London’s best principal cellist is 100 years old

If you’ve never heard of Alexander Cameron, that’s unsurprising. There is not a word about him online as he was last heard in a London concert hall back in 1988.

But Alex, in his day, was reckoned to be the best in town.

Descending from Dundee, he was picked by Georg Solti in 1963 as principal cello of the Royal Opera House orchestra. Four years later, he moved to the London Philharmonic, where Bernard Haitink was music director. He held that post under Solti and Tennstedt until 1983 when ‘he decided to relinquish his position to make way for younger blood,’ though continuing to play as a freelance until 1988.

He turned 100 on Friday. His successor Santiago Carvalho says: ‘He made the most beautiful sound on his cello, and was a very fine leader of the cello section.’