The Divine Steven Isserlis

The San Francisco original instrument group, Philharmonia Baroque, jumped ahead to the Romantic 19th Century this last week with the music of Mendelssohn, Schumann and Brahms. The results were not quite satisfying with one major exception, the newly legendary British cellist Steven Isserlis above. He played the Schumann cello concerto last Friday at Herbst Theatre as if the music was newly minted. It is also fun to see a classical musician who is a literal longhair, looking a bit like an aging British rock star.

There's another chance to hear the concert on Tuesday evening in Palo Alto, and Isserlis's performance is worth making the effort. Click here for a lovely interview with Isserlis by Cedric Westphal at SFist where the cellist talks movingly about his love for the often eccentric Schumann.