Steven Isserlis Profile
Steven Isserlis

@StevenIsserlis

Followers
41,607
Following
774
Media
3,123
Statuses
22,423

Cellist of (and sometimes out of) sorts, Author, Father, Lover of Indian and other food and of the Marx Brothers and other people who make me laugh.

Joined July 2013
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
It's Easter! So I thought that a moment of joy from Bach - the Courante of the 1st suite - might be appropriate. Sorry - the sound isn't great (and I look most odd!); but I hope that the message from Mr Bach is clear: hope for renewed life and better times - and...HAPPY EASTER!
244
721
3K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
It always frustrates me to hear people say that they don't go to concerts because they don't know enough about classical music. I think my friend Olli Mustonen had the answer to that: 'It's like saying that you won't walk in the forest because you don't know enough about botany.'
68
598
2K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Jacqueline du Pré would have been (only) 78 today! Still such an aching loss - the warmth of her personality was integral to her astonishing ability to communicate her deepest feelings through music. Unforgettable. "Playing lifts you out of yourself into a delirious place."
Tweet media one
45
302
2K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
11 months
A very happy birthday to much-beloved Martha Argerich - a living musical icon! Her volcanic temperament, allied with her delicacy, her ageless strength and brilliance, her unique charisma - no wonder she's adored. And a deeply warm, loyal person, too...a phenomenon.
Tweet media one
43
271
2K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Devastated to hear that Radu Lupu has left us. Not only one of the greatest, warmest, most profound musicians I've ever heard, but also a deeply kind, compassionate, modest and humorous man - and a wonderful friend. He was ready to go, true; but he'll still be desperately missed.
Tweet media one
84
410
2K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Hmmm....I looked at the BBC's list of notable people who have died this year. It included tributes to many sorts of musicians - but not one 'classical'. I was hoping to see at least Radu Lupu's and Lars Vogt's names - but no; classical music is really sidelined. Why?
157
262
2K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Steve Martin is 75 today! "I've got to keep breathing. It'll be my worst business mistake if I don't." "Boy, those French: they have a different word for everything!" “A day without sunshine is like, you know, night.” "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture."
Tweet media one
31
330
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Not sure if this is appropriate to post - not exactly cheerful Christmas music! But thinking both of Ivry Gitlis and of all the people having to spend Christmas alone this year,I thought I'd play this Sarabande; because no matter how sad, Bach's music always makes one feel better
91
262
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Gosh, Germany... I approached check-in desk here in Berlin. The agent saw my cello, and started singing the opening of the Dvorak concerto. ‘The best,‘ she said. I argued that Schumann’s is equally great; but a tad different from the usual ‘have you got a seat for your guitar?’ !
46
202
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
My cello just received a Happy Birthday email from an airline with which he holds an account. He's a bit embarrassed - says that actually the last touches to his scroll were put in place on 2nd, not 1st, January 1726. He wants me to send an email explaining, but it's a bit tricky
42
229
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Jacqueline du Pre would have been 75 today. Blessed with such talent for music, for loving, for life - and then taken away. But she left us so much; her classic recordings, of course, but also a legacy of inspiration for all musicians that still bears fruit every day. Thank you.
Tweet media one
25
343
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Question for Twitter parents: I really don't want to start broadcasting from my music room, because there are no acoustics, and it would just be depressing, I think. BUT, with so many children at home, would a live, short children's concert next week be of interest, do you think?
234
113
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Wow - I really didn't think this would happen in my lifetime: it seems that a manuscript of the Bach cello suites in Bach's own hand has finally been discovered in Duben Castle, in Blazen in northern Bohemia! Still to be fully authenticated - but let's hope. Amazing...
98
162
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Beyond sad that we have lost our beloved Lars Vogt. It is impossible to imagine a more warm-hearted, life-loving being - he will leave a vast hole in the lives of all his friends and colleagues, not to mention his family. Thank you for all the happiness you brought us, dear Lars.
Tweet media one
53
207
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Feels so poignant to wish the great Michael Palin a happy 80th, when he has just lost his beloved wife, after 57 years of marriage. But we can at least express our gratitude for all the joy, the laughter, the education, etc that he has brought us. A truly good, warm, kind man.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
Tweet media four
25
126
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
A charming story from Toscanini, who d otd 1957: "After conducting a concert in a small town, I received the following note: "Dear Sir, I wish to inform you that the man who played the long thing you pull in and out only did so during the brief periods you were looking at him."
