Editing Steven Isserlis

{{Short description|British cellist (born 1958)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2013}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| honorific_prefix  = 
| name              = Steven Isserlis
| honorific_suffix  = [[Order of the British Empire|CBE]]
| image             = File:Ensemble mit "Senior" Steven Isserlis bei Chamber Music Connects the World 2018 (cropped).jpg
| image_upright     =
| image_size        = 
| alt               = 
| caption           = Isserlis in 2018
| native_name       = 
| native_name_lang  = 
| birth_name        = <!-- leave empty if the same "name" -->
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|df=y|1958|12|19}}
| birth_place       = [[London]], England
| origin            = 
| genre             = [[Classical music|Classical]]
| occupation        = {{hlist|Musician|author}}
| instrument        = Cello
| years_active      = 1977–present<ref>{{cite web|title=Isserlis, Steven|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/isserlis-steven|website=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
| label             = {{hlist|[[Hyperion Records|Hyperion]]|[[RCA Red Seal]]|[[BIS Records|BIS]]|[[Virgin Classics]]}}
| associated_acts   = 
| website           = {{URL|stevenisserlis.com}}
}}

'''Steven John Isserlis''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (born 19 December 1958) is a [[British people|British]] [[cellist]]. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, educator, writer and broadcaster, he is widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://thesmithcenter.com/explore/smith-center-blog/violin-virtuoso-joshua-bell-mixes-music-and-friendship-in-upcoming-performance/|title=Violin Virtuoso Joshua Bell Mixes Music and Friendship in Upcoming Performance|website=The Smith Center|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= 20 best cellists of all time|url= https://www.classical-music.com/features/artists/best-cellists/|website=BBC Music Magazine}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Steven Isserlis: 'One should be paralysed with nerves and self-doubt'|url=https://www.ft.com/content/04c743d7-4c87-43c1-a6f5-3ccd3932d182|website= Financial Times|date=15 September 2021 |last1=Battle |first1=Laura }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=How We Met: Steven Isserlis and Joshua Bell |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/how-we-met-steven-isserlis-and-joshua-bell-1505702.html|website=The Independent|date= 21 November 1993}}</ref> He is also noted for his diverse repertoire and distinctive sound which is deployed with his use of [[catgut|gut strings]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Steven Isserlis - Lucerne Festival |url=https://www.lucernefestival.ch/en/program/directory-of-artists/steven_isserlis/3230|website=Lucerne Festival}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=CD reviews: Cellist Isserlis shows guts in Bach|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/cd-reviews-cellist-isserlis-shows-guts-in-bach/2015/10/15/ef780ae8-678d-11e5-9223-70cb36460919_story.html|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>

Isserlis is the recipient of numerous awards including the [[Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards|Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award]] in 1993, the [[Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau]] in 2000, and both the [[Wigmore Hall| Wigmore Hall Medal]] and [[Dresden Music Festival|Glashütte Original Music Festival Award]] in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Steven Isserlis CBE - Royal Academy of Music|url= https://www.ram.ac.uk/people/steven-isserlis|website=Troy all Academy of Music}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cellist Steven Isserlis receives Wigmore Medal|url= https://www.thestrad.com/cellist-steven-isserlis-receives-wigmore-medal/1450.article|website=The Strad}}</ref> His recordings have garnered two [[Gramophone Classical Music Awards|Gramophone Awards]], a [[Classical BRIT Awards|Classical BRIT Award]], a [[BBC Music Magazine|BBC Music Magazine Award]], and two [[Grammy Award]] nominations among others.<ref>{{cite web |title= Steven Isserlis - HK Phil|url= https://www.hkphil.org/artist/steven-isserlis|website=HK Phil}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Steven Isserlis, Sir Antonio Pappano and Omer Meir Wellber Win at the 2021 BBC Music Magazine Awards|url= https://imgartists.com/news/steven-isserlis-sir-antonio-pappano-and-omer-meir-wellber-win-at-the-2021-bbc-music-magazine-awards/|website=IMG Artists|date= 14 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Steven Isserlis -Artist - GRAMMY.com |url= https://www.grammy.com/artists/steven-isserlis/18500 |website=Grammy Awards}}</ref>  He is also one of the only two living cellists inducted into the [[Gramophone Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Gramophone Hall of Fame |url= https://www.gramophone.co.uk/artists|website=Gramophone Magazine}}</ref> 

