InConcert Sierra helps give legendary Pablo Casals’ centuries-old cello a new life

SINCE 1946, INCONCERT SIERRA HAS BEEN committed to bringing you memorable musical experiences at affordable prices. It begins 2015 with a great variety of monthly concerts, featuring emerging young artists and world-renowned performers:

FEBRUARY 15, CLERESTORY
Clerestory is one of the Bay Area’s premiere male a cappella ensembles. All nine singers, from countertenor to bass, are veterans of San Francisco’s finest professional vocal groups, including Chanticleer, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists and others.

MARCH 15, AMIT PELED, CELLO
The remarkable cellist Amit Peled returns with a program that celebrates the great cellist Pablo Casals—playing on Casals’ restored 282-year-old cello. He will perform with pianist Alon Goldstein.

MARCH 31, ALESSIO BAX, PIANO
Alessio Bax, a kindred spirit whose performances as soloist and chamber musician prompted The New Yorker to describe him as “perhaps the most elegant of today’s young pianists.” He graduated with top honors at the record age of 14 from the conservatory of his hometown in Bari, Italy. Alessio Bax is a Steinway artist.

APRIL 19, FARALLON QUINTET
The Farallon Quintet is a dynamic Bay Area ensemble and the only professional chamber music group focused exclusively on the clarinet quintet—string quartet plus clarinet— repertoire. In addition to playing the classics, the group performs rarely heard works, as well as new music.

Casals’ Cello A New Life
After playing for Mrs. Marta Casals Istomin during the summer of 2012, Amit Peled received Pablo Casals’ magnificent cello, made in 1733 by Venetian luthier Matteo Goffriller.

“I fell in love with the sound of the cello through listening to the famous recordings of Pablo Amit Peled Casals,” says Amit.“Now, thanks to the generosity of Mrs. Casals Istomin, a dream has come true. The smell of the maestro’s pipe is still there.”

In his final interview, Casals called the cello “my oldest and dearest friend.” The instrument, covered by a $4 million insurance policy, has been painstakingly restored. “It’s like a wild horse ready to run,” Amit told The Wall Street Journal.

(Photo: Silvia Isach Saumell)