Who got this cellist to play 140 concerts a year?

The American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, now based in Berlin, gives a typically forthright account of her life and thoughts in the latest episode of Living the Classical Life (first broadcast on Slipped Disc). She is playing Carnegie Hall tonight (Tuesday) and she tells Zsolt Bognar that she remembers every performance.

‘I could talk about each one individually,’ she maintains.

But at a certain point she realised she was getting played out. ‘The 140 concerts I did in one year was way too much. I’m very happy that I did it, and it was an exhilarating experience, but for me, personally, that’s not sustainable.’

Alisa, 35, was wise to cut back before burnout. Many don’t.

Watch.