Isserlis currently plays on the 1726 [[List of Stradivarius instruments#Cellos|''Marquis de Corberon'']] cello made by [[Antonio Stradivari]] on loan from the [[Royal Academy of Music]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Steven Isserlis and his Stradivarius cello – the relationship between soloist and instrument|url= https://www.thestrad.com/steven-isserlis-and-his-stradivarius-cello-the-relationship-between-soloist-and-instrument/5094.article|website=The Strad}}</ref> 

==Early life and education==
Isserlis was born into a musical family in [[London]]. His mother was a piano teacher, and his father was a keen amateur musician. One of his sisters Annette is a viola player, and his other sister Rachel is a violinist. Isserlis has described how "playing music, playing together", was an integral part of his early family life.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Isserlis-Steven.htm|title=Steven Isserlis (Cello) – Short Biography|website=Bach-cantatas.com|access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref> His grandfather, [[Julius Isserlis]],<ref>Gdal Saleski, ''Singers of Jewish origin'' (1927). "Julius Isserlis, who is one of the most outstanding of the many pianists Russia has given to the world in the present generation, was born in [[Kishineff]], Russia, on 26 October 1889."</ref> who was a Russian Jew, was one of 12 musicians allowed to leave Russia in the 1920s to promote Russian culture, but he never returned.<ref name="DIDiscs SI"/>

On the [[Midweek (BBC Radio 4)|''Midweek'']] programme in January 2014, Isserlis revealed that on arrival in [[Vienna]] in 1922, his pianist grandfather and father found a flat, but the 102-year-old landlady refused to take in a musician, because her aunt had a previous musician tenant who was noisy and would spit on the floor—this tenant was [[Ludwig van Beethoven]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Aspden|first=Peter|title=Cellist Steven Isserlis on his pianist grandfather and his compositions|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6d6f74e0-778f-11e3-afc5-00144feabdc0.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6d6f74e0-778f-11e3-afc5-00144feabdc0.html |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|work=Financial Times|date=10 January 2014 |access-date=22 February 2014}}</ref>

Isserlis went to the [[City of London School]], which he left at the age of 14 to move to [[Scotland]] to study under the tutelage of Jane Cowan.<ref name="DIDiscs SI">{{cite episode |title=Desert Island Discs with Steven Isserlis |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b008d1y8| series=Desert Island Discs | series-link=Desert Island Discs |network=[[BBC]] |station=[[BBC Radio 4|Radio 4]] |airdate=2 December 2007}}</ref> From 1976 to 1978 Isserlis studied at the [[Oberlin Conservatory of Music]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allthingsstrings.com/News/Interviews-Profiles/The-Wonderful-World-of-Steven-Isserlis |title=The Wonderful World of Steven Isserlis / Interviews & Profiles / News / All Things Strings |access-date=25 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111105183044/http://allthingsstrings.com/News/Interviews-Profiles/The-Wonderful-World-of-Steven-Isserlis |archive-date=5 November 2011 }}</ref> with Richard Kapuscinski. Ever since his youth [[Daniil Shafran]] has been his cello hero, of whom Isserlis has described how "his vibrato, his phrasing, his rhythm all belonged to a unique whole... he was incapable of playing one note insincerely; his music spoke from the soul."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Recollections of Daniil Shafran| date= 1998 | author=Steven Isserlis|url=https://classicus.jp/shafran/articles/isserlis.html|access-date=27 January 2023|website=classicus.jp}}</ref>

The name Isserlis is one of many European variations of the Hebrew name 'Israel'.<ref>Hanks & Hodges 'A Dictionary of Surnames' (Oxford, 1988).</ref>

==Career==
Isserlis's major career breakthrough came in 1988, when he asked [[John Tavener]] to write a work for cello and orchestra. The result of this was ''[[The Protecting Veil]]'', and Isserlis premiered it at the [[BBC Proms]] with the [[BBC Symphony Orchestra]] and [[Oliver Knussen]]. The piece and also Isserlis’ subsequent recording of it
were met with both critical and public acclaim.<ref name="Lunch with the FT"/> The recording became a classical bestseller.<ref name="Lunch with the FT"/>

