Ralph Kirshbaum began cello lessons with his father, who was a violinist and conductor. At eleven he went to Roberta Guastafeste in Dallas before taking instruction from Lev Aronson. From a genealogical perspective this meant that Kirshbaum was in touch with the Hugo Becker tradition via Guastafeste’s teacher Joseph Schuster (himself a Russian émigré who arrived in the USA via Germany) as well as the Piatigorsky tradition via Aronson.

When Kirshbaum was eighteen (having appeared aged fifteen with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra) Aronson suggested he should study with Piatigorsky himself. Kirshbaum however decided to take a different route, winning a scholarship to Yale where he was able to pursue academic interests as well as studying cello with Aldo Parisot, from whom he gained much in terms of virtuosity, and with whom he discovered ‘the different colours and characters that one can draw from the cello’.

A period of prominent success started with competition prizes in 1969 and 1970 and culminated in a solo début in 1972 with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, for which Jacqueline du Pré lent Kirshbaum her ‘Davidov’ Stradivarius. Around this time he was introduced to Peter Frankl and György Pauk, with whom he formed the renowned Frankl-Pauk-Kirshbaum Trio.

Kirshbaum, whose rare Montagnana cello once belonged to Alfredo Piatti, shows a carefully considered approach to musical material in his recordings. His Bach Cello Suites (1994) are strongly structured performances in the mainstream mould with lively phrasing, but close miking produces unclear sound on the lower strings and obvious breathing noises. This is not evident in his other fine performances, including Barber’s Concerto and Sonata (1988) and the 1983 première recording of Tippett’s characteristically playful Triple Concerto with Pauk and Imai, which won a Gramophone Award. Kirshbaum’s 1979 Elgar Concerto takes a typically modern expansive approach (few matching the directness and pace of the first recording with Harrison and the composer), but has some animated playing in the second movement and a beautifully-sung slow movement. As a stylist Kirshbaum creates atmosphere with a well-connected sound, flexible bowing and sensitive application of vibrato allied to a confident technique, proving him to be one of the foremost cellists of his generation.

© Naxos Rights International Ltd. — David Milsom (A–Z of String Players, Naxos 8.558081-84)