{"id":2446845,"date":"2019-07-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-27T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/?p=310075"},"modified":"2019-07-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-27T06:00:00","slug":"bringing-the-life-and-legacy-of-gregor-piatigorsky-to-the-big-screen-in-the-cellist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/bringing-the-life-and-legacy-of-gregor-piatigorsky-to-the-big-screen-in-the-cellist\/","title":{"rendered":"Bringing the life and legacy of Gregor Piatigorsky to the big screen in \u2018The Cellist\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
“The Cellist” will screen Sunday at Paepcke Auditorium.<\/strong>
Courtesy photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Gregor Piatigorsky was one of the 20th century\u2019s premier classical musicians, a beloved teacher, and larger-than-life personality whose story may not be familiar to most audiences today. Filmmakers Murray Grigor and Hamid Shams\u2019s new documentary, \u201cThe Cellist,\u201d offers to change that.<\/p>\n

In 2015, with the blessing of the cellist\u2019s family, Grigor and Shams began delving into the Piatigorsky Archives at the Colburn School of Music along with family materials, Piatigorsky\u2019s autobiography and biographies by Terry King and Margaret Bartley.<\/p>\n

\u201cMurray originally researched and drafted a script as our guide, starting with Mr. Piatigorsky\u2019s life in the Ukraine,\u201d producer\/cinematographer\/editor Shams explained In a recent phone interview. \u201cBut we soon realized he is not a well-known figure outside the music world, as much as someone like Jascha Heifetz, so we needed to explain who he was.\u201d<\/p>\n

The filmmakers then embarked on an odyssey that led them from Los Angeles and New York to Moscow and beyond. Along the way they interviewed dozens of subjects\u2014from YoYo Ma and Zubin Mehta to a who\u2019s who of former students to the Bolshoi Orchestra\u2019s first-chair cellist.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone kept referring us to somebody else,\u201d Shams said. \u201cWe ended up interviewing over 30 people. Neither of us is a musician, and I think that was an asset. A musician might tell the story very differently. As non-musicians, we told Piatigorsky\u2019s story based on what we learned from all these stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Incorporating footage spanning the musician\u2019s life and times (everything from performances to home movies), photographs, annotated music sheets, and some re-enactments, Grigor and Shams capture the vibrancy of Piatigorsky\u2019s life and adventures. As for the rich musical soundtrack, primarily recordings of Piatigorsky performances, \u201cthe music chose us,\u201d Shams noted.<\/p>\n

Through this chorus of voices and visuals emerges a picture of a man of wit, compassion, and deep musicality. Born in 1903 in the Ukraine, Piatigorsky\u2019s life spanned some of the 20th century\u2019s most harrowing moments\u2014Czar Nicholas\u2019s pogroms, the Russian Revolution, and two World Wars. The man\u2019s remarkable talent and ebullient character enabled him to transcend the challenges of his times. A child prodigy already displaying musical proficiency at the age of 7, by 15 he was first chair in the Bolshoi Orchestra. He escaped the Soviet Union in the 1920s and launched an international career. Noted for his virtuoso technique and soulful interpretations of a broad range of the classical repertoire, Piatigorsky played in renowned orchestras across Europe and North America. He toured and recorded in chamber groups with other celebrated performers, including the famous \u201cmillion dollar trio\u201d with Arthur Rubenstein and Jascha Heifetz. A number of composers wrote works for him including Sergei Prokofiev, Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Igor Stravinsky.<\/p>\n

Piatigorsky dedicated himself to \u201cpopularizing the cello,\u201d by which he meant developing audience appreciation for the resonant \u201cbox with four strings\u201d as a solo instrument. In later life, the consummate performer devoted himself to imparting his love for the cello to new generations of young musicians. His students went on to teach at leading conservatories and universities and to perform as principal cellists in orchestras throughout the world.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the deepest pleasure of this warm portrait, which screens Sunday at the Aspen Institute\u2019s New Views documentary series, are those sections devoted to Piatigorsky\u2019s legacy as a devoted and generous teacher and mentor. Blending a delightful sampling of master classes with the reminiscences of family, friends, colleagues, and, most especially, former students, Grigor and Shams evoke a vivid impression of a man who loved people as much as he loved music.<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s final version, said Shams, \u201cdeveloped out of the journey that we took and the people we spoke with. One thing that was the most surprising was the willingness of people to come forward and help us out. The eagerness that we saw in his students and family. The cooperation we got from everyone was so wonderful. It\u2019s very rewarding to make a film about someone who was a great man and a great human being and also, though he wouldn\u2019t like us to say so himself, a musical genius. Every moment became a joyous moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

An exuberant personality with a zest for life, Piatigorsky was a mesmerizing storyteller, who himself generated many tales.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most wonderful part about making the film were the anecdotes,\u201d Shams continued, \u201cand how all those who knew him were trying to tell their stories about him, imitating his accent. You could feel at the end of each interview how much you wanted to meet the man.\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“The Cellist” will screen Sunday at Paepcke Auditorium.Courtesy photo Gregor Piatigorsky was one of the 20th century\u2019s premier classical musicians, a beloved teacher, and larger-than-life personality whose story may not be familiar to most audiences today. Filmmakers Murray Grigor and Hamid Shams\u2019s new documentary, \u201cThe Cellist,\u201d offers to change that. In 2015, with the blessing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2446845","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-24 07:20:11","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446845","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2446845"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446845\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2446845"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2446845"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2446845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}