János Starker
János Starker (/ˈstɑːrkər/;[1] Hungarian: [ˈʃtɒrkɛr]; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is considered one of the greatest cellists of all time.[2]
The native form of this personal name is Starker János. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
János Starker
Biography[edit]
Child prodigy[edit]
Starker was born in Budapest to a father of Polish descent and a mother who had immigrated from the Russian Empire, both Jewish. His two older brothers were violinists, and the young János (named for the hospital Szent János kórház [lit. St. John's Hospital] in which he was born) was given a cello before his sixth birthday. A child prodigy, Starker made his first public performances at ages six and seven. He entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest to study with Adolf Schiffer and made his debut there at age 11. Starker began teaching other children at age eight, and by the time he was 12, he had five pupils. Starker counted among his strongest influences Leo Weiner, a composer who taught chamber music. Zoltán Kodály, Béla Bartók and Ernő Dohnányi were also members of the Liszt Academy faculty. In his autobiography, Starker wrote that at the age of 13 he played Dohnányi's Konzertstuck for Cello for the composer (who was then the director of the Academy), who accompanied him at the piano.[3]
Starker made his professional debut at age 14, playing the Dvořák concerto with three hours' notice when the originally scheduled soloist was unable to play.[4] He left the Liszt Academy in 1939 and spent most of the war in Budapest. Because of his youth, Starker escaped the tragic fate of his older brothers, who were pressed into forced labor and eventually murdered by the Nazis. Starker nevertheless spent three months in a Nazi internment camp.[5]
Cellos[edit]
From 1950 to 1965, Starker played and recorded on the Lord Aylesford Stradivarius, the largest instrument made by Antonio Stradivarius. In 1965 Starker acquired a Matteo Goffriller cello believed to have been made in Venice in 1705; known previously as the "Ivor James Goffriller" cello, Starker renamed it for its certification as "The Star" cello.[15]
Personal habits[edit]
Starker was a lifelong smoker with a sixty-cigarette-per-day habit.[1] He also drank copious amounts of scotch whiskey.[1] He once refused to perform a concert in Columbia, South Carolina, that he was supposed to play because he was not allowed to smoke his "pre-concert cigarette" backstage.[1]