Tweet media one
38
281
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
I - or rather my cello - just received a Happy Birthday greeting from an airline which has kindly granted him a frequent flyer number. I'd forgotten that I'd put down his birthday as January 1st - hmmm...one wonders what the airline's computer thought about the birth year, 1726?
43
129
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Anne Frank b otd 1929: I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness... I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change... that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return. (1944)
Tweet media one
24
326
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Jacqueline du Pré should have been a mere 77 today - our huge loss. An irresistibly warm artist/communicator/person - glorious. "I have the same feeling when I walk in a very beautiful place that I have when I play and it goes right." I hope she's in just such a place now...
Tweet media one
44
184
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Strange experience just now with @BBCRadio3 . I heard Faure's Elegy. My honest reaction was: it's okay, and I don't really disagree with the interpretation; but the vibrato is too fast, and some of the phrasing too heavy. And then - it was me! (Oh well - I plan to re-record it...)
54
160
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
35 years today since beloved Jacqueline du Pré left us. What a communicator: the warmth of her heart, her passionate personality, shone through every note she played. What a tragic end - but let us remember her now at her happiest, touching our hearts so deeply with her music.
Tweet media one
43
207
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Anne Frank should have been 92 today: "I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness... I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better... that peace and tranquility will return."
Tweet media one
22
301
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Wow - a new experience: a check-in I actually enjoyed! I told the @lufthansa agent I was travelling with a cello. ‘Where is he?’she asked. I showed her, & thanked her for not saying ‘it’. ‘You told me last time!’ Then: ‘You’re in 19E, my friend is in 19F’ Her FRIEND? Wonderful!
48
69
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
7 months
Glenn Gould would have been 89 today - he's been gone far too long. Brilliant, genuinely different, occasionally infuriating (musically), always fascinating, surprising - a major figure in 20th century music-making. And (reportedly) as a man truly charming and warm. Much missed!
Tweet media one
57
220
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
A little Christmas message. Sorry - I know: unglamorous sound (and look, of course!); too much vibrato; image wrong way around; etc. But - it's Christmas! So - all is (hopefully) forgiven. HAPPY CHRISTMAS !!!
111
158
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
First the good news, then the bad: I explained to a really helpful security man at Heathrow how fragile the cello is. 'Stradivarius, is it?' he asked. 'Yes,' I replied. He looked impressed; but then his face took on a look of awe. 'You're not Andre Rieu, are you?' he gasped. Hmm.
68
121
1K
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
JS Bach d 270 years ago today. It seems as if for a lot of people, during this time of crisis, his music has been more important than any other. It comforts through its calm wisdom, its serene radiance - perhaps through its essential goodness? Thank you, Cantor of Leipzig!
44
228
976
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Bach's St Matthew Passion premiered otd 1729 - surely one of the summits of Western art. Every shade of sadness, allied with the deepest compassion; never depressing, but heart-breakingly beautiful. And is there a more moving moment in music than Erbarme Dich? A true miracle.
66
167
929
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Deeply important facts about composers: Brahms owned a telephone, but rarely used it; Balakirev resolutely refused to have one; and Tchaikovsky was persuaded to try a long-distance call once, but was so overwhelmed that he felt faint and had to hang up. So there you have it.
40
199
906
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Jacqueline du Pre would have been 74 today. Hard to think of her as anything but young - the golden girl with unlimited talent and irresistible joy in music. What a communicator - and what an inspiration for all of us lucky enough to be young musicians during her playing years.
28
168
893
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Sometimes name-dropping is worth it. Security official at airport this morning: 'I have to look at your instrument." Me: "Please be careful." Him: "Is it a Stradivarius, haha?" Me: "Yes." Silence while his eyebrows take a trip to the north - then delicate care. Thank you, Mr S!
28
123
892
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
What a day for music! Two geniuses b otd: JS Bach (1685), Joseph Haydn (1732). The one sublime, godlike, every note he wrote radiating a heavenly perfection; the other constantly experimenting, shocking us, making us laugh and weep. We are so lucky that they visited this planet!
