Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-02-19
By DAY THORPE

Cellists, taken one with an
other. make good companions.
their characters having been
moulded and refined by the
passion, nobility and bland
imperterbability of the in
struments they play. Violin
lists are brilliant and intel
lectual, violists self-conscious
and deprecatory schizophren-
les. and contrabassists HARM
less drudges who bear their
afiiiction Of elephantiasis with
resignation. Cellists are ar
ticulate men. If not entirely
straight forward also not en-
tirely devious. They are
neither gypsies. like some vio-
linists, nor deities. like the
others.
So it was with considerable
pleasure that I accepted the
invitation of Howard Mitchell.
when I called him late one
afternoon last week about some
matter of the National Sym
phony, to come out and meet
Gregor Piatigorsky. Two cell
lists should be even better COM
pany than one.
With the single exception Of
Pablo Casals. who over the
years has become almost a
legend to everybody but those
few pilgrims who search him
out, Piatigorsky is probably the
most widely admired cellist
now before the public. That
he is one of the very best few
viii deny: that he is in a class
by himself there are some dog
matte enough to maintain. but
to the average music lover
cello" means Casals and Pia-
tigorsky Just as piano" means
Horowitz and Rubinstein.
Close Friends for Years
Mitchell and .Piatigorsky
have become close friends
since the day when the for
mer. the newly appointed con-
ductor Of the symphony, per-
suaded the cellist to come out
of retirement" and play a
concerto to open the season
of the National Symphony.
Hans Kinder, the former con-
ductor, had had little interest
in cello concertos. and had
played only the Brahms dou-
BILE concerto in home concerts
Of the symphony.
Piatigorsky is 6 feet 3 inches
tall with other dimensions in
proportion. His face is strong,
mobile and humorous. and he
talks easily and volubly on
anything and everything con-
nected with music and his own
long and colorful career as a
concert artist. He and Mitchell
had Just come in from re-
hearsal Of the Schumann con-
certo. which they were to play
the next day at Constitution
Hall.
1--WE soloists come and go
too much" said Piatigorsky.
I'VE never get to really know
the music and musicians Of q
town In which we are only Wis
itors q day or two each year.
! would like to come to Wash
ington. not just to play q
concerto. but to really make
music. Take a suite in q hotel
for two weeks, say, and have
students come for discussions.
and talk to string players, and
take part in chamber music.
and somewhere along the line
play with the symphony. but
only incidentally"
Many Subjects Discussed
He relaxed a bit and
laughed, and Mitchell said
that would be fine, and why
not do it next year when he
plays here with the Philadel-
phia Orchestra or the year
after when he plays again with
the National. But Piatigorsky
was of on other subjects which
poured forth with enthusiasm
and fluency. embracing, before
the evening was over, Kousse-'
whisky. Koussevitsky's wife.
Koussevitsky's valet. Sell,
Clara Schumann, Brahms,
Boccherini, Tchaikovsky,
Kinder, Milstein. Schnabel.
Casals, Oistrach, Walton (who
Is writing a new concerto for
him), Beecham, Ormandy and
Grutzmacher. (The name Of
this pedagogue and editor of
yesterday, you will find. is
always on the lips Of every
cellist. as "Gundelfinger" is
always mentioned by a Yale
undergraduate. There is a cell
list here in town who has
taught his child to answer the
phone by saying "Grutz-
macher" instead of "hello.D
Piatigorsky is writing his auto
biography, an occupation
which may account for his
ready recall in conversation of
all manner of anecdotes, but I
believe the gift Of storytelling
doubtless precedes the practice
as writer.
II gave three concerts in
Milan last summer, two with
orchestra and one alone, and
before each Toscanini's
daughter came and told me
'Papa's all dressed and he's
coming to hear you He never
got there. however although 7