OBITUARIES

MARK LUBOTSKY

Russian violinist and tutor Mark Lubotsky has died in Hamburg at the age of 89. He came to prominence in the west after recording Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto in 1970, with the composer conducting the English Chamber Orchestra.

Born in St Petersburg in 1931, Lubotsky studied the violin at the Central Music School in Moscow, and later with Abram Yampolsky and David Oistrakh at the Moscow Conservatory. He first came to public attention as one of the prizewinners at the World Youth Festival in Berlin in 1951.

However, it was after emigrating to Holland in 1976 that his career began in Western Europe and the US. Having sent Britten his recording of the composer’s concerto, with the Moscow Philharmonic under Kirill Kondrashin, he was asked to come to the UK to record it again with the composer, for release on Decca. Lubotsky also appeared in Japan, Australia and New Zealand, and at festivals in Santa Fe, Norfolk, Cheltenham, Aldeburgh, Bath and Dartington. In addition to Britten and Kondrashin, he worked with the conductors Eugene Ormandy, Mstislav Rostropovich, Evgeny Svetlanov, Bernard Haitink, Gennady Rozhdestvensky and Kurt Sanderling.

Keenly interested in contemporary music, as well as Romantic repertoire, he had a lifelong friendship with Alfred Schnittke, premiering the composer’s First Violin Concerto, as well as the Piano Trio with Irina Schnittke and Rostropovich. Schnittke dedicated three of his violin sonatas and his Violin Concerto no.2 to Lubotsky. Later he devoted much time to championing the work of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. He taught at the Gnessin Russian Academy of Music in Moscow and, after his emigration, at the Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Hamburg conservatoires, while giving masterclasses all over the world.

Paying tribute to Lubotsky, Tully Potter said he was ‘a very fine player, both tonally and technically, who always put the music first. I heard him live only once or twice but enjoyed his playing. He has left quite a few recordings, including the Bach Solo Sonatas and Partitas, a number of concertos and chamber music. Personal favourites are the two Mozart Duos with Nobuko Imai.’

OTTOMAR BORWITZKY

Cellist Ottomar Borwitzky died on 2 9 March at the age of 90. For 37 years he was first principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic, also appearing as a soloist in Dvořák’s Cello Concerto and Richard Strauss’s Don Quixote among many notable performances. He performed the Brahms ‘Double’ concerto 82 times, most often with concertmaster Thomas Brandis.

Born in Hamburg in 1930, Borwitzky dropped out of school to become first principal cellist of the city’s Radio Orchestra aged just 17. In 1954 he was appointed to the same role with the Hanover Opera House and then, two years later, with the Berlin Philharmonic. He joined the orchestra on the same day Herbert von Karajan’s position as principal conductor was made permanent, and retired in 1993, four years into the tenure of Claudio Abbado. He was also a founding member of the Twelve Cellists of the Berlin Philharmonic and became a teacher at the orchestra’s Karajan Academy in 1979.

Borwitzky’s death comes only a month after that of Wolfgang Boettcher, principal cellist of the Berlin Philharmonic between 1963 and 1976. In a statement the orchestra’s chairman, cellist Knut Weber, said: ‘Ottomar Borwitzky was a musical personality of extraordinary charisma. He played with an intensity that gave expression to even the briefest musical phrase. His sound was flawless, yet always lively. Through his skill, musicality and incomparable charisma, he was an inspiration to the orchestra’s cello section for decades. In a personal capacity, he was gracious, humorous and always willing to share his immense knowledge with others. With Ottomar Borwitzky we lose a key musician of the Karajan era. We will not forget him.’

ANNA SHUTTLEWORTH

Anna Shuttleworth, former professor at London’s Royal College of Music (RCM), has died aged 93. In a career spanning more than 50 years she taught many notable cellists including Alexander Baillie and Natalie Clein.

Shuttleworth was born in 1927 in Bournemouth, and studied the cello at the RCM with Ivor James and Harvey Phillips. During her time there she became a founder member of the Vivien Hind Quartet, with which she played for a number of years. Soon after leaving the college, Shuttleworth was invited to play at the Newbury Festival with the Newbury String Players, both in the orchestra and later as a soloist. It was through this connection that she formed a long friendship with the family of Gerald Finzi and their musical circle, including Ursula and Ralph Vaughan Williams – who once referred to Shuttleworth as ‘the Swellest Cellist’.

During this period Shuttleworth also played with a number of festival orchestras, going on to study for a time with Enrico Mainardi in Salzburg and Rome, and with Pablo Casals in Zermatt and Prades. Her career took off in the 1960s when she performed on many BBC broadcasts. In 1964 Novello published Playing the Cello which she wrote jointly with Hugo Cole. The same year she was invited to teach the cello at the RCM’s Junior Department, followed by an appointment to the Senior Department in 1967.

Shuttleworth became one of the RCM’s most sought-after professors, with students including Adrian Brendel, Clare Finzi, Elizabeth Wilson, and Jonathan Del Mar. Through a connection with Hilary Finzi, Jacqueline du Pré’s sister, Anna was allowed to play on du Pré’s ‘Davidov’ Stradivari cello for two years. She played with numerous chamber music ensembles and gave many recitals with pianists including Bernard Roberts, Ian Brown, Martin Roscoe and John Thwaites.