Steven Isserlis
CBE (born 19 December 1958, London) is one of the most renowned living cellists. He is distinguished for his diverse repertoire, distinctive sound (due in part to his use of gut strings) and total command of phrasing. He studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music and was much influenced by the great iconoclast of Russian cello playing, Daniil Shafran. He was awarded a CBE in 1998.
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STEVEN ISSERLIS TICKETS
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Personal life
Isserlis was born on December 19, 1958 in
London into a musical family. His grandfather, who was a Russian Jew, was one of 12 musicians allowed to leave
Russia in the 1920s to promote Russian culture, but he never returned.
His mother was a piano teacher, and his father was a keen amateur musician. His sister Annette is a viola player, and his other sister Rachel is a violinist. He says that
playing music, playing together
, was part of his early family life. He went to the
City of London School. He left school at the age of 14 and then moved to Scotland where he studied under the tutelage of Jane Cowan.
[1] He is a longtime
Beatles fan, and his own distinctive hairstyle, a mop of thick, curly, greying hair that falls over his high forehead, was inspired by the Beatles.
He is a friend of Paul McCartney, whom he often visits in London. His family was supportive of his early music career, even when he was not earning that much money.
He is married to Pauline, a former flute player, and they have a son, Gabriel.
Professional life
Isserlis plays both as soloist and chamber musician and has revived many neglected works.
He has also organized a number of festivals with long-term collaborators such as
Joshua Bell and
Tabea Zimmermann.
He was awarded a
CBE in 1998, and collected his award with his father, as his mother died earlier that week.
He was awarded the Schumann Prize 2000 by the city of
Zwickau.
He plays the
Feuermann Stradivarius, on loan from The
Nippon Music Foundation. He also part-owns a
Montagnana cello from 1740 and a
Guadagnini cello of 1745, which he played exclusively from 1979 to 1998 and part-owns with David Waterman, cellist of the
Endellion Quartet.
He is also the author of two books for children on the lives of famous composers: the first is
Why Beethoven Threw the Stew
(Faber & Faber, 2001), and the second
Why Handel Waggled His Wig
(Faber & Faber, 2006). He is also writing stories that will be set to music by Anne Dudley:
Goldipegs and the Three Cellos
and
Cindercella
.
Isserlis is artistic director of the International Musicians Seminar, Prussia Cove in West Cornwall, where he both performs and teaches.
In 2007, Isserlis' recording of the
Bach Cello Suites [2] was released and won a "Gramophone" award.
Isserlis made his debut as a conductor in February 2008, when he conducted the Irish Chamber Orchestra in National Concert Hall in Dublin.
References
- Desert Island Discs with Steven Isserlis
- Bach: The Cello Suites