"Robert suggested me to (conductor) George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra," Harrell said. "Robert and Szell were friends, and (Shaw was) the one who got me my audition. I started playing with the Cleveland Orchestra when I was 18.
" The Cleveland Orchestra gig, which began in 1964, was the start of a brilliant career for Harrell, who has since performed as a soloist with orchestras all over the world, recorded with fellow classical superstars and won the inaugural Avery Fisher Prize in 1975. When Harrell takes the stage on Tuesday night in Ruby Diamond Auditorium to close the Seven Days festival with the FSU Symphony Orchestra, the cellist will be in a French frame of mind. Harrell will take the spotlight for Camille Saint Saens' Cello Concerto in A Minor and Gabriel Faure's Elegy for Cello.
"Faure wrote Elegy for a girlfriend who died as a young woman, probably of tuberculosis," Harrell said. "It's a very tender, lovely piece but there's a lot of anger in it too. It's almost an anger at fate.
It's only seven minutes, but it's very powerful." The Saint Saens concerto may not be well known to casual listeners, but it's one of Harrell's favorites. "It's brilliantly conceived as to what a cello can do," Harrell said.
"The cello's voice is mellow; it cannot dominate with bombast and power. (The Saint Saens concerto) is not as profound as Mozart or Schubert but it has aspects of dynamic virtuosity. It really works as a vehicle for the cello.
Shostakovich considered it one of the greatest." While he's here, Harrell will also teach a master class with FSU music students from 1 to 4 p.m.
Monday in Opperman Music Hall. The public is invited to come and watch. "Harrell is one of the eminent cellists of our time," FSU Symphony Orchestra conductor Alex Jimenez said.
"The pieces he is performing with us complement an all-French program. These pieces . .
. show the cello and cellist in a wide range of technical and musical demands." The French-filled program will also include the "Rakoczy March" by Hector Berlioz and Claude Debussy's much-loved classic "La Mer.
" Harrell will be performing with his 1721 Montagnana cello. He recently sold his 1673 Stradivarius cello, which had previously belonged to the late British cellist Jacqueline du Pre. The Montagnana is never too far from his sight when he travels.
"Generally it's right next to me in the window seat on the plane," Harrell said. "It takes one seat belt extension to strap it in. Every now and then I leave it in coach if I can get an upgrade to first class.
"
If you go
When: 8 p.m.
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