The great poet Robert Frost suggested that choosing the road less traveled can make all the difference.  For some, that is just not an option.  Take the life of a professional cello soloist.  There just isn’t the same large body of repertoire for the cello that there is for, say, a violin or piano.  As a cellist, one cannot help but plow fields that have been well tilled by many great players of the past (and present, for that matter).  A cellist cannot help but take a road more traveled.

Some of my favorite pieces of music for the cello are the  Six suites for unaccompanied cello by Johann Sebastian Bach.  Pablo Casals was the first to record the complete set of six suites, and every cellist of any renown has followed his example.  Mstislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Tortelier, and any other name you can mention has offered up…