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
28
264
879
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Strange… I was carrying my cello through Cremona today, when suddenly I heard him shouting inside his case: ‘Daddy! Daddy!’ And then he insisted on having a family photo…
Tweet media one
32
96
889
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Gratitude for the life of Ludwig van Beethoven b otd (probably) 1770. The strength of his spirit, expressed through his music, enriches our lives immeasurably. The joy, the tenderness, the passion, the fathomless beauty, the humour, the profundity - it makes us proud to be human!
Tweet media one
57
201
892
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
A very happy birthday to glorious Martha Argerich! What a phenomenon: as a person - charismatic, certainly, but also quiet, and rather shy; at the piano - a musical volcano, whose explosive passion and seemingly inexhaustible tonal palette thrills us all. Thank you for the joy!
Tweet media one
26
123
877
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Shostakovich d otd 1975. Such a powerful composer - I can't understand why some people reject him. Quite aside from the impossible circumstances of his life, he was such a master musician! His music is so vividly imaginative, so irresistibly passionate - and so brilliantly witty.
Tweet media one
59
113
877
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
B otd (OS) 1685 - JS Bach! His art reaches the pinnacle of sublimity. Through his music we feel God; but a God who weeps with us, laughs with us, dances with us - who understands us. No surprise that during these days, people have needed Bach's music more than any other.
Tweet media one
43
210
856
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
A sign on the Tokyo metro - a good metaphor for life?
Tweet media one
17
288
837
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Wow - rather gratifying email from British Airways this morning! "Dear Mr Isserlis, In view of your unfortunate experiences with us over in recent times, we have decided to offer you and your cello free travel for a year (economy class only, excluding 15/12/23 to 6/1/24).' Nice!
126
35
841
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Jacqueline du Pré would have been 76 today - probably still playing. What a communicator she was - such warmth, such generosity of spirit, such fire; and it all came from deep within her. Still so much missed. "Playing lifts you out of yourself into a delirious place."
Tweet media one
30
189
832
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
11 months
I find it hard to understand why so many countries - not just the UK - ignore children’s music education. There are so many benefits, academic as well as social/creative - it can help so much with numeracy and literacy. And the emotional aspect! A singing child is a happy child.
59
187
811
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 months
Jacqueline du Pré b otd 1945 - so poignant to think that she could/should still be playing today. But thankfully her warmth, her love of music, her generosity, her amazing talent for communicating her emotions through music, live on through her recordings. A beautiful spirit.
Tweet media one
36
182
818
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Beethoven buried otd 1827 (Schubert one of the pallbearers). One thinks of him as isolated by then, his futuristic late music ignored; but the fact that some 20,000 people - the equivalent of well over 600,000 in today's London or NY - lined the streets on that day belies this.
Tweet media one
33
215
799
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Happy birthday to @YoYo_Ma - master-cellist, passionate supporter of good causes, and wonderfully friendly person; a great combination! And so right here: "With every year of playing, you want to relax one more muscle. Why? Because the more tense you are, the less you can hear."
Tweet media one
26
106
787
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Freddie Mercury would have been 75 today! What a creative spirit and imagination - and what a voice... "I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend." "When I'm dead, I want to be remembered as a musician of some worth and substance." You are, Freddie! And will always be...
Tweet media one
19
168
785
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Alas, Brahms d otd 1897. A complicated man who spent most of his mature years trying to conceal the deep warmth of his heart; but - despite the classicism of many of his works - it poured out through his music. Such glorious warmth, profundity, sheer irresistible beauty. Genius!
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
Tweet media four
44
120
778
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
6 years
And today we have the birthday of JS Bach (1685). How could such a miracle have occurred on our planet? The sublimity, the glorious perfection of ALL his music - as well as the joy, the charm, the humour, the absolute profundity; one can't explain it - one can only be grateful.
23
295
774
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
A very happy special birthday to the miraculous Martha Argerich, whose astonishing mastery, volcanic temperament and sweeping emotional generosity keep her forever young! Thank you for giving so many people so much, dear Martha...
Tweet media one
31
116
778
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Franz Schubert b otd 1797. Was there ever a composer of more natural talent, from whom beauty and charm flowed in such an endless stream? But way beyond charm: the profundity, the drama, the tragedy of his music - particularly that of his last five years - is unique. True genius
Tweet media one
36
119
776
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
And a very happy 90th to Alfred Brendel, a model of musical integrity and passionately searching music-making: "If I belong to a tradition, it is a tradition that makes the masterpiece tell the performer what to do, and not the performer telling the piece what it should be like."
