Grammy-Nominated Cellist Plays 'Homage To Pablo Casals'

Music won and the NBA lost when Amit Peled chose the cello over basketball. Peled, who stands 6-foot-5, says that as a young man he had to decide between a future dribbling basketballs and a future bowing four strings. He chose the life of a musician, although today at 44 he continues to follow his favorite b-ball teams and shoot hoops with his children.

The Israeli-American cellist will perform "Homage to Pablo Casals," a recital in tribute to the legendary 20th-century maestro of the cello, with pianist Noreen Polera at 8 p.m. Friday, March 16, in the Virginia G. Piper Theater at Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts.

Peled will play seven works associated with Casals on the cello previously owned by him. The historic instrument, known as the 1733 Gofriller Pablo Casals cello, was given to Peled by Casals's daughter and heir, Marta Casals Istomin. Peled, a professor of music at the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University, has written and published a children's book about the instrument, A Cello Named Pablo.

Peled and Polera will perform music by George Frederic Handel, Johannes Brahms, David Popper, Jean Huré, Léon Boëllmann, Gabriel Fauré and Camille Saint-Saëns.

The program follows the shape of a typical Casals recital. Says Peled: "Casals's program was like a good meal. He always started with an apéritif - a Handel sonata (such as Handel's G minor sonata, which opens Peled's recital), to warm up the stomach." This would be followed by a "main course," which on the Scottsdale program will be Brahms's Sonata for Cello and Piano in E minor, Op. 38. A range of small bites and desserts generally followed, and for Peled, these will consist of Boëllmann's Symphonic Variations; the 1902 Air composed for Casals by Huré; Saint-Saëns's Allegro Appassionato; "Papillon (Butterfly)" by Casals's friend, Fauré; and the Popper Mazurka, which was a favorite closing piece of Casals.

The recipient of multiple Grammy nominations, Peled performs in recital, as a soloist with major orchestras and as cellist with the Tempest Trio. The New York Times has praised him for "a glowing tone, a seductive timbre and an emotionally pointed approach to phrasing." His easygoing and informal approach to music-making garnered him kudos from the Baltimore Sun, which proclaimed, "Peled's amiable and inviting personality is exactly the type...we'll need more of, if classical music is to survive."

Polera is considered among the most highly regarded and diverse chamber artists performing today. Her career has taken her to every major U.S. music center and abroad to Europe, Russia and Asia. She has collaborated with leading soloists including David Shifrin, Matt Haimovitz, Carter Brey, Antonio Meneses, Aurora-Natalie Ginastera, Yo-Yo Ma and Leonard Rose.

Tickets: $49 (M $41) / $39 / $29
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