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A concert  held to honor the late President, who would have been 100 years old today, features a special guest appearance by Pablo Casals' cello.

 

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Peled performed “Song of the Birds” and Popper’s “Hungarian Rhapsody,” two works that showed diverse sides of the great Spanish cellist. “Song of the Birds” is an uplifting folk tune, which Casals turned into a lament for his lost homeland (he was exiled for decades from Franco’s Spain).

 

Some background on the Casals concert at the White House.

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During the presidential campaign of 1960, Casals became aware of the young candidate John Kennedy, and in 1961 he accepted an invitation to perform at the White House as a symbol of his agreement with President Kennedy's views that "we must regard artistic achievement and action as an integral part of our free society."

 

The article does not mention that the concert was arranged through Abe Fortas, Casals' friend and pro bono attorney. Fortas was an accomplished amateur violinist and with friends formed the N Street Strictly No Refunds String Quartet, which played every Sunday at his home. (Isaac Stern was an occasional member.) Those were the days.

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22 hours ago, dirac said:

Fortas was an accomplished amateur violinist and with friends formed the N Street Strictly No Refunds String Quartet, which played every Sunday at his home.

 

Thanks so much for the giggles -- I didn't know this!

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It’s going way off topic, but here’s another one you might like. The Washington firm of Arnold & Porter used to be Arnold, Fortas & Porter and during the second Red Scare the firm represented Owen Lattimore, among others. Paul Porter was bearded at a party by a conservative politician who said, “Mr. Porter, I hear your firm represents only Communists and homosexuals.” Porter came back with, “That’s right, and what can we do for you, Senator?”

 

Speaking of Cold War matters, note how Kennedy worked in "we must regard artistic achievement and action as an integral part of our free society."

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