Years
before Elvis and his famous Sun Records label-mates were dubbed the “Million
Dollar Quartet,” Gregor Piatigorsky, Arthur Rubinstein, and Jascha Heifitz were
hailed as the “Million Dollar Trio,” but they recorded and played together quite
regularly. Piatigorsky was the first of the trio to take his final curtain call
in 1976, yet his teachings and recorded body of work influenced every
celebrated cellist who followed him. Writer-director-co-producer Murray Grigor
& editor-cinematographer-co-producer Hamid Shams profile the revered
classical musician in The Cellist: The Legacy of Gregor Piatigorsky,
which is now available on DVD.
Piatigorsky
was born in Ekaterinoslav, Russia (now Dnipro, Ukraine) to a Jewish family in the
year 1903—obviously an awkward time to come of age, with 1917 looming. He was
working professionally at a young age, but the cellist was forced to escape
Lenin’s dictatorship to study with the caliber of teachers his talent required.
Despite finding success in Berlin and Paris, the National Socialist advance
across Europe forced Piatigorsky and his wife to hastily immigrate to America.
However, they did not have it nearly as rough as most refugees, because there
were indeed advantages to be married to a Rothschild—as in the Rothschilds.
Their
life in the United States was less dramatic, but enormously productive. It is
rather amazing in this day-and-age to hear the overriding goal of Piatigorsky’s
career was the popularization of the cello, but that just suggests how overwhelmingly
he succeeded. Intriguingly, Piatigorsky and his wife also played critical roles
as patrons of international chess competitions (which was very Russian of them).
Grigor
& Shams take a largely conventional approach to documentary filmmaking, but
they keep the pace and tone refreshingly lively. Shams also edits much of the
footage together quite strikingly (including some evocative contemporary
tracking shots of the sites of Piatigorsky’s historic triumphs). Plus, many of
the tributes to the great cellist from his students and colleagues really are quite
touching.
Any
viewer with little prior interest in classical music who happens to watch The
Cellist will probably be motivated to open their ears a little and start exploring
the music. That surely would have pleased Piatigorsky. This is exactly the kind
of film that is worth catching up with now that we all have a bit of time on
our hands. Highly recommended, The Cellist is now available on DVD, from
First Run Features.