Zara Nelsova (1918 - 2006) was the first woman ever to become famous internationally as a cello soloist. The audience was fascinated by this extraordinary artist and the wonderful sound of her Stradivari cello, the “Marquis de Corbon” from 1726.

Her wide-ranging repertoire included Bach and Beethoven as well as composers of the 20th century. Ernest Bloch dedicated his works to her and accompanied her on piano, Samuel Barber conducted his cello concerto with her as a soloist, both of which can be heard in recordings on this CD box. Three “cellists of the century” had assisted her with help and advice in the beginnings of her career: Emanuel Feuermann, Pablo Casals, and Gregor Piatigorsky.

Born into a music-loving Russian family, which had immigrated to Canada - her grandfather was an opera singer, her father a flautist - the cello was the only instrument which remained for her, as her two older sisters had already decided on violin and piano. Together they founded the “Canadian Trio” and played many successful concerts from 1929 to 1939. Zara Nelsova gave her first concert as a soloist in New York in 1942. In 1958 she made her debut with the Philharmonic in Berlin under Karl Bohm, performing the Piano Concerto by Saint-Saens, followed in Munich with Gunter Wand and Schumann’s Op.129 in 1969.

• Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor, BWV1008
• Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 3 in C major, BWV1009
• Bach, J S: Cello Suite No. 6 in D major, BWV1012
• Barber: Cello Concerto, Op. 22
• Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 1 in F major, Op. 5 No. 1
• Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 5 No. 2
• Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, Op. 69
• Beethoven: Cello Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 102 No. 2
• Beethoven: Variations (12) on "Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen" for Cello and Piano, Op. 66
• Beethoven: Variations (12) on "See the conquering hero comes" for Cello and Piano, WoO 45
• Bloch, E: From Jewish Life
• Bloch, E: Schelomo
• Bloch, E: Voice in the Wilderness
• Boccherini: Cello Sonata in A major
• Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 1 In E Minor, Op. 38
• Brahms: Cello Sonata No. 2 in F major, Op. 99
• Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor, Op. 104
• Kodály: Sonata for Solo Cello, Op. 8
• Lalo: Cello Concerto in D minor
• Milhaud: Cello Concerto No. 1, Op. 136
• Rachmaninov: Cello Sonata in G minor, Op. 19
• Reger: Cello Suite No 1 in G major, Op 131c No 1
• Saint-Saëns: Cello Concerto No. 1 in A minor, Op. 33
• Schumann: Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129
• Schumann: Fantasiestücke, Op. 73