PAUL TORTELIER: THE GREAT EMI RECORDINGS

 

Paul Tortelier, born in Paris in 1914, became very well known in Britain through his remarkable programmes for BBC Television in which he gave to his young students so many insights into the music and its performance in the form of a Masterclass. As a performer himself his natural flair communicated his enthusiasm and genius to all in the audience as well as his fellow musicians; it seemed as if the cello was a natural extension of his body and he invited, as it were, the instrument to dance with him.

 

His engaging personality and genuine love and interest in music endeared him to his many fans throughout the world and it his death at the age of only 76 was greeted with universal sadness.

 

Whilst he had an enormous range of musical sympathies it was to the music of Bach that he always returned – no coincidence that he made two recordings of the six Suites, the first in 1960 in Paris and then nearly 22 years later in London. He said, in reply to a question about atonality, that music is like a locked box – in order to get inside it you need a key!

 

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