Laurence Lesser
| Laurence Lesser | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 28, 1938 Los Angeles, California |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Masuko Ushioda |
Laurence Lesser (b. October 28, 1938) is a renowned American cellist and pedagogue. He was named “Chevalier du Violoncelle” by the Eva Janzer Memorial Cello Center at Indiana University in September 2005.[1]
Early life[edit]
Laurence Lesser was born in Los Angeles, California. His father, Moses Aaron Lesser was a lawyer. He first worked for the US Government and later had his own practice in Los Angeles. His mother, Rosalyne Asner, studied piano at Chicago Musical College and later moved to LA to join the studio of her former piano teacher, Philip Tronitz. In 1929 the couple got married. Laurence Lesser has two older brothers: Robert (b. 1931) and Josef (b. 1936) Lesser.
October 28 is a notable date in the Lesser family: in 1886, Lesser’s maternal grandmother arrived in New York as an immigrant from Eastern Europe. The Statue of Liberty was unveiled that very day. Laurence Lesser was born on that date in 1938.
Lesser received piano lessons as a child and was given a cello on his 6th birthday. Gregory Aller, father of cellist Eleanor Aller of the Hollywood String Quartet (Eleanor Aller is the mother of Leonard Slatkin), was Lesser’s first cello teacher, until 1963. Gábor Rejtő, whom he first encountered at Music Academy of the West, became his second teacher.
He was academically gifted, and he wanted to study mathematics in college. He enrolled in Harvard College in 1956, but took a leave of absence after the first year, as he struggled to balance mathematics and music. After returning to Harvard, he commuted to New York City for the remaining years of college to take lessons with Leonard Rose.
Career and teaching[edit]
Following his graduation with honors from Harvard College in 1961, Lesser went to Köln, Germany, to work with Gaspar Cassadó on a Fulbright scholarship. During his time in Europe, he also played for Pablo Casals at masterclasses in Zermatt. On the last day of the session Casals publicly told Lesser, “Thank God who has given you such a great talent!” He won First Prize at the Cassadó Competition in Siena, Italy, in 1962, and concluded the year with a successful concert tour in Germany, Italy, and Spain.
In the beginning of 1963, he returned to Los Angeles to study with Gregor Piatigorsky at the University of Southern California. He soon became Piatigorsky’s teaching assistant and eventually a regular faculty member there[2].
During the remainder of the 60’s he was a frequent contributor to the artistic life of Los Angeles. Of note is his 1965 performance of the Schoenberg Cello Concerto to inaugurate the Bing Auditorium at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The occasion marked its first hearing with orchestra after Emanuel Feuermann introduced the work in the late 1930’s. Lesser recorded the concerto the following year for Columbia Masterworks. He also participated in the historic Heifetz-Piatigorsky concerts and recordings during that time.
In 1966, Lesser won Fourth Prize in the cello division of the Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow. There, he met Masuko Ushioda, whom he married in 1971. He left Los Angeles in 1970 to become Professor of Cello at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore. He taught at Peabody for four years.
In 1974, Lesser was invited by Gunther Schuller, then President of New England Conservatory, to head its cello department. He and his wife moved to Boston to join the faculty at NEC. In 1983, he became NEC President, a position from which he retired in 1996 to return to performing and teaching. A high point of his tenure as President was the complete restoration of the 1000-seat Jordan Hall, one of the world’s greatest acoustical spaces.
He has appeared as soloist with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New Japan Philharmonic, the Tokyo Philharmonic, and other major orchestras. His New York debut recital in 1969 was greeted as “triumphant” and “magical.” On his performance of the Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations in Hamburg, Die Welt stated, “Could not have been more thoroughly realized than in this staggering performance.”
As a chamber musician he has participated at the Casals, Marlboro, Spoleto, Ravinia, Music@Menlo, and Santa Fe festivals. He has also been a member of juries for numerous international competitions, including chairing the 1994 Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Teaching has remained an important part of Lesser’s artistic activity. His former students, numbering in the hundreds, are soloists, orchestra section leaders and members, chamber musicians, and teachers - active throughout the USA and in many other countries around the world.
Instruments[edit]
Brothers Amati 1622, made in Cremona.
Discography[edit]
Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Israel Baker, Milton Thomas, Pierre Amoyal, Paul Rosenthal, Allan Harshman, Laurence Lesser. Spohr Double String Quartet, Opus 65 (recorded 1968) - The Heifetz Collection, Volume 25. RCA CD
Laurence Lesser, Robert Craft, Columbia Symphony Orchestra. Arnold Schoenberg Cello Concerto (recorded 1966) - The Music of Arnold Schoenberg, Volume 8. Columbia Masterworks (M2S 780). LP.
Laurence Lesser, Gerhard Samuel, Oakland Symphony Orchestra, Stanley Plummer, Milton Thomas. Henri Lazarof – Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra, Continuum for String Trio. CRI American Masters CD.
Jascha Heifetz, Gregor Piatigorsky, Israel Baker, Milton Thomas, Paul Rosenthal, Laurence Lesser. – Tchaikovsky Souvenir de Florence. (recorded 1968) The Heifetz Collection, Volume 39 RCA CD.
Laurence Lesser, HaeSun Paik. Ludwig van Beethoven: Complete Music for Cello and Piano. (recorded 2009) Bridge Records. CD 9329
Laurence Lesser. J.S. Bach Cello Suites. (recorded 2014). CD.
References[edit]
- ↑ "Laurence Lesser". necmusic.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
- ↑ "Conversation with Laurence Lesser". www.cello.org. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
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