He left us superb recordings of the Elgar and Walton concertos, the world premiere of Sullivan’s concerto, and many of his father William’s charming pieces.

With his trademark Beatles mop, and as an eloquent campaigner for music education, he was a ubiquitous figure on the international music scene until 2014, when a herniated disc in his neck ended his performing career. 1951), Britishįew cellists in the last part of the 20th century did more to raise the profile of the cello in the popular imagination than Lloyd Webber.

Amongst many other delights, you can hear him accompanying Dame Nellie Melba in her 1906 disc of the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria.Ĭlick to load video 16: Julian Lloyd Webber (b. His account of the Elgar Cello Concerto made exactly 30 years later with Hamilton Harty is not only a great interpretation but allows us to hear many of the elements of 19th-century cello playing (slight but continuous vibrato, for instance, and many portamenti).

The first-ever recording of a cello solo was made in 1898 by W(illiam) H(enry) Squire. Without further ado, here is our selection of the Top 20 greatest cellists featuring legendary virtuosos and today’s young stars. The last three survived into the age of recording but left us nothing of their playing, so we begin with one of the most significant English cellists of the first half of the 20th century, who not only left us with a number of discs, but made the first-ever recording of a cello solo.

They include the composers Jacques Offenbach and Victor Herbert, Karl Davydov (1838-1889), Wilhelm Fitzenhagen (1848-1890), Alfredo Piatti (1822-1901), David Popper (1843-1913), and Julius Klengel (1859-1933). So all of the celebrated virtuosi of the 19th century are omitted. Who are the best cellists of all time? Our selection is confined to those who we can actually hear on disc.

Vivaldi violin concerto in a minor