The 1946 Concours de Genève (Geneva International Music Competition), the first held after World War II, was not solely about musical excellence. For many Eastern European artists, it provided a unique opportunity to apply for a visa to Switzerland and escape the hunger, devastation, and hopelessness of the Cold War.
One such artist was cellist János Starker, born in 1924 in Budapest to a family of Jewish immigrants from Poland and Ukraine. His two brothers had perished in a Nazi labour camp; Starker himself narrowly survived an American bombing and saw no future for himself in communist Hungary. Thus, after winning a bronze medal in Geneva, he did not return to Budapest as expected but instead went to France and Belgium.
Although Starker’s first major recording, a magnificent rendition of Kodály´s Sonata for Solo Cello, earned him a Grand Prix du Disque, it was not sufficient for him to make a living. His breakthrough came with Hungarian conductor Antal Doráti, then Music Director of the Dallas Symphony, who was passing through Paris in 1947. After listening to Starker for a few minutes, Doráti hired him on the spot as Principal Cellist for his orchestra. However, obtaining a visa for the United States proved difficult due to a quota system that did not favour artists. Realising that visas for teachers and professors were easier to obtain, Doráti came to Starker’s rescue once again, arranging a visa for him as a teacher with the help of a friend at Indiana University, allowing Starker to settle in the United States.
Nine years later, after performing as Principal Cellist with Dallas Symphony under Doráti, and with the Metropolitan Opera and the Chicago Symphony under Fritz Reiner, Starker decided to pursue a solo career while taking on a permanent teaching position at Indiana University. Within a few years, he became not only a celebrated international soloist, but also America’s most famous cello teacher, transforming Bloomington, Indiana, into a musical mecca.
“I’ve considered always that teaching is a far more important aspect of my life than performing… I’ve always said that after a standing ovation, people sit down. Teaching, however, may affect generations!“
Janos Starker
Today, Starker’s legacy lives on through his countless students around the world, many of whom have become soloists or professors at major institutions. In honour of what would have been his 100th birthday in 2024, two of his former disciples organised a “100th Anniversary Festival” in Starker’s honour: Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi, a former professor at Indiana University and one of Japan’s most important cellists, and Sung-Won Yang, Starker’s former assistant, who is a professor at Yonsei University in Seoul as well as at Royal Academy in London.
In a formidable collaboration between Suntory Hall in Tokyo and Lotte Concert Hall in Seoul, the five-day Starker Festival brought together generations of cellists from all continents to perform concertos, sonatas, chamber music and ensemble works, remembering their former teacher, celebrating their instrument, and fostering a sense of one great cello family. Starker would have happily approved.
Florian Riem