Cellist jumps at chance to do recital

Cellist Lynn Harrell enjoys relating the story of how concert artists such as Jascha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky had a salaried pianist in their employ for the sole purpose of accompanying them on recitals.

"Back then — we're talking about the '50s — people like Heifetz, Piatigorsky and others would do a lot of recitals, well over 30 in a season," Harrell said in a phone interview with the Deseret News. "They needed their own pianists."

But that's not the case for today's performers. "I do more concertos than recitals, not because I want to, but because there are fewer opportunities for recitals now. I love playing concertos, but I also love the extra bit of work it takes and the stamina it requires to play a recital."

And when the chance to do one comes up, Harrell doesn't hesitate to take advantage of it.

The Virtuoso Series will open its new season Wednesday with a recital that will put the multifaceted talents of the 64-year-old cellist firmly on display. And Harrell is thrilled to be coming to Salt Lake City again. "I've played with the Utah Symphony many times, but I've never done a recital in Utah," he said.

Harrell has chosen a program that has two works by Beethoven on the first half: the "Seven Variations on 'Bei Mannern, welche Liebe fuhlen"' from Mozart's "Magic Flute" and the Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, op. 69.

The variations stem from the period in Beethoven's creative life in which he was developing a new way of writing for the cello, Harrell said. "And that new style first manifested itself in the op. 69 sonata. Beethoven understood that the cello was different than the violin. There is no bombast in his writing for the cello. Instead, he brings out the mellowness and uniqueness of the instrument."

The remainder of the program is entirely different. "The second half is showoff," Harrell said. He'll start with Dvorak's lyrical Rondo for Cello and Piano, op. 94, then continue with Schubert's "Introduction, Variations and Finale," op. 82, and conclude with Chopin's "Introduction et Polonaise Brilliante," op. 3.

"The variations by Schubert have been arranged for cello by Piatigorsky," Harrell said. "They're very virtuosic."

The same is true for the Chopin. Originally, the part for cello wasn't very demanding, but the great early 20th century cello virtuoso Emanuel Feuermann reworked it to make it more interesting. "Feuermann transcribed a lot of the virtuosic writing from the piano for the cello, making it a real showpiece."

Accompanying Harrell will be pianist Victor Santiago-Acunsion. "He's been my accompanist for 10 years now," ever since he won a contest Harrell held in Aspen. "I enjoy working with him. His playing is most imaginative."

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