The Adventures of a Cello: Revised Edition, with a New Epilogue

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Foreword. The Adventures of a Cello and the Stories and Memories of Its Happy Owner (by Alvaro Mutis)
Acknowledgments
Introduction. The Origin and Purpose of This Book
Part One. A Brief History of Violin Making
Chapter 1. Observations on the Origin of Violins and Cellos
Chapter 2. Amati, Stradivari, Guarneri del Gesu, and the Great Italian Violin Makers
Part Two. The Adventures of a Stradivari Cello from 1720 to the Present
Chapter 3. The Adventures of a Stradivari Cello: From Cremona in 1720 to New York in 1979
Chapter 4. A Brief Autobiographical Note
Chapter 5. Around the World with the Piatti
Chapter 6. My Relationship with the Music and Musicians of Latin America, Spain, and Portugal
Part Three. A Brief History of Music for Cello from the Time of Stradivari to the Present
Chapter 7. The Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Chapter 8. From Beethoven to the End of the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 9. The Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries: The Cello Comes of Age
Epilogue
Appendix 1. Some Principal Works for Cello from the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries (Excluding Ibero-America)
Appendix 2. Some Principal Works for Cello from the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries (Spain, Portugal, and Latin America)
Appendix 3. Carlos Prieto's Discography
Appendix 4. Reviews of Concerts
Notes
Bibliography
Index

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In 1720, Antonio Stradivari crafted an exquisite work of art—a cello known as the Piatti. Over the next three centuries of its life, the Piatti cello left its birthplace of Cremona, Italy, and resided in Spain, Ireland, England, Italy, Germany, and the United States. In 1978, the Piatti became the musical soul mate of world-renowned cellist Carlos Prieto, with whom it has given concerts around the world.

In this delightful book, Mr. Prieto recounts the adventurous life of his beloved "Cello Prieto," tracing its history through each of its previous owners from Stradivari in 1720 to himself. He then describes his noteworthy experiences of playing the Piatti cello, with which he has premiered some eighty compositions. In this part of their mutual story, Prieto gives a concise summary of his own remarkable career and his relationships with many illustrious personalities, including Igor Stravinsky, Dmitry Shostakovich, Pablo Casals, Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, and Gabriel García Márquez. A new epilogue, in which he describes recent concert tours in Moscow, Siberia, and China and briefer visits to South Korea, Taiwan, and Venezuela, as well as recent recitals with Yo-Yo Ma, brings the story up to 2009.

To make the story of his cello complete, Mr. Prieto also provides a brief history of violin making and a succinct review of cello music from Stradivari to the present. He highlights the work of composers from Latin America, Spain, and Portugal, for whose music he has long been an advocate and principal performer.

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