My cello teacher - writing by cellist Michaela Fukacova

<body stylesrc="frontpage.htm" bgcolor="#100038" link="#FFFFFF" vlink="#00FFFF" alink="#FF0000"> <p class="MsoNormal" align="right"><a name="top"></a></p> <h1 class="MsoNormal" align="left"><font color="#FFFFCC">My cello teacher</font></h1> <table border="0" cellspacing="1"> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"><img border="0" src="photos/prof_moucka.jpg" alt="my very first cello teacher, Professor Mou·ka " width="250" height="180"></td> <td width="15" valign="top"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font color="#FFFFC4"><o:p> </o:p> </font></span></p> <p> </td> <td valign="top" width="687"> <p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#FFFFC4"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font size="2">Professor Mou<span lang="CS" style="mso-ansi-language: CS; mso-fareast-language: CS">č</span>ka was my very first cello teacher. I remember getting so upset when he first looked at my hands and and with obvious satisfaction called them "great paws". That is not the kind of compliment a 13-year-old likes to hear! But he was such a sweet man, very clever and charming. </font> </span> </font> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"><img border="0" src="photos/prof_havlik.jpg" alt="Havlík became teacher" width="250" height="185"></td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"> <p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#FFFFC4" size="2"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB">Professor Bed<span style="mso-ansi-language: CS; mso-fareast-language: CS; font-family: Times New Roman">ř</span>ich Havlík became my cello teacher at the Brno Conservatory. </span></font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"><img border="0" src="photos/prof_vectomov.jpg" width="250" height="171" alt="Alexander Ve·tomov"></td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"> <p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#FFFFC4"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font size="2">My cello teacher at the Prague Academy, Alexander Ve<span style="mso-ansi-language: CS; mso-fareast-language: CS; font-family: Times New Roman">č</span>tomov.<o:p> </o:p> <br> Dear Sasa. I immediately fell in love with his vibrato, his glissandi and his sense of humour.</font> </span> </font></p> <p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"> <p align="center"><img border="0" src="photos/prof_navarra.jpg" alt="André Navarra" width="168" height="250"> </td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font color="#FFFFC4">André Navarra - I studied with him in summer 1982 at the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><a href="http://www.chigiana.it/">Accademia Chigiana in Siena</a>. </font></span></font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"> <p align="center"><img border="0" src="photos/paul_tortelier.jpg" alt="Paul Tortelier" width="200" height="290"> </td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"><font color="#FFFFC4"><a name="tortelier"></a></font><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font color="#FFFFC4" size="2">Paul Tortelier. He was one of my cello teachers at the Piatigorsky seminar in Los Angeles.<br> It was impressive to meet the cello legend and I enjoyed his charismatic personality. </font> </span> <p><font color="#FFFFC4" size="2">(To read an amusing little story from those days, <a href="strad.htm" target="_self">click here</a>.)</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"> <p align="center"><img border="0" src="photos/erling_blondal_bengtsson.jpg" alt="Erling Bløndal Bengtsson" width="200" height="289"> </td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"> <p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#FFFFC4" size="2"><a href="http://www.erlingbbengtsson.com"> Erling Bløndal Bengtsson</a>. A real maestro whose life is devoted to the cello. As soon as I could, I joined his solo class at the Royal Conservatory in Copenhagen. To be his student and play for him were amongst the highlights of my life and helped me through a difficult time.</font><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font color="#FFFFC4"> </font></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font color="#FFFFC4"> </font><o:p> </o:p> </span></p> <p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"><img border="0" src="photos/jackie.jpg" alt="Jacqueline du Pré" width="250" height="270"></td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font size="2"><font color="#FFFFC4">I have always been a great admirer of <a href="http://www.mindspring.com/~mmuelle/dupre/"> Jacqueline du Pré</a> and it was my big dream to meet her. I could not do so while living in Prague. But after I moved to Denmark and had the possibility to travel, I wanted to realise my old dream. I was awarded a scholarship which made it economically possible and so I started to plan the journey. But too late. <a href="http://www.jose-sanchez-penzo.net/jdupre.html"> Jacqueline died in October 1987</a>.<br> </font></font></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"> <p align="center"><img border="0" src="photos/mstislav_rostropovitch.jpg" alt="Rostropovich " width="200" height="270"> </td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"> <p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2"><font color="#FFFFC4">Slava! How can one describe the immense fireworks that blaze within him! I could dedicate a home page of its own just to give an account of my first lesson with him. He it was who started an earthquake in my head and finally freed me from the need to seek any more cello teachers. Since then I have felt that I can always find the answer to any musical question within myself. For my lessons with him, I actually did not need to have the cello with me. His teaching was more about the essence of cello playing, of music making, rather than the pedantic correction of particulars - and it has opened my ears in a new way and made me anxious to seek for a new and purer ideal.<br> <br> <a href="http://www.sonyclassical.com/artists/rostropovich/">SONYclassical</a><br> <a href="http://www.ffaire.com/rost/index.html">FanFaire 1997</a><b><br> </b><a href="http://www.emiclassics.com/artists/biogs/rosb.html">EMIclassics</a><br> <a href="http://www.cello.org/Libraries/references/rostropovich.html">Cello Works Premiered by Rostropovich</a></font><span lang="EN-GB" style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB"><font color="#FFFFC4"> </font><o:p>   </span></font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" height="11" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687" height="11"></td> </tr> <tr> <td width="250" valign="top"></td> <td width="15" valign="top"></td> <td valign="top" width="687"><font color="#FFFFC4"><a href="#top" target="_self">Go to the top</a></font></td> </tr> </table> <p> <center> <p align="left"><font color="#FFFFCC">If you are viewing this text, your browser lacks the ability to read frames. Don't worry, you can still enjoy our site. All the pages can be viewed from the contents page. Please come inside! <a href="index.html">Click here to go to the CONTENT PAGE</a><br> </font> </p> <p align="center"><font color="#FFFFCC">© Copyright 2003-2005 <a href="http://www.fukacova.com" target="_self">www.fukacova.com</a> Michaela Fukacova <br> </font> </p> </center> <p></p> </body>