Since then, Isserlis has had an active solo career and regularly appears with many of the world's leading ensembles. He has performed with orchestras such as the [[Berlin Philharmonic]], [[Vienna Philharmonic]], [[Gewandhausorchester Leipzig]], [[Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich]], [[Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin]], [[London Symphony Orchestra]], [[London Philharmonic Orchestra]], [[Philharmonia Orchestra]], [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]], [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]], [[Cleveland Orchestra]], [[Los Angeles Philharmonic]], [[New York Philharmonic]], [[Philadelphia Orchestra]], and the [[NHK Symphony Orchestra]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.laphil.com/musicdb/artists/2576/steven-isserlis|title=Steven Isserlis|website=LA Phil|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.cello.org/Newsletter/Articles/isserlis.htm|title= Conversation with Steven Isserlis|website=Internet Cello Society|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref> He has also curated concert series for [[Wigmore Hall]], [[92nd Street Y]] in New York and the [[Salzburg Festival]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.ram.ac.uk/people/steven-isserlis|title=Steven Isserlis CBE|website=Royal Academy of Music|access-date=22 January 2022}}</ref>

Isserlis is committed to authentic performance and also frequently performs with [[period instrument]] orchestras. He has performed [[Ludwig van Beethoven|Beethoven]] with [[Fortepiano|fortepianist]] [[Robert D. Levin|Robert Levin]] in Boston and London, and [[Cello Concerto (Dvořák)| Dvořák’s Cello Concerto]] with the [[Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment]] with [[Simon Rattle|Sir Simon Rattle]]. He has also published several editions and arrangements, principally for [[Faber Music]], and was an advisor on new editions of Beethoven's cello works, as well as the cello concertos of Dvořák and [[Edward Elgar|Elgar]]. 

On the other end of the spectrum, Isserlis has premiered works by composers [[John Tavener]], [[Lowell Liebermann]], [[Carl Vine]], [[David Matthews (composer)|David Matthews]], [[John Woolrich]], [[Wolfgang Rihm]], [[Mikhail Pletnev]] and [[Thomas Adès]]. He also commissioned a new completion of [[Sergei Prokofiev|Prokofiev’s]] Cello Concertino from the [[Udmurtia|Udmurt]] musicologist [[Vladimir Blok]], which was premiered in 1997 with the [[BBC National Orchestra of Wales]] conducted by [[Mark Wigglesworth]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sprkfv.net/journal/three03/concertino.html|title=Prokofiev's unfinished Concertino: a twisted tale.|first=Serge Jr.|last=Prokofiev|website=Sprkfv.net|access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref>

Isserlis has presented a number of festivals with long-term collaborators such as [[Joshua Bell]], [[Stephen Hough]], [[Mikhail Pletnev]], [[András Schiff]], [[Dénes Várjon]], [[Olli Mustonen]], [[Tabea Zimmermann]], and actors [[Barry Humphries]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/classical-review-sir-les-on-song-1291978.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/classical-review-sir-les-on-song-1291978.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Classical Review: Sir Les on song|date=4 November 1997|website=The Independent|access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref> and [[Simon Callow]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2006/aug/05/classicalmusicandopera.music|title=Steven Isserlis on Robert Schumann|first=Steven|last=Isserlis|date=4 August 2006|access-date=23 October 2017|website=The Guardian}}</ref> He is artistic director of the International Musicians Seminar, [[Prussia Cove]] in West [[Cornwall]], where he both performs and teaches.

==Instruments==

Isserlis currently plays on the 1726 [[List of Stradivarius instruments#Cellos|''Marquis de Corberon'']] cello made by [[Antonio Stradivari]] on loan from the [[Royal Academy of Music]]. The instrument was previously owned by [[Zara Nelsova]] and [[Hugo Becker]].

