Description

LASZLO VARGA (BUDAPEST, HUNGARY, DECEMBER 13, 1924 – SARASOTA, FLORIDA, DECEMBER 11, 2014)

 

 

 

 

As a Jew, Varga lost his position at the Budapest Symphony during WW II and was later interned by Hungarian authorities in a Nazi labor camp. For 11 years Varga held the position as principal cellist of the New York Philharmonic under the baton of the orchestra’s music directors Dimitri Mitropoulos and Leonard Bernstein, and many guest conductors including Fritz Reiner and Guido Cantelli. He performed as soloist with orchestras in countries such as Australia, Japan, USA, the former Soviet Union, and throughout Europe. In music festivals such as Aspen, Chautauqua, and Shreveport, he has been spotlighted during the last 40 years for his duties as a soloist, chamber musician and teaching mentor. During this time recorded a multitude of disks for numerous labels including Columbia, CRI, Decca, EMI, Musicelli, Period, Philips, RCA, Serenus, and Vox. Many composers throughout the world have requested that Mr. Varga give the first performance of their works. As a chamber musician he was a member of groups such as the Borodin Piano Trio, the Canadian String Quartet, the Léner String Quartet, the Trio Concertante, and the Crown Chamber Players. Indiana University awarded Varga with the title of Chevalier du Violoncelle for having dedicated his career as a teacher and soloist for the improvement of cello playing. He taught the cello at San Francisco State University (where he also taught conducting and oversaw the chamber music program), University of California at Santa Cruz, the University of Toronto and the University of Houston, from which he retired in 2000. He has the great pleasure of having many of his students landing jobs in orchestras and in universities throughout the globe. He routinely holds master classes and performs in recitals as well as conducts large groups of cello ensembles on all sides of the globe. Many of these take place during the various international Cello Congresses. He has been the conductor of orchestras in Budapest, Hungary and San Leandro, California, as well as Festivals in Aspen, Colorado and Shreveport, Louisiana. He not only conducted the Virtuosi of New York and the Virtuosi of San Francisco but he was founder of both of them. He has arranged many works of music which are published by MusiCelli Publications. Groups such as the Yale Cellos, the Saito Cello Ensemble, CELLO for Sony/Philips, MusiCelli, the Los Angeles I Cellisti, as well as his own New York Philharmonic Cello Quartet have recorded his arrangements.

 

 

TRACKLIST

  

 

1. Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 I. Nicht zu schnell (Schumann)Siegfried Landau, Westfalian Symphony Orchestra

2. Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 II. Langsam (Schumann) Westfalian Symphony Orchestra, Siegfried Landau

3. Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129 III. Sehr lebhaft (Schumann) Westfalian Symphony Orchestra, Siegfried Landau

4. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 I. Allegro non troppo (Saint-Saëns) Orchestra of Radio Luxemburg Louis de Froment

5. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 II. Allegretto con moto(Saint-Saëns) Orchestra of Radio Luxemburg Louis de Froment

6. Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor, Op. 33 III. Un peu moins vite(Saint-Saëns) Orchestra of Radio Luxemburg Louis de Froment

7. Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob. Viib1 I. Allegro molto(Haydn) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra Jonel Perlea

8. Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob. Viib1 II. Adagio (Haydn) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra Jonel Perlea

9. Cello Concerto No. 1 in C Major, Hob. Viib1 III. Moderato (Haydn) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra Jonel Perlea

10. Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Op. 101 I. Allegro moderato (Haydn) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati

11. Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Op. 101 II. Adagio (Haydn) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra Jonel Perlea

12. Cello Concerto No. 2 in D Major, Op. 101 III. Allegro (Haydn) Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Antal Dorati

13. Streichquartett Nr. 4 C-Moll Op. 18, Nr. 4 I. Allegro Ma Non Tanto (Beethoven) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

14. Streichquartett Nr. 4 C-Moll Op. 18, Nr. 4 II. Scherzo Andante Scherzoso Quasi Allegretto (Beethoven) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

15. Streichquartett Nr. 4 C-Moll Op. 18, Nr. 4 III. Menuetto Allegretto (Beethoven) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

16. Streichquartett Nr. 4 C-Moll Op. 18, Nr. 4 IV. Allegro (Beethoven) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

17. Streichquartett Nr. 23 F-Dur KV 590 I. Allegro Moderato (Mozart) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

18. Streichquartett Nr. 23 F-Dur KV 590 II. Andante (Mozart) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

19. Streichquartett Nr. 23 F-Dur KV 590 III. Menuetto Allegretto (Mozart) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

20. Streichquartett Nr. 23 F-Dur KV 590 IV. Allegro (Mozart) Erica Morini, Felix Galimir, Walter Trampler

21. Var. VII e Coda. Allegro vivo (Tchaikovsky) Siegfried Köhler, Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra