Harvey Shapiro Plays Nina

[@bayareapianist]

I have never heard a cello sounded so good. He was a master.

[@AlamoCityCello]

Legendary teacher. His students are amongst the world's best.

[@CookingJames1]

79 years old playing cello so greatly!!!

[@winglow7615]

Wow, this Shapiro man is great. Wish I had known of him. Now I have another joy added.

[@muken48]

....I was at Juilliard studing viola when he taught. I never heard him play until recently. He was obviously a master. We were friendly so one evening when I came to school he stopped me in the lobby with an excited and bewildered look on his face and said ...." Ali got knocked out". He meant that Ken Norton had beaten Muhammad Ali that evening. I'll never forget that.

[@FlorestanDuo]

Harvey Shapiro, Beautiful as always. I was at this performance in Victoria. I believe it was the encore after a performance of the Rachmaninov Sonata. I hope whoever has the rest of the concert will attempt to post Harvey's Rachmaninov as well. The video would have been made by Herb Schaffer who was also the recording technician. Incidentally, it should also be mentioned that the pianist who gave such a sensitive accompaniment was Jane Hayes. She was 8 months pregnant at the time.

[@cwldoc4958]

What a wonderful performance. I have enjoyed vocal renditions of this work, but I must say that this recording by Harvey Shapiro is more emotionally moving than anything I have heard. He truly brought out the essence of this beautiful piece.

[@МиткаДимитрова-о1т]

❤ Beautiful, beautiful piece!!! Thank you,Mr.Shapiro!

[@TonyCello]

What a superb musician!

[@angelaliu5717]

i love this piece. this really helped me when i practiced with it. beautiful. i can believe his vibrato!

[@Petroschristidis]

absolute beauty...

[@stevenj9970]

One of the absolute greats! Proof the talent shines through no matter what ailments one might have or develop.

[@frluisx]

OMG! Amazing! Thank You so much!

[@carrieannkouri2151]

The master of cello!

[@johnruggeri843]

A beautiful melody - beautifully played.

[@davidrosenman1889]

Incredible. Beautiful❗️🥀

[@MrOnionDip]

wow he makes that cello sound so sweet.

[@stauf1234]

I play this piece at the moment but I`ll never get as good as him.

[@renatocellobr]

Such a perfect tuning..

[@cello352]

I am learning this piece right now and it's pretty hard but I could do it🎻

[@aravdundon4397]

U still play

[@tableeto]

Beautif playing ❤

[@hassanmh8660]

Beautiful

[@rasstegai]

A true, true musician! And to be that, one needs to be an actor as well. You have to turn into the music instantly. Once that happens, no errors matter anymore. This can not be taught...

[@sabineescudier7779]

used to play this piece in memory of Rena Shapiro, his wife.

[@chefdevergue]

I remember him already having pretty bad arthritis several years before this performance was recorded, so I'm guessing that those gnarled fingers are due at least in part to the arthritis.

[@axelsohn1454]

He had arthritis for many years- certainly when I studied with him for a few years beginning in 1969. He had arthritis then and had to learn new ways to play, and do so in the most balanced way without unnecessary pressure that could cause real pain- you can see it in both his bow and left hands- but he could also play with extreme intensity, and grandeur when the music demanded- again with minimal physical pressure. His ear was unmatchable and the nuance in his sonority, and nobility of phrasing- indeed in his concept of the music and its architecture- were superb, and, he was always learning and adjusting with new ideas. In this septuagenarian's listener's estimation, he and Earl Wild in the recording they made in the late 60's or early 70's own the Rachmaninoff sonata, though there are other marvelous recordings, including Karine Georgian's and Tortelier's, but I recall him saying when he was in his early 90's that he had been nowhere with it until his latter years when he had begun to understand the piece. He was a great teacher, not only for those who were marvelous students and later great professionals, but also for those like myself who were serious and inquiring, but with limited talent- and while he was demanding and tough (though he once said to me he was toughest on himself), he was also patient and extremely kind and generous to those who were trying hard and may have lacked the resources to pay for lessons- a side of him he avoided publicizing. I can say without qualification that his teaching and playing had a huge influence my life and career outside of music and I owe a great debt to him.

[@stevenisserlis7742]

Gorgeous! I so wish I'd known him...

[@lollymonkey5]

he makes it look so easy ;(

[@cello352]

Nice job :D

[@fourstrings48]

I had a few lessons with Harvey Shapiro back in 1969-1970. The incomprehensibility of his gnomic utterances defeated me. One example that I remember: "The third knuckle must be down." I think that he meant the third joint of each finger of the left hand---but was that counting from the knuckle (actually each finger has only one knuckle), or from the fingertip? And did "down" mean bent (i.e. flexed), or did it mean flat? I remember every lesson as a miasma of incomprehensible English. I realize that mine is a minority opinion; many people admired his teaching.

[@WlLLAX]

I do also but I can't seem to match his fluency.

[@c1trax]

What happened to his finger?

[@COMM_DUMPST3R]

This was a great performance but what is going on with his finger? Is that from playing the cello too much?

[@colinmcgwire3998]

+TheComoletti I believe he had mad arthritis

[@WlLLAX]

No, I don't either :P