Paul Tortelier
[5] He won the conservatoire's first prize when he was 16, playing the Elgar Cello Concerto,[6] and then he studied harmony and composition under Jean Gallon.
He gave performances under Bruno Walter and Arturo Toscanini,[8] and played the solo part in Richard Strauss's Don Quixote conducted by the composer.
In 1946 he married a cello pupil, Maud Monique Martin, with whom he had three children, all of whom became musicians: Yan Pascal, a violinist and subsequently a conductor; Maria de la Pau, a pianist; and Pomona, a cellist.
[10] Within days Tortelier gave a recital with Gerald Moore at the Wigmore Hall and recorded the Strauss piece with Beecham and the RPO.
[5] After the recital, the music critic of The Times wrote that Tortelier showed himself to be "an artist of great distinction, whose playing combined technical mastery with fine musicianship throughout a programme including works by Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, and virtuoso show-pieces".
[14] Nonetheless, Tortelier gained technical insights from Casals, particularly the latter's flexible use of the left hand on the fingerboard and his assertive phrasing and articulation.
[9] Although he was not Jewish (he was an agnostic Roman Catholic) Tortelier was inspired by the ideals of the founders of the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, and in 1955–56 he lived with his wife and children in the kibbutz Ma'abarot, near Haifa.
Several of his compositions were included at a special concert to mark his 75th birthday at the Royal Festival Hall in 1989, in which his wife and son joined in his celebrations.
[21][n 2] Tortelier's students included Noras, Sommer, Jacqueline du Pré, Anne Gastinel and Nathan Waks.
With his deep-set, expressive eyes, his unruly mop of white hair and broken but articulate English he captivated his audience as much as his pupils".
[3] Pursuing his encouragement of rising talent, Tortelier was artistic director and panel chairman for Britain's first major cello competition, held in Bristol in 1975.
20 competitors from 12 countries took part, and the gala concert featured the premiere of Tortelier's own Concerto for Two Cellos, performed by the composer and his wife, with their son conducting.
[24] Tortelier concurred, and further consideration of the point led him to develop a new kind of endpin, hinged to bring the cello down from nearly vertical to a slope, so that the instrument vibrates more freely, giving greater projection of its sound.
Tortelier's extensive discography includes two sets of the Bach Cello Suites, the first made in Paris in 1960 and the second in London in 1982.