Tweet media one
32
154
770
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Vladimir Horowitz b otd 1903 - what a unique, charismatic musical voice! And wise: “Always there should be a little mistake here and there - I am for it. The people who don't do mistakes are cold like ice. It takes risk to make a mistake. If you don't take risk, you are boring.”
Tweet media one
26
147
768
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Such wise words from Gustav Mahler (d otd 1911): “Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.” “In Bach, the vital cells of music are united as the world is in God.” “A symphony must contain everything.” “I don't choose what I compose. It chooses me.”
Tweet media one
31
168
757
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
By no means an original thought, I know - but true: it is a good idea to start days by listening to Bach (usually in my case the Well-Tempered Clavier). Its divine order and precise beauty help one face the depressing chaos in our world, about which we have to read each morning.
72
135
758
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Stravinsky d 50 years ago today! An irresistible, transformative musical force. "Music must be listened to; it is not enough to hear it. A duck hears also." "Art is the opposite of chaos. Art is organised chaos." "Hurry? I have no time to hurry." "Music expresses itself."
Tweet media one
23
192
751
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Our beloved Franz Schubert b otd 1797 - has there ever been a composer from whom breathtaking beauty flowed with such (seeming) ease? With just a few notes, he can take us to heaven, charm us, traumatise us, melt our hearts. As a man, modest, humble; as a composer, life-changing.
Tweet media one
43
133
751
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
A happy 80th (amazing!) to John Eliot Gardiner, who has done so much to bring the music of Monteverdi and other baroque composers back to life; to present fresh interpretations of so many great choral masterpieces; to present pure, truly musical operatic productions; and so on!
Tweet media one
29
134
761
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Sergie Rachmaninov b otd (os) 150 years ago! What a genius - as both composer and performer, he combined emotional depth, freedom, fathomless beauty and architectural mastery. Those who dismiss his music are - misguided...! A powerful musical voice, who moves us in a unique way.
Tweet media one
59
116
752
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 months
Beethoven b otd 1770! A gift to humanity. And to those who say that he represents a 'macho' culture, may I (gently) point out that you're missing the point? NOTHING macho about his music; it's full of tenderness, joy, love. But there IS a strength of spirit that helps us to live.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
Tweet media four
61
162
747
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
I don't understand the current fashion for playing Bach's music so fast! True, we're told that Bach favoured 'lively tempi'; and it's good to have a sense of dance. But what is authentic about obliterating the ever-varying harmonic characters, the natural breaths between phrases?
71
74
744
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Dmitri Shostakovich d otd 1975. A tragic life in many ways; but that was not all there was in his life - or in his music. His son Maxim describes him as a 'joyous' person; and there is so much more than bitterness and suffering in his works. It has everything! A wondrous musician
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
Tweet media four
36
206
725
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Mozart d otd 1791 - not, it seems, prepared for death (as Schubert may have been), but desperately fighting for life. What would he have given us! But then - the treasures he DID leave: music not just of perfect beauty, but also of revolutionary, life-changing strength and depth.
Tweet media one
30
158
719
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Gabriel Fauré b otd 1845! I'm often asked what my main ambition is at this point; my answer is that I want to help make Fauré's chamber-music better known. It is just GLORIOUS - ecstatic, breathtakingly beautiful, profound, sublime; for me some of the greatest music ever written.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
43
105
734
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Thoughts from Mikhail Gorbachev (91 today): "The world will not accept dictatorship or domination." "What we need is Star Peace and not Star Wars." "I think we need to elect young people to government. We need to give them a chance, in the media, in politics, in democracy."
Tweet media one
22
173
721
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Alas, otd 1791 we lost Mozart, aged just 35 - miracle of nature, to whom music really came as naturally as singing to a bird. There's a story (apocryphal?) that someone asked him how he managed to write such perfect music. 'I know no other way to compose,' was the reply.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
47
141
713
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Mozart b otd 1756! A flawed comparison, because Mozart worked hard to master his art; but his music reminds me of a wild animal of breathtaking grace, who has no idea how beautiful he/she is. Mozart's music just IS, in all its perfection and profundity and charm. A gift from God!
Tweet media one
28
139
718
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
At this horrible time, it's nice to dream of time travel. I've chosen 5 events to attend: 1) Bach conducting the St Matthew Passion; 2) Beethoven improvising; 3) A Paganini concert; 4) Dickens reading; 5) One of the Marx Brothers' Broadway shows. Should be a nice trip...
72
66
714
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Why is it that Beethoven is so often portrayed as above all the creator of dark, fist-shaking music? There is some of that, it's true; but it is - proportionally, at any rate - completely outweighed by music of profound tenderness, introspection, wonderful humour - and joy!
69
74
711
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
What a day: JS Bach b otd 1685; Joseph Haydn otd 1732! The one sublime, godlike - but his music still full of tenderness, compassion, humour, energy; the other so fresh, loveable, gloriously original, often laugh-out-loud funny. Both continue to make the world a better place...
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
31
167
723
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Musicians are in a truly paradoxical situation at the moment: on the one hand, we feel deeply appreciated, because people so need great music now; on the other hand, we are practically paralysed, mostly unable to perform, many leaving the profession in desperation. Strange times.
26
163
712
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Alas, Franz Schubert d otd 1828, at 31 - so much too young. But had he not known he was going to die, could he have written works of such profundity, which take us, irresistibly, to both heaven and hell? But also: was there ever a composer to whom divine beauty came so naturally?
Tweet media one
44
135
706
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Chopin d otd 1849 - a tragic exile. What an extraordinary composer; like Scarlatti, he created a world of his own, where nobody else could really follow - a world of breathtaking beauty, strength, tenderness, pride, and infinite magic. "Simplicity is the final achievement."
Tweet media one
32
146
705
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
What a day - Brahms b otd 1833, Tchaikovsky 1840! Neither understood the other's music, it seems; but actually they had a lot in common - passionate romantics both accused of relying too strongly on classical models. Such rubbish! Both wrote straight from their hearts to ours...
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
25
142
700
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
Ah, Germany and music... Last night's taxi driver immediately asked what I thought of Schumann's cello concerto; the lively discussion took up the whole ride. And this morning's frugal hotel breakfast was transformed by Schumann's Rhenish symphony filling the room. Civilisation!
30
55
699
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
French cellist Paul Tortelier b otd 1914. Charismatic, eccentric, quixotic (in looks and character) - and a great cellist and musician. He was such a major presence in our lives during my youth - his masterclasses were televised on BBC2 at primetime! Ah - those were the days...
Tweet media one
55
88
698
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Wonderful thoughts on music from WA Mozart - d otd 1791: "If only the whole world could feel the power of harmony." "Music, in even the most terrible situations, must never offend the ear but always remain a source of pleasure." "I choose such notes that love one another."
Tweet media one
34
149
687
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
A London black cab driver just told me that cabbies now refer to £10 notes as 'Pavarotti'. 'Why?' I asked (not at my brightest). 'Because it's a tenner...'
32
119
693
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
JS Bach b otd (NS) 1685! How can this man, for whom art and faith were surely intertwined,have produced music of such unmatched sublimity? His music expresses every human emotion; but it is as if a father were watching - and empathising with - the joys and sorrows of his children
Tweet media one
25
143
689
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Interesting. At the bus stop just now, somebody said: ‘You’re a cellist, obviously. I’d say you were Steven Isserlis, but you’re younger than he is.’ Hmm... I THINK I’m pleased by that...
36
27
695
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
A new ‘cake’ of rosin. I’ve always found them rather beautiful…
Tweet media one
49
20
684
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
And a very happy birthday to Yo-Yo Ma, wonderful cellist and human being. Tireless in his efforts to improve the world through music; and (not always the case with famous people) as lovely in private as in public! May he have MANY more years of bringing joy.
13
81
678
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 months
And a happy 70th to Sir Andras Schiff - an extraordinary musician whose knowledge and mastery of a vast range of music is nothing short of breathtaking. A phenomenon…
Tweet media one
29
81
685
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Beethoven d otd 1827 - I don't believe the story of him shaking his fist at the heavens just before he died. More myth-making, which distorts the image of his music. Yes, there is drama, even violence; but also so much joy, tenderness, wit - and an irrepressibly positive spirit.
