Harvey Shapiro

Harvey Shapiro (June 22, 1911 – October 25, 2007) was an American cellist and teacher. His professional debut was in 1935 at New York City's Town Hall. Following this, he was chosen by Arturo Toscanini to play in the cello section of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, whereupon he became its principal in 1943. He was also a founding member of its associated chamber ensembles, the Primrose Quartet and NBC Trio.

After leaving the NBC Symphony in 1946, Shapiro performed prolifically as a studio musician and chamber musician. In 1947, he was a founding member of the WQXR Radio Quartet, which played the international and American premieres of works by various composers until its dissolution in 1963.

From 1970, Shapiro turned his focus to teaching. He taught at the Juilliard School, and gave summer classes and master classes elsewhere in the United States, Canada, and Europe; continuing until 2006. He died in 2007.

Biography Childhood and education Harvey Shapiro was born in New York City to Russian immigrant parents in 1911. He began cello lessons at age 7 with . Willeke was the director of the South Mountain Music Festival and Walter W. Naumburg Foundation, as well as the president of The Bohemians, a New York music club. He was invited at the age of 8 to study with Julius Klengel in Germany, but was forced to decline on account of his family's lack of financial resources. For a time, economic hardship led Shapiro and his family to move to San Francisco; he later returned to New York City where he settled permanently. He also won the Willem Willeke Scholarship to continue graduate studies at Juilliard, with a fellowship in conducting. While Harold A. Strickland of the Brooklyn Times-Union appraised Shapiro's tone as "not yet agreeable of texture" and criticized his interpretative skills as "limited," Winthrop Sargeant of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle was more positive:

ne was able to perceive that Mr. Shapiro is a talented and thoughtful young musician, not yet capable of interpreting the great works of the repertoire with all the authority of a mature artist, but, nevertheless, showing seriousness of purpose and mechanical resourcefulness that promise well for the future.

NBC Symphony and Primrose Quartet In 1937, Shapiro was selected by Arturo Toscanini to join the cello section of the NBC Symphony Orchestra; he was appointed principal cello in 1943 and remained with the ensemble until 1946.

During the late 1930s, Shapiro also played in orchestras at Radio City Music Hall and the New York World's Fair.

In 1939, William Primrose founded the Primrose String Quartet, whose members were all colleagues from the NBC Symphony. Shapiro was one of the quartet's founding members, who were also all neighbors in the same apartment building,

Shapiro also played in an ensemble called the NBC Trio, with violinist Josef Gingold and pianist Earl Wild. They also played the American premiere of Anton Bruckner's String Quartet, a performance that was organized in collaboration with the score's publisher, C. F. Peters. The WQXR Radio Quartet also participated in their namesake station's first stereophonic broadcast in 1952.

Since Toscanini, [the WQXR Radio Quartet] has been the last bulwark of live, good music on the air. [...] Needless to say, because of the quartet's exceptional performances and superior standards, these weekly broadcasts have become one of the most anticipated listening hours for those who seek the finer performances in the chamber music field. His solos on a 1961 RCA Victor LP with Leopold Stokowski conducting the Symphony of the Air, which was made up of former members of the NBC Symphony Orchestra, earned the cellist praise from the San Francisco Examiner, who called him a "first-rate artist and master of his instrument." Shapiro's playing of the cello solo in a recording of Johannes Brahms' Piano Concerto No. 2 he made with pianist Artur Rubinstein drew congratulations from record engineer John Pfeiffer, as well as his fellow Symphony of the Air musicians. at the former institution he was a replacement for Raya Garbousova, who wanted to spend time with her family during the summer instead of teach. and his 80th birthday in 1991. He was partnered respectively with pianists Ruth Laredo

He remained an active teacher into his 90s, despite health problems, including arthritis, broken hips, failing eyesight, and cancer.

Shapiro developed a reputation among some of his students for his temper and use of profanity. He also told students who ignored his lessons to seek other teachers.

In a 1972 interview, Shapiro explained his philosophy of teaching:

Well, I certainly don't teach merely to inculcate technique. I love music. Of course, one must have technique that will enable him to do anything he wishes, but it must not be the end-all be-all. My students must develop a decent tone—with a piece of music, not with an exercise. And they have got to have technique for proper shifting, sliding, bowing, vibrato, glissandi. But all of these lead directly to interpretation, precisely where personal attention is required.

Personal life Shapiro was married to violinist Rena Robbins from 1947 until her death in 1980. She was a violinist in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

According to him, he smoked and drank whiskey regularly because his teacher Willeke had also done so.

Shapiro died in New York on October 25, 2007. According to his wishes, no funeral or memorial service was conducted.

Discography Harvey Shapiro Recital in Japan. DiscArt DACD-973. The Art of Nathan Milstein. EMI Classics. Primrose Quartet (works by Haydn, Schumann, Smetana, Brahms and Tchaikovsky). Biddulph Records.

Out of print: Dmitri Shostakovich and Richard Strauss cello sonatas, Harvey Shapiro, cello and Jascha Zayde, piano. Nonesuch LP record, H-71050 Rachmaninoff, Cello Sonata in G Minor, Op. 19, Kodaly, Sonata Op. 4 for Cello and Piano, Harvey Shapiro, cello and Earl Wild, piano. Nonesuch LP record H-71155 Luigi Boccherini, String Quintets Op. 13 No. 5 in E, Op. 20 No. 4 in F, Op. 37 No. 2 in g, the Stradivari Quartet with Harvey Shapiro, 2nd cello. Musical Heritage Society LP record, MHS 645 Luigi Boccherini, String Quintets Op. 37 No. 1 in C, Quintet in C, Op. 47 No. 1 in a, the Stradivari Quartet with Harvey Shapiro, 2nd cello. Musical Heritage Society LP record, MHS 694 Haydn, Symphony No. 95 in c (with cello solo in the trio), Fritz Reiner and "His Symphony Orchestra", Harvey Shapiro, cello. RCA LSC-2742/LM-2742. Hindemith: Eight Pieces for String Quartet, Radio Artists String Quartet (Harold Glickman, Hugo Fiorato, violins, Jack Braunstein, viola, Harvey Shapiro, cello). Circle Records LP record L-51-100.