János Starker (/ˈstɑːrkər/;[1]Hungarian:[ˈʃtɒrkɛr]; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana UniversityJacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is considered one of the greatest cellists of all time.[2]
Biography
Child prodigy
Starker was born in Budapest to a father of Polish descent and a mother who had immigrated from the Russian Empire, both Jewish. His two older brothers were violinists, and the young János (named for the hospital Szent János kórház [lit. St. John's Hospital] in which he was born) was given a cello before his sixth birthday. A child prodigy, Starker made his first public performances at ages six and seven. He entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest to study with Adolf Schiffer and made his debut there at age 11. Starker began teaching other children at age eight, and by the time he was 12, he had five pupils. Starker counted among his strongest influences Leo Weiner, a composer who taught chamber music. Zoltán Kodály, Béla Bartók and Ernő Dohnányi were also members of the Liszt Academy faculty. In his autobiography, Starker wrote that at the age of 13 he played Dohnányi's Konzertstuck for Cello for the composer (who was then the director of the Academy), who accompanied him at the piano.[3]
Starker made his professional debut at age 14, playing the Dvořák concerto with three hours' notice when the originally scheduled soloist was unable to play.[4] He left the Liszt Academy in 1939 and spent most of the war in Budapest. Because of his youth, Starker escaped the tragic fate of his older brothers, who were pressed into forced labor and eventually murdered by the Nazis. Starker nevertheless spent three months in a Nazi internment camp.[5]
He gave a successful concert in Vienna, then remained there to prepare for the Geneva Cello Competition. At the competition, held in October 1946, he received a bronze medal.[8]
After competing in Geneva, Starker spent a year working on his technique in Paris. "I played like a blind man," he said. "What happens to the bird who flies and doesn't know how it flies? That's what happens to child prodigies."[8] At the conclusion of his year in Paris, he made his first recording of Kodaly'sSonata in B minor for solo cello.[6] The recording earned him the Grand Prix du Disque.[9] He went on to make three more recordings of the work.[6]
From 1950 to 1965, Starker played and recorded on the Lord Aylesford Stradivarius, the largest instrument made by Antonio Stradivarius. In 1965 Starker acquired a Matteo Goffriller cello believed to have been made in Venice in 1705; known previously as the "Ivor James Goffriller" cello, Starker renamed it for its certification as "The Star" cello.[17]
Reviews and published works
External audio
You may hear Starker performing Beethoven's Concerto in C, Op. 56 For Piano, Violin, Cello, and Orchestra with Eliahu Inbal conducting the New Philharmonia Orchestra in 1970 Here on archive.org
Many documentaries, articles in magazines, and newspaper stories have acknowledged János Starker's virtuosity. He published numerous books and musical scores through Peer International, Schirmer, and International Music.[citation needed] His autobiography, The World of Music According to Starker, was published in 2004 by Indiana University Press.
Starker's playing style was intense and involved great technical mastery. According to some of his students, his technique revolved around long, legato notes, with very little shifting noise from his left hand, resulting in smooth, pure tones, "each note sounding like a jewel." Starker himself described his sound as "centered" and "focused." He was known for his ability to produce an extremely wide range of sounds and tone shading. He eschewed the wide vibrato favored by some of his peers—which he viewed as a cover for poor intonation—and was known for his patrician stage presence, preferring to let the music do the emoting. He quoted his long-time friend and colleague, György Sebők, who said, "Create excitement. Don't get excited."
Personal habits
Starker was a lifelong smoker with a 60-cigarette-per-day habit.[1] He also drank copious amounts of scotch whisky.[1] He once refused to perform a concert in Columbia, South Carolina, that he was supposed to play because he was not allowed to smoke his "pre-concert cigarette" backstage.[1]
^"Property". Tarisio. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
Further reading
The World of Music According to Starker, Janos Starker, Bloomington & Indianapolis, Indiana University Press (2004). ISBN0-253-34452-2.
The Roll Call of the Blessed Ones. Text by Janos Starker. Drawings by Jorge Sicre., Occidental Press, Washington D.C. (1985). ISBN0-911050-60-4.
Von Budapest nach Bloomington. Janos Starker und die ungarische Cello-Tradition., Anna Dalos, Melinda Berlasz, Janos Starker, Janos Breuer, and Peter B. Jacobi, Kronberg Academy Verlag, Kronberg/Taunus (1999). (in German and English) ISBN3-934395-00-7
Janos Starker. "King of Cellists". The Making of an Artist, Joyce Geeting, Chamber Music Plus Publishing, Los Angeles (2008). ISBN978-0-9754734-0-5.
Artists as Professors. Conversations with Musicians, Painters, Sculptors, Morris Risenhoover and Robert T. Backburn, pp. 171–185 are an interview with Janos Starker. Urbana, University of Illinois Press (1976). ISBN0-252-00574-0.
