Jascha Silberstein, born Hannes Bruno Willer, (21 April 1934 — 21 November 2008,

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

) was a German-born American musician. He was for thirty years first cellist of the orchestra of the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...

in New York City.

Early life and education

Silberstein was born in Stettin, Germany (today Szczecin, Poland) under the name of Hannes Bruno Willer, and raised in Stettin and then

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

. To escape the 1943 bombing raids on Stettin, his family relocated to the maternal home in southern Germany, with his father, a physician, remaining in Stettin. Beginning studies on the piano aged 5, he made his first public appearance at 11, playing

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

's ''Concerto in D minor'', then switched to the

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G ...

aged 12 after hearing

Gregor Piatigorsky Gregor Piatigorsky (, ''Grigoriy Pavlovich Pyatigorskiy''; August 6, 1976) was a Russian Empire-born American cellist. Biography Early life Gregor Piatigorsky was born in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnipro, Ukraine) into a Jewish family. As a child, he ...

play. After playing for several years with a gypsy band in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

and an orchestra in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, he studied cello with

Rudolf Hindemith Rudolf Hindemith, since 1951 officially Paul Quest, pseudonym Hans Lofer (9 January 19007 October 1974) was a German cellist, composer and conductor. He was solo cellist of the Vienna State Opera, and played chamber music in the Amar Quartet. H ...

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

's brother, and the legendary Czech violinist

Váša Příhoda Váša Příhoda (22 August 1900Nicolas Slonimsky, ed. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 8th ed.26 July 1960) was a Czech violinist and minor composer. Considered a Paganini specialist, his recording of the Violin Concerto in A minor ...

. He adopted the name Jascha Silberstein in honor of his mentor.

Career

In 1962, leaving the Nuremberg Opera orchestra, he accepted a teaching position at

Texas Western College The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

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, and was also principal cellist in the El Paso Symphony Orchestra during the 1962-63 season. In the 1963-64 season, he played with the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. History The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an America ...

, and in October 1964, joined the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He was released from his contract with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in August 1966, to join the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra as principal cellist, a post he held for thirty years, until his retirement. In the late 1960s and the 1970s, he appeared often at

Butler University Butler University is a private university in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 1855 and named after founder Ovid Butler, the university has over 60 major academic fields of study in six colleges: the Lacy School of Business, College of Communic ...

's Festival of Neglected Romantic Music, playing works that had not been heard in decades, several of which he recorded. He also played at the Newport Music Festival.

Discography

Silberstein recorded albums for London Records and the Musical Heritage Society. A number of his live performances have been issued in a series ''Jascha Silberstein: Live Performances'' (1-5). * 1972 recordings released by London Records. Richard Bonynge conducting

L'orchestre de la Suisse Romande The Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR) is a Swiss symphony orchestra, based in Geneva at the Victoria Hall. In addition to symphony concerts, the OSR performs as the opera orchestra in productions at the Grand Théâtre de Genève. History E ...

. :* ''Romantic cello concertos'' (works by Auber, Massenet and Popper) :* ''Concerto no. 1 in A minor'' by D. F. E Auber. Orchestrated by Douglas Gamley. :* ''Concerto in E minor, op. 24'' by

David Popper David Popper (June 16, 1843 – August 7, 1913) was a Bohemian cellist and composer. Some other sources list his date of birth as December 9, 1843. Life Popper was born in Prague, and studied music at the Prague Conservatory. His family was J ...

. :* ''Fantasy for cello and orchestra'' by Jules Massenet. :* ''Ballet gala : Homage to Pavlova'' (works by Saint-Saëns, Tchaikovsky, Delibes and others) * 1975 recordings released by the Musical Heritage Society. :* ''The Virtuoso sound''. With Linda Hall, piano. :* ''I remember : six poems for cello and piano'', by Issachar Miron. With Tsipora Miron, piano.

Personal life

Silberstein died on 21 November 2008 at home in

. He was married with two daughters. His obituary was listed in the November 23, 2008 edition of the ''

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette The ''Arkansas Democrat-Gazette'' is the newspaper of record in the U.S. state of Arkansas, printed in Little Rock with a northwest edition published in Lowell. It is distributed for sale in all 75 of Arkansas' counties. By virtue of one of ...

''. It did not list a date or cause of death.

References

External links

Jascha Silberstein: Live Performances
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silberstein, Jascha 2008 deaths 1934 births American classical cellists Emigrants from West Germany to the United States University of Texas at El Paso faculty 20th-century American musicians 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century cellists