Russian-born American cello virtuoso Gregor Piatigorskywas born on this day in 1903 – 116 years ago.
Dying in 1976, Maestro Piatigorsky served as Principal Cellist with the Berlin Philharmonic – and held distinguished teaching positions at the Curtis Institute of Music and the University of Southern California.
He premiered a number of cornerstone works, including the Prokofiev, Hindemith and Walton Cello Concertos – and was once described by legendary pedagogue Ivan Galamian as “the greatest string player of all time.”