He also part-owns a [[Domenico Montagnana]] cello from 1740 and a [[Giovanni Battista Guadagnini]] cello from 1745, which he played exclusively from 1979 to 1998. Previously, he also performed on the [[De Munck Stradivarius|''De Munck-Feuermann Stradivarius'']] which was loaned from the [[Nippon Music Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thestrad.com/steven-isserlis-and-his-stradivarius-cello--the-relationship-between-soloist-and-instrument/5094.article|title=Steven Isserlis and his Stradivarius cello – the relationship between soloist and instrument|website=Thestrad.com|access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref>

==Writings==
Isserlis is the author of two books for children on the lives of famous composers: the first is ''Why Beethoven Threw the Stew'' (Faber, 2001), and the second is ''Why Handel Waggled His Wig'' (Faber, 2006). He has also written three stories that have been set to music by Oscar-winning composer [[Anne Dudley]]. The first of the series ''Little Red Violin (and the Big, Bad Cello)'' received its first performance in New York in March 2007, followed by ''Goldipegs and the Three Cellos,'' and ''Cindercella''.

In September 2016, Isserlis's book targeted towards young musicians, ''Robert Schumann's Advice to Young Musicians Revisited by Steven Isserlis'', was published by [[Faber & Faber]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.faber.co.uk/shop/music/9780571330911-robert-schumanns-advice-to-young-musicians.html|title=Robert Schumann's Advice to Young Musicians|website=Public Store View|access-date=16 September 2016}}</ref>

In October 2021, Faber & Faber published Isserlis's book ''The Bach Cello Suites – A Companion'',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Steven's new book 'The Bach Cello Suites – A Companion'|url=http://stevenisserlis.com/stevens-new-book-the-bach-cello-suites-a-companion/|access-date=27 January 2023|language=en-US}}</ref> a volume entirely devoted to the history and music of Bach's Suites for unaccompanied cello.

==Awards==
*1992: [[Gramophone Classical Music Awards|Gramophone Awards]] – Contemporary Album of the Year
*1993: [[Royal Philharmonic Society Music Awards|Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award]]
*1993: [[New England Conservatory|Piatigorsky Prize]] 
*1998: Appointed [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE)
*2000: [[Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau]]
*2005: [[APRA Music Award]] for [[APRA Music Awards of 2005|Best Performance of an Australian Composition]]
*2007: [[Gramophone Classical Music Awards|Gramophone Awards]] – Instrumental Album of the Year
*2008: [[Classical BRIT Awards]] – Critics’ Award 
*2013: [[Gramophone Hall of Fame]] inductee. One of the only two living cellists included. 
*2015: [[57th Annual Grammy Awards|
Grammy Award]] nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance|Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance]]
*2016: [[Walter Willson Cobbett Medal]]
*2017: [[Glashütte Original|Glashütte Original Music Festival Award]] at the [[Dresden Music Festival]]
*2017: [[Wigmore Hall|The Wigmore Hall Medal]]
*2018: [[60th Annual Grammy Awards|Grammy Award]] nomination for [[Grammy Award for Best Classical Instrumental Solo|Best Classical Instrumental Solo]]
*2019: [[Limelight Awards|Limelight Magazine Awards]] – Chamber Music Recording of the Year
*2021: [[BBC Music Magazine|BBC Music Magazine Awards]] – Premiere Award

==Personal life==
Isserlis’ wife Pauline Mara, a flautist, died of cancer in June 2010.<ref name="auto"/> They have a son, Gabriel, who was born in 1990.<ref name="Lunch with the FT">{{cite news |last1=Wighton |first1=David |title=Lunch with the FT: Steven Isserlis |url=https://www.ft.com/content/d1bcf5dc-1966-11dc-a961-000b5df10621 |access-date=16 February 2023 |work=[[Financial Times]] |date=14 June 2007}}</ref>

Isserlis lives in London.<ref name="FT Sept 2021">{{cite news |last1=Battle |first1=Laura |title=Steven Isserlis: 'One should be paralysed with nerves and self-doubt' |url=https://www.ft.com/content/04c743d7-4c87-43c1-a6f5-3ccd3932d182 |access-date=16 February 2023 |work=[[Financial Times]] |date=15 September 2021}}</ref>

==Discography==

Isserlis's recordings reflect the breadth and eclecticism of his repertoire. His most recent release of ''reVisions'' for [[BIS Records|BIS]] includes arrangements and reconstruction of works by [[Claude Debussy|Debussy]], [[Maurice Ravel|Ravel]], Prokofiev and [[Ernest Bloch|Bloch]].<ref name="auto">{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/aug/15/steven-isserlis-revisions-review|title=Steven Isserlis: Revisions – CD review|first=Fiona|last=Maddocks|date=14 August 2010|access-date=23 October 2017|website=The Guardian}}</ref> For [[Hyperion Records]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/find.asp?f=isserlis+&vw=dc|title=isserlis – Hyperion Records|website=Hyperion-records.co.uk|access-date=23 October 2017}}</ref> Isserlis has recorded [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]]'s music for cello and piano (Dénes Várjon), and the complete solo cello suites by [[Bach]], which has won many awards, including Listeners' Disc of the Year on [[BBC Radio 3]]'s CD Review, ''[[Gramophone (magazine)|Gramophone's]]'' Instrumental Disc of the Year,<ref name="Cello Suites CD">{{cite book |last=Isserlis |first=Steven |editor=Hyperion |title=Bach: The Cello Suites |year=2007 |url=http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/67541-B.pdf |pages=5–6}}</ref> and "Critic's Choice" at the 2008 Classical Brits. Other releases include two recordings with [[Stephen Hough]]: the [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] sonatas, coupled with works by Dvořák and [[Josef Suk (composer)|Suk]]; a highly acclaimed disc of children's cello music for BIS Records; and a recording with [[Thomas Adès|Thomas Ades]] of his new piece 'Lieux retrouvés'. Recent releases included a disc in 2013 of Dvořák's Cello Concerto with [[Daniel Harding]] and the [[Mahler Chamber Orchestra]] on Hyperion and [[Bohuslav Martinů|Martinu]]'s complete cello sonatas with [[Olli Mustonen]] on the BIS label in 2014 which received a Grammy nomination.

In 2017, Isserlis's recording of Haydn's Cello Concertos was nominated for a Grammy Award.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/news/60th-grammy-awards-full-nominees-list#Classical|title=See The Full List Of 60th GRAMMY Nominees|date=27 November 2017|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|access-date=5 December 2017}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | last=Isserlis | first=Steven | title= Why Beethoven Threw the Stew (And Lots More Stories about the Lives of Great Composers) | publisher=Faber and Faber | publication-place=London | date=2001 | isbn=0-571-20616-6 | oclc=51389891}}
* {{cite book | last=Isserlis | first=Steven |author-mask=2 | title= Why Handel Waggled His Wig (And Lots More Stories about the Lives of Great Composers) | publisher=Faber and Faber | publication-place=London | date=2006 | isbn=0-571-22478-4 | oclc=77516216}}
* {{cite book | last=Isserlis | first=Steven |author-mask=2 | title= Robert Schumann's Advice to Young Musicians: Revisited by Steven Isserlis | publication-place= University of Chicago Press | date=2017 | isbn=978-0-226-48274-3 | oclc=975487315}}
* {{cite book | last=Isserlis | first=Steven |author-mask=2 | title=The Bach Cello Suites: A Companion | publication-place=London: Faber and Faber| date=2021 | isbn=978-0-571-36624-8 | oclc=1233266815}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.stevenisserlis.com/ Official website]
*[https://imgartists.com/roster/steven-isserlis/ IMG Artists]
*[http://www.i-m-s.org.uk/ IMS Prussia Cove]
*[https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/a.asp?a=A169 Steven Isserlis – Hyperion Records]
*[https://bis.se/performers/isserlis-steven/ Steven Isserlis – BIS Records]

{{Gramophone Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isserlis, Steven}}
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:APRA Award winners]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Writers from London]]
[[Category:Jewish English musicians]]
[[Category:British people of Moldovan-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Jewish classical musicians]]
[[Category:English classical cellists]]
[[Category:English children's writers]]
[[Category:Children's non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Oberlin College alumni]]
[[Category:People educated at the City of London School]]
[[Category:EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists]]
[[Category:English people of Russian-Jewish descent]]