British cellist Steven Isserlis is one of the most well-traveled musicians in the world, but his concert Tuesday at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall will mark the first time he’s performed at the hallowed venue.
The show will be the first concert of Isserlis’ two-week U.S./Canada tour and is part of the Troy Chromatic Concerts series.
“We’re mostly playing at venues where we’ve played before, but there are a few new ones including Troy,” Isserlis said. “Since this is the first in a series of nine recitals on East and West coasts, we may rehearse longer than usual. But as a rule we don’t like to rehearse too much on the day of the concert. Connie [Shih, his accompanist] will need to try the piano, of course, and then we’ll generally play for a bit, but not for too long. Better to save our energy for the concert!”
Isserlis is appearing at the hall thanks to its executive director, Jon Elbaum. Last year when Elbaum heard that Isserlis was planning a U.S. tour, he immediately reached out to the cellist’s management.
“I’ve been a longtime fan,” Elbaum said.
Isserlis is well-known to audiences at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, where he’s often played solos with the Philadelphia Orchestra. The last time he was in the area was in 2020 to perform the Beethoven Triple Concerto.
A recital will offer his fans another chance to hear why he’s received so many honors, including Commander of the British Empire in recognition for his services to music; the Piatigorsky Prize; and the Wigmore Hall Gold Medal. He is also one of only two living cellists in Gramophone’s Hall of Fame.
On Tuesday he will perform Ludwig van Beethoven’s Sonata in G, Op. 5, No. 2; Bohuslav Martinu’s Sonata No. 1 (1939); Nadia Boulanger’s “Three Pieces”; and Edvard Grieg’s Sonata in A minor, Op. 36.
“I love all the pieces we’re playing in Troy,” Isserlis said. “There’s no particular unifying theme to the program, but I hope it’ll be a satisfying mix of pieces from three centuries. The Beethoven is, for me, the most operatic of his five cello sonatas, which surely represent the peak of the cello sonata repertoire. The Martinu is a thrilling work written at an intensely dramatic time in his life and in world history. The intensity of the music reflects that drama. The Boulanger pieces are charming and beautiful, and like the Martinu deserve to be better known than they are. The Grieg is quintessential Grieg: strongly reminiscent of the piano concerto. Gorgeous.”
Isserlis has also recorded several award-winning discs, with his most recent being “British Music for Solo Cello” (Hyperion, 2021) and “A Golden Cello Decade 1878-1888” with Connie Shih (Hyperion, 2022). He’s also a published children’s book author (“Why Handel Waggled His Wig”); a broadcaster; a director of international music seminars; and gives masterclasses to students.
Isserlis plays on a 1726 Stradivarius, on loan to him from the Royal Academy of Music.
