Pablo Casals - One of the world's greatest Cellists.
An Interview With Pablo Casals And A Picture Of Postwar Europe – July 18, 1945 – Past Daily Weekend Gallimaufry
– BBC World Service – London Column – July 18, 1945 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
While the war continued in the Pacific, only weeks away from its final end, Europe was slowly putting the shattered pieces back together, clearing away the wreckage and starting on the long road to recovery.
The BBC World Service, as part of its weekly series London Column, focused on the rebuilding and the adjustment to peace in one area of the world, while war was still raging in another.
Among the stories of recovery and the return to semi-normal life on July 18, 1945, is an interview with the legendary Cellist Pablo Casals, who was living in occupied France throughout the war. He was finally returning to the concert stage after a self-imposed exile and refusal to perform while the war in Europe was going on. In this interview he talks about how the Germans repeatedly came to visit him at his home, and had attempted to persuade him to perform in Germany during the war, and his adamant refusal to participate or even play for the occupying Germans in private.
A snapshot of life in Europe and a rare, seldom-heard interview with one of the great musicians of the 20th century on July 18, 1945 via the BBC World Service.
And while you’re here . . .you know we don’t run ads – stopped running them more than a few years ago. The ads were noisy and pretty awful and they were a huge distraction, having to wade through a lot of useless barking in order to get to the good stuff. But we still have to pay the bills, and there’s a ton of them and they don’t like to wait. And so we ask you consider becoming a subscriber and support all the stuff we do every day by kicking in what amounts to being an Americano Grande every month to be part of the solution and not the problem. In todays bizarre economy it ain’t much – but it means a ton to Past Daily. All you have to do (and we make this as simple and pain-free as possible) is head over to Patreon (that red box just below that says “Become A Patron” that you click on) and check us out. You can do 7 days free just to kick the tires and take a test drive. And if you like us, hit the subscribe button and become part of our rather haywire little family. Not bad, considering we just want you to like us.