Tweet media one
57
109
676
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
My grandfather, pianist and composer Julius Isserlis, d otd 1968. A fascinating life - student of Safonov, Taneyev and Widor, he knew Scriabin, Prokofiev, Hoffmann, Lhevinne, etc. And I've never heard a bad word about him - apparently an enchanting man and artist, beloved by all.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
Tweet media four
40
52
668
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
So very sorry to hear of the death of beloved Bernard Haitink. A gentle man of great humility and honesty - qualities that were of course reflected fully in his deeply inspired music-making. He will be much, much missed.
Tweet media one
24
86
673
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
6 years
Dear Mr Trump, Thank you so much for offering to appoint your friends Mr Farage and Mr Johnson as Ambassador and PM . Of course, these men are sages and near-saints - but we British have this quaint system of choosing our own. Mere British eccentricity, I suppose. #TrumpVisitUK
23
121
663
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
6 months
Happy birthday Daniel Barenboim! Every great work of art has two faces, one towards its own time and one towards future, eternity. I maintain music is not here to make us forget about life. It's also here to teach us about life. Music has the capacity to create a greater reality.
Tweet media one
33
113
681
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 years
So very, very sad to have to accept the passing of the great, the unique, the so deeply loveable, glorious, the irreplaceable (and frequently impossible!) Ivry Gitlis. There'll never be another like him...
Tweet media one
28
161
665
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
10 months
One of the stranger markings I’ve encountered in a cello part (from Shostakovich’s third quartet): a crescendo through a rest. I suppose i could LOOK as if I’m getting louder, raising myself in my seat? (Funny - the other instruments, who are playing, have a diminuendo here…)
Tweet media one
80
72
666
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Maurice Ravel d otd 1937 - such a master. His music exudes perfection - and such imagination, vision, beauty. A classicist? Contained - but far from cold... "Music, I feel, must be emotional first and intellectual second." "The only love affair I have ever had was with music."
Tweet media one
31
101
652
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
5 years
Sad memory: on this day 1987, Jacqueline du Pre was released from her suffering. A moment one remembers: I was with another beloved cellist, Raya Garbousova, when the news came; we were both speechless. Du Pre's inspiration lives on; but she herself should still be with us...
22
113
656
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
3 months
Franz Schubert b otd 1797! Was there ever a composer more gifted for melody? Such a tragic journey from the pure joy of many of the earliest works to the chilling despair of some of the last. "Those works that give the world the greatest delight were born of my deepest griefs."
Tweet media one
36
142
661
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 month
Beethoven d otd 197 years ago... A cliché, I know but true! His music becomes more and more important as one gets older. The incredible, unbreakable spirit - sometimes tragic, never depressing; the optimism, the joy, the humour, the tenderness. All that is best in humanity.
Tweet media one
46
123
662
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
Extraordinary - I just played, not for a screen, but for real live PEOPLE!!! (Bach at the Fidelio Cafe.) It felt like coming home - at last...
30
53
651
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
I won this chocolate cello in the Prussia Cove Easter raffle! But - how can I eat it? It would feel a bit like eating my own child…
Tweet media one
54
43
662
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
2 years
Brahms d otd 125 years ago! What a composer - and what a journey. From wild, intensely innovative youngster to supreme romantic classicist; and then, in his late period, fusing the two in a sublime language that takes us to a magical world full of yearning, autumnal reflection.
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
35
141
646
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
A very happy 80th to Daniel Barenboim! (Alas - if only his health were better, it could be much happier...) What a mind, what a life - astounding in so many ways. And so right: "Music is an art that touches the depth of human existence; an art of sounds that crosses all borders."
Tweet media one
Tweet media two
Tweet media three
Tweet media four
23
141
654
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
1 year
Happy birthday, David Attenborough - icon! "It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living."
Tweet media one
15
122
657
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
4 years
So sad to hear (belatedly) of the death of Ida Haendel. What a lady! Passionate, inspired, stubborn, utterly unique - glorious! Playing the Beethoven Triple with her and Martha Argerich remains one of my most cherished - if surreal! - memories. There's never been anyone like Ida.
Tweet media one
35
114
646
@StevenIsserlis
Steven Isserlis
8 months
Happy birthday to the great Itzhak Perlman! "Teaching is really very, very important...When you teach others, you teach yourself." "There is no such thing as getting rid of nervousness.". "As for minimalism, I don't care, don't care, don't care to repeat myself, repeat myself."
Tweet media one
27
101
655