We want to wish Happy Birthday to Steven Isserlis, whom I consider the best cellist in the world. Of course, I’m biased because he is a dear friend; his late wife, Pauline, who was from Vancouver, was like a sister to me.

First off, here’s a new recording of Steven performing Ave Maria with his American friend, violinist Josh Bell:Here is Steven playing the Dvořák Cello Concerto with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra:Here is Steven playing Dvorak’s ‘Waldesruhe’ (Silent Woods), accompanied only by piano:This is Steven playing Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra:And finally here’s Steven and his friend, Hungarian pianist Denes Varjon, playing Schumann: Abendlied Op.85, No.12 (arr. Joachim) at the 92nd Street Y in New York:Steven plays a Marquis de Corberon Stradivarius cello and a De Munck Stradivarius cello, both of which are on loan to him. He uses gut strings.