If you act quickly enough, you may still be able to sign up for the Chamber Music Society's Musical Heritage tribute to Pablo Casals

Next up in the series is Leon Fleisher (on May 24)
Plus: We peek into the wonderful world of the zither

Apologies for the short notice, but if you catch this right away, you may still be able to register (yes, preregistration is required) for the upcoming installment in the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's terrific (and free, though of course donations are welcome) Musical Heritage series, this Monday (April 5), from 7:30 to 9pm, this one devoted to one of the most commanding musical figures of the 20th century, Pablo Casals.

UPDATE: As of Friday, April 9, CMS's Casals Musical Heritage program can be viewed here (with links to all the other CMS Musical Heritage programs).

by Ken

Here's how the CMS blurb puts it:

The great Catalan cellist Pablo Casals (1876-1973) stands alone as arguably the most influential and universally revered instrumentalist of all time. The first cellist in history to recognize Bach's Six Solo Suites as great music, and the first to record them, is only one of the musical milestones of this extraordinary man, who not only dominated cello playing for more than half a century, but also served as an uncompromising and indisputable voice of social conscience. In this exploration of Casals the musician and the man, cellist and CMS Artistic Director David Finckel leads a panel of distinguished musicians -- Dmitri Atapine, Arnold Steinhardt, Jaime Laredo, and Timothy Eddy -- who, either through direct contact or inherited influence, have been changed by the art of Casals forever.

This is going a long ways, "arguably the most influential and universally revered instrumentalist of all time," but I'm not inclined to disagree, even though strictly as a cellist he was a long way from a favorite of mine. Still, the moral as well as musical force is undeniable, and so is the influence, not just among the vast number of musicians who came in direct contact with him, notably at his annual summer festivals, but among pretty much all the others, who were influenced by -- and, yes, revered -- him at a distance.


I SHOULD HAVE HAD THE SENSE TO SOUND AN EARLIER
ALERT (NOT JUST GET MYSELF SIGNED UP PRONTO!)