Goddess of the Cello

At a quaint Madison Avenue espresso cafe, it was my good fortune to have the Goddess of the Cello sitting across from me. Humble yet vivacious, cellist Christine Walewska shared her experiences as a master musician.

"When I was 18, I began my international career in Germany with the Hessischer Rundfunk Orchestra conducted by Dean Dickson, an African American, who had great success in Europe if not in his own country. She played with one of her favorite conductors, the great Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, and the Nord Deutsche Rundfunk Orchestra. The success of those concerts lead to my performing with orchestras in 45 cities in Germany alone."

"During that season, I had a two-week break. So I went to Spain to meet the greatest manager for soloists who ever lived, Ernesto De Quesada, who worked with the famous soloist, Rubenstein, Heifetz and Segovia. He said to me, 'Take out your cello and play.' And within a week I was performing in Spain. I did not know that anyone could arrange a concert in one week but he did it. The reviews of that concert resulted in my playing in every corner of Spain."

Christine told him that it was her dream to play in Argentina and he immediately arranged for her to play three concerts in one week in the famous Theatro Colon in Buenos Aires.

Dvorak's Cello Concerto that Ms. Walewska recorded with the London Philharmonic formed the basis of the book by Fabio Uccelli. The book was dedicated to her as the greatest interpreter of Dvorak's concerto, and led to a wave of invitations to play the concerto everywhere from Beijing to Brazil, performing it three times with the Magio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence.

The life of a touring classical soloist can be arduous but has its joys; in Argentina, especially, where she met two wonderful men: her husband, Ernesto and her musical partner, the great Argentine pianist, Manuel Rego. Ms. Walewska performed with Rego throughout the twelve years she lived in Argentina. Sadly, Mr. Rego passed away on August 20, 2007.

The master cellist sees music as spiritual inspiration because compositions are divinely-inspired. She marveled that a great symphony starts out on a blank sheet of paper. Technology cannot replace the greatest musical instruments from master violin craftsmen such as Stradivarius and Guarneri del Jesus. Traditionally the makers of those fine instruments would kneel besides their work bench and ask for divine inspiration.

When asked about today's performers, Ms. Walewska echoes Rubinstein who said to her, "All these pianists play fast, but where is the music?" The same Rubinstein said of her: "... Christine Walewska has the most sensuous tone I have ever heard on the cello… She is the only cellist who takes my breath away... "

Some cellists take an aggressive approach, unlike her own which she identifies with Bel Canto, a sound characterized by full, even tones and brilliant technique.

She says the cello is closest to the human voice. Los Angeles music critic Patterson Greene wrote: "...She parallels on the cello the single persuasiveness of Fritz Kreisler on the violin..."

Ms. Walewska's first teacher was her father who played all the string instruments and was a dealer of rare violins and cellos. At age 13, she became the first private student of the great cellist, Gregor Piatigorsky. At 16, she studied with Maurice Marechal at the Paris Conservatoire where, two years later, she became the first American to win first prize in cello and chamber music.

She has recorded 17 cello concertos on the Philips label including the Prokovief Concerto, Katchaturian, two Hayden concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra, and the complete works of Saint Seans, among others. Ennio Bolognini, considered the greatest cellist in history, wanted her to be the only one to continue to play his music beyond his lifetime.

When asked what to recommend for younger students and lovers of classical music, she says she listened for hours on end to original recordings of Caruso, Benjamino Gigli,and Bjorling, and violinists Jascha Heifetz and Fritz Kreisler.

The divinely talented Christine Walewska will perform the Brahms Double Concerto in Buenos Aires followed by two concerts in Curacao, on the 30th anniversary of their Concert Society which she inaugurated. Next is the BeethovenFest in Santa Barbara, California in December.