Top cellist issues brain cancer statement
OrchestrasThe internationally cherished Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses has let it be known that he is receiving pallative care for a glioblastoma multiforme tumour.
Antonio, 66, is a former member of the Beaux Arts Trio with Menahem Pressler and Daniel Hope. In his own right he was a prominent concert soloist.
He has published the following statement on social media:
Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses, one of the leading musicians of his generation, has canceled his concert schedule and stepped down from his teaching positions. He was diagnosed in June with Glioblastoma Multiforme, an aggressive type of brain tumor.
Born in Recife and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Meneses is one of the most celebrated soloists and chamber musicians of his generation. After winning the Munich and Tchaikovsky competitions, he began a successful career that includes collaborations with some of the world’s most important orchestras and conductors. He was also a member of the Beaux-Arts Trio and performed in duos with musicians such as pianists Menahem Pressler and Maria João Pires.
Meneses is currently receiving palliative care in Switzerland, where he lives with his family and friends, who have been an important source of comfort during this difficult time.
Photo: Marco Borggreve, issued by Meneses
He was also superb in Don Quichotte and Brahms double with Karajan. I have heard them several times in those works. A great artist. All the best for him.
He is receiving palliative care.
The ‘best’ he can hope for now is a good death.
Far too young to die of this insidious disease. I lost 2 family members (both aged under 50) to it.
Very sad news indeed.
May God grant him a superb recovery, so that he shall soon continue his worldwide activities as the renowned great cellist we all know him to be. Best wishes from his motherland fans in Brazil.
I think you missed “palliative”
Oh, thank you for sharing that.
Alas, if he is receiving palliative so soon after diagnosis I doubt he has much time left. As others have said, he has been a superb musician, and mentor to others. I wish him peace.
Hopefully they’ll be some lovely music in the place where he is going
How sad. A wonderful musician who, although living and teaching in Switzerland, has always kept in touch with his colleagues and the public in Brazil. Let’s hope for the best.
Very sorry to hear this. Antonio is not only a wonderful musician but also an exceptional human being and I wish him well. Bon courage!
Devastating news. Prayers for strength to him and his family.
A great musician, still young. A tragic loss to music with so much to give.
This has been a terrible shock to all of us who know and love Antonio and my heart goes out to Satoko, his wife, who is coping so bravely and organising palliative care with the doctors. He came to London in June last year specially to play at Menahem Pressler’s funeral together with Daniel Hope, Matthias Goerne and Ilya Friedberg. Menahem adored and admired his Beaux Arts colleague and used to tell me with amazement how Antonio sailed through the daunting cello part of the Triple Concerto during a particularly gruelling tour of nightly performances with supreme artistry and confidence. Apart from so much trio repertoire, they recorded all the works of Beethoven for cello and piano.
Horrible news – Antonio is a wonderful cellist. I am praying for him and his family.
Very, very sad…
Sorry to hear about that. My condolences.
So many musicians and politicians, even, are afflicted with glioblastoma cancer. My sister, a pianist who taught master classes, performed throughout the US, Europe, and Asia, died from it. Michael Tillson Thomas has some form of it: the artists’s names keep accumulating to the point that one wonders if the constant air travel involved in a musician’s life is contributing to exposure to cancer-causing agents: e.g., radiation from sitting next to windows in an airplane? [This has been shown to cause cancer.]
From frequent security measures, “wands,” scanning devices, etc.?
Perhaps the glamour of being an international music star should come with a warning label.
I am so sorry that one more artist of note should suffer from this terrible kind of cancer. Our only hope is that effective cures might be on the near horizon.
Type Glioblastoma into the search function above, part of Login, and you will find another three.
A brutal disease. The same as Michael Tilson Thomas. Warmest thoughts to him and his family.
Terrible news!
was he any good?
A way more than you, most probably…
“one wonders if the constant air travel involved in a musician’s life is contributing to exposure to cancer-causing agents: e.g., radiation from sitting next to windows in an airplane? [This has been shown to cause cancer.]”
Total rubbish.
Only concorde had a radiation counter because it flew at FL 40+ to reduce drag.
Sitting next to windows makes absolute ZILCH difference to the spallation high altitude radiation which I have measured with a geiger-muller device.
(Radiation is also higher dose the further north you fly, thanks to the orientation of the earth magnetic field lines).
+
The secondary radiation emissions from cosmic ray bombardment penetrate THE WHOLE of the aircraft mostly from ABOVE straight thru the alloy hull of the a/c.
Windows have nothing whatsoever to do with it.
Talk about HEARSAY!.
Brain cancer is mostly genetic with our longer life spans contributing to the development of it.
We are indeed fortunate to live so long thanks to modern medicine!
If the conjecture by Ms. Koscielny had any sense, the rate of aircraft pilots suffering from this kind of brain cancer would be extremely high, which is of course not true. Thanks for sharing some common sense based on scientific knowledge.
How awful. There has been progress in treating this disease. A cousin of mine had it, and had successful surgery, but had to learn to speak all over again. But it sounds like they didn’t catch it early enough.
Tragic news – one of the most positive human beings I’ve met, and an absolute rare master at his craft as a cellist. All strength to him and his family.