American cellist Lynn Harrell recalls a profound moment of musical epiphany when, as a twelve year old, he sat among the audience at Aspen to hear his father, baritone Mack Harrell, perform Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise. 

‘The audience was so hushed, I subliminally knew that this is what music is about: a human being having the ability to bring something to a listener that enriches their life and their psyche,’ says Harrell. ‘He was no longer dad; he was this prophet of communication. Schubert died months after completing the cycle, and the final song, Der Leiermann, cried out as a final ending that doesn’t have splendour, just truth and simplicity.’

This episode features musical excerpts from Beethoven’s Piano Trio no.6 op.70 no.2, from a recording by Harrell, Itzhak Perlman and Vladimir Ashkenazy (Warner Classics).

In association with The Strad magazine, Aspen Music Festival & School presents a six-part podcast series featuring interviews with leading string players talking about a moment of revelation from Aspen that changed their way of making music.

The six episodes will appear on The Strad’s YouTube channel (search for Stradmagazine) and will be linked to through www.thestrad.com) weekly, every Thursday from January 16, and comprise the following episodes:

● Stefan Jackiw, ‘Write It Down!’

● Sarah Chang, ‘Bit Part, Big Night’

● Simone Porter, ‘Party!’

● Lynn Harrell, ‘My Father’s Son’

● Sylvia Rosenberg, ‘Piacevole’

● Gil Shaham, ‘Known Unknowns’

Visit www.aspenmusicfestival.com, www.thestrad.com and The Strad YouTube channel ‘Stradmagazine’.

Presented by James Inverne. Podcast editing by Timothy Burton. The podcasts feature short musical excerpts recorded at the festival, or by kind arrangement with Warner Classics, Canary Classics and others.

Next episode: Sylvia Rosenberg, ‘Piacevole’ showing Thursday 20 February 2020.

Photograph shows Harrell performing with the Aspen Chamber Symphony conducted by Christian Arming. Photo: Alex Irvin

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