According to WFMT (98.7 on your FM dial) Frank Miller, cellist extraordinaire, would have been 100 years old today had he not died in 1986 at the age of 73.
Frank Miller was the principal cellist of the Chicago Symphony for many years. I met him once on a High School field trip to the CSO. As I was a bludgeoning, I mean burgeoning, cellist, I was star-struck upon meeting this legendary player. He was kind to us dazed and confused teenagers and I vowed that one day I, too, would have a back stage locker with my name on it at the CSO.
Well, that didn’t happen, but I still love the cello and it’s beautiful, soulful sound. There is a ton of recorded music for cello. The Library owns dozens of CDs and even a few DVDs of the great players sawing away making exquisite music. Here are some I’d recommend:
Then, for a change of pace, try this.
That’s good old Pablo Casals playing the well known Elgar and Dvorak concertos. Fantastic stuff!
Then there’s the Cello Ambassador of the Solar System, Yo-Yo Ma. We have over 50 Ma recordings to choose from. I love his collaborative work, especially the Appalachian music, but since this is a classical blog I’ll steer you towards this sweet collection of Baroque music.
Of course we do own some nice anthologies like 
Masters of the Bow. On this type of album you’ll get a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Perfect for the easily distracted listener.
And finally, here’s the aforementioned Mr. Miller playing the Brahams Double Concerto with Mr. Mischakoff (violin) under the sublime direction of Arturo Toscanini.
(Filmed just before my High School visit.)
No post would be complete without a plug for Freegal where you can get free downloads of Yo-Yo, Pablo, Rostro, and 2Cellos (2 guys who play pop music on their classical cellos).
Why not add some cello to your day?
The Classical Lassie
