Julian Lloyd Webber is selling his Strad
mainThe international cellist, forced to retire last April with a neck injury, is putting his 1690s ‘Barjansky’ beauty up for sale.
On a UK tour of ‘An Evening with Julian Lloyd Webber’, he told the Birmingham Post: ‘It’s not really about the money. I don’t even have it with me at the moment, but the main thing about an instrument like that is that it needs to be played. The most criminal thing would be if it just ended up in a museum – I would just like to see it go to a good home and hear it played again.’
A great cello. Price? $5M?
Of course it is never about the money………yawn ……..
It’s a shame about his neck injury but really he was immensely lucky with his career. The famous family name took him a long way. For much of the time he played just like a good rank and file orchestral member. Hopefully the instrument will go to a worthier owner.
Mark, Julian Lloyd Webber is considered one of the 10 greatest living cellists, he started playing cello at the age of 5 and won a scholarship to study at the Royal College of Music JD when he was in his teens (the family name has nothing to do with his talent and extraordinary career, his brother wasn’t yet famous at the time, they were both showing tremendous musical ability, they simply chose two very different paths and both excelled at what they were doing). Julian went on to premiere more than 60 works for cello (some written for him) and won several prizes, among which the Classic Brit Award for his recording of the Elgar Cello Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin conducting the RPO in 1985.
This is not how an average orchestral player would sound:
http://youtu.be/NhTqkl_RjTs
Or this…
http://youtu.be/K5vnodp_fZg
So – someone who has arguably done more for the cello than anyone else in recent times loses his career due to injury and is then forced to sell his instrument and you take it as an opportunity to insult?
I haven’t heard much of his playing. But I read your post and see it pretty clearly for what it is; a very cheap shot. So needless. I hope you’re a much better person than this.
How many rank and files could do THIS:
http://youtu.be/tBde92dqCVk
Probably every principal cellist of a major professional orchestra. It’s pretty good, but there are a lot of great cellists out there these days.
Hear, hear Mark. You’re spot on.
I do not know what to say, but no one should insult musicians. I am sure that he has become famous by his own effort. Peolple must have liked his style. Musicians should respect each other’s play. |Everyone plays differently. This makes classical music more interesting, doesn’t it? Y piano
As I understand it, JLW’s grandfather was a plumber and his father, although a highly regarded musician and composer, was not widely known in the Country. So the usual gripe about his success being due to the family name presumably is because of his brother. But does anybody seriously think that JLW recorded Elgar with Menuhin or headlined around the World from London to Beijing, Prague, Latin America etc. because his brother wrote popular musicals? The notion is utterly absurd and insulting to all concerned, not least the audiences. As for the comment that rank and file orchestra members could have achieved the same – well they didn’t did they!! There comes a time in most peoples’ lives (particularly performers and sportspeople) when age or misfortune means they can no longer perform to the standards that they or their audience would expect. They can either plod on for the money or call it a day. JLW has opted for the latter. Selling the Strad must be a pretty gutting experience, probably like losing a dear friend. However, since he broke the bank to buy it in the first place if he gets a tidy sum for it then good luck to him. This is a magnificent instrument and it would be criminal to put it in a museum or locked away unheard by some speculator. I have seen JLW many times in concert and interview. He has always conducted himself with decency and I have never heard him make unpleasant comments about anybody. Contributors that leave snide and mean spirited comments about Julian Lloyd Webber would be better people if they followed that example.
$9.5 million is the asking price today.