Steven Isserlis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Steven Isserlis
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Isserlis in 2018
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| Background information | |
| Born | 19 December 1958 London, England |
| Genres | Classical |
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| Instruments | Cello |
| Years active | 1977–present |
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Steven John Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a famous British cellist. He is known as a great solo player and also for playing in small music groups. He teaches, writes, and talks about music on TV and radio. Many people think he is one of the best musicians of his time.
Steven Isserlis is special because he plays many different kinds of music. He also has a unique sound. This comes from using "gut strings" on his cello. These strings are made from animal intestines, not metal.
He has won many important awards for his music. These include the Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award in 1993. He also won the Robert Schumann Prize in 2000. In 2017, he received the Wigmore Hall Medal. His music recordings have won two Gramophone Awards. He also has a Classical BRIT Award. He was even nominated for two Grammy Awards. He is one of only two living cellists in the Gramophone Hall of Fame.
Isserlis plays a very old and special cello. It was made in 1726 by Antonio Stradivari. This cello is called the Marquis de Corberon. He borrows it from the Royal Academy of Music.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Steven Isserlis was born in London into a family full of music. His mother taught piano. His father loved playing music as a hobby. His sister Annette plays the viola. His other sister Rachel is a violinist. Steven says that playing music together was a big part of his childhood.
His grandfather, Julius Isserlis, was a Russian Jew. He was a pianist. In the 1920s, he was one of only 12 musicians allowed to leave Russia. He went to share Russian culture. But he never went back home.
Steven Isserlis once shared a funny story about his grandfather. When his grandfather arrived in Vienna in 1922, he found a flat. The old landlady, who was 102, did not want a musician living there. She said her aunt had a noisy musician tenant who would spit on the floor. This tenant was the famous composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
Steven Isserlis went to the City of London School. He left when he was 14 years old. He moved to Scotland to study cello with Jane Cowan. Later, from 1976 to 1978, he studied at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music. His teacher there was Richard Kapuscinski. Since he was young, Steven's cello hero has been Daniil Shafran. Steven says Shafran's playing came from his soul.
The name Isserlis is a European version of the Hebrew name 'Israel'.
Steven Isserlis's Music Career
Steven Isserlis became very famous in 1988. He asked composer John Tavener to write a piece for cello and orchestra. This piece was called The Protecting Veil. Steven played it for the first time at the BBC Proms. He played with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The music and his recording of it were very popular. The recording became a best-seller in classical music.
Since then, Steven Isserlis has played as a solo artist all over the world. He performs with many top orchestras. These include the Berlin Philharmonic and the London Symphony Orchestra. He has also planned concert series for famous venues. These include Wigmore Hall in London.
Isserlis likes to play music as it was first meant to be heard. He often plays with orchestras that use old instruments. He has played Beethoven's music with a fortepianist. He also played Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has helped create new versions of music scores. These include Beethoven's cello works. He also helped with Dvořák and Elgar's cello concertos.
He also plays new music by living composers. He has played music by John Tavener, Lowell Liebermann, and Thomas Adès. He even asked for a new ending to Prokofiev’s Cello Concertino. This new ending was played for the first time in 1997.
Steven Isserlis has also put together many music festivals. He works with other famous musicians. These include Joshua Bell and András Schiff. He is also the artistic director of the International Musicians Seminar. This is a music school in Cornwall, England. There, he performs and teaches.
Steven Isserlis's Cellos
Steven Isserlis currently plays a very special cello. It is the 1726 Marquis de Corberon cello. It was made by Antonio Stradivari. He borrows this cello from the Royal Academy of Music. Before him, two other famous cellists owned it.
He also partly owns two other old cellos. One is a Domenico Montagnana cello from 1740. The other is a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini cello from 1745. He played the Guadagnini cello for many years. He also used to play the De Munck-Feuermann Stradivarius. He borrowed it from the Nippon Music Foundation.
Books by Steven Isserlis
Steven Isserlis has written books for children about famous composers. His first book is Why Beethoven Threw the Stew (2001). His second book is Why Handel Waggled His Wig (2006).
He has also written three stories that have music with them. The music was written by Oscar-winning composer Anne Dudley. The first story is Little Red Violin (and the Big, Bad Cello). It was first performed in New York in 2007. The other stories are Goldipegs and the Three Cellos and Cindercella.
In 2016, Steven Isserlis published a book for young musicians. It is called Robert Schumann's Advice to Young Musicians Revisited by Steven Isserlis. In 2021, he released another book. This one is called The Bach Cello Suites – A Companion. It is all about the history and music of Bach's cello suites.
Awards and Recognitions
Steven Isserlis has received many awards for his musical talent:
- 1992: Gramophone Award – Contemporary Album of the Year
- 1993: Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award
- 1998: Made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
- 2000: Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau
- 2007: Gramophone Award – Instrumental Album of the Year
- 2008: Classical BRIT Awards – Critics’ Award
- 2013: Inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame. He is one of only two living cellists in it.
- 2015: Grammy Award nomination for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
- 2017: Glashütte Original Music Festival Award
- 2017: The Wigmore Hall Medal
- 2018: Grammy Award nomination for Best Classical Instrumental Solo
- 2021: BBC Music Magazine Awards – Premiere Award
Steven Isserlis's Recordings
Steven Isserlis's recordings show how many different types of music he plays. His latest album is reVisions. It has new versions of music by composers like Debussy and Ravel.
For Hyperion Records, he recorded Schumann's cello and piano music. He also recorded all of Bach's solo cello suites. This recording won many awards. It was named "Listeners' Disc of the Year" by BBC Radio 3. It also won "Instrumental Disc of the Year" from Gramophone magazine.
Other recordings include two albums with pianist Stephen Hough. One has music by Brahms. Another is a popular album of children's cello music. He also recorded with Thomas Adès. In 2013, he released Dvořák's Cello Concerto. In 2014, he recorded Martinu's cello sonatas. This recording was nominated for a Grammy Award.
In 2017, his recording of Haydn's Cello Concertos was also nominated for a Grammy Award.
Personal Life
Steven Isserlis lives in London. His wife, Pauline Mara, was a flautist. She passed away in 2010. They have a son named Gabriel, who was born in 1990.
See also
In Spanish: Steven Isserlis para niños
