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On July 5, 2024, we celebrate the centennial of legendary cellist and teacher János Starker, principal cello from 1953 until 1958 and a frequent soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
János Starker was born in Budapest, Hungary, to Russian émigré parents. He began cello studies at age six, taught his first lesson at eight and gave his first public performance at ten. He studied at the Franz Liszt Royal Academy, where faculty included Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Ernst von Dohnányi and Leo Weiner. It was also at the Liszt Academy where he met his lifelong friend and future CSO concertmaster, Victor Aitay.
After imprisonment in a internment camp (on Csepel Island, along the Danube close to Budapest) during World War II, Starker became principal cello of the Budapest Opera and Philharmonic orchestras. With Aitay, he left Hungary in 1946 for Vienna, performing as soloist and in Aitay’s string quartet. Starker immigrated to the United States in 1948 and joined the Dallas Symphony Orchestra as principal cello at the invitation of Antal Doráti. The next year, he occupied the same position in New York City’s Metropolitan Opera under the direction of fellow Hungarian Fritz Reiner. With Reiner, Starker came to Chicago and became principal cello of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1953. He became an American citizen in 1954.
Fritz Reiner (center) and the newest members of the Orchestra in 1953: Nathan Snader, violin; Juan Cuneo, violin; Joseph Golan, violin; Alan Fuchs, horn; Sheppard Lehnhoff, viola; Ray Still, oboe; and Starker
In 1958, Starker left Chicago and resumed his career as an international soloist, and for the next five decades he appeared in recitals and as soloist with the world’s leading orchestras. In addition to performing the major works from the cello repertoire, he performed concertos written for him by David Baker, Doráti, Bernhard Heiden, Jean Martinon, Miklós Rózsa, Robert Starer and Chou Wen-chung. Starker was the subject of countless news articles, magazine profiles and television documentaries, and his performances were broadcast on radio and television around the world.
Starker’s discography includes more than 270 recordings of over 180 pieces. He made an unprecedented five recordings of J.S. Bach’s Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello; the final album received the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance (without Orchestra). Starker’s first recording of Kodály’s Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello received France’s Grand prix du disque in 1948.
Starker was equally renowned as a teacher. He joined the faculty of Indiana University in 1958 and was named a distinguished professor in 1962. He taught at the Banff Centre in Alberta, Canada, for 17 years and at the Hochschule für Musik in Essen, Germany, for five years, and many of his students (including the CSO’s own Brant Taylor) have won prestigious awards and occupy prominent positions in chamber ensembles and major orchestras. Starker published and recorded a series of studies entitled An Organized Method of String Playing, which remains an important piece of cello instruction. He published and edited numerous musical scores and articles and developed the Starker Bridge, designed to enhance the acoustics of stringed instruments. His autobiography, The World of Music According to Starker, was published by Indiana University Press in 2004.
Starker received five honorary degrees and numerous awards, including the Kodály Commemorative Medallion from the Government of Hungary in 1983 and the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Republic in 1997. He played the “Lord Aylesford” Stradivarius cello between 1950 and 1964, and he also played a 1705 Matteo Goffriller cello throughout his career.
Starker (center) was soloist in the U.S. premiere of a cello concerto by Jean Martinon (left) at the Ravinia Festival on July 31, 1965. Seiji Ozawa (right), the Festival’s music director, conducted.
Milton Merner
A complete list of János Starker’s solo appearances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is below.
November 19 and 20, 1953, Orchestra Hall
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
Fritz Reiner, conductor
November 24, 1953, Orchestra Hall
SCHUBERT/Cassadó Cello Concerto in A Minor
Fritz Reiner, conductor
February 4 and 5, 1954, Orchestra Hall
BEETHOVEN Triple Concerto in C Major, Op. 56
Bruno Walter, conductor
George Schick, piano
John Weicher, violin
January 6 and 7, 1955, Orchestra Hall
BRAHMS Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102
Bruno Walter, conductor
John Weicher, violin
April 14 and 15, 1955, Orchestra Hall
PROKOFIEV Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op. 58
Fritz Reiner, conductor
October 6, 7, and 11, 1955, Orchestra Hall
STRAUSS Don Quixote, Op. 35
Fritz Reiner, conductor
John Weicher, violin
Milton Preves, viola
January 5 and 6, 1956, Orchestra Hall
SCHUMANN Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129
Fritz Reiner, conductor
February 28, March 1, and 12, 1957, Orchestra Hall
BRAHMS Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102
Fritz Reiner, conductor
John Weicher, violin
March 14 and 15, 1957, Orchestra Hall
SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 33
Fritz Reiner, conductor
June 28, 1957, Ravinia Festival
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
Igor Markevitch, conductor
December 5 and 6, 1957, Orchestra Hall
HINDEMITH Cello Concerto
Fritz Reiner, conductor
March 20, 21, and 25, 1958, Orchestra Hall
STRAUSS Don Quixote, Op. 35
Fritz Reiner, conductor
John Weicher, violin
Milton Preves, viola
October 19 and 20, 1961, Orchestra Hall
PROKOFIEV Symphony-Concerto for Cello, Op. 125
Erich Leinsdorf, conductor
July 23, 1963, Ravinia Festival
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, conductor
July 30, 1963, Ravinia Festival
WALTON Cello Concerto
Sir William Walton, conductor
December 3 and 4, 1964, Orchestra Hall
HAYDN Cello Concerto in C Major
TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
Jean Martinon, conductor
July 31, 1965, Ravinia Festival
MARTINON Cello Concerto, Op. 52
Seiji Ozawa, conductor
July 29, 1967, Ravinia Festival
LALO Cello Concerto in D Minor
Jean Martinon, conductor
May 9 and 10, 1968, Orchestra Hall
HINDEMITH Cello Concerto
Jean Martinon, conductor
July 18, 1970, Ravinia Festival
DVOŘÁK Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104
István Kertész, conductor
November 4 and 5, 1971, Orchestra Hall
RÓZSA Cello Concerto, Op. 32
Georg Solti, conductor
July 15, 1972, Ravinia Festival
HAYDN Cello Concerto in C Major
István Kertész, conductor
July 21, 1973, Ravinia Festival
BEETHOVEN Triple Concerto in C Major, Op. 56
BRAHMS Double Concerto in A Minor, Op. 102
Sergiu Comissiona, conductor
Rudolf Buchbinder, piano
Franco Gulli, violin
July 27, 1974, Ravinia Festival
SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 33
TCHAIKOVSKY Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
Kazimierz Kord, conductor
August 2, 1975, Ravinia Festival
SHOSTAKOVICH Cello Concerto No. 1 in E-flat Major, Op. 107
Lawrence Foster, conductor
October 7, 8, and 9, 1976, Orchestra Hall
SAINT-SAËNS Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 33
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
November 22, 24, and 25, 1978, Orchestra Hall
BOCCHERINI Cello Concerto B-flat Major
Sir Georg Solti, conductor
November 25, 27, and 28, 1987, Orchestra Hall
HINDEMITH Cello Concerto
Erich Leinsdorf, conductor
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