Master Class with Evangeline Benedetti (I/IV)

Evangeline Benedetti gives a master class on Saint–Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 33 to the young and talented Danielle Akta.

Saint-Saëns composed his Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33 in 1872, at the age of 37. He wrote it for the Belgian cellist Auguste Tolbecque, who performed as soloist in the work's premiere at the Paris conservatoire concert in 1873. Sir Donald Francis Tovey later wrote: "Here, for once, is a violoncello concerto in which the solo instrument displays every register without the slightest difficulty in penetrating the orchestra". Composers like Shostakovich and Rachmaninov considered this concerto to be one of the greatest concertos in the instrument's repertoire.

In 1967 Evangeline Benedetti was invited by Leonard Bernstein himself to become a member of the New York Philharmonic, the first female cellist and the second tenured woman. She remained an active and integral member for more than 40 years, during which time she played nearly 8,000 concerts and participated in countless recordings and television productions including the renowned Young People's Concerts conducted by Bernstein. Mrs. Benedetti served for 20 years on the faculty of Manhattan School of Music and is a sought-after master clinician and guest artist. She currently lives in New York, where she teaches, continues to perform and serves on the boards of The Bloomingdale School of Music and The ViolonCello Society of New York. In 2016 her book Cello, Bow and You: Putting It All Together, was published by the Oxford University Press.