression on me have been Toscanini and Furtwangler, although they're poles apart.
Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt
The sixth record is by Stefan Grapelli, a wonderful jazz violinist and I recently played with him myself. And I think it's very important that musicians of all different types are aware of what goes on in different musical fields.
Cello Concerto in E minorFavourite
Beatrice Harrison with the New Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Edward Elgar
Although the style of playing, the style of cello playing has probably changed since that time, I feel it's deeply moving and I feel that Beatrice Harrison's interpretation is the only one that has really followed Elgar's markings
Moto Perpetuo (from Suite for Cello No. 3)
The last record is one of my own. It's the most recent that's been released. And it's because I was particularly honoured to be given the first recording of a work by Benjamin Britton, which was specifically written for a cellist who I admire perhaps above any other, Rostropovich.
In conversation
Presenter asks
1:01Could you endure loneliness?
Yes, I think so.
Presenter asks
1:15What would you be happiest to have got away from?
There are a lot of things that I'd be fairly happy to get away from. Travel, for one thing. Travel is is a part of musical life today, but for a cellist it's not something which is particularly enjoyable ... Um there there are things about modern life that I would be very glad to escape from, like motorway service stations, pylon lines, and uh various similar kind of things.
Presenter asks
3:35When did you become interested in the cello, and why the cello?
Well, I started, like a lot of children with musical families, on the piano, and I was quite hopeless at playing the piano. In fact, appalling. I could never get both hands to work at the same time. And I thought to myself, well, if I took up a different instrument, perhaps I could get out of practising the piano. And I chose the cello, basically because I loved the look of the instrument.
Presenter asks
The keepsakes
The book
The History of Orient Football Club
The other choice was a history of Orient Football Club, and in the end my choice fell on the history of Orient Football Club
The luxury
When did you decide that you wanted to be a professional musician?
When I was about fourteen, I really had no desire until that age to be a professional musician at all. I think that possibly was a reaction against all the music in the family. But about that time, I had a wonderful teacher called Douglas Cameron ... And I became aware of Rostropovich when he gave a marathon cycle of concertos in London ... And all these things combined convinced me really very suddenly that there was nothing else I wanted to do.
Presenter asks
19:54How do you protect [your cello]? You can't let it go into the baggage compartment on a plane.
Oh dear, well the less said about that the better. No, I won't let it go into the hold, but unfortunately airlines insist that if you want to take the cello into the cabin you have to play a full passenger fare for the cello ... I won't do that, which causes an awful lot of arguments. Because if the plane is empty, I don't really see why ... it shouldn't come in.
“I chose the cello, basically because I loved the look of the instrument. I think it's a a wonderful instrument to watch. You can see exactly what a performer is doing on it.”
“I feel that many composers wrote their very best works for the cello, so you've got a work like the Schumann concerto, which I feel is one of his best, the Saint-Sans, the Dvorak, the Elgar, and I love them all.”
“I feel really you can only give your best if you're working all the time on one cello and trying to get the most out of that particular instrument.”