The World of Music According to Starker

Introduction

The Hungarian-born American cellist János Starker was, according to the Wikipedia article, “one of the greatest cellists of all time.” Mr. Starker’s memoir, The World of Music According to Starker, was published in 2004, and he died in 2013 at the age of 88.

Organization of the Book

This odd book is a memoir supplemented with other writings by Mr. Starker.

The organization of the book is worth noting. The book starts with a prelude, then an anacrusis, which is one or more unstressed syllables before the beginning of a verse or the unstressed note or notes (pick up notes) before a measure or the first strong beat. There follow thirteen chapters labeled with the names of the notes starting with C below middle C, which can be played on the cello’s G string, and ending with middle C, which can be played on the cello’s A string.

The chapters are followed by an epilogue containing the names of people who had “enriched my existence” and an amusing postlude about the six stages of a professional musician’s career. The end matter comprises a 25-page appendix, “An Organized Method of String Playing,” a list of Mr. Starker’s recordings, a list of his music publications, a “List of Chevalier du Violoncello and Grande Dame du Violoncello Certificate Awards,” and an index.

Memoir Chapters

On page 235, near the end of his memoirs, Mr. Starker writes:

As for this book, my primary reason for going down memory lane is to leave a record of myself for my children…. It is not for me to say whether my life story is worth telling. If these lines have developed into a readable work, then let it be.

Chapters 1, “Hungary,” 3, “Romania, Austria, and Switzerland”, 5, “France”, and 6, “United States of America: Dallas and New York” describe Mr Starker’s education and early career in Europe and the United States. Mr. Starker’s early life got caught up in World War II, and he was fortunate to stay alive. (Two of his brothers died in the war.) After the war, he had difficulty working as a musician until recognition of his musical genius combined with a few lucky breaks and the aid of friends and connections enabled him to come to the United States.

Chapters 8, “Chicago,” 9, “The African Adventures of Lord Aylesford,” 10, “Bloomington Then,” and 12, “Bloomington Now” describe Mr. Starker’s mature professional career.

These chapters contain Mr. Starker’s experiences with auditions, conductors, and other musicians. His stories are often entertaining and give a view into the life of a musician who often must deal with disrespect from or incompetence in others.

Chapter 6 is very entertaining, as Starker arrives in the United States and begins working immediately in Dallas, then quickly moving to New York City.

Chapter 8, “Chicago,” contains an anecdote about Paul Paray during a general rehearsal of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra:

I have to admit that my behavior toward guest conductors was not the best…. When Paul Paray arrived from Detroit [and] we went through the program [during rehearsals], he would start from the beginning and keep us playing until the time ran out. The next day and the next day the same routine…. Then on the day of the general rehearsal he suddenly stopped the Tchaikovsky Symphony and asked me for a change of fingering. I was astounded but obediently turned to the section and said, “Second finger.” In the next two minutes he suggested two more changes. If this had happened in the first rehearsal I would have been obliged to accede to his wishes, but in the general rehearsal? I stood up. “Maestro, if you would like to give us a cello lesson, we will stay here, but let the rest of the orchestra go home.” “I don’t understand well English,” he said, “but you know I am also cellist.” I proceeded to repeat my statement in French. He turned a bit pale, continued to conduct for a few minutes, and then ended the rehearsal. I became a hero for a while in the CSO.

Starker tells a joke about himself on page 219 of Chapter 12, where he writes that the joke was told to him by one of his students:

Three cellists were traveling in a car, and they all died in a fatal crash. Trying to enter heaven, they knocked at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter inquired as to who they were. When he heard they were all cellists he asked the first one, who did you study with? Rostropovich, came the reply. St. Peter said, no way, you have to go to hell. The next replied that he studied with Leonard Rose. He also had to go to hell. The third said he studied with Starker. St. Peter thought, then said he could come in, as he had already gone through hell.

This joke is repeated by other sources, including by Stephen Geber, who tells a better version of this joke on page 109 of The Art of Listening: Conversations with Cellists by Anthony Arnone.

Chapter 12, “Bloomington Now,” is mostly a catalog of family events, where Starker traveled, what he recorded, and with whom he played.

Chapters Using Other Writings

The other chapters in the book contain an essay and four stories written by Mr. Starker.

Chapter 2, “I Have a Dream,” is a three-page essay about equity and diversity.

Chapter 4, “A Mozart Meter,” is a story about a jazz musician who inadvertently meets and stays with a recluse in Colorado who studies recordings of classical music.

Chapters 7, “The Wrath of Grapes,” 11, “L’Art Pour L’Art: Waldo Caper, 1926–1960—A Story”, and 13, “Twilight at Tiffany’s,” also contain stories.

Other Resources

I have collected in a separate post stories about János Starker by students and other professional cellists.

Two revealing interviews of János Starker by Tim Janof appear on the Internet Cello Society website: Conversation with János Starker (1996) and Conversation with János Starker (2004).

The obituary in the New York Times makes use of stories from Mr. Starker’s autobiography and the interviews by Tim Janof.

My Notes

Unfortunately, Mr. Starker doesn’t write much about the music he played or provide any analysis. Most of the memoir seems to be, “I did this, then I did that; I played this, then I played that.”

I was left wishing for more biography and less other writing. I didn’t learn very much about playing the cello or the cello repertoire from this book. I learned much more reading the biography Jacqueline du Pré: Her Life, Her Music, Her Legend by the cellist Elizabeth Wilson. I expected more from a university professor.

Mr. Starker was a complex and opinionated person. I found myself in complete agreement with many of his opinions and infuriated by others.

I am slowly listening to Starker’s recordings. I find the recordings of the Bach cello suites released in 2024, obviously recorded much earlier, to be sterile.

Rating: Two out of five stars: